First Congregational Church of Redwood City, UCC

First Congregat= ional Church of Redwood City, UCC

Rev. Carol Barr= iger and Pastor Salvador Barragan

Sund= ay, October 1, 2006

17^h after Pentecost, World Communion Sunday

Joint worship service with <= /span>

Iglesia Apostolica de la Fe en Jesus Cr= isto in los Estados Unidos

1 Corinthians 12:4-13=

“We Are One Body”=

We were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—= and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)

This is a truly amazing day. It is amazing for several reasons. One= is that church experts say that worship is the most segregated hour in America, that this is the time when people are most likely to pull together with the people who are just like themselves. Today we are saying our brothers, our sisters, are all people who seek to spread the good news of God̵= 7;s love in this community and world, regardless of the shade of our skin, or t= he language we speak, or the traditions of our worship. Today, we are denying = the idea that we will be separated. In a world that emphasizes difference, we h= ave chosen to be one as the people of God: why? Because God has embraced us= in love! Amen? Amen!

It is an amazing day because we are bringing to life the gathering = of the disciples. They were very different people. They had come from different walks of life and different parts of their country. Some of them had been simple farmers or fishermen. Others, perhaps, had not been good people in t= heir past. This family of Jesus’ first followers is a model for us. They journeyed together, following him, even when they were not sure where the p= ath led. They had different gifts, just as we do. Peter was a speaker and leade= r. Matthew and Judas were good with finances. Bartholomew and Thomas were both skeptics, doubters. John had a head for business and organization. James wa= s a carpenter. So are we different.

By the grace of the Holy Spirit, some of= us sing.

By the grace of the Spirit, some of us a= re called to speak words of hope and inspiration.

By the grace of the Spirit, some of us c= ook and give the gift of hospitality.

By the grace of the Spirit, we are all disciples, and we are gathere= d here with our many gifts, with our faults and our failings, as people who are inspired by Jesus.

Amen? Amen!

In many places in his letters, the apostle Paul used the image of t= he human body for the Body of Christ, the gathering of humanity that carries h= is work of love and peace into the world today. The Body. El Cuerpo de Cris= to. It is only the one Sprit of God that makes it possible for the many parts of the body to work together, even though sometimes we may not understand one another. When we sing and pray together we feel something. We feel t= rust and connection, and we know that we are in this world for the same purpose. Paul told us how powerful that connection is by using words that described = the greatest divisions among people of his time. He said, “Jews or Greeks, slaves or free.” All were made to drink of one Spirit. There w= ere no greater divisions among people then. To be a Jew or Gentile, a slave or a free person, those were much bigger than being Mexicans or Americans, or Centro-Americanos; speaking English or Spanish. Those were huge social divi= des. And Paul says, by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Love = and Life, you are one people. It is an amazing day. We are one people. A= men? Amen!

And so finally, we will come to this table; the table where there is bread and cup. We will remember and share. We will remember that the body of Jesus was broken for the ones that he loved: broken so that we might= be made whole, healed, and able to share healing in the world. And this was his message to his family of disciples and to this family – that even in times of suffering, the love of God would always be with us. That the door would always be open for us to reach out to one another, to lift one anothe= r up and to be the hands and feet of Christ in service to one another in this wo= rld. To work for love and justice, whether it is on this hill in Redwood City, or in our workplaces, or = in the streets.

We are one body and today we celebrate that. Thanks be to God. G= loria a Dios.

<= /o:p>

1 Corintios 12:4-13

Ahora bien, = hay diversos dones, pero un mismo Espíritu.

Hay diversas= maneras de servir, pero un mismo Señor.

Hay diversas funciones, pero es un mism= o Dios el que hace todas las cosas en todos.

A cada uno se le da una manifestaci&oac= ute;n especial del Espíritu para el bien de los demás. <= /span>

A unos Dios les da por el Espíri= tu palabra de sabiduría; a otros, por el mismo Espíritu, palabra= de conocimiento;

a otros, fe por medio del mismo Espíritu; a otros, y = por ese mismo Espíritu, dones para sanar enfermos;

a otros, poderes milagrosos; a otros, profecía; a otros, el discernir espíritus; a otros, el hablar= en diversas lenguas; y a otros, el interpretar lenguas.

Todo esto lo hace un mismo y úni= co Espíritu, quien reparte a cada uno según él lo determi= na.

De hecho, aunque el cuerpo es uno solo,= tiene muchos miembros, y todos los miembros, no obstante ser muchos, forman un so= lo cuerpo. Así sucede con Cristo.

Todos fuimos bautizados por un solo Espíritu para constituir un solo cuerpo --ya seamos judíos o gentiles, esclavos o libres--, y a todos se nos dio a beber de un mismo Espíritu.

1 Corinthians 12:4-13

= Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties = of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it = is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

= To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is giv= en through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit= , to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of mirac= les, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another vari= ous kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

&nbs= p;

= All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses, For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, s= o it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to dri= nk of one Spirit.