A Father's Heart
Notes
Transcript
Opening prayer, dedication
Baby Dedication
Karter Corbier
Music ministry
2 Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
349 Trust and Obey (1,2,3,5)
213 Because He Lives
Word of God - Liturgist
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.
20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
We took a break from our study of 1 Corinthians last week for our Labor Day Service
This is a good time to remind everyone, including myself, of the context of Paul writing this letter to the Corinthian church
Understanding the context correctly will help us to apply what Paul is teaching to our lives now
Here’s the setting
Corinth was a trade city
Like many cities that thrive in trade, Corinth had a reputation for
Sexual immorality
Religious diversity
and corruption of all kinds
That could describe most big cities in America today
And more than a few smaller cities as well
Acts 18 told us of the church Paul planted there
And they ended up struggling under the cultural pressures
These pressures caused division in the church over what are really the same things we deal with today
Questions about spiritual gifts
Marriage
Food offered to idols (not common today)
Though with is a form of idol worship which is common today
Even arguments over the resurrection
Through all of this, Paul is calling the church of Corinth and the church of today to become more united
To come back to the pure message God delivered
Which means come back to the Bible for us
Today, after celebrating a baby dedication at the beginning of this service, get to talk about “A Father’s Heart”
We are in 1 Corinthians, chapter 4 which deals with the ministry of the Apostles
We concluded the last message by acknowledging that we should be working hard for God as HUMBLE servants
With all glory going to God
That’s what a good leader in the church setting does
They give God the glory because without God we are less than nothing and totally unable to accomplish anything
As we left 1 Corinthians 4:12-13, Paul reminded the Apostles how they were to be known which is how WE should be known
12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
Recall that Paul is telling us about the ministry of the Apostles
They should always be working hard for God
Fathers are given the same direction as leaders in the family
They are to work hard for God
Fathers are to be SEEN as being dedicated to serving God
But that’s not even our first takeaway
Today I want us to focus on what should make leaders, whether in the church or at home, what should make their heart tick
It comes down to a matter of the heart and motivation
Paul wanted us to understand what makes a godly leader a godly leader
Because when we understand them, it makes following a godly lead so much easier
All of this backstory for church leaders working hard for God could be taken as finger pointing to anyone who was not living up to the standard
That’s why Paul gave us 1 Corinthians 4:14
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
Which gives us our first Takeaway
A Father’s Heart
Admonishes, does not Shame
Paul’s motive was not to belittle or make someone ashamed
Paul was admonishing
We just stepped into one of Pastor Adam’s pet peeves
I find it greatly offensive when leaders, including parents, belittle those for whom they are responsible
Whether it is a coach, teacher, pastor, parent or government official
Especially if you put someone down so that you might look better
It is ungodly to put others down
Put simply, God’s ministers do not shame others
This is true of Apostles, pastors, teachers, and certainly parents
I want to take you to 3 John 4 for a moment
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Parents, and really godly leaders of all kinds, should rejoice when those they lead are “walking in truth”, which is to follow the truth of Jesus as Lord
We have to spend a minute here
The culture is pushing a lie that “you are entitled to your own truth”
That is a lie that leads to destruction
Destruction of faith
Destruction of families
ultimately to the destruction of society
We call it chaos
We are entitled to our own opinion
We each bring our own perspective or way of seeing things
Which is formed by, our experience knowledge and prejudice
As an example, if I look at the A/V loft up there with binoculars (looking into the small eye-piece)
The A/V team looks VERY big and close to me
If I flip the binoculars so I look through the large lens
Suddenly the AV team looks VERY tiny and far away from me
The truth is they are average sized people only about 70 feet away regardless of the perspective that the binoculars present
They don’t get bigger, smaller, closer or farther away when I flip the binoculars
It is merely a change in perspective because of the optics in the binoculars that makes them appear different
In verses 14 and 15, Paul is telling the members of the Corinthian Church that there are many leaders
Pickup on 1 Corinthians 4:15
15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Just as there are many male role models that may be looked up to by children, they only have one father
Paul is clearly claiming his role as the father
Because Paul was the one who brought them “into the world of faith” if you will
Since Paul brought these people the Gospel and setup the church where the Gospel was to be taught
Because of all that, Paul believed he had a special responsibility to admonish the members of the church and the church as a whole when they strayed from the Gospel
The term “admonish” is key
In the original Greek context, “admonish” means to advise someone to avoid wrongdoing
Speaking with the intent to encourage them to do godly things instead of sinful things is admonishing
As opposed to speaking with the intent to embarrass or make them ashamed
This gives us our second Takeaway
A Father’s Heart
Admonishes, does not Shame
Discourages wrongdoing, encourages obedience
Unlike the Old Testament which focuses on discipline or penalty for sin
Paul is setting the example for Ministers and fathers at home to encourage doing what is right in the eyes of God
Of course the penalties remain, but the focus is on encouragement
In churches we have seen periods of time where every message was steeped in extolling the penalties for sin
Everyone was a terrible sinner
Everything they did was wrong and would result in everyone spending all eternity in a place that makes South Texas Summers seem like winter in Alaska
We should all be ashamed of ourselves and hang our heads
That’s the opposite of Paul’s message
Paul reminds us that while we are all sinners
Jesus came to save each of us
So those entrusted with the Gospel have a special job which is to share the full message of Jesus
That Jesus died on the cross to pay for those sins that would otherwise condemn us
That we should work VERY hard to avoid sin and look to the right examples for how to live our lives in a godly manner
In fact, Paul is claiming that he is an example of living the right way
That’s pretty bold for someone who started off as a murder of Christians
This is part of the point
Paul, who was Saul before he became a Believer USED to be all these terrible things
Paul was given a chance to change and Paul made the changes needed
So, when Paul says in 1 Cor. 4:16 that “you should be imitators of me”, that was a loaded invitation
We find it in our third takeaway
A Father’s Heart
Admonishes, does not Shame
Discourages wrongdoing, encourages obedience
Is Authentic
Paul reminds us that even those in Religious leadership are flawed
We come from a sinful beginning
Yet, leaders are especially responsible to live a life worthy of following, just as Paul started to do after his conversion
If Paul didn’t live in the example of Christ, then Paul would not have had a good testimony and he would have been a fraud
Also, if Paul had claimed perfection he would have been a fraud
Like Paul, we need fathers of children and spiritual fathers to be real, authentic and honest
Thinking of Paul as our example, take a look at 1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Paul, tells us to imitate him BECAUSE he is an imitator of Christ
As a church community we just dedicated a baby, Karter
In that dedication the family, sponsors and church all said we would set a godly example
That is what Paul was talking about
Kids are sponges
Karter, like all kids, will pick up attitudes and language and dish it back to everyone later,
Our job is to make sure the language is godly and the attitudes as holy
no pressure
All children deserve to be surrounded by people who own up to their shortcomings, successes and failures
Paul didn’t constantly tell people of his awful past
Paul accepted the forgiveness God gave him and used his energy spreading the Gospel because that was far more important
We need to live that example,
I WAS a sinner
I MADE mistakes
I lost my temper
But, I am sorry so I apologized and now we move forward to make things better
We’re going to conclude with this
A Father’s Heart
Admonishes, does not Shame
Discourages wrongdoing, encourages obedience
Is Authentic
Is Powerfully gentle
It’s hard to use the words “powerful” and “gentle” together, yet isn’t Jesus both?
And Jesus is the example for us, especially for earthly fathers
Bear that in mind with 1 Corinthians 4:20-21
20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
Nudging a child, neighbor, spouse or friend away from sin and toward godly obedience is not easy
To be consistent in our stance that sin is defined by God through His Word and not by our desires is difficult
Some may want to use the rod to force another to understand the significance of God’s law
Yet, God calls on us to to be gentle-hearted
Because God wants each of us to CHOOSE Him of our own free will
Paul wanted the church to know the heart of the Father because that is the heart we church leaders are supposed to have
And WE are supposed to show you that heart in all we do so YOU can imitate us as well
For each of us, let us commit today to adopt a more gentle heart as we encourage one another in our faith
Until that day that we hear God say, “Well done my good and faithful servant”
AMEN?
Closing Hymn/Invitation:
458 Gentle Shepherd
Pastoral prayer/Benediction