The following message is by pastor John Piper.

More information from Desiring God Ministries is available at

W. W.

Desiring God.org.

Would you open your Bible please to Romans 12?

Two and a half verses this morning,

verse four, five, and the first half of verse six.

Let's look at it together.

Romans 12, four.

For as in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function,

so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. So Father, as we open these few verses for the next few

minutes, I ask for your help. Grace is the key here.

According to the grace given to me, I will now endeavor to preach from these words. And according to the grace given to this people they will

endeavor to listen and so I'm asking for great preaching preaching grace, listening grace, obeying grace, faith, grace. We are a desperately needy people.

Grace is our only hope for anything of eternal significance to happen in these minutes.

Don't leave us, Father, to our own resources,

neither in listening nor in preaching.

Come, help me, help us, speak. In Jesus name I ask it. Amen.

I have three points of explanation and two points of application.

Let me sum it up for you so you know where we're going.

My first point is going to be that the unity of the body of Christ is created in Christ Jesus.

And we're going to focus on what that little phrase in Christ Jesus means. Secondly, individuality in the body of Christ is

...