The Work of Growth

Good morning. I am glad that we can be here together. It is always good to be gathered together in the house of the Lord and I am so thankful for that.

Let’s Catch Up

We have been working through the book of 1 Corinthians over the last couple weeks and i thought it might be good for us to get a little bit of a small recap for everyone. We started by talking about Paul and his introduction

Paul’s Introduction

Paul used his basic introduction and we talked about the fact that Paul writes these letters through dictation. It is because of that we can read a certain tone and inflection into the passages. Not only that but it is with a genuine heart and care that Paul is writing them. He wants the best for them which he knows is in the grace and love of Jesus.

Loyalty

Then we moved into talking about loyalty. We talked about that the book of 1 Corinthians is often used in reference to conflict. That there are difficulties that have to be dealt with often in this book. One area was people misplacing their loyalties in the wrong place. We have to be loyal to Christ and we must remember that it is through him that all things are possible

God’s Calling

We than moved into talking about the fact that many people in this world just are looking for the exact sign they think they need. The truth is that if they aren’t willing to listen to the calling of God no amount of evidence will prove it to them. It is the Spirit calling us to the cross that we need. It is Recognizing that it is God’s wisdom that is so much more than we can possibly imagine and we in many ways need to get out of the way.

The Gift of the Spirit

The Spirit is a blessing for us and it is through the Spirit that we gain access to God and the thoughts of God. It is only when we let the Spirit lead that we are truly able to be who he wants us to be. That is a good place to be because when we rely on the Spirit amazing things can happen.

The Corinthians

In two chapters Paul has laid into them pretty thouroughly. He has not held back on a variety of issues and reminding them of who they are supposed to be. Through these two chapters there are some consistent themes that we can see and they are important and they continue on in the third chapter. This morning let’s dig in some more and see what God has for us.

1 Corinthians 3:1–9 NIV

1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Two Major themes

This morning we will be talking about two major themes. Each are equally important. Now this is not normal for me because I usually like to only try to get to one major point in a sermon because I want everyone to be able to walk out of here with that one big major point and it help change you but this morning we are going to go for two.

The Two major themes are about your individual walk and our corporate walk also could be talked about as are walk together as a body of believers or church walk.

Let’s tackle the first one.

What Kind of food are you eating?

Many of us have heard this passage before. We use this passage to talk about the need for us to kick the milk and get to the steak. I can’t tell you how many times i have heard that sermon preached. We need to get to the steak. The Meat and potatoes and if you aren’t there what are you doing?

Is that what this passage saying though. Let’s look at it one more time.

1 Corinthians 3:1 NIV

1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.

Paul had just gotten done in the previous passages talking about the fact that the Spirit was upon the Corinthians but that he couldn’t talk to them like people who live by the Spirit. So which is it. It gets a little confusing right?

The truth is that Paul is recognizing that the people of the Corinth church are a t a different place in life. They are still infants in the Spirit. They are not fully mature or developed. In fact, if you think about it as infants they are still dependent on their parent for sustenance.

Might be why they had some troubles with loyalties.

Paul is not telling them that they aren’t Christians or that they are somehow inferior just that they aren’t ready for the food of those that would be spiritually mature.

1 Corinthians 3:2 NIV

2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

I remember back to when we first started feeding the kids solid foods. It was always interesting to see them explore the solid food. It was always fun because it could lead to classic moments of kids with food all over their face or making funny faces because they didn’t like the taste or loved the taste of food.

One thing you learned early on though is you had to go slow. If you went to fast the results could be well let’s say “explosive”!

Their little tummies weren’t ready for it and as parents we were responsible to make sure they were ready.

1 Corinthians 3:3 NIV

3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

The problem for the Corinthians is they were still being worldy. They were still giving into the attitudes that would be more associated with the culture around them than with their faith. This is a problem and they needed to change.

The Problem was they still split and not seeking the Spirit as they should have been. They were split into their factions

1 Corinthians 3:4 NIV

4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

This leads us to the second major point that Paul is addressing.

Who does the work of Growth?

The challenge with growth is important. This question is a real challenge for many of us even to this day. Let me pose it another way.

A farmer prepares his field, plants some crops and waters it. Who makes it grow? The Farmer?

Similarly, A parent has a child the care, clothe and feed that child. Who makes the child grow?

At the end of the day God is the driving force behind the growth. We can help but God does it.

Paul reminds them of the importance of where their loyalties are supposed to be.

1 Corinthians 3:5 NIV

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

Notice that the passage doesn’t say who is Apollos or Paul. It says what.

What are they. They are only servants. They are only a part of the bigger story that is playing out right before their eyes.

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 NIV

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

God makes it grow. God is the one doing the work. The message doesn’t matter if it comes from Paul or Apollos because they are mere servants to God it is the fact that the message came and God made it grow.

I stand before you each week to share with you the message of the Good news that I believe that God has placed on my heart. I can tell you that the importance of what is being said is nothing if you think that this is about me or my message. Why we gather why we try to push ourselves to move beyond the milk that we started with is about growing deeper with God.

In this together

The truth is that we are in this together. We are walking this journey together. We are working together to draw closer to God even today. Some of us are called to plant the seed. To work with people to help them to see the need for our God. Some of us are called to water that seed to nurture it and to help it along the way.

God is the one who is called to harvest the seed. It is God who we find ourselves as co-workers with.

1 Corinthians 3:9 NIV

9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

We share in the duties and the responsibilities to help grow this Kingdom. To help draw people to Christ because the Spirit is calling us to this. This is our job. For me as Pastor. For you as believers. We are all called to this.

Revival

Asbury is seeing a Revival right now. For those who don’t know its filled my facebook feed for three days now. There are young people coming to know Christ in new ways. Revival is spreading.

I was Jealous.