We Are The Church: I Corinthians 1:1-9

Good morning and welcome to CCC. This morning was much smoother than last week. I was able to take the computer that runs the back that died last Sunday morning to a wonderful computer repair store that is run by a wonderful gentleman and they were able to fix the computer and thanks to Logan we got the computer back here and set up and working for this morning. God is good and takes care of his children!

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About halfway through the We Believe sermon series God made it clear that I was to go into I Corinthians when we finished the We Believe series. It makes sense we just spent 10 weeks looking at our individual foundations. The tenets or building blocks of the Christian faith set out by God in His Word. I pray that We Believe has helped and is still helping you become an efficient and effective Christian. Through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s teaching We Are The Church is going to help make us a much more efficient and effective church.

I Corinthians was written by Paul in around 54 AD. Most believe Paul wrote I Corinthians while he was in Ephesus. He wrote I Corinthians to the church in Corinth he founded to deal with the worldliness that had entered the church.

God has really been revealing to me just how worldly I really am. I pray He does the same to you during this series. I pray also that you act upon that conviction with repentance and prayer and praise.

Conviction really does no good unless you are moved to action. Moved to confession both to God and other believers. Both are things we are instructed to do in the Word.

I John 1:9-10

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“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

James 5:16

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“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.”

God is very clear we must confess our sins to Him and to one another to be cleansed and healed!

I believe that true Christian run to the altar because when God convicts they confess. They understand that conviction is God loving them and getting them back on His path and off of their path.

God demands all of you all the time. 24/7/365 and 366 in a leap year. Scripture says you are to die to your self, crucify yourself, the old is dead the new creature is here after accepting Jesus and God means it. Just a little worldly is way too much.

Your entire focus must be God.

Your only priority must be God.

Your only thoughts must be God.

Your actions must be to build God’s Kingdom

If you are a Christian here this morning the old fleshly you is dead and the only thing that matters is Christ.

If we are honest all of us who are Christians here this morning fail at that. We are worldly. We put ourselves first. We put our families first. We put our jobs first. We put our bank accounts and retirement accounts first. We put our hobbies first. Most of us put our pet sin first.

All of those things we put first before God.

We are in a very similar if not same boat as the church in Corinth. God loves us enough to bring this Word to us through Paul so that we can live like Jesus and truly be Christ’s Ambassadors to Nevada Mo and then Vernon County and then Missouri and then the USA and then the rest of the world. Sounds a lot like Acts!

Let’s dive into it shall we?

I Corinthians 1:1-3

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“Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother: To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul describes who the letter is to—Church of God in Corinth. About 4 years earlier Paul had established and ministered to the church of Corinth for about a year and a half. He was writing to them to address worldliness that had already divided them.

Paul also says this letter is for all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. That is you and me by the way. Christians.

I miss writing letters. I don’t know about you but I am much more comfortable writing than talking. I am able to communicate so much better and more efficiently.

God also speaks to me as I write. Places thoughts that become words on a page. I used to hate to write but now I am so very thankful for it.

I Corinthians 1:4-9

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“I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge. In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Paul here shows us how to look at people. Spiritually. Remember last week we looked at II Corinthians 5:16 where he spells it out in greater detail but here we see it talked about. In fact lets return to

II Corinthians 5:16

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“From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way.”

We do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Spiritual is the only thing that should matter to a Christian. Is that person saved? If not preach the Gospel. If that person is saved are they moving from milk to meat? If not disciple them!

Spiritual is our only concern as Christians. Paul demonstrates that back in I Corinthians.

I Corinthians 1:4

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“I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus,”

I am thankful for you because God through faith in Jesus saved you.

When was the last time you said to someone I am so glad God gave you the faith in Jesus that has saved you!

Turn to your neighbor and say that to them right now. Go ahead.

How does that make you feel both saying it and hearing it. It makes you feel good because that is how God designed you to interact with each other, concerned about Spiritual not worldly or physical

Let’s take this a step further. To my knowledge none of you sitting here are enemies of each other.

When was the last time you thanked God an enemy received God’s grace through faith in Jesus?!?

When was the last time you prayed to God to give His grace through faith in Jesus to your worst enemy?

It is easy to look Spiritually at those who are like minded, those who love and support you but what about those who are opposite of you, those who hate you and try to destroy you?

If you belong to Christ those who hate you and want to destroy you should be your focus. Shining the light of Jesus into their dark worlds should be at the top of your to do list everyday! Jesus died for them. They are going to go to hell when they die if they do not accept Him. Nothing else matters.

Of course they hurt you. Of course the take advantage of you. Of course they say nasty things about you on falsebook and snaptagram They are LOST. They belong to the devil. They are behaving naturally because all human hearts are desperately wicked. Not pastor Josh’s words. God’s Words.

We get caught up in human emotion and fail to look Spiritually. Get yourself and your emotions out of the way and listen to the Holy Spirit!!!!!!

I Corinthians 1:5

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“that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge.”

Paul is thankful they were enriched in Jesus in every way. In all speech and knowledge. Their lives were transformed and Paul was thankful not because he preached to them but because of what Jesus did in their lives!

I Corinthians 1:6

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“In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,”

This transformation was and is a testimony of the power of Christ.

Last week I challenged each and every one of you to begin to write your testimony. I pray you took that challenge to heart and have started to write your testimony. If you have already written it get it out and spend time in prayer about adding or revising whatever God leads you to add or revise.

Many of you are still wrestling with this. Reluctant to do it. I could never give my testimony.....I am not ready to give it....here is the problem with that. Every day you give your testimony the only question is does it glorify satan or Jesus?

How you live is a testimony. Do you truly live a transformed lifestyle?!?!?!?!?!

I Corinthians 1:7

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“so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul is thankful that they didn’t lack any spiritual gifts....why because God builds His Kingdom through the spiritual gifts He gives to His children!

You are given spiritual gifts not to make money or become famous. You are not given spiritual gifts to be the best at your job or hobby.

Spiritual gifts can do all of those things but that is not why God gives them to you. He gives you spiritual gifts to do Kingdom work. To grow the Kingdom to bring people to Jesus and to grow people in Jesus!

Paul is also thankful for their eagerly awaiting the revelation of Jesus.

How many of you are eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus? Most of us here will say I am but your life doesn’t show that.

If you were eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus then Jesus would be all that matters. You would also be so consumed with preaching the gospel to the lost that it would take up all your time.

Why because if you are eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus He is your only focus and you realize time is short and the work is much.

I heard a couple sermons on this same topic this week on Bott radio. I love listening to God’s Word be proclaimed in sermons. Many people say well I can’t stand talk radio....me either but I sure love God and His Word and anytime I can be exposed to it being proclaimed in a sermon I am in. God speaks to me so much through the radio when I listen to His Word being proclaimed.

The older I get and the closer to God I get the less time and appetite I have for worldly music and talking. I could care less about the biggest hit or hearing people argue about who is the greatest player around. I don’t care. I love Jesus and because of Jesus I am an enemy of this world and I want to limit my exposure to this world as much as possible so I make the decision to not let the world in my truck through the radio. That limits my exposure to the evil that is pop radio or the evil that is country radio

I can hear many now, pastor Josh Romans 14 says to each his own. No it doesn’t, if an action is done from Jesus to honor God to each his own, listening to people sing about having sex and getting high and drinking alcohol and partying all night long is not done from Jesus and it sure doesn’t bring glory to God so why waste your time listening to it. Why expose yourself to what God calls sin?!?!?!?!?!?!

I Corinthians 1:8

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“He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul reminds the church in Corinth and us today who gives us our strength. Paul is thankful that Jesus will strengthen them and us.

Look closely at when Jesus will strengthen us....all the way to the end. Why? So you and I can be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is not talking about salvation here. He is writing to Christians. He knows they are saved. He is talking about the strength to live from Jesus not this world. The strength to focus only on Jesus and to build only God’s Kingdom.

The strength to not engage in those crude, sexual, inappropriate jokes and conversation at work.

The strength to take your Bible to work and read it on break.

The strength to boldly stand up and defend those who cannot defend themselves such as precious babies in the wombs of mothers who want to kill them through abortion.

The strength to love the drag queen. The strength to speak truth to your lost family members.

The strength to do what God calls you to do in His Word.

The strength to help Sheryl and Sandy and Chris and Jennifer and Autumn out with children’s church.

The strength to volunteer and serve at the soup kitchen.

The strength to tell your golf buddies or your fishing buddies or your camping buddies that you love them, you love spending time with them but you are choosing to put God first and spend time with Him in service that will build His Kingdom.

Can you build God’s Kingdom on the golf course or camp grounds absolutely you can and should but so many of us use those things as a way to avoid what God is calling you to do in His Kingdom!

I Corinthians 1:9

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“God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God is faithful. What a wonderful reminder of who God is.....faithful

Also a great reminder of why the Corinthians and you and me are saved....because God called us!!! What a blessing that calling truly is!!!!

I think something else to point out here is grace and mercy and love.

Remember Paul is writing to the church at Corinth to reprimand them. To correct them. To rebuke them.

Notice he is not doing that in anger but in love and thanksgiving.

What a lesson for you and me. We need to stand on the truth in love!

The enemy has convinced the world that love is not based upon truth but feelings. You can’t truly love someone and disagree with them.

If you don’t follow the crowd it is the crowds responsibility to destroy you. That is cancel culture. You have to accept all viewpoints as long as they are the crowds viewpoints. If you bring God’s truth to the party you are kicked out of the party and cancelled.

That is not love. That is not Jesus. That is not Paul here to the Corinthians and us. He loved them. He was thankful for the fact they were saved and had been living from Jesus in all that they said and did.

He loved them and because he loved them he had to speak God’s truth into their lives with love and mercy and grace.

God does the same thing to you and me. We are born sinners. Born evil. Our hearts are so wicked and evil but He loves us. He sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place. To pay our price that we could never afford to pay. To shed His blood to cover our sins. He became our sin even though He Himself had never sinned just to give us the opportunity to be saved.

If you have never accepted Jesus wont you come and accept Him here this morning.

If you have accepted Jesus and God has laid something or someone or a situation or circumstance on your heart wont you come meet him at the altar.

I don’t do invitations and talk about the altar to get some sort of confirmation that I preached God’s Word today. I do invitation and talk about the altar because God does. Remember I John 1:9 if you confess. Some of you are living in the consequences of your unconfessed sin. The troubles and pain and heartache you are facing are your fault. They are a result of you choosing to live from the world and yourself and not from Jesus.

God wants to remove all of those things. God wants you to respond to His discipline in repentance and that starts by crucifying your pride and getting up and meeting God right down here at the altar.

God is here with all the love and peace and forgiveness and comfort you could ever need or want but He is waiting on you to put Him first and move!

Invitation song.