1. The "people of God" as a concept is applied in the Bible to the children of Israel (Deut. 14:2). Read 1 Peter 2:9, where the concept is clearly applied to Christians. How are we to understand what this means for us today?

God has given us the opportunity to be apart of His chosen people. Through Jesus Christ we become Spiritual Jews. Jesus through His precious blood connects us forever to the family of God. We are no longer strangers but we are brothers and sisters, Jesus is our big brother and God is our Father. Because of Jesus there is no longer Jew or Gentile. Jesus gives us a to opportunity to come together and be His body.

2. "Body of Christ" – Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 12:27, and Ephesians 1:22-23 depict the church as the body of Christ. How do these texts help us to understand better its nature and function?

The body is the imagery which is used to describe the function of the church of God. The body shows the unity of the Church and the purposes of it’s individual members. Each member has been given a spiritual gift to help in the work of the mission of the Church. Just as the body is an indivisible unit , so should the body of Christ be. The unity of the body is what gives it the strength to do the mission that Christ has called us to do. Before Jesus left this earth H prayed for unity.

Some people suffer from what are known as auto-immune diseases: their own immune system, which is supposed to protect the body, attacks it instead. Think about the implications of this analogy for the church as ‘the body of Christ’.

In other contexts this is called friendly fire. We must regain the purpose for our existance and not fight with each other about unimportant things. When we are focused on the great commission we do not have time to argue about the color of the carpet. Lets keep the main thing the main thing!

Prayer: Lord God almighty, help us to be unified as the body of Christ. Help us to keep the main thing the main thing. Thank you, in Jesus name amen.