Text: Romans 12:1-18 / 1 Corr. 12:12-27
The family structure
- Children
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and
mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and
that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers,[b] do not exasperate your children; instead,
bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Proverbs 13:24 He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him
diligently.
- Husbands & Wives
1 Peter 3: 1-7
1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not
believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they
see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment,
such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be
that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in
God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn
themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham
and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. 7
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect
as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder
your prayers.
Titus 2:1-8
1. You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be
temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted
to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their
husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be
subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 6 Similarly, encourage the
young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your
teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned.
The Church Structure Working Together
Romans 12:3-18 (reading text)
1 Corr. 12:12-27 (reading text)
Matthew 25: 14-29
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth
to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each
according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold
went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two
bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the
ground and hid his master’s money.19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and
settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five.
‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’21 “His
master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will
put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’22 “The man with two
bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have
gained two more.’23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s
happiness!’24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that
you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not
scattered seed.25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what
belongs to you.’26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I
have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my
money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with
interest.28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For
whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even
what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
1 Corinthians 1:10
Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same
thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the
same mind and in the same judgment.
1 Corinthians 3:1-4
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are
still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for
it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling
among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I
follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? 5 What, after all, is
Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has
assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be
rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field,
God’s building.
Matthew 28: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you.
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a
man, I gave up childish ways
Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much
more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God
who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose