From Fallen to Fellowship

Opening prayer, dedication

Music ministry

270 Wonderful Words of Life

43 Great is Thy Faithfulness

Here I Am To Worship

Word of God - [Liturgist]

1 Corinthians 1:4–9 ESV

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Message: “From Fallen to Fellowship”

In our opening study of 1 Corinthians, in the message titled “Are We Like Them?”

We talked about how Paul wrote this 1st letter to the Corinthian church

We talked about how we, the modern day church, are much like the Christian Church Paul started in Corinth just a few years prior to writing this letter

This church had solid teaching directly from the Apostle Paul, so they had a solid foundation

The Corinthian church was a gathering of Believers, just like Grace

The church had been sanctified, or set apart to become more holy

Admitting sin and repenting from sin

So, they were on the path to purification,

Just like Grace

And always working to come more Christ-like

Grace Church checks all these boxes, so we are very much like the people Paul wrote this letter to

What I didn’t mention last time was that Paul had received a report about immoral behavior in the church of Corinth

Apparently they were quarreling,

And they had written a letter to Paul raising questions about spiritual gifts, collections or tithes and marriage

Now THAT truly sounds like the modern church

Today, we continue our introduction to this letter with a look at the space between our fallen nature and our fellowship

That’s fellowship with other Believers AND people outside God’s church

As well as fellowship with God

I must admit that I like the way these old letters start off

It was common for letters to begin with a note of thanksgiving

If you read too fast, you might skip right over an important point for our lives today

Let’s take a slow look at 1 Corinthians 1:4

1 Corinthians 1:4 ESV

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,

Knowing the context of to whom Paul is writing

We realize that Paul is writing to Corinthian Believers even though they were engaged in immoral conduct

Not only is Paul writing to them, Paul is thanking God for them

I fall short here

I have a hard time when churches or church leaders dishonor God

When they mock God’s creation

When they dishonor the institutions God gave us

Like the family and marriage

How is it that Paul could give thanks to God for people who are being immoral?

The answer is in verse 4 and on our sign out front

It’s “Grace”

Because of the grace of God that was given to this church in Corinth

Because of that grace, Paul gives thanks to God for even the immoral Believers

Why? Because grace is the unmerited favor extended to another

Paul was merely treating the Believers of Corinth better than their behavior deserved

This approach allows Paul to be heard by the church-a place at the table

Some scholars believe Paul was using “grace” to refer specifically to the gifts of speech, knowledge and spiritual gifts or even salvation

But the point is the same

Paul was reaching out to immoral Believers because God is not done purifying or refining them yet

This is exactly where we are in our culture today, right?

We have churches engaged in immoral behavior

Churches are made up of imperfect people, like us, so there is certainly individual sin

An obvious example would be to look at the Roman Catholic Church

We know about leaders in the church who were committing sexual sin with children and youth

We now know even of the church leadership covering up these sins

The pain and suffering this has caused individuals is incalculable

The damage to the Kingdom of God is immense as well

Many have left their church AND their faith

Fallen people making up a fallen church

But just like Corinth, God is not done with the Roman Catholic Church or Grace Church

Let’s learn from Paul’s example

As we go through this short passage, we will see that Paul is teaching the church (of Corinth and us now),

That grace is needed to go from Fallen to Fellowship

By God’s Grace:

We are enriched

This Takeaway comes from 1 Corinthians 1:5

1 Corinthians 1:5 ESV

5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—

God has enriched us already because we have abundance

With all the needs in this world, do we really have abundance?

Yes! Paul was specific

Abundance in speech and knowledge

Corinth was like America today in that there was great economic disparity

Very poor and very rich alike

Yet, Paul emphasized that all were rich in what matters most

Because true riches were found in following Jesus Christ

Even more now than then

We have access to God’s Word everywhere

We can listen to solid testimonies of God’s grace, mercy and love

I don’t believe we can separate this from verse 4, so together we say

We are rich/enriched because we have spiritual gifts and salvation

We are poor until we come into Christ because we removed from the life God wants for us-which is a relationship with God

Our lives would be so much better if we would live the model Paul is presenting here

This is a model of living a life centered on our relationship with God

Which gives us our second Takeaway:

By God’s Grace :

We are enriched

We lack nothing

I suppose we should say that we lack nothing necessary

We have access to all the information we need

We have access to God’s grace

We have an invitation from God to be in relationship with God and God makes it possible

We are the only thing blocking us

Our unwillingness

Our pride

the list goes on, but we are in control of those things

One of the hardest things for us to do is to focus on the things of Christ and NOT earthly things

We see our financial needs

Really these are often founded more on desire than need

We hear cries for equity, which is everyone ending up at an even place

We hear cries for every belief system to be honored and celebrated

Even those beliefs and behaviors specifically called sinful in Scripture

Even from within churches

Yet, we truthfully lack nothing required

As long as we remember that relationship with Jesus is the goal

not earthly things

Just when it seems a bit hopeless due to our fallen nature, we are strengthened by Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1:6 ESV

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

This great comfort gives us our third takeaway

By God’s Grace :

We are enriched

We lack nothing

We will be sustained to the end

Until the very end or our end, God will continue to work in and through us

That is the promise we read in the beginning of 1 Corinthians 1:8 (a) [through “,”]

1 Corinthians 1:8 ESV

8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That word we see as “sustain” comes from a Greek word that means “to increase inner peace”

God will give us inner peace until the end

We have peace in the knowledge that when we are IN Christ, God is in control

We know that God is all powerful and we submit to His perfect will

Now we must accept the second half of 1 Corinthians 1:8 (b) [“,” through end] for ourselves and others

1 Corinthians 1:8 ESV

8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Guiltless”?

How can we be guiltless if we are all sinners?

Some translations use “blameless” instead of “guiltless”

I believe “blameless” is a more accurate translation from the original Greek

ἀνέγκλητος (anegklētos),

“Blameless, free from accusation”

We can only be blameless because of the gift of Jesus and His death on the cross

This gift describe in Colossians 1:22 is for us AND others, even the Corinthian church

Colossians 1:22 ESV

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

We WILL be called “holy and blameless”

That’s a promise for all who Believe in Jesus

And this brings us to our final Takeaway

By God’s Grace :

We are enriched

We lack nothing

We will be sustained to the end

God is always faithful

This is where things get real

All the way back in Deuteronomy 7:9, God told us the extent of His faithfulness

Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV

9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

I made the case in the message titled, “Are We Like Them?” that we ARE like the Corinthian Believers

I have reinforced that claim today

The Protestant Church has sinners in it just like the Catholic Church and every other

Yet, God is begging us to repent from our sinful ways

God is waiting, just like Paul is explaining

God is waiting for us to acknowledge OUR sin, not find the sin of others

If we do, then we can expect 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That is the key to traveling the space from “Fallen” to “Fellowship”, right?

We must confess and repent or turn from our sin

That’s when we get to experience God’s faithfulness

And 1 Corinthians 1:9 makes it clear that there is a great fellowship as a goal

1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is calling us into fellowship with Jesus

Paul used the Greek word, koinōnia here—meaning “to fellowship” or “join together.”

And if we are in fellowship (or join together) with Jesus, then we will eventually be in fellowship with other Believers

Order matters here

First God callus us to fellowship with Jesus

The fellowship with Jesus will result in fellowship with other people

All too often we get that backwards

It is too easy to seek fellowship of other people and claim it will bring us closer to God

Think of it like faith vs. works

Faith in Jesus WILL result in good works

Good works can exist without Faith in Jesus

Likewise

Fellowship with Jesus will result in fellowship with other Believers

But, being “really tight with others doesn’t mean you are getting closer to God

I’m going to wrap this up here

God wanted the Corinthian church to join together BECAUSE of Jesus

Unfortunately, they joined together because of individual teachers, as we will read in the coming weeks

It was preferences for certain preachers and other things that divided the church

Sounds like the church today

Where the style or personality of the preacher or the style of music becomes the focus

Leaving Jesus at the center of the claims, but not the center of the hearts of those in the church

Here is the big takeaway from this passage

Every person in every church is a fallen person

Each a sinner, redeemed by Christ

Every church is imperfect

While we need to stand strong and hold churches to biblical account

We need to take care to remember that God will judge the actions of immoral churches and people

Our first priority needs to be making sure we personally are becoming more holy

I believe God wants us to look ahead to Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 8:7

2 Corinthians 8:7 ESV

7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Let the grace God has given to us flow through to others

Even to other churches who have made decisions that are gravely ungodly

That we might “join together” as repentant people and churches all for the glory of God.

Amen!

Closing Hymn/Invitation:

366 I Surrender All (1,2,3)

Pastoral prayer/Benediction-Bless food