Grace Community Church, Arlington, TX

The Church and the Body of Christ
Church is not the pastors or elders who lead their congregations. If you are a follower of Jesus, if you’ve placed your faith and trust in Him as Lord and Savior, then YOU are the Church! WE are the Church!
And as the Church, our job is to continue the ministry of Jesus.

We are the Body of Christ, the physical representation of Jesus to those around us, and each one of us has a specific role to play. And when we function together in our spiritual gifts and talents, we continue the ministry of Jesus!

Rows and Circles
We are the Church. We are the Body of Christ. We are to continue the ministry of Jesus. And we primarily gather two ways...in rows and in circles.

Rows are what we’re doing here today. We gather as the Body of Christ corporately for worship, prayer, teaching, and the taking of the Lord’s Supper.

Another reason we gather in rows is to be equipped by the leaders of the church.

Circles are smaller group meetings like life groups, ministry teams, serving teams, where you can use your God-given spiritual gifts to build up and encourage the Body of Christ.

Circles provide a place for each believer to use their spiritual gifts and have built-in accountability. You can build deep relationships with people, share your life with others, pray for and encourage others. You can serve alongside people and together continue the ministry of Jesus.

Spiritual Gifts
First of all, if you are a follower of Jesus and have come to faith in Him as your Lord and Savior, you have at least one spiritual gift.

Spiritual gifts can be found in 1 Cor. 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. Some of these gifts can be used in rows, but MOST of them need to be used in circles.