Well, basketball season is over and baseball season has begun, and this year the Phillips family will be extra busy. Both William and Caleb are playing baseball, and Tinsleigh is playing softball. Needless to say, we will be spending our extra time at the fields.

In recreation ball you never know what kind of team you will end up with. This year in basketball Caleb
ended up with a very inexperienced team, and therefore did not win many games. At the beginning of the season, we would see the few boys with experience try and carry the weight of the whole team. That approach never turned out well, it only ended up with our skillful players being very worn out and our inexperienced players not getting any time learning. However, by the end of the season we began to see the boys come together as a team and play as a team, which ended up in victory.

The Bible has a lot to say about working together, and even calls the church a “body of Christ”. Just as the human body is made up of different parts, so is the body of Christ. No part is designed to carry the weight of the whole team, but each part contributes to the body as a whole. Without each part the body suffers.

18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. 23 And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, 24 which our respectable parts do not need.

Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

(1 Corinthians 12:18-26)

In the coming weeks we will be spotlighting various parts of church ministry, and their functions. Please be in prayer about your spiritual gifting and how you can be a part of the body of Christ.

Blessings, Jeff