No More Rejection

We are coming close to the end of our series First Things First.

If you remember… I skipped chapters 7 through 10 last week.

I’m not going back to cover them right now — we’re going to circle back in a couple of months in a series we’re calling Your Dream Home after Easter.

But before we land this series, I want to look ahead.

Starting in two weeks, we’re kicking off a brand-new series leading into Easter.

Take a look at the screen..

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Last year on Easter, our church grew significantly.

Many of you sitting in this room came to faith because of last Easter.

So this year, I want you praying one simple question:

Who’s next?

Is it a coworker?

A neighbor?

A family member?

Someone you’ve been having spiritual conversations with but haven’t invited yet?

Don’t just attend Easter.

Pray toward it.

Invite toward it.

Believe toward it.

Because the gospel still changes lives.

Alright — as you know, we’ve been walking through 1 Corinthians together… well, most of it.

Real quick — I just need to know — has anyone actually been getting anything out of this series?

If you haven’t… I sure have.

This series has challenged me.

It’s convicted me.

It’s corrected me.

This isn’t a series I’m preaching at you.

This is a series that’s being preached to us.

We’ve walked through division.

We’ve walked through holiness.

We’ve walked through image versus integrity.

We’ve walked through repentance and communion.

And now we’re going to keep walking.

So like I said, we’ve been walking through 1 Corinthians together…

And today we’re going to continue that journey…In Hebrews.

Just trust me.

It’ll make sense in about three minutes.

Hebrews 12:28–29 ESV

28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Now flip back to 1 Corinthians 12

1 Corinthians 12:1–7 ESV

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

I’ve titled the message this morning:

No More Rejection

Pray

Ladies and gentlemen I need to have a serious conversation with some of you…

What I am about to say is going to be hard to hear…

You’re not going to like it….

You’re going to disagree with it…

But I need you to understand it…

VALENTINES DAY IS NOT A REAL HOLIDAY….

Alright… let me redeem myself for a second before I get canceled after first service.

Valentine’s Day actually did start with something real.

At its core, it was a feast day honoring a Christian martyr named Valentine.

He was a real believer.

He really lived in the 200s.

He was really executed during Roman persecution.

And February 14th became a day the Church remembered his faithfulness.

That’s the historically solid part.

No chocolate fountains.

No teddy bears holding hearts.

No Fancy steak dinners.

Just a man who loved Jesus enough to die for Him.

Now fast forward about a thousand years.

Writers in medieval Europe — guys like Chaucer — start connecting February 14th with romance. Courtly love. Poetry. Dramatic gestures.

And slowly, culturally, the day shifts.

A martyr’s remembrance becomes a romantic tradition.

Love letters get called “valentines.”

Poems get exchanged.

By the 1700s and 1800s, printed cards take off.

And here we are.

A man died for Christ…

and now people panic-buy heart-shaped Reese’s at H-E-B the night before.

History has range.

But here’s why I’m even bringing this up.

What started as something sacred…

slowly became something sentimental.

What began as devotion…

turned into decoration.

And that’s exactly what can happen to worship.

It can start centered on Christ…and slowly become centered on us.

And that’s where Hebrews 12 comes in.

“Let us offer to God acceptable worship…”

If there is acceptable worship, that means there is worship Unacceptable Worship.

You can be singing.

You can be serving.

You can be participating.

And still be offering something God does not receive.

You Can be worshiping God, and be rejected by Him…

And I don’t know about you — I would rather my Valentine’s plans get rejected than my worship.

This is exactly what we are seeing in 1 Corinthians 12

I’ve driven this home week after week:

The Corinthians were obsessed with themselves.

They loved the spiritual gifts.

They loved what looked powerful.

They loved what sounded impressive.

But Paul says something theologically loaded in verse 3 — and if you read it too fast, you’ll miss it.

1 Corinthians 12:3 ESV

3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

The first statement is obvious.

Of course, Paul.

Someone led by the Spirit isn’t going to say “Jesus is cursed.”

That’s a duh statement.

But the second line?

That one should make you slow down.

“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”

Now hold on.

Unbelievers can say those words.

People say “Jesus is Lord” in mockery.

Actors say it in movies.

People type it in comment sections.

So what is Paul saying?

He’s not talking about pronunciation.

He’s talking about submission.

You can say the words without surrender.

You can sing the lyrics without bowing the knee.

You can lift your hands without lifting your heart.

But you cannot truly confess Jesus as Lord — meaning Owner, Authority, King — without the Holy Spirit transforming you from the inside out.

Paul is drawing a line.

This isn’t about volume.

It’s about authenticity.

Because in Corinth, they were loud.

They were expressive.

They were gifted.

But not all of it was Spirit-led.

And here’s the uncomfortable implication:

Just because something is spiritual in appearance does not mean it is acceptable to God.

That’s the bridge back to Hebrews.

“Offer to God acceptable worship…”

If Jesus is not actually Lord of your life, then your worship may be impressive — but it is not acceptable.

You can sing loudly and still live rebelliously.

You can serve faithfully and still surrender selectively.

You can say “Jesus is Lord” with your mouth… and deny it with your life.

How good you are at doing church is not an indicator of how much you love God.

That’s the tension Paul is exposing.

Because the Corinthians were gifted.

They were expressive.

They were active.

But they were divided.

They were prideful.

They were self-centered.

And God is not impressed with giftedness divorced from lordship.

This isn’t just Paul’s warning.

This is Jesus’.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Did you catch that?

They said the right words.

They used His name.

They even operated in spiritual power.

“Did we not prophesy in your name?”

“Did we not cast out demons in your name?”

“Did we not do mighty works in your name?”

That sounds like 1 Corinthians 12.

Gifts.

Power.

Activity.

Church stuff.

And Jesus says, “I never knew you.”

Not, “You weren’t talented.”

Not, “You didn’t try hard enough.”

“I never knew you.”

That’s not a rejection of their performance.

That’s a rejection of their relationship.

You can operate in spiritual gifts and still be spiritually lost.

You can use the name of Jesus and not actually submit to His lordship.

That’s why Hebrews says, “Offer to God acceptable worship.”

Because not all worship is accepted.

The question that every single human being on this earth has to answer is not:

Is Jesus Lord?

Because He is.

A wrong answer doesn’t change truth.

The real question we all have to ask is: Is Jesus the Lord of Me?

Not my Lord at church.

Not my Lord when I pray.

Not my Lord when I need something.

Not my Lord when it’s convenient.

Not my Lord when it benefits me.

Is He Lord of my decisions?

Lord of my desires?

Lord of my relationships?

Lord of my reputation?

Lord of my body?

Lord of my private life?

Because if He is only Lord in moments… Then He’s not your Lord at all.

And this is exactly where Corinth went wrong.

They weren’t denying Jesus with their mouths.

They were denying Him with their priorities.

They loved the gifts.

They loved the power.

They loved the attention.

But they did not love submission.

In verses 12-21 Paul starts talking about how the church is one body.

Many members.

Different parts.

Different functions.

And then he addresses the problem: Some people were elevating certain gifts.

Some were minimizing others.

Some were thinking, “If I don’t have that gift, I don’t matter.”

Others were thinking, “Because I have this gift, I matter more.”

That’s not worship.

That’s comparison.

When giftedness becomes a status symbol, worship becomes competition.

And competition in the body always leads to rejection.

Some were rejecting others.

Some were rejecting themselves.

But both are pride.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you.’”

If Jesus is Lord then you don’t get to rank what He distributes.

You don’t get to despise what He designed.

You don’t get to elevate what He gave you.

You don’t get to diminish what He gave someone else.

You don’t get to minimize someone else’s gift.

And you don’t get to resent your own because it doesn’t get the same attention.

Because Paul is about to say something that levels the playing field for everyone.

It’s funny — this chapter gets read at weddings all the time.

But notice where they start.

They don’t start at verse 1.

They skip straight to “Love is patient, love is kind.”

Why?

Because verses 1–3 aren’t romantic.

They’re corrective.

Paul isn’t describing candlelight and vows.

He’s confronting ego and pride.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Paul is basically saying,

You can speak in tongues? Cool.

You can prophesy? Cool.

You can understand deep theology? Cool.

You have mountain-moving faith? Cool.

But if you don’t love?

You’re just noise.

You’re nothing.

That’s not my thoughts…That’s what the Bible says.

The Corinthians were ranking gifts.

Paul reorders the entire conversation.

It’s not about how visible your gift is.

It’s not about how powerful it looks.

It’s not about how impressive it sounds.

It’s about love.

In verse 4 he explains what love looks like:

1 Corinthians 13:4–10 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

Paul says love is patient.

Love is kind.

Love does not envy or boast.

It is not arrogant.

Ah yes… Valentine’s Day. Hearts. Flowers. Chocolates.

Except that’s not what Paul is doing.

This isn’t a Hallmark moment.

This is a correction.

What Paul is actually implying is this:

Jesus is patient.

Jesus is kind.

Jesus does not envy or boast.

Jesus is not arrogant.

He’s not just defining love.

He’s defining Christlikeness.

And if you claim to be filled with the Spirit…you should look like the Son.

That’s Paul’s point.

And then he says something in verses 9 and 10 that has split Christians and denominations for years:

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”

Some read that and say, “See? The gifts stopped when the Bible was completed.”

But that’s not what Paul is talking about.

He’s not giving a timeline for printing presses.

He’s talking about completion.

He’s contrasting partial now with perfect then.

We know in part now.

We see dimly now.

We experience God partially now.

But one day — when Christ returns, when redemption is complete, when we see Him face to face — we won’t need partial expressions of anything.

Because the Perfect will be standing in front of us.

That’s not about the canon of Scripture.

That’s about the culmination of redemption.

Paul’s point isn’t “argue about gifts.”

Paul’s point is this: Everything you’re fighting over now is temporary.

Love is eternal.

Gifts are tools.

Love is the goal.

And if you have gifts without love — you don’t have maturity.

You have noise.

That’s what Paul is confronting.

1 Corinthians 14:1–3 ESV

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

Paul is not anti–gifts of the Spirit.

He affirms them.

He encourages them.

But he is absolutely against self-centeredness.

He says first and foremost: Pursue love.

Gifts? Yes — desire them.

But don’t pursue them like they’re the goal.

Love is the goal.

The gifts of the Spirit will come from the overflow of your love of God.

For my theology buffs in the room — this isn’t the message to unpack every doctrinal implication of tongues and prophecy.

That’s not Paul’s main point here.

His point is this:

Your gift should serve the body of Christ — not your ego.

Prophecy builds up.

Encourages.

Consoles.

Tongues? They may be spiritual — but it doesn’t edify the room.

And Paul keeps bringing them back to one thing:

If it doesn’t build the body, it’s out of order.

You don’t get to use your gifting to elevate yourself.

You use your gifting to strengthen someone else.

That’s acceptable worship.

That’s what doesn’t get rejected.

If you’re new to faith and all this spiritual gifts language feels unfamiliar — don’t panic.

The point today isn’t to make you master theology. It’s to make you pursue love and build up the church.

Here is where I want to land…or as Pastor Josh used to say “land the pan”

1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV

12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

Paul doesn’t say,

Strive to look spiritual.

Strive to be impressive.

Strive to have the most dramatic gift.

He says, Strive to build up.

That’s what acceptable worship looks like.

Not spotlight.

Not noise.

Not ego.

Edification.

I titled this message “No More Rejection.”

It’s time we started worshiping God in a way that is acceptable and not rejected.

And it starts with this:

Pivot off of self.

Stop asking: How did worship make me feel?

Start asking:

Did I reflect Jesus?

Did I honor the Lord?

Because here’s the reality:

When love leads, worship is accepted.

When ego leads, worship is rejected.

I would rather have my preferences rejected, my pride rejected, even my reputation rejected…than stand before God and hear Him reject what I called worship.

So here’s the call:

Pursue love.

Submit your gift.

Honor the body.

And make Jesus Lord — not just in word, but in life.

No more performance.

No more ego.

No more self-centered worship.

No more rejection.

Pray