"To Whom Do I Belong?"

July 9, 2023

FBC Baxley

am service

Joyce Tillman, -Spark Conference, Sept 16-$15, -Revival with John Waters-Aug 6, 13, 20 at 6pm_____________________________________

Welcome radio and online guests…

*It’s ok if you’re broken, unfaithful, lost, we are too and we are here seeking God’s will and way and plan.

We are all prodigals here…

Some rescued….Some Not..

All Loved…

*Acts 4:12 (repeat)

*John 3:16

Sermon Title: “To Whom Do I Belong?”

Scripture Passage: I Corinthians 3:1-11

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

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

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

PRAY

Key Verse: verse 9; For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

Three Points:

1. The Carnality Among Us

2. The Confusion Around Us

3. The Christ in Us

Introduction:

You may ask, why the title… “To Whom Do I Belong?”

In this passage, Paul is addressing divisions in the church.

Now divisions in the church is something we must keep a careful eye on.

Why, because divisions sideline the Gospel message. Divisions keep us off mission

Most importantly, divisions do not bring glory to God and honor Him!

Divisions happen when we forget whose we are. In other words, who we belong to.

I ask you this morning, have we forgotten Galatians 2:20??

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1. The Carnality Among Us: verses 1-2

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

The Greek word for carnal is sarkikos, which means “fleshly.”

In Latin and French the word carna means “sensual.”

We get our word carnival from two words, carne vale, which means “farewell flesh.”

Carnival was something they had before the season of Lent.

During Lent they would practice farewell to the flesh with certain denials of pleasure to the flesh; so just before Lent they would gorge the flesh, get drunk, satisfy the flesh in every possible way.

Then they would be able to do without such things during Lent!

An example of this is the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. That literally means “fat Tuesday” and refers to the Tuesday before Lent begins.

Paul described people like this when he used the expression, “… whose God is their belly …” (Phil. 3:19).

You say, “Oh, that’s blunt or crass.” I agree with you; it is. But the thing it speaks about is even more crude. This would be an apt description of a lot of people.

Their motto is: Do what comes naturally. Let the flesh have its way.

How can I know if I’m living as a carnal christian? The litmus test is, is there strife and division around you??

verse 3

3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

2. The Confusion Around Us: verses 4-6

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

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Confusion sets in when we wander and we start seeking…

Alot of times it happens as in verses 4-6 as we seek to follow personal favorites. As if they give us our identity.

Paul straightens this out here.

God gives the growth.

Everyone, I mean everyone else is just planting and watering!

3. The Christ In Us: verse 11

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Have we forgotten? We belong to Jesus?!

John 10:10-11

“10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

The thief will always kill… remember that…

The good shepherd always gives life!

Jesus indwells us and we must submit to Him daily.

Application Steps:

1. Repent… turn… let Go and Let God

2. Cut out the clutter…things that take your time and focus, cut out the evil influencers in your home…

3. Pray the Lord’s prayer daily

PRAY

Invitation

-Try God

“Are you born again?”

Is your name written in the Lambs Book of Life?

“Have you surrendered/repented to Jesus?