1 Corinthians 12:12-26 —
We live in an individualistic culture whose definition of ‘the good life’ focuses on self-centered, impersonal things. Our place in the world, our value, we are told, connects to things like our career, our money, our car, our clothes, and our appearance. Happiness, our world markets to us, involves beings true to oneself and asserting one’s wishes and rights. The ‘good life’ our world advocates comes with a widely known secret – impersonal things and self-centered pursuits ultimately result in unhappiness and discontent.
God offers a different definition of ‘the good life.’ The life He pictures focuses on loving relationships with people rather than impersonal things; it focuses on selflessness in a community rather than self-centeredness. God’s focus on relationships helps explain the central place He gives to the church, which He has tasked with modeling His definition of the good life. This lesson will consider how God’s plan for the church offers another reason for our thankfulness:
I am thankful for church family.