Christ is the head and we, the Church, are the body.  So consider…are we like the carnival cut-out of the body-builder body with our face in the hole…obvious that the two don’t match?  Or are we aligned with Christ’s way, an extension, a completion of God’s body with Him as the head?

What is the Church?  A place of entertainment or “service” to the congregation?  Is it about me? Absolutely not!  It’s about Christ!

Church is illustrated on the cross – vertical first:  we must have a relationship and connection with God our Father through faith in Christ; then horizontal: stretching out to the people around us.

Sins prompts an incorrect view – it makes us self-centered and demands a focus on self rather than God first and others second, both ahead of us and our selfish desires and needs.

When we put others first, with God as the head, we are able to develop community that is:

• Encouraging to one another
• Loving toward one another
• Forgiving of one another
• Carrying of each others’ burdens and pains
• Urging one another toward becoming more and more like Christ

We must ask ourselves, “Am I living in a way that builds community up or builds me up?”