Out for Delivery

Welcome to all the new people

Whats coming up in the life of church?

Summer Caps, Move up Sunday… Jett Morans turning 7.

2 Corinthians 3:1–4 ESV

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

Pray

Title: Out for Delivery.

Summer of Purpose is here.

We are praying for a great summer of camps,

today is move up sunday

last week we had a worship service and we baptized 37 people

But God is not done.

God has not finished what he wants to, If anything - He is just getting started in Jesus name

….

Things were just kicking off in Corinth. Paul is writing to the church there - in the midst of a tough culture to get a church going - Gods hand was on it

and he makes much of an opportunity to

Key Thought: You are not just saved—you are sent. Every day, God has you "out for delivery" as a living letter of Christ to the people around you.

SAVED & SENT:

God is in the business of re-routing people according to his purpose & grace.

are you willing to be re-routed by God - to Fulfil his purpose in your life?

One of my favorite biblical observations is that Paul often discovered God's guidance after a door closed.

God intentionally doesnt give us the full roadmap - he gives us the way forward now: We usually want a map; God often gives a redirect. Looking back, many Christians can identify moments where a disappointment, delay, job loss, illness, move, or unexpected relationship became the very thing God used to lead them somewhere better.

Proverbs 16:9 captures it well:

"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."

If i am a letter

Then i am out for delivery.

Turn to the person next to you and tell them - your out for delivery.

1.YOU ARE A LETTER.

The context here is great: Paul is actually handling some bad reviews on yelp!

The New Bible Commentary 3:1–3 Letters of Recommendation

Paul now answers criticism of his failure to produce letters of recommendation when he came to Corinth. The criticisms probably came from the false apostles and were voiced in the attack on Paul. 1–2 Paul responds by saying that it was absurd that letters of recommendation should have been required of him in Corinth, because you yourselves are our letter.

This is what the Spirit of God has done with you….

Jesus has written the cross on the tablet of your heart, the resurrection life on the inside of you.

2 Corinthians 3:3 “3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

sometimes its worth while to think of all that God has done. all that has happened in the midst of salvation

that fact that you are here today - all of it - a miracle by God and for His glory and your good.

God has got a hold of you - How amazing is that?

2 Timothy 1:9 ESV

9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

you arent just saved, your sent (thats what a calling is) -

sent to be apart of the great commission in Jesus name. and for His glory: ministers of the new convenant.

Matthew 28 ESV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Your life is like a letter, written from Jesus, to the world. but every single letter is different.

God used the technology of letter writing to spread the gospel fast across the then known world, the mediterranean sea and the ports all around it….

God us using all the tools now to send his letters throughout the world

Your letter, your testimony of faith - is in some way being transmissitted to the world around you.

Youre a letter.

The letter is a good one too

I wonder what the letter would say: if you read it i think it would say something like this:

———-

To Whom it May concern,

This is my son, my daughter in whom i am so so pleased, I love them with an everlasting love and i will never forsake them or allow them to be taken away from me.

They have accepted my son Jesus as their Lord & savior

He has borne the penalty for them entirely.

His (her) sins are wiped clean

He (She) has no past according to my great mercy

He is very special to me, Part of my family

Please watch now as i make much of His life for my name’s sake…. because i intend to do it.

Regards, God the Father

———

I think this is what Pauls trying to say to the christians in corinth here:

2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV

3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

2.YOU’RE OUT FOR DELIVERY

or in other words: YOU HAVE A UNIQUE ROUTE TO TAKE IN LIFE.

signed, sealed and out for delivery

Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

You’ve heard about him

you’ve believed in him

and now your sealed FOR HIM.

This passage contains profound biblical imagery:

The Seal of Ownership: In the ancient world, a seal (often pressed into hot wax by a signet ring) marked an object as the possession of a wealthy or powerful person. It also represented authenticity and protection. The Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer is God's visible "stamp," marking them as His own. [1, 2, 3, 4]

A Guarantee (Pledge): The Greek word for guarantee (arrabon) acts as a pledge or a "down payment" on a future promise. Just as an earnest payment on a house guarantees the rest will be paid, the Holy Spirit gives believers a foretaste of the eternal life and heavenly inheritance awaiting them. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Secured Until Redemption: Paul notes that this sealing remains "until the redemption of those who are God's possession". This means the Spirit's presence guarantees the believer's eternal security until Christ's final return, which is often called the "day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).

3.ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO HELP YOU MAKE GOOD DELIVERY

Are you willing to be moved in such a way that you willlingly accept a re-route from the holy spirit: Scripture and Christian history are full of stories where people were headed one direction and God dramatically redirected them.

1. Paul on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9

Paul was traveling to persecute Christians when Jesus confronted him. Instead of destroying the church, he became one of its greatest missionaries.

….Sometimes God's rerouting is a complete reversal of our plans and even our identity.

2. The Macedonian Call (Acts 16:6–10)

Paul planned to preach in Asia and then Bithynia, but Scripture says the Holy Spirit prevented those routes. Then Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia asking for help. That detour led the gospel into Europe.

….Closed doors can be God's guidance, not His rejection.

3. Joseph's Journey (Genesis 37–50)

Joseph dreamed of leadership, but instead was betrayed, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and imprisoned. Years later he became second in command in Egypt and saved countless lives.

Joseph summed it up:

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." (Genesis 50:20)

…God's rerouting can look like disaster before it looks like purpose.

4. Philip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8)

Philip was having a fruitful ministry in Samaria when God told him to leave and go to a desert road. There he met the Ethiopian official who came to faith.

…Sometimes God redirects us from successful things to strategic things.

5. Jonah

Jonah tried to avoid God's direction entirely by sailing the opposite way. God used a storm and a fish to reroute him back toward Nineveh.

…..God can redirect even our rebellion.

....C.S. Lewis

Lewis spent years as an atheist and intellectual skeptic. He later described himself as "the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England." God slowly redirected his thinking, leading him to become one of Christianity's most influential writers.

Lesson: God's rerouting can happen through a long intellectual journey rather than a dramatic event.