The Gospel Makes Everyone Useful

The Gospel and Your Life
1 Cor. 7:17-24
Listen to this message here: (The Gospel and Life)

There are worse jobs than yours!

We are all caught from time to time wishing our lives were different. We long for a different job in a better house living in a nicer city blah, blah, blah. We learn from Paul in this passage that the Gospel makes everyone's station in life a ministry. God didn't make a mistake saving me in the time period and the context that He did. Its no accident that I have the job I do, the neighbors, the activities or any event in my life. My life is a mission field today, now, exactly like it is.

The Gospel has me caught up in something greater than the things I'm caught up in. My job now is not to fit Jesus into my life, work, hobbies or activities. He IS all those things. He is already here and we are to be focused on Christ's mission for me in these things.

#1 Live where I am.
Not just surviving but living for Him. Any Context! Verses 17-20 clearly show that my station in life now is a personal assignment from the Lord. The most amazing God displayed sovereign activity in someone's testimony is no more amazing than mine. The Gospel does this. It makes the most meaningless activity or work a God ministry.
#2 Forget where you'd rather be. Vs. 20-21.
If you are in the worst possible job, someone's property as a slave no less, then it just doesn't matter. Its a heart issue not a situation issue. Christ comes in and makes life context powerless. (vs. 22) The power of the Gospel transcends my life's circumstances.

(vs. 16) was Paul's start on all this. We don't know what God is going to do in our context to save a person around us. We just don't know so we serve Him where we are.  (vs. 24) My ministry is where I am right now! Life is a short term mission trip.

Your Life in light of the Day (1 Cor. 3:10-15)

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

The Day is a real day of judgment. The Bema Seat judgment of Christ is not the same as the Great White throne judgment where unbelievers are given their deserved sentences but a judgment for believers concerning their works. (see also: Rom. 14:10 and 2 Cor. 5:10) On this day will be large plumes of smoke from so called 'good works' being burned. However we won't have the vantage of seeing other's works going up in judgment flames because the smoke from our own works fires will be blocking our view. Read these words and let them sink in deeply as you meditate upon them. "each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done."
Our heart is so wickedly deceitful but on this day the truth will come out. Does this at all motivate me? Do I live in light of this fact? Does it drive me at all? No, I guess it doesn't otherwise my secret sins would be much less palatable.
So what are the affects of this coming judgment upon our lives?
Security:  Other scripture are very clear, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Grace is given. Even though painful fires are coming He will wipe away every tear. My ministry in Christ is out of the reach of men and even my own feelings about it. I am hidden in Christ and that is enough.
Sincerity: These thoughts drive us to works that advance the Gospel. How many conversations do I have about Christ? Am I just mailing it in when I come to church for worship? We must resolve along with Paul to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
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Brass Plaques and Crosses 1 Cor. 3:5-4:21

Plaques are like plagues, if one won't kill you the other one will.

Wouldn't it be great to be freed from one of the great boat anchors that impedes our smooth sailing? We can become so full of ourselves and our indispensibility that we start collecting our own trading cards! "Where's my plaque of recognition because I'm important to God?" Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 3:5-8 that most important lesson of all for Christians and especially leaders: God does not need us in the slightest but only chooses us by His good pleasure to work "through" us and not "by" us.
Here is the rub: our grandiose recognition verses the Cross. No one enjoys driving spikes into our wants and needs but that is exactly where God wants us. Crosses are for dying and taking yours up is going to be painful and costly. Selfishness need not apply for this ministry. So lets finally drive this spike in and get over ourselves. God doesn't need us or any superstars, not Paul or the polished Apollos, to complete His goals.
I was struggling with this post and then I received an email from a dear brother and church planter in Christ from Bangladesh, Mortuza Biswas. In his broken English he described it better than I have ever heard or read:

i’ll keep encourage the people, to tell others, about love of God! so, one day might my county will be safe, or even thou, our country will be save by Jesus. that is i dreaming. i know that, i am a little bug, and i am biting (eating) the wooden furniture. and one day, it will broke down. what i am saying that, traditional faith will broke down, and Christian faith will raise up.  that’s i am thinking. God can do anything, over a night, but He gave me an opportunity to join his work.

Something more than 'merely' 1 Cor. 3:1-7

1 Cor. 3:1-7 This sermon was all about the Gospel as it applies to a changed life of the believer. Surely we should be acting like redeemed men and not merely as men.What does maturity in Christ even look like? Do I notice it in me? Do others?Am I still exhausted by my struggles with the flesh? Temptations? Shouldn't I be changing for the better? Am I still fighting the flesh in the same, old, tired ways that clearly aren't working? Maybe I need more or better therapy?
Its not what I know but what I've absorbed into my life. It's an acute awareness of the cross. What has become 'my life', my subconscious, involuntary response to all of life's trials, tribulations and tests. In other words, has my gut reactions changed any since Christ saved me? Immature responses to life reveal an immature person. Makes sense to me and at the same time is very convicting considering the way I respond to most trials and problems. After 24 years of being saved one would think that life's Biblical filter would be working much better!
Our MAIN PROBLEM is a lack of love for Him and His work on the Cross.

Spiritual diagnostic test: (Are we ready to take this seriously?)
1. Is the Cross/Gospel the central feature of my life? (3:1) Is it operational or just occasional? WOW! Is the Gospel between me and my world? Why? Well, because what Paul heard through the cup placed on the wall of the church sounded like a preschool class. They were all throwing baby temper tantrums.

2. How is my progress in growth? (3:2) Have I progressed in disposition? Am I changing at all? We are supposed to be growing. What are the indicators? Well for simple starters am I a nicer person? More compassionate? Do I see and respond quicker to other people's needs faster than say this time last year? What am I pursuing in life?

3. Is my life a testimony of grace? (3:3) Am I growing in grace? Does anyone see the evidence? Where's the proof?

How will I know?

• When my prayers are no longer for others to change. 
• When repentance is about deep heart issues and not just the externals. 
• When my responses are not pride, self defense but a willingness to die on any stage and any time.

The Mystery Now Revealed (1 Cor. 2:6-13)

Man's problem is primarily theology. The cross will always seem barbaric until we see ourselves as barbarians. We now, thanks to the fall and our faulty theology, fear God, not relate to Him. Crime and hatred are just as bad today as it has ever been in any time period! The answer is the cross but sadly we have lost the ability to even ask the right question to get the right answer. Man is blinded. We took the glasses off and stomped them in the garden. We do not have the ability to self-diagnose. We are just beating rocks together and drawing cruddy looking cave art stick figures when it comes to theology.

This answer, the message of the cross, has yet to be plumbed. A helpless baby is the solution. Really? "You have got to be kidding me!", the world shouts. This is total foolishness. However, as Christians, we now spend our lives on this foolish mystery. What used to be boring church stuff is now wonderful and glorious, so amazing that we can't get enough of it. May we have an astonishing God awakening of this truth in a fresh way today. How about this truth from verse 2:7, before time began God decided to not only reveal this truth to us but to have it accomplish something really special in our lives. We are made humble vessels to hold God's glory! We partake of His glory, we get to ride next to Him in the convertible during the Superbowl victor's parade waving to crowd. Wow, I don't know about you but I want to know this a little better. God, open the eyes of this silly, self-made king!

Listen to the message here.

Its all rather mind-boggling. 1 Cor. 2:6-16

In 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 Paul talks about a wisdom from God that is perceived by the world as foolishness. When do the wise see wisdom as foolishness? A better question might be, when do the wise of this world ever see wisdom? According to this passage, the so-called worldly wise person not only doesn't see the true wisdom of the cross of Christ but they are not even capable of seeing it in the first place.
The beginning of wisdom in the modern world is to go to college and beyond to gather the tools of learning that will last a lifetime. For instance, I did not really understand the ways of the English language until I studied Greek in seminary. (Some would question my understanding of English to this day but that's another post!) Byron spent this sermon exhorting college bound students with a word to the wise about wisdom.

Wisdom is often jettisoned in college as the dorm frig is carried up the final flight of stairs. The trend is to pitch Christ in the college dumpster is ominous. Churched students will many times abandon Christ for secular pursuits and knowledge. The secular college campus is uniquely designed to make mom and dad's faith look stupid and the college professors seem to glory in their faith destroying super hero powers.

The only sustaining factor for steadfast faith through the college years is a REAL relationship with Christ. You must believe that the cross was actually and particularly applied to you. The cross is the breeding ground for thankfulness allowing worldly temptations to fall away like doggie do from the shoe. Byron suggested from his own life experience that you need to go in to college not believing a single word they say about life is true. Test it all. Since the world thinks Christianity is irrational and illogical they will try to pull you back from the ledge of such foolishness. Why is the cross such foolishness in the world's eye? Supernatural, the entire Jesus saga is supernatural from start to end. God does it all and He does it above and beyond the natural, scientifically testable worldly processes thus driving the wise of this world off their nut. The pressure is to abandon the gospel as foolishness but verse 6 reminds us that the cross is actually the real winner of the wisdom contest. The bottom line is that the gospel will not make any sense at all to a lost person. The exclusive message of Christ is insulting and offensive. So reader, do you have cloud parting, life binding, knee bending devotion to Christ? If not, are you too wise? (Click here to listen to the actual sermon.)

Him Crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Tweets from the seat: I'm taking a different approach to this week's sermon wrap up. There were so many quotes in this message that were worthy of tweets that I thought it would be fun to format with them. (What are tweets and twitter? Click here:http://twitter.com/)

Click here to read the sermon's key passage: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Listen to the sermon by clicking here: Him Crucified

Message and methodology can't be separated. "And when I came" methods match the message. simply the cross of Christ. 1 Cor 2:1

Every true conviction is fleshed out in your methods. How you are going about in ministry reveals your convictions

What are the primary aims of ministry? The gospel is driving it. The pressure for pragmatism is intense. 1 Cor. 2:1-5

Ministry aim 1: I hope to be an embarrassment to you, a fool for Christ. That my devotion to Christ would make you uncomfortable. 1 Cor. 2:1

Ministry should be raw, direct and the same like a guy mowing his grass in black socks and a wife beater t-shirt. No frills

Ministry aim 2: I want to be redundant. 1 Cor. 2:2 nothing but Christ. Paul was not the poster child of the church growth gurus.

Preaching is ignoring criticism especially when its, "your message was irrelevant to me!" Christ is the power not my program.

"May every sermon I preach sound like spikes being driven into human flesh"

Ministry aim 3: I want to be forgettable. 1 Cor 2:3 You wouldn't  follow Paul on a podcast. Same simple message over and over.

Paul's messages were like simple flannel graph kids Sunday school lessons. Basics on Christ and the cross. 2 Cor. 10:10

Paul's fear was not his audience but his message. He didn't want anyone to be impressed by him and thus minimize the cross.

Not what a great sermon but what a great savior

Your faith should not rest on the method or the messenger but the message of Christ and the cross. 1 Cor. 2:1-5

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