FIVE SPHERES, ONE FAMILY — FINDING YOUR PLACE IN THE BODY ========================================================= Course: The Potter’s Wheel (Wheel) Lesson: 11 Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:4–27; Acts 2:46–47 Language: English URL: https://kgm-school-preview.netlify.app/lessons/en/wheel/11-five-spheres-one-family/ WhatsApp: WHEEL EN 11 LESSON ELEVEN — FIVE SPHERES, ONE FAMILY: FINDING YOUR PLACE IN THE BODY ============================================================ BIG IDEA A pillar is a truth, and a sphere is that truth at work. Everything the church does belongs to one of five spheres, and each member of the body has a place there. The Spirit distributes the gifts to each one, just as He determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). The church is one family, and she also meets in homes, where the five pillars live under one roof. She lives by seasons, and she is filled before she pours out. Over all of this is one banner: Know the Word. Trust the Spirit. PART 1 — SCRIPTURE READING 1 Corinthians 12:4–27 • Acts 2:46–47 Open your Bible and read slowly: 1 Corinthians 12:4–27 and Acts 2:46–47. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says that there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. Paul also says that there are many parts, but one body. In Acts 2, the believers meet every day in the temple courts, and they break bread in their homes with glad and sincere hearts. Lessons Eight to Twelve show the vision in practice. In Lesson Nine we walked the Potter’s pathway, from surrender to sending. In Lesson Ten we saw four depths of service: participant, helper, co-leader, and lead. Now each disciple asks one more question: where do I belong in the body? Then we look at the church as one family that meets in homes and lives by seasons. This lesson follows Chapters 11 and 12 of The Potter’s Wheel. KEY VERSE — 1 CORINTHIANS 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” PART 2 — WALKING THROUGH THE LESSON A. A Pillar Is a Truth — A Sphere Is That Truth at Work A pillar is a truth that the church stands on. A sphere is that truth at work. Everything the church does belongs to one of five spheres: every team, every event, every ministry. Each sphere is one pillar put into practice. Each sphere is shepherded by one elder, and the church knows who that elder is. Sheep need a shepherd who knows their names. Jesus spoke about the shepherd of the sheep. The shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (John 10:3). The members of the body find a home in a sphere, and there they grow through the four depths of service. The five spheres are more than a plan on paper. They are 1 Corinthians 12 put into practice. Paul wrote, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:4–5). B. The Five Spheres Here are the five spheres. Each sphere carries one pillar. 1. The first sphere is the Love of the Father. This sphere carries the pillar of Love: giving, the care of what God has entrusted to the church, and helping each member to find a place to serve. Those who look after the money and the buildings of the church serve here. So do those who ask a new member what gifts God has given to that member for service. Giving is discipleship, not administration. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). So the accounts of a church are a spiritual record, and those who keep them faithfully are ministers of the Father’s own generosity. 2. The second sphere is the Word of the Son. This sphere carries the pillar of Truth: the teaching of the Scriptures at every age and at every depth. The preaching on Sunday belongs here. So do the foundations of the faith for new believers, the school of service, the teaching of children and youth, and the Bible studies. Here also the teaching is written down, so that the teaching reaches hands and homes. The Lord told Habakkuk to write down the revelation and make it plain (Habakkuk 2:2). A church that gives her best teachers to her children has understood this sphere. The youngest clay keeps the deepest marks of the fingers. 3. The third sphere is the Power of the Spirit. This sphere carries the pillar of Prayer and worship: worship, prayer, and the gathering of the church. The worship leaders and the musicians serve here. So do the prayer groups that meet through the week, and those who prepare the room where the church meets God. Notice who belongs here: not only those who stand in front, but also those who set the chairs and those who pray unseen. In the days of the tabernacle, the Kohathites were to carry the holy things on their shoulders (Numbers 7:9). All of them were carriers of the presence of God. 4. The fourth sphere is the Fellowship of the Church. This sphere carries the pillar of Fellowship: care, and the shared life of the family. Here we welcome each visitor, and we remember that visitor afterwards. Here we visit the sick, and we bring practical help in a time of need. Here families open their homes, and the church eats together. This is the sphere that makes the family a family. In Acts 6, widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food, and seven men were chosen for this responsibility (Acts 6:1–5). Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist and began to wash His disciples’ feet (John 13:4–5). He gave honour to this kind of service forever. 5. The fifth sphere is Outreach to the World. This sphere carries the pillar of Outreach in two directions: near and far. Near, in our own streets, we share the Gospel with our neighbours. Even the cleaning of the church building belongs here, because a well-kept house is a testimony to the neighbours before a word is spoken. Far, beyond our own nation, we pray for the work of the Gospel, we support that work, and we send those who go. Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). For the apostles, Jerusalem was near, and the ends of the earth were far. Near and far belong to one sphere. The Five Spheres at a Glance - The sphere: The Love of the Father · The pillar: Love · What the sphere carries: Giving, the care of what God has entrusted, and helping each member to find a place to serve · Scripture: Matthew 6:21 - The sphere: The Word of the Son · The pillar: Truth · What the sphere carries: The teaching of the Scriptures at every age and at every depth · Scripture: Habakkuk 2:2 - The sphere: The Power of the Spirit · The pillar: Prayer and worship · What the sphere carries: Worship, prayer, and the gathering of the church · Scripture: Numbers 7:9 - The sphere: The Fellowship of the Church · The pillar: Fellowship · What the sphere carries: Care, and the shared life of the family · Scripture: Acts 6:1–5; John 13:4–5 - The sphere: Outreach to the World · The pillar: Outreach · What the sphere carries: Outreach in two directions: near and far · Scripture: Acts 1:8 C. How to Find Your Place The key verse says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). So each member may ask: where do I belong? The answer is plain. 1. You do not need to finish any level of study first. Service begins on the first day. 2. Choose the sphere that stirs your heart. This is the sphere that you think about, pray about, and feel drawn toward. Tell the shepherd of that sphere. 3. Begin as a participant. Accept the first small task when you are invited. Then grow through the four depths, slowly and faithfully. If no sphere stirs your heart yet, serve where the need is. When the hands begin to serve, the heart often follows. If every sphere stirs your heart, begin with one. You do not need to serve in all five. The principle of Acts 6 governs all of this. The Twelve told the disciples to choose seven men who were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:2–3). So the task of the church is to recognize what the Spirit is already doing in each member, and to give that work a name. The Spirit has already distributed the gifts. Paul wrote, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:11). The spheres do not create ministers. They find them. Peter wrote, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Notice the words “each of you.” No member of the body is without a gift. D. The Church That Meets in Homes When we read the book of Acts and look for church buildings, we find homes. Of the first believers we read, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46–47). Day after day the apostles taught in the temple courts and from house to house (Acts 5:42). Paul sent greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, and also to the church that met at their house (Romans 16:3–5). The church was one family in many homes. The vision follows the same pattern. The gathering of the whole family on Sunday remains central. But through the week the life of the church flows into homes. Small circles of families and neighbours meet near where they live. A circle is near, so that people can walk there. A circle is small, so that each person is known. The life of a circle is real, so that the neighbours notice. A home circle is not a program of the church. A home circle is the church in her smallest visible form. E. Five Pillars Under One Roof A home circle practises the five pillars all through the year. Each home receives, and each home pours out. - Each home receives the Father’s love. We receive His love, and we give His love as we serve one another. - Each home receives the Son’s truth. Scripture is opened at every gathering, without exception. - Each home receives the Spirit’s power. We pray and we worship, and every home is a house of prayer. - Each home pours out fellowship. We share meals, we share prayer, and we share life. - Each home pours out outreach. The home opens the door to the neighbours and draws them in. Five pillars under one roof. When someone asks what our church believes, the fullest answer is not a document. The fullest answer is an evening in one of her homes. Each host offers what he or she has, and uses that gift to serve others (1 Peter 4:10). Hospitality is not a gift for a few people only. Hospitality is bread, a roof, and a glad heart. The whole family shares the cost, so that no host carries the cost alone. F. A Rhythm of Seasons — Filled Before We Pour Out God has built rhythm into everything He made. The Lord said, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22). A church also lives in seasons. A church does not need to do every work at the same time. If she tries, everything becomes weak and everyone becomes tired. So in each season the church gives most of her strength to one work, and the homes do that work together. The book shows how one church in Canada does this: the study of the Word in winter, prayer in spring, the table of fellowship in summer, and the harvest of outreach in autumn. Look at the order. The study of the Word fills the church. Prayer fills her even more. Then she pours out at the table of fellowship and in the harvest of outreach. The seasons of filling come before the seasons of pouring out. This rhythm keeps every pillar strong, and God’s people are not exhausted. The church also prays in the season of harvest, because the harvest belongs to the Lord of the harvest. Jesus said, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). So prayer and outreach go together. Outreach without prayer is labour without the Lord. Protect the rhythm, and do not let one favourite season take the whole year. G. Know the Word. Trust the Spirit. Over all of this is one simple banner, short enough for a child to carry: Know the Word. Trust the Spirit. These are the words printed on every lesson of this term. Keep this banner simple, and keep it before the people. Know the Word. Remember the river of Lesson Two. A church stands ankle-deep in Truth before she can go deeper, and everything we do must be tested by what God has said. Paul wrote, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Trust the Spirit. Knowledge alone is not enough. Paul wrote that knowledge puffs up while love builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1). To puff up is to make proud. Jesus spoke of rivers of living water, and by this He meant the Spirit (John 7:38–39). So the river that flows from the temple is not a river of information but of living water. When we have the Word without the Spirit, our faith dries into empty religion. When we claim the Spirit without the Word, we drift into confusion. But where the Word is known and the Spirit is trusted, the church walks in both truth and power. She loves God, and she depends on God. This is where the whole vision began: we know and rely on the love God has for us (1 John 4:16). H. The Lesson in One Sentence Each member has a gift and a place in the body, and the one family meets in homes, is filled before she pours out, knows the Word, and trusts the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11, 27; Acts 2:4, 46; 2 Timothy 3:16; John 7:39). In Lesson Twelve we come to the last lesson of the term: the covenant of the family, and the step from attending to belonging. PART 3 — KNOW THE WORD: TEACHING FOCUS #### 1. Each One of You Is a Part of the Body Read the key verse again (1 Corinthians 12:27). Paul says “each one of you.” God has placed the parts in the body, each one of them, just as He wanted them to be (1 Corinthians 12:18). The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable (1 Corinthians 12:22). The body needs them. Those who serve unseen belong as fully as those who stand in front. #### 2. Different Kinds of Service, the Same Lord There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord (1 Corinthians 12:5). The five spheres are five kinds of service under one Lord, and the spheres exist to serve the pillars. Let each sphere have a shepherd whom the church can name. Let each ministry have a named leader, so that the pastor does not carry the church alone. Once a year, compare each sphere with its pillar. If a sphere no longer carries its pillar, change the work, not the truth. #### 3. The Church Meets in the Temple Courts and in Homes The first believers met together in the temple courts, and they broke bread in their homes (Acts 2:46). Both belong to the life of the church: the whole family gathered, and the small circles in homes. So open your home. Your table may be the only place where the people of your street ever hear the Word. PART 4 — TRUST THE SPIRIT: TEACHING FOCUS #### 1. The Spirit Distributes the Gifts to Each One All the gifts are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). What the Spirit gives to each one is given for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7). So notice which sphere stirs your heart. The Spirit is already at work in you. The church recognizes what He is already doing, and she gives that work a name. #### 2. The Spirit Forms One Body The church has five spheres and many homes, but she is one family. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He forms one body out of many members. Paul wrote, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13). #### 3. The Spirit Fills the Church Before She Pours Out The seasons of filling come before the seasons of pouring out. Jesus promised His apostles that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them, and that they would be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). Before the day of Pentecost, the believers all joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14). Then all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). He came on them as Jesus had promised. So the church prays, the Holy Spirit fills her, and then she pours out. Word and Spirit in Lesson Eleven — Side by Side - Know the Word: We are the body of Christ, and each one of us is a part of the body (1 Corinthians 12:27). · Trust the Spirit: The Spirit distributes the gifts to each one, just as He determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). - Know the Word: There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord (1 Corinthians 12:5). · Trust the Spirit: We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). - Know the Word: The believers broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts (Acts 2:46). · Trust the Spirit: They all joined together constantly in prayer, and then all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14; 2:4). - Know the Word: All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17). · Trust the Spirit: Jesus spoke of rivers of living water, and by this He meant the Spirit (John 7:38–39). PART 5 — FORMING CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER This lesson forms Christ in us in three ways: 1. Christ is formed in us when we take our place in the body. Name the sphere that stirs your heart. Begin as a participant, and accept the first small task. Use whatever gift you have received to serve others (1 Peter 4:10). 2. Christ is formed in us when we open our homes. You do not need a large house or a special gift. Bread, a roof, and a glad and sincere heart are enough. 3. Christ is formed in us when we know the Word and trust the Spirit. Test everything by what God has said. Then depend on the Spirit, and be filled before you pour out. PART 6 — DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Come prepared to answer. Come prepared to listen. 1. Read the five spheres again slowly. Which sphere stirs your heart? What is the smallest task you could take in that sphere this month? 2. Think of the five spheres in your own church. Who shepherds each part of the work? Is there a part of the work that the pastor still carries alone? How could you help? 3. Compare each sphere with its pillar. In your church, does the work of fellowship include care? Does the work of outreach include sharing the Gospel? What would you change, so that each sphere carries its pillar? 4. The first believers broke bread in their homes (Acts 2:46). What would a home circle look like in your church? Could your own home be opened? 5. A church lives in seasons. What would the seasons of your church year look like? Which seasons would fill your church, and which seasons would pour out? PART 7 — WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT Before next class, take time with the following: - Read Acts 2:42–47, Romans 14:19, and Hebrews 10:24–25 in preparation for Lesson Twelve. - Memorize 1 Corinthians 12:27 or 1 Peter 4:10. - Write the five spheres on one page. Beside each one, write the name of the person who shepherds that work in your church. Then mark the sphere that stirs your own heart, and offer yourself for one small task there this month. - Open your home once before next class. Invite one family or one neighbour. Share a simple meal, read a passage of Scripture, and pray together. - Teach the banner to one child in your home or in your church: Know the Word. Trust the Spirit. CLOSING PRAYER A PRAYER TO PRAY OUT LOUD THIS WEEK Father, thank You that we are the body of Christ, and that each one of us is a part of the body. Thank You that Your Spirit has given gifts to each one, just as He determines. Show each of us our place. Teach us to use whatever gift we have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of Your grace. Thank You that You have made us one family. Teach us to break bread in our homes with glad and sincere hearts. Let every home receive Your love, Your truth, and the power of Your Spirit, and let every home pour out fellowship and outreach. You are the Lord of the harvest. Send out workers into Your harvest field, in our town and across Tanzania. Teach us the rhythm of Your seasons. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit before we pour out, so that every pillar stays strong and Your people do not grow tired. Help us to know Your Word and to trust Your Spirit, so that our church walks in both truth and power. In the Name of Jesus, amen. NEXT LESSON — Lesson Twelve — From Attending to Belonging. The Covenant of the Family ---------- KGM School of Service — Knowing God Missions · Tumenyimana https://kgm-school-preview.netlify.app