New Body Coming

In one paragraph

This was week two of Tribe's series on resurrection, picked back up after Tribe's birthday celebration the week before. Pastor Brian walked the room through what the Bible says a resurrected body is actually like, when we receive it, and why any of that matters for the week ahead. The sermon opened with a quick review of the previous session's ground. Pastor Brian revisited the three Greek words...

Read together

1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person, the old life is gone, a new life has begun
2. Romans 6:1-8 dying to sin through baptism and being raised to new life with Christ
3. 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 the analogy of a seed dying and growing into a new body, describing what the resurrection body will be like
4. Luke 24:31-43 Jesus appearing to disciples in his resurrected body, showing his hands and feet, eating broiled fish
5. Matthew 24:30-31 the sign of the Son of Man coming on the clouds with a trumpet blast, angels gathering his chosen ones
6. 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 physical bodies cannot inherit the kingdom, we will be transformed in a moment at the last trumpet
7. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 believers who have died will rise first, then those alive will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord
8. Psalms he sent forth his word and healed them, cited during prayer for healing

What was said

• Find one person this week, a spouse, a friend, a coworker, and talk through what the resurrection actually means, using the seed and plant analogy Brian walked through.
• Pick one of the passages from Sunday, First Corinthians 15 or First Thessalonians 4, read it again slowly, and write down at least one question it raises for you that you want to keep digging on.
• Think of someone you know who is carrying a broken or hurting body, mind, or spirit, and send them a message or sit with them and pray specifically for healing in that area.
• If you drifted from the Lord and have not yet come back, take a quiet moment this week to tell him so and ask him to renew that Zoe life in you.
• Encourage someone who is grieving or struggling by sharing what Paul says in First Thessalonians 4: that believers who have died will rise, and that we will be with the Lord forever.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about resurrection being so fundamental to the Christian faith that many lifelong believers struggle to put it into words, like a fish trying to describe water. How would you explain resurrection to a friend who has never heard it before?
2. Paul uses the image of a seed going into the ground and a very different plant coming up from it. What does that analogy help you understand about the resurrection body, and where does it fall short for you?
3. The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus until he broke the bread, and Mary thought he was the gardener until he said her name. Why do you think people who knew Jesus well failed to recognize him at first, and what does that tell us about what our own resurrection bodies might be like?
4. One person in the room shared that she encountered the Lord in physical form on a bus, and her heart burned the same way the disciples described on the road to Emmaus. Have you ever had a moment where you sensed God's presence so strongly it felt almost physical? What was that like?
5. Brian closed by saying that knowing the resurrection is coming gives us comfort, hope, and strength for today, whatever we are going through. Where in your life right now do you most need one of those three things, and how does the resurrection actually speak to that?