Tested Structures
Practical Church (1 Corinthians) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Announcements
Good morning. Welcome to Southern Hills Baptist Church. Thank you for joining us today.
If you are a first-time guest with us, you will find a Connection Card in the pew rack in front of you. We would appreciate it if you would fill that out and place it in the offering plate. That gives us a record of your visit and allows us the opportunity of reaching out to you this week to answer any questions that you might have.
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As a reminder, we updated our mission statement at the end of the 2025, which we will have on the screen each week to keep it fresh in our mind. The mission of Southern Hills Baptist Church “is to seek holiness as we covenant together as a faithful local body of Christ and to engage in the Great Commission by making disciples in our homes, our communities, and around the world.”
See bulletin for Calendar Updates
If you are a guest with us, know that this is our weekly Family Worship service. Our children will remain with us for the entire service. We do have a nursery available for children under 4 just down the hall if you would like to use it.
Please stand as I read our Call to Worship. This morning, we will be doing a responsive reading from Psalm 95. I will read the words in white and we will all read the words in yellow.
Call To Worship
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Opening Hymn
Scripture & Prayer: Dave Kincaid 1 Peter 1:3-9
Song #1
Offering & Prayer
Song #2 (Living Hope)
Lord’s Supper
Please be seated.
(beat)
Jesus is not only our hope, He is our living Hope. When he died on the cross Friday afternoon, the disciples had given up hope. All save John had deserted Him even before the nails pierced His hands and feet. And there—a few hours later—Jesus passed from this mortal life that He shared with us. Hope seemed foolish. Jesus was gone. And as they hid and searched their minds for His words and what this all meant, they somehow did not remember His promise to return.
But as the first day of the week dawned, the women left the grieving disciples to attend to the body of the One they loved. And they were shocked to find that He was missing, for He had been raised to life. Hope had not faded away; it had only been confirmed. Jesus was and is the living Hope.
And that is what we celebrate each week in the Supper. We celebrate Jesus sacrifice for us, which allows us to enter into God’s presence once again. But we also celebrate the hope that we have that new life is coming for us as well, and that—one day—we will sit at His table and share in the Supper with Him in person.
We’re going to continue our reading about Jesus from the book of Mark. Today we will start chapter 16:
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
At this time, I am going to have our ushers come forward. If you are a follower of Jesus, in that you have accepted Him as Savior, bowed to Him as King, and been baptized in obedience to His commandment, we invite you to participate with us. In just a moment, we will pass the plates. Please take a piece of bread and a cup and hold it until we take together.
Pass
Instruction from Jesus: Read Mark 14:22-25
And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Prayer of Blessing on bread and cup
Song #3
Pastoral Prayer
World - conflict
Country- civil unrest
State- Winter weather
City- School board- superintendent
SHBC- prepare our hearts for the Word
Introduction
We have been working our way through Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. Over the last few months, we have dug into his introduction to the letter and only just began to dig into some of his concerns for these church members who have shown themselves to be immature.
His frustration is that, even after 2-3 years, these followers of Christ are not growing in faith and doctrine as they should. Instead, they have fallen back into old patterns of thinking and acting. Their love for self and their desire to worship man rather than God has caused great fractures within the church community.
And their division makes them look ordinary. It makes them look exactly like the world. And so, Paul is writing to remind them that the church is supposed to be different—wholly set apart from the world. Jesus has called His bride to treasure and seek after holiness.
Last week, we discussed the Corinthians desire to remove their focus from Jesus and place it on a teacher of the Word. Paul made it clear in his letter to them that he and Apollos are nothing. They are not men to be cheered and revered. They are simply workers in the field, servants of the living God who fulfill their duty to plant and water.
And while they serve diligently in obedience to their master, they accomplish nothing in the task. It is God alone who calls the lost and gives the growth in the hearts of believers.
We, as adopted sons and daughters of God, are privileged to share in the work of His field—to partake in helping to proclaim the kingdom of God to all nations. Christians are called to keep the fields fertile by preaching the Word and speaking truth to their neighbors while they pray for God to raise up more workers for the harvest.
Our focus can never be on God’s creation, but only on the Creator Himself. And that focus will shape our hearts to image Him well, which will cause the work of planting and watering to become a natural part of our everyday lives. As we focus on Jesus through the reading and hearing of His Word and through engaging with His Holy Spirit, He begins to mold us into His image.
Just as we were once sprouts in the field, He has now called us by the Great Commission to raise up and participate in the strengthening of other sprouts. This is our mission. This is our only quest: to grow the kingdom of God by making disciples.
If you have your bibles, this morning, please open with me back to 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
We closed last week by discussing Paul’s analogy of the church as a field. This week, we will explore his analogy of the church as a building.
[TITLE SLIDE]
Paul loves using analogies to speak about the church. He calls them the body of Christ, the family of God, and as the co-heir with Jesus to the inheritance of the kingdom. But he also employs analogies to speak about believers individually. Yes, we are called to be a united body, and yet each of us are responsible for intentionally engaging with the Holy Spirit to grow spiritually as individuals within that collective body.
Followers of Christ—both individually and collectively—are called to engage in the mission that He has given to us. That is, we are called individually to make disciples just as much as we are called collectively to work the fields and build the church. Paul is not putting these two metaphors together for the first time.
In fact, Jeremiah was called by God “to build and to plant.” That is that God uses his prophets and disciples as His messengers—to build and to plant His fields by speaking His words. In other words, His servants are to grow His kingdom both vertically and horizontally until they reclaim every square inch of creation by proclaiming the gospel.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We’ll be starting in verse 10:
[MAIN PASSAGE SLIDE x3]
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. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (/) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (/) If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Here, Paul is referring to the church in Corinth. He is saying that he arrived in Corinth like a General Contractor who then surveyed a site for the church and began to dig footings and to lay a solid foundation.
[POINT 1 SLIDE]
Foundation (vv 10-11)
A foundation is the base of a building. It is what everything else is built upon. And because of that, it must be perfectly level and rock solid. Today, we use concrete and levels to accomplish this. In ancient times, they would have to use stone and a plumb-bob. But regardless of the tools and materials used, the principle is the same: it must be a level and strong foundation. Look back with me at verses 10 and 11 as Paul describes this foundation.
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
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. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Paul says that, because of God’s grace, when he first arrived in Corinth, he did so as a “skilled master builder.” Essentially, he was the General Contractor that God had entrusted with overseeing the building to be done in Corinth. Jesus Himself had called Paul to Him on the road to Damascus. He had recruited Paul to come and learn as a journeyman how to make disciples and build His church.
20 years have passed since his calling to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. In that time, Paul has learned by following Jesus and by living alongside the Disciples. He has learned how to build through trial and error and correction. God has instructed him through his experience to help the apprentice become a master.
And so, it is only by God’s grace and mercy that Paul now stands as the chief builder and disciple-maker over the Corinthian believers. Jesus’ love for the nations has launched Paul into his traveling ministry, and he came to Corinth not by coincidence, but by God’s providence and purpose.
And now—in this letter—he speaks to the Corinthians as those who have come after him to help in the construction of the church—to his sub-contractors who have labored since his absence.
He says that he had laid the foundation for the church in Corinth, but that it is they who are building on that foundation. He is addressing this to the leaders in the church. And he warns them to “take care” how each of them build upon the foundation that he has laid.
In this warning, Paul insinuates that the leaders of the church are not being careful how they are building the church. In fact, we have already seen in the first 3 chapters that they are leading the people in divisive way, seeking after human wisdom instead of the wisdom of God.
And while he speaks here to the leaders, I want you to see that this warning echoes throughout the church. It is not only a warning to those leading now, but it is a warning to those who will lead in the future. And just as Paul’s warning is applicable to the entire church body at Corinth, so it is with us today.
Every member of the church is called to lead in some way. Each of us are called to make disciples and we are called collectively to engage in the church body to strengthen and expand it. It is not just your leaders that you see on stage each week that must “take care” in their building of the church, it is every member. This is why we have such high expectations for our leaders.
How can we, as your leaders, expect you to engage in the mission of the church unless we equip and encourage you? How can we expect you to live lives of holiness unless we first model it for you? How can we lead you in worship and communion unless we come with hearts devoted to Jesus alone? How can we send you if we aren’t willing to go ourselves?
We are called to “take care” how we build the church so that when you leave from here to fulfill the mission that you will also “take care” in the work that you do outside of these walls. You will begin to “take care” with your interactions with your neighbors and your co-workers. You will “take care” in your sharing and thoughtfulness with those in need of Jesus. You will “take care” in the way that you disciple your children.
And by “take care,” Paul means that you will know—and submit to—the Word of God and that you will be thoughtful in how you implement discipleship. This is what he is calling these co-laboring Corinthians to: faithful implementation of the Word of God in building the church. They should each “take care how he builds upon” on the foundation. In fact, later in the letter, Paul will tell them to “abound” or “excel” in “the work of the Lord.”
So, Paul has built this foundation for the church, on which the Corinthian church leaders are now building a structure. But what is the foundation? What is the material that Paul has used to make sure that the structure remains sound—that is, strong and level—regardless of how big the structure becomes?
Well, Paul says that the foundation which he laid is Jesus Himself. That is, Paul has laid the foundation of Christ through the preaching of the Word. He is the rock and the cornerstone on which the church at Corinth is built. And it was Paul’s preaching and the repentance and confession of the believers that filled the footings and foundation with Jesus Christ—that the church is being built on Christ alone.
As the hymn goes, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” And so is the church. The church is built on the saving blood and holiness of Jesus. And that is why every church member must fight to keep it holy and united.
As Paul has traveled and engaged his mission to the Gentiles, this has been his aim and his pattern—to go where the Spirit sends him, to proclaim Christ where He has not been proclaimed, and to build a foundation of Christ by the preaching of the word and the confession of the church members. And it is only once the foundation is set and firm, and the members have been discipled, that they may begin building upon it.
The foundation must be Christ, for He is the only solid foundation worth building upon. Recall the parable of the houses built on the sand and rock:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE x2]
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (/) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Jesus has called His church to build His house on the rock. He is that rock. Those who refuse to build or try to build on another foundation will be crushed in condemnation when their house collapses. Jesus is the foundation of the church and He is the only foundation that can be trusted to stand firm.
We must put our faith in the One who is true; in the One who can be trusted because He always fulfills His promises; in the only One who is worthy to rule as King. For His foundation is strong.
So, we—as His church—must build upon Him as the firm foundation, and we must “take care” with how we go about building that church, being both obedient and thoughtful as we engage in the mission to make disciples. And because of that, we must ensure that the building material we use is worthy of the King because a time of testing is coming.
[POINT 2 SLIDE]
Testing (vv 12-13)
Every material must be tried and tested. In most cases, this is done before it is chosen for construction. A master builder relies on an engineer to understand what the load-bearing capability of a particular material is. And he knows—from experience—which materials will hold up to environmental factors such as wind, water, and fire.
But for a novice builder, or someone who builds “without care,” the type of material is less important than simply getting a structure up.
I’m sure that you all have heard the story of the Three Little Pigs. The story originated in 1853 in England with 3 pixies and a fox, but it became memorialized as a Fairy Tale decades later with 3 pigs and a wolf. That story is darker than you might remember in the Disney version and originally ended up with the last pig eating the wolf in his stew, but the moral of the story has always stayed the same: that houses built hastily with materials that won’t last invites disaster into our lives—that carelessness feeds chaos.
Back to Paul in verse 12:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
Paul offers up 6 different types of materials that might be used by church leaders to build the church. Most scholars break these into two categories: materials that will last, and those that won’t. So let’s break down each class.
Gold, silver, and precious stones are used throughout the OT to symbolize worth, beauty, and opulence. They are seen as both materials of value and materials of strength. In fact, all three are used in the construction of God’s temple for these reasons.
Now wood can be seen as strong, but it is also subject to corruption and rot. Hay as straw would only be used as thatch or as an emergency shelter. Only a fool would think that they would last more than a season. And all three are extremely susceptible to water and fire damage.
So, as these Corinthian leaders are building on the foundation of Jesus, which materials are they using? If the structure is made of the people in the church, are these people strong in the Word? Are they holy and beautiful like precious metals and stones? Or, are they simply followers of men made of straw and hay?
That may not be apparent until the time of testing comes. Paul is only able to judge by their fruit. And, from their fruit, it seems as if these leaders are making disciples out of straw. They are comparable to the seed that lands on rocky ground. Look at what Jesus says about them in Mark chapter 4:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
Those made of straw and hay will fall away as soon as trial comes. Think about how many shallow believers we have made in the West on the backs of this Health and Wealth heresy. Everyone wants a Savior who solves all of their problems now. These false teachers of the prosperity gospel tell you that God wants them to have a new jet or a bigger building, so send them a check and God will heal your cancer or your marriage and fill your bank account to allow you to experience “your best life now.”
But the Bible says something different. It tells us that God wants us to learn and be shaped now in our suffering so that we can live our best life later—that we are to practice now in the imperfect world what we will do later in the perfect world. And that our trials and sufferings are good for us because they allow us to be shaped into the image of Jesus.
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Paul says that if anyone uses the wrong material, though it be covered by drywall and spackle, it will be revealed by the fire to come. His warning implies that the “someone else” building on the Corinthian foundation is currently using the wrong material. That they may need to rip the drywall down and pull down the studs so that it can be rebuilt with materials that will last.
Why? Because fire is coming. And on that day, we will know for sure. The structure will either be burnt down to its foundation or it will stand, purified by the fire. But only the “day” will disclose it. Well, what “day” is that? When will it come?
Here, Paul is speaking of the Day of the Lord. In the OT, the “Day of the Lord” is the day of judgment. It is the day that the Israelites looked forward to, when God would come to earth and bring His justice. It is the day that God’s enemies would receive their recompense and His loyal imagers their reward.
Looking back on the first coming of Jesus and the NT, we can now see that the Day of the Lord has come, but not yet in its fullness—that God has brought justice to the earth by restoring the rightful rulership of creation to King Jesus, but Jesus has not yet begun to judge His imagers.
We are in the Day of the Lord now, though it is not yet complete. Trial and testing have come already, but the fire of judgment lies ahead. Think back to the wolf from the 3 Little Pigs story. The wolf is the testing and trial of today. He is the persecution of the world on the church. If our structures cannot withstand his blowing, we will never even make it to the fire of judgment.
And this is a good thing. Persecution is good for the church. I tell you that, while it is sad to watch churches fall, it is a good thing that many of them die, for they would have never made it through the fire. As church leaders, we must welcome the wolf to blow and we must test our own walls with fire so that we can be sure that we are building a structure that will last until judgment. We must push and encourage each other to seek after holiness and make disciples who know the Word and give their whole hearts to Jesus and His mission.
Look at what the prophet Zechariah proclaims about the Day of the Lord:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE X2]
See Zech 13:7-9
“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who stands next to me,”
declares the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land, declares the Lord,
two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
and one third shall be left alive. (/)
And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
God says that He will test His people as silver and gold—that he will refine them by fire, burning away all of their impurities so that they may be holy as He is holy.
As God’s people, we must build the church with the right materials, focused and intentional on making true disciples. And we must not only endure the testing of these end times, we must embrace it, for it purifies us. Let us build a structure worthy of our King. And when the day of fire comes, so will our reward.
[POINT 3 SLIDE]
Reward (vv 14-15)
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to “live my best life now.” I want to endure now so that I can “live my best life for the rest of eternity” in the presence of my King.
Church, we don’t chase Jesus for the purpose of getting to heaven. We chase Jesus to get Jesus. Heaven is a byproduct of being near our Lord and Savior—we will rest and work in His presence in a restored Eden. But Paul makes clear that King Jesus offers more than just entrance into His presence. He says that we will be rewarded by the King for our diligence. Look at verse 14-15:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Paul calls us back to verse 8, where he says that “each will receive his wages according to his labor.” He is clear that the foundation will last, for the foundation is Christ. But some work will survive and some won’t.
I think Paul’s tone to the Corinthian leaders should be obvious to us. He is leading the witness to answer that they have failed in building up a structure that will last through testing and fire.
But what about us? Are we building a structure that will last? Are we building a church that is worthy of our King?
I think of the final scene of Star Wars: A New Hope—the original movie released in 1977. There, Luke and Han and Chewbacca stand in the palace before thousands of citizens to receive their reward in saving the galaxy. There, Princess Leia presents Luke and Han with a medal for their courage and diligence in conquering the evil Empire. I’m still not sure why Chewy didn’t get a medal, but I guess a 7 foot walking dog prefers a chew toy instead…
But let’s reset the scene and say that Luke and Han are there. And Chewbacca is there, but all of his hair has been burnt off. And they each stand before King Jesus, sitting in His great white throne. Luke and Han each receive a medal and hear “well done, good and faithful servant.” And then Jesus turns to Chewy, pats him on his burnt shoulder and says, “well, you made it.”
(Beat)
In this illustration, Chewy did little more than the man with the talent who buried it out of fear of the King. Maybe He made it to the kingdom, but will he make his Savior proud?
I’m not saying that we should go and do good work for the reward that we will receive. I’m saying that the King is deserving of us doing good work. Our hearts should be fully His, learning to desire the things that He desires. If we have submitted ourselves to Him, we are being shaped into His image by the Holy Spirit. We are immersed in His Word, where we learn both how to discern good building material and constantly reminded of His call to mission: to go and make disciples.
What will God’s faithful churches do with what has been entrusted to them? Will they squander it by doing nothing? Will they teach from something other than the Bible? Will they make half-hearted disciples by introducing them to Jesus, but never teaching them how to follow Him? If so, their work will be “burned up” when the fire comes.
And though the careless builder may possibly make it, his work will not. This lazy church leader may fool the world with his big talk and false face, but the Day of judgment will show the true character of the builder. But what about us? Do we build in vain? Or are we intentional on seeking after Jesus and teaching others to do the same?
In Matthew 12, Jesus speaks to His followers:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Church, we cannot afford to be careless with our words and deeds. Jesus has called us to action. And we must do so thoughtfully and intentionally. Each of us, whether a leader in this local church body or not, are called to build God’s kingdom. We are called to make disciples and to teach them the Word.
Surely, when the day of fire comes, our leaders will be judged more harshly for their work, but we will all be subject to the fire. Will your work stand? Are you building with gold or with straw? Are you building at all?
Application
This is the time to examine our hearts this morning. Have we fully submitted our lives to Jesus? How well are we enduring the wolf outside of our building? Will we be able to stand through the fire? Will we have built something of worth to present to our King?
[PREVIEW SLIDE]
Let us follow Jesus in building a church that makes our enemies tremble.
Let us build a church that makes the wolf outside tuck his tail and run away to find an easier target.
Let us build a church that the gates of hell cannot withstand. For we are coming to raid and plunder all of the treasure that rightfully belongs to the King.
Like the pig in the brick house, let us prepare a structure that will last—even through the fire of judgment.
Give every last bit of your heart to Jesus and follow Him. Make disciples. Teach them. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. And like the men of Nehemiah’s day who rebuilt the wall, let us each share in the building of the kingdom, every citizen contributing to the effort.
And when our structure is strong, we will bring our fight to the doors of the wolf and we will blow down his walls with an all-consuming fire. And we will gather from the lost and hopeless and bring them into the house of the King.
As in the parable of the wedding feast, let us gather from everywhere to fill the hall of the King:
Matthew 22:8–10 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
Invitation
If that is you this morning, if you are lost on the roads, the King is calling you to come to His feast. You have been invited to the table of the King. Jesus came to restore you. He came to bring you healing and wealth—not here and now—but for all of eternity. He is the solid foundation on which the church is built and He can be trusted to save you from the fire that is coming.
If He is stirring your heart this morning, let us walk with you and show you how to follow Jesus.
CLOSE IN PRAYER
CLOSING HYMN
CONGREGATIONAL BLESSING
