United We Stand: Body Image | Rob Scott-Cook at 7pm | 11 October 2020

11 October 2020 - 7pm Service

United We Stand - Body Image

This Sunday we celebrated Woodies’ 25th birthday! We also started our new preaching series United We Stand with a message from Rob Scott-Cook on ‘Body Image’.

As a Church, unity is one of our defining values. Without unity, we are unlikely to see our city transformed. In practice, there can be a ‘drag’ away from unity into parochial mindsets and divisions. As a body of believers, we want to actively seek to be unified, and in doing so, see positive transformation.

Earlier today Dave Mitchell also spoke about this topic. Check it out!

You will find discussion notes below to help you go deeper with this topic during the week.

DISCUSSION NOTES

Introduction:

The apostle Paul loves to compare the Church with the human body made up of different parts. In 1st Corinthians he challenges the Church which is ‘the body of Christ’ about its disunity. He reflects on the physical sickness among the Church as a sign of its spiritual sickness because of disunity, especially when it meets to share communion which should be a sign of unity (11:17-34). He says ‘your meetings do more harm than good’ and calls the Church to recognise how the different parts need one another. He challenges disunity on the basis of personalities, race and socio-economic factors.

Questions:

Read 1 Corinthians 11-14.

1. In the individualistic culture of the C21 what attitudes to Church and community would Paul challenge if he was speaking directly to us today?

2. In what ways do you think your attitudes and lifestyle contribute to the health or sickness of the whole Church?

3. How important is ou runity to God (John17).
   Why?
   How does it affect the mission and message of the Church?

4. It’s one thing for a local Church to be united - it’s another thing for a group of Churches or the Church in a city or region to be united. How would you assess our unity as Church in the City? Is there competition and rivalry? Is competition among churches ever healthy?

5. This Sunday we celebrate 25 years of Woodlands Central Church as a place of worship. A core value of Woodlands is ‘unity’ both as a group of Churches and within the City. How would you assess the legacy of Woodies and what would your prayer be for the future?