Body Of Christ Quotes

I had known David Ham and Marco Santiago from having met and worked with them on The Cross and the Switchblade which we worked on together at Times Square Church. We joined together as Trace Life Media to be a directing/producing team to be able to assist churches in the production of a play in their own community or to bring a fully-produced productions - something that will be ministering to the Body of Christ. ~ Patricia Mauceri

The litmus test used to discern if a house church is healthy is simple: The believers in a healthy house church focus on loving Jesus, loving each other, reaching those who don't know Jesus and respecting the rest of the Body of Christ. ~ Larry Kreider

God's conception and purpose, in giving us a being at all, is HIS LIKENESS - an expression of Himself. This must be an adjusting factor in our mentality, in our conversation, in our teaching. We must not be taken up with efforts to get the church according to a certain technique and order and conception. Our message must not be the message of the Body of Christ as a truth, as a doctrine, as a procedure. All these things come within this encircling conception. What is the Body of Christ for, if it is not to express what Christ is like? What is the church for, if it is not to manifest the presence of Christ? This must adjust our thoughts, our ideas, our teaching and our talk. The thing about which we have to be concerned is - not this and that aspect of truth - but: How much is the Lord seen, recognised, understood, as to what He is like? ~ T. Austin-Sparks

Nathan's mother is thinking about the body of Christ and the wings of angels. Her spirit lightens in the safety, the sanctity, of the church. Dark hair surrounds her pretty oval face. Light from the stained-glass window tints her skin. Nathan thinks about the body of the son of the farmer who owns the house Nathan's parents rented three weeks ago. ~ Jim Grimsley

The devil isn't a true lion; he just walks around roaring like one trying to intimidate the Body of Christ. But the truth is, he's had his teeth pulled, and all he can do now is gum you. ~ Andrew Wommack

We believe that Christ is going to come again. But do not think that the Lord Jesus will automatically come if we sit and passively wait. No, there is a work which the church must do. As the Body of Christ, we must learn to work together with God. We should never think that it is enough just to be saved. It is not. We must be concerned with God's need. (CWWN, vol. 34, "The Glorious Church," pp. 61, 63-64) ~ Witness Lee

My dying planet needs to see what the body of Christ looks like. ~ Jon Foreman

Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Mt 5:17). Yet Paul could say, "Christ is the end of the law" (Rom 10:4); "you also died to the law through the body of Christ" (Rom 7:4); and "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law" (Gal 3:25). Hebrews states, "By calling this covenant 'new,' he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear" (Heb 8:13), and "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming" (Heb 10:1). The Matthew text is the key one, for Jesus is asserting that the Torah has not been abrogated and in fact is intact in him. ~ Grant R. Osborne

When a person becomes a Christian, he doesn't just join a local church because it's a good habit for growing in spiritual maturity. He joins a local church because it's the expression of what Christ has made him - a member of the body of Christ. ~ Mark Dever

Now circumcision was an external mark, by which God's people were known in distinction from other nations; just as we see that every prince gives his people and army his standard and watchword, by which they are known among themselves and by which foreigners can tell, to what lord they belong. Thus God has never left his people without such a sign or watchword, by which it can outwardly be known in the world where his people are to be found. Jews are known by circumcision: that was their divine mark. Our mark is baptism and the body of Christ. ~ Martin Luther

I want to say to all you Scribes, Pharisees, heresy hunters, all of you that are going around pickin' little bits of doctrinal error out of everybody's eyes and dividin' the Body of Christ ... get out of God's way, stop blockin' God's bridges, or God's goin' to shoot you if I don't ... let Him sort out all this doctrinal doodoo! ... I refuse to argue any longer with any of you out there! Don't even call me if you want to argue ... Get out of my life! I don't want to talk to you ... I don't want to see your ugly face! ~ Paul Crouch

People are not being reached in the context of the body of Christ
they're like newborn babies being left on a doorstep somewhere to feed and care for themselves. ~ Peter E. Gillquist

They get married, but their marriage will look quite different from marriage as the world understands it. Christian marriage will be undertaken "in the Lord" (I Cor. 7.39). It will be sanctified in the service of the Body of Christ and in the discipline of prayer and self-control (I Cor. 7.5). It will be a parable of the self-sacrificing love of Christ for his Church. It will even be itself a part of the Body of Christ, a Church in miniature (Eph. 5.32). ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Tragically, from the Orthodox point of view, we only too often convert people not to this one church, the body of Christ, but to our own denomination, at the same time imparting to them the "poison of division" (Nissiotis 1968:198). ~ David J. Bosch

I dreamed there would be a time to come together to "build out the Hope Reformation that would bring certain shifts to the leaders in the Body of Christ." In this dream, I saw the buildings of revival and prayer and there was some divine activity that was good and needed and foundational for what God was doing on the earth. ~ Bob Hartley

I believe in the literal rising of the body of Christ. It's the cornerstone of my Christian faith. ~ Francis Collins

No one can become a new man except by entering the Church, and becoming a member of the body of Christ. It is impossible to become a new man as a solitary individual. The new man means more than the individual believer after he has been justified and sanctified. It means the Church, the Body of Christ, in fact it means Christ himself. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I would say that the "masterpiece" was the creative act itself and not a particular work which happened to please a large audience and be accepted as the very body of Christ. ~ Henry Miller

Joining the corporate worship of the body of Christ requires that we allow something else - the good of the body - to supercede our personal preferences. ~ Michael Walters

The main practical difficulty, with some at least of the Peace-makers, is how to carry themselves toward the undoers of peace, the disuniters of souls. Perhaps the most potent of these are not those powers of the church visible who care for canon and dogma more than for truth, and for the church more than for Christ; who take uniformity for unity; who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, nor knowing what spirit they are of; such men, I say, are perhaps neither the most active nor the most potent force working for the disintegration of the body of Christ.
I imagine also that neither are the party-liars of politics the worst foes to divine unity, ungenerous, and often knowingly falseas they are t their opponents, to whom they seem to have no desire to be honest and fair.
I think rather, they must be the babbling lairs of the social circle, and the faithless brothers and unloving sisters of disunited human families.
But why inquire?
Every self-assertion, every form of self-seeking however small or poor, world-noble or grotesque, is a separating and scattering force. And these forces are multitudinous, these points of radial repulsion are innumerable, because of the prevailing passion of mean souls to seem great, and feel important.
…the partisan of self will sometimes gnaw asunder the most precious of bonds, poisen whole broods of infant loves.
Such real schismatics go about, where not inventing evil, yet rejoicing in iniquity; mishearing; misrepre ~ George MacDonald

Instead of thinking those who don't share your passions are not 'real Christians,' recognize the beauty of diversity within the body of Christ. Instead of being angry with others for not feeling your urgency about an issue, give them time to come around. ~ Holly Sprink

Even if we change practices or behaviors, we are seeking transformed hearts. We must know in our bones God's heart for equality and wholeness in the Body of Christ then live our lives out of that truth, with invitation and joy, as living prophets of God's way of life. ~ Sarah Bessey

Within the church, it is possible for believers to possess a profound unity based on a shared commitment to Biblical truth, an intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a deep level of spiritual maturity. Paul also adds "sound doctrine" and "growing in Christlikeness" as additional benefits that result from the saints being properly equipped to build up the body of Christ."(Comments on Ephesians 4 vs 11-13) ~ John F. MacArthur Jr.

Serving God brings us to a place of great honour. Putting people in ministry is helping them to find their calling and their place in the body of Christ. ~ Sunday Adelaja

Statistically, you can take two people, give them the same quantity of God's Word, and the one with the most Christian friends will be the one who's most likely to apply it. So the real question we need to ask ourselves is this, "Are we intimately connected with other people in the body of Christ?" If not, it doesn't matter how many sermons or worship experiences you ingest. You have very low odds of actually changing. ~ Peter Haas

Jesus' fathomless love changes how you and I will live in our moments, how we'll love in our neighborhoods, and what we'll be known for in eternity. ~ Jennifer Dukes Lee

If the church is the body of Christ [who was disguised in servant form], why would we think the world would be able to pick us out of a crowd of other well-meaning organizations? ~ Mark Galli

Beyond the family or particular Christian tradition, how much effort do we make to consider what the Mennonites or the Episcopalians, the Baptists or the Pentecostals, the Methodists or the Presbyterians have to say to the rest of us out of their DIFFERENCES, as well as out of the affirmation in common with other Christians? As I suggested earlier, our patterns of ecumenicity tend to bracket out our differences rather than to celebrate and capitalize upon them. Finding common ground has been the necessary first step in ecumenical relations and activity. But the next step is to acknowledge and enjoy what God has done elsewhere in the Body of Christ. And if at the congregational level we are willing to say, 'I can't do everything myself, for I am an ear: I must consult with a hand or an eye on this matter,' I suggest that we do the same among whole traditions. If we do not regularly and programmatically consult with each other, we are tacitly claiming that we have no need of each other, and that all the truth, beauty, and goodness we need has been vouchsafed to us by God already. Not only is such an attitude problematic in terms of our flourishing, as I have asserted, but in this context now we must recognize how useless a picture this presents to the rest of society. Baptists, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics failing to celebrate diversity provide no positive examples to societies trying to understand how to celebrate diversity on larger scales. ~ John G. Stackhouse Jr.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. JFK ~ John F. Kennedy

Insight is the God given ability for you to know your Identity, your Kingdom ID; your spiritual DNA; your uniqueness in the earth and in the Body of Christ. There is no one like you. You are predestined for Greatness. ~ Chuck Pierce

It is proper that the duty of helping the poor and unfortunate should especially stir Catholics, since they are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. In this we have come to know the love of God, said John the Apostle, that He laid down His life for us, and we likewise ought to lay down our life for the brethren. He who has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1Jn 3:16 17) ~ Pope John XXII

From very early on, I've realized that and I have a mission statement with my songs to entertain, to encourage and to challenge the Body of Christ. That's always kind of the focus of the songs that I write for myself. ~ Jonny Diaz

I ache for the body of Christ in our generation to learn how to tarry before God and expectantly wait for Him to speak. I'm desperate to learn it for myself. If we do, what revelation we would receive! We cannot have a drive-thru relationship with God and expect to behold His glory. Like the children of Israel, much of the body of Christ still stands back and watches those they consider truly anointed draw near to God's glory. Dear One, you are anointed! Never settle for a secondhand relationship. Never be satisfied with distant glory. ~ Beth Moore

As we mature spiritually, we exhibit a growing capacity to care for and appreciate one another in the body of Christ, regardless of our differences. ~ Joseph Stowell

The Church is the Body of Christ begotten, unified, and indwelt by the Spirit, but forgetting the Spirit, men wrangle over limbs, functions, and orders. The Christian religion is hopeless without the Holy Ghost. ~ Samuel Chadwick

It is interesting that Jesus encounters a person, personally, forgives him, transforms him adds Him into the Church - the Body of Christ, However today, Church is getting the other way around, she is raising up a believer in Church, feeding the cup of her doctrine and then showing the person of Christ in with the veil of concocted and diseased doctrines. ~ Ajay Chandan

There the union of Church and State tends strongly to paralyze some of the members of the body of Christ. Here there is no such influence to destroy spiritual life and power. ~ Josiah Strong

If you have no interest in actually committing yourself to an actual group of gospel-believing, Bible-teaching Christians, you might question whether you belong to the body of Christ at all! ~ Mark Dever

You know what else that settles then tonight. This hue and cry and controversy that has been spawned by the devil to try and bring dissention within the body of Christ that we are gods. I am a little god. ~ Paul Crouch

What is the kingdom solution to divisions in the body of Christ along class, cultural, racial, and denominational lines? Be committed to the truth. ~ Tony Evans

the fuller story of the New Testament is that God's people have been resurrected as the body of Christ. Just as Jesus is the embodiment of the shalom that God intends for creation, the church's role in the drama of Creation is likewise to be the embodiment of God's shalom, albeit in a form that hasn't yet been fully realized. ~ C. Christopher Smith

Christ took upon himself this human form of ours. He became Man even as we are men. In his humanity and his lowliness we recognize our own form. He has become like a man, so that men should be like him. And in the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Henceforth, any attack on the least of men is an attack on Christ, who took the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all that bears a human form. Through fellowship and communion with the incarnate Lord, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time we are delivered from that individualism which is the consequence of sin, and retrieve our solidarity with the whole human race. By being partakers of Christ incarnate, we are partakers in the whole humanity which he bore. We now know that we have been taken up and borne in the humanity of Jesus, and therefore that new nature we now enjoy means that we too must bear the sins and sorrows of others. The incarnate Lord makes his followers the brothers of all mankind. The "philanthropy" of God (Titus 3:4) revealed in the Incarnation is the ground of Christian love towards all on earth that bears the name of man. The form of Christ incarnate makes the Church into the Body of Christ. All the sorrows of mankind fall upon that form, and only through that form can they be borne. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This is the church's job. This is who we are as the body of Christ to reach out to people who are in need, who are struggling, who need to be discipled and to pursue Christ in their life. That's good news and the church should offer it wholeheartedly to anyone. ~ Alan Chambers

The body of Christ needs to mature until we can distinguish a true prophetic word from merely the word of a prophet. Many modern Christians are afraid to reject anything spoken by one who claims to be a prophet or prophetess. ~ Iverna Tompkins

When we speak of the Church as the Body of Christ we are saying that it is given such union with Christ that it becomes a communion filled and overflowing with the divine love. ~ T.F. Torrance

For the church is not a human society of people united by their natural affinities but the Body of Christ, in which all members, however different, (and He rejoices in their differences and by no means wishes to iron them out) must share the common life, complementing and helping one another precisely by their differences. ~ C.S. Lewis

Every sufferer who bears pain, or slander, or loss, or personal unkindness for Christ's sake, is filling up that amount of suffering which is necessary to the bringing together of the whole body of Christ, and the upbuilding of His elect Church. ~ Charles Spurgeon

In our culture it is seen as a sign of weakness to actually seek help from someone else. And yet, as Christians, God designed us to need each other - He designed us to lean upon the body of Christ for support, prayer, wisdom, and even practical help. ~ Leslie Ludy

Anyone wanting to proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth must consider not only how to declare the gospel verbally but also how to demonstrate the gospel visibly in a world where so many are urgently hungry. If I am going to address urgent spriitual need by sharing the gospel of Christ or building up the body of Christ around the world, then I cannot overlook dire physical need in the process. ~ David Platt

The bread while becoming by virtue of Christ's words the body of Christ does not cease to be bread. ~ John Wycliffe

What God is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the body of Christ because they've been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light they have and I think they're saved and they're going to be with us in heaven. ~ Billy Graham

We have a lot of In-SPECK-tor Gadgets in the body of Christ not qualified to remove specks! What do I look like telling you to take a bath if I stink? What do you look like telling me to brush my teeth when your breath smells horrible? Jesus would answer, "You look like a Hypocrite! ~ Sandra M. Michelle

God wants every member of the Body of Christ to be a blessing one to another; that's why, everyone has to be involved in a ministry. ~ Sunday Adelaja

This book is dedicated to the much needed establishing of greater unity in the wider body of Christ. It is dedicated to agreement with the prayer that Jesus prayed:

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:"
John 17:20-22 NKJV ~ Andrew Billings

I am convinced it is, then our churches are filled with believers who are hurting, to one degree or another, whether visible or unseen. Some come every Sunday clinging to a thread of hope that somehow the church will be the body of Christ that supports them, offers a word of hope, and helps them find a way to walk through the storm with God instead of without God. ~ Glenn Pemberton

Allegiance to Jesus and loving the truth are primary truths (2Thessalonians 2 v10). The Body of Christ must tolerate all religions in the sense of greatly valuing the dignity of their people and religious liberties. They possess great dignity before God. Yet, we are not willing to let them go to hell by refusing to love them and tell them the truth about Jesus. A false application of tolerance is foundational in the movements that lead to the harlot religion. ~ Mike Bickle

Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it. ~ Saint Augustine

16:20 God who is the author of our peace shall quickly and utterly trample 1Satan, doing it with your feet. Your victory is realized in the revelation of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and echoed (personalized) in your amen. (We are the body of Christ. God desires to demonstrate his reign of peace in us by confirming satan's defeat in our practical day to day experience. The defeat of 1accusation is celebrated in what grace communicates. The word, 1satanos, means accuser. The law of faith defeated the law of works!) ~ Francois Du Toit

Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ ... It is a crime against humanity. ~ Pope Francis

This second step calls one to yield to that local part of the Body of Christ, and to dedicate oneself to that congregation and its work. ~ Peter Marshall

The bread that you see on the altar is the Body of Christ as soon as it is sanctified by God's word. The chalice, or better what is contained in the chalice, is the Blood of Christ as soon as it is sanctified by God's word ~ Saint Augustine

Now let's put this all together. Jesus prayed in John 17 that the Body of Christ would be united with the Godhead in the same way that He Himself is united with His Father. The implication is that when people see us, they have seen the Father. And if they don't believe us on account of our words, they should believe us on account of our works, because we are to do greater works than Jesus did. That is the kind of unity that will cause the world to know that the Kingdom of God has come near them! ~ Kris Vallotton

When it comes to my salvation, all I need is Jesus; after my salvation, everything is Jesus plus the church ... When people preach that all you need is Jesus, they cut you and I off from one of the greatest sources of healing, which is the body of Christ. Don't go it alone - you won't make it. ~ Josh McDowell

The body of Christ is about doing life together, and by doing life together sin is revealed. ~ James MacDonald

The Eucharist is source and pledge of blessedness and glory, not for the soul alone, but for the body also ... In the frail and perishable body that divine Host, which is the immortal body of Christ, implants a principle of resurrection, a seed of immortality, which one day must germinate ~ Pope Leo XIII

The fact that you have a large sum of money in your wallet does not remove your responsibility from you before God to be involved in a ministry in the body of Christ ~ Sunday Adelaja

The formula "the Church is the Body of Christ" thus states that the Eucharist, in which the Lord gives us his body, forever remains the place where the Church is generated, where the Lord himself never ceases to found her anew; in the Eucharist the Church is most compactly herself - in all places, yet one only, just as he is one ~ Pope Benedict XVI

The single most important hindrance to world evangelization right now is the lack of total involvement by the body of Christ. ~ K.P. Yohannan

When I consider the teachings, doctrines and what happens generally in the body of Christ both here in Europe, America and in Africa, I sometimes feel that I am living in my own reality. Either the whole world is getting it wrong or I am just running crazy ~ Sunday Adelaja

We learned that the body of Christ grows by the Word of Christ, flexing its muscles to serve, stretching out its hands to heal, and dreaming up creative ways to bless one another using the gifts God has given. ~ Gloria Furman

Nevertheless the meaning is not that the blessed bread which is divided, which is offered, and which the apostles received from the hand of Christ was not the body of Christ but becomes the body of Christ when the eating of it is begun. ~ Martin Chemnitz

Christ, invisible to the bodily eye, manifests Himself on earth clearly through His Church ... The Church is the Body of Christ both because its parts are united to Christ through His divine mysteries and because through her Christ works in the world. ~ John Of Shanghai And San Francisco

Monks realize well that when the consciousness of one person is raised, the whole of humanity is raised; when the quality of life of one improves, all improve. Or, to put it in another, more biblical, way, the increased health and vitality of any one cell vitalizes the whole Body of Christ. 38 ~ M. Basil Pennington

27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ~ Anonymous

The problem is that, regardless of what our theologies tell us about the purpose of the clergy, the actual effect of the clergy profession is to make the body of Christ lame. This happens not because clergy intend it (they usually intend the opposite) but because the objective nature of the profession inevitably turns the laity into passive receivers. ~ Christian Smith

It is hard to think of anything more vile than to intentionally desecrate the Body of Christ. ~ William Anthony Donohue

The Massalians are not dualists but monarchians, and they have dealings with the infernal powers, and in fact some texts call them Borborites, from borboros, filth, because of the unspeakable things they do."
"What do they do?"
"The usual unspeakable things. Men and women hold in the palm of their hand, and raise to heaven, their own ignominy, namely, sperm or menstruum, then eat it, calling it the Body of Christ. And if by chance a woman is made pregnant, at the opportune moment they stick a hand into her womb, pull out the embryo, throw it into a mortar, mix in some honey and pepper, and gobble it up."
"How revolting, honey and pepper!" Diotallevi said. ~ Umberto Eco

The gospel by which individuals come to personal faith, and so to that radical transformation of life spoken of so often in the new Testament, is the personalizing of the larger challenge just mentioned: the call to every child, woman, and man to submit in faith to the lordship of the crucified and risen Jesus and so to become, through baptism and membership in the body of Christ, a living, breathing anticipation of the final new creation itself ~ N. T. Wright

The temple of God is the holy people in Jesus Christ. The Body of Christ is the living temple of God and of the new humanity. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

It is great to be desperate for the word of God. It is also assential to have the spirit of discernment because there are many vultures and wolves in sheep skin in the Body of Christ. They are longing to devour those who are genuinely seeking for Kingdom of God. ~ Euginia Herlihy

All individuals have moral deficiencies, and when introducing these to reality one not only strengthens himself but also the confidence of others in the human exigency for Christ due to a reflection throughout the body of Christ. ~ Criss Jami

My hope and prayer is that the body of Christ in America will awake with holy boldness, a boldness content neither with silence nor mere words but that backs up those words with action and results. ~ Frank R. Wolf

My purpose in beginning the John Wimber biography project was to honor his rich legacy of teaching, his extraordinary character, and the positive & beneficial impact his life has had on my journey as a 'follower of Christ'. I esteem John Wimber's teachings, writing, and impact upon the Body of Christ to be equal with that of C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, John F. Banks, D.L. Moody, and Leanne Payne. ~ R. Alan Woods

Worship gatherings are not always spectacular, but they are always supernatural. And if a church looks for or works for the spectacular, she may miss the supernatural. If a person enters a gathering to be wowed with something impressive, with a style that fits him just right, with an order of service and song selection designed just the right way, that person may miss the supernatural presence of God. Worship is supernatural whenever people come hungry to respond, react, and receive from God for who He is and what He has done. A church worshipping as a Creature of the Word doesn't show up to perform or be entertained; she comes desperate and needy, thirsty for grace, receiving from the Lord and the body of Christ, and then gratefully receiving what she needs as she offers her praise-the only proper response to the God who saves us. ~ Matt Chandler

The focus in the Western pictorial tradition is on the body of Christ, the bit you can paint, the Nativity and the infancy, but above all the Passion, where you can find images for every stage and every moment. ~ Neil MacGregor

True knowledge is that which consists in the doctrine of the apostles, and the ancient constitution of the Church throughout all the world, and the distinctive manifestation of the body of Christ according to the successions of the bishops, by which they have handed down that Church which exists in every place, and has come even unto us, being guarded and preserved without any forging of Scriptures, by a very complete system of doctrine, and neither receiving addition nor [suffering] curtailment [in the truths which she believes]; and [it consists in] reading [the word of God] without falsification, and a lawful and diligent exposition in harmony with the Scriptures, both without danger and without blasphemy; and [above all] it consists in] the pre-eminent gift of love, which is more precious than knowledge, more glorious than prophecy, and which excels all the other gifts [of God[. ~ Irenaus

The phrase "the body of Christ," expresses well what we are called to do: to represent in flesh what Christ is like, especially to those in need. The ~ Philip Yancey

God wants his power in every person's life. He loves taking ordinary people and using them to do extraordinary things. It didn't take long, however, for Christians to make ministry a profession and hire a few folks to lead their churches. They called these people clergy and soon the rest of the body of Christ sat passively on the sidelines and watched. They could be part of a "church" without any real sacrifice or personal commitment to the well-being of the community. ~ Chris Hodges

To be truly biblical, as well as truly effective, the growth process must include the Body of Christ. ~ Henry Cloud

When a human body is out of balance we call that disease ... Likewise, when the body of Christ becomes unbalanced, disease occurs ... Health will occur only when everything is brought back into balance. The task of church leadership is to discover and remove growth-restricting diseases and barriers so that natural, normal growth can occur. ~ Rick Warren

Christianity through the operation of the Holy Spirit affirms unity as well as variety (diversity) in the Body of Christ. ~ Sunday Adelaja

The author concedes that the body of Christ may often judge wrongly , but he says that the judgment of the body as a whole is more sound that is one's ability to judge self objectively. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The Holy Ghost does not come upon methods, but upon men. He does not anoint machinery, but men. He does not work through organizations, but through men. He does not dwell in buildings, but men. He indwells the Body of Christ, directs its activities, distributes its forces, empowers its members. ~ Samuel Chadwick

The body of Christ has no arms and feet, but ours. In other words, God needs us as much as we need God. ~ Amos Smith

A believer has forgiveness of sin, and Christ will not cast him out. Sin will ever remain part of the Christian's flesh, as seen, for instance, in evil desires referred to in Rom. 6-8. 'But as long as a man comes to Me in faith, even though he should stumble, I shall see to it that this does not harm him.' His sinful flesh will have no dominion over him; there is no condemnation for those who are incorporated into the body of Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1), although they are not yet entirely pure, and their flesh is not completely mortified. ~ Martin Luther

What if we in the Body of Christ could get past the doctrinal debates that have divided us and pray that the Holy Spirit would do it again? What if we asked Him to empower us to bring hope to the thousands - millions even - who are coming to recognize the spiritual void in their lives and are just waiting for someone to help? What if the church went out to tell people about Jesus in confidence that the Holy Spirit had already gone before them to prepare the way? ~ Jim Wall

God is changing the guard indeed in the body of Christ worldwide. This I cannot be quiet about! ~ Sunday Adelaja

My plea to the Body of Christ is while we must do all we can to meet the needs of the suffering and dying millions, we must not see these activities as a substitute for evangelism and establishing churches among the unreached. ~ K.P. Yohannan

As long as I remain imperfect and refractory, neither obeying God by practising the commandments nor becoming perfect in spiritual knowledge, Christ from my point of view also appears imperfect and refractory because of me. For I diminish and cripple Him by not growing in spirit with Him, since I am 'the body of Christ and one of its members' (I Cor. 12:27). ~ Maximus The Confessor

And so, when two Christians who are both members of the Body of Christ decide to engage into sexual activity then what you are really doing is you are having sex with Jesus. "If you have done it unto the least of these my brethren then you have done it unto me." That's gross you are having sex with Jesus. ~ Creflo A. Dollar