Preaching Christ Crucified
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Dearly loved people of God,
This is a humbling passage. Paul bluntly reminds the Christians in Corinth that they aren’t what the world would consider the cream of the crop. In Greece, where wisdom and learning were national sports, the believers in Corinth wouldn’t make the national team.
There’s a big temptation among God’s chosen people to begin to feel proud and boastful about our salvation. The people of Israel struggled with pride in the OT. And, as we see here, the followers of Jesus struggled with pride in the NT.
I’m not going to ask if you think anybody struggles with pride in our congregation - it’s easy to point fingers. The question for us in God’s Word today is, “Do you feel proud or boastful about your salvation?”
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
There’s no room for boastfulness in the gospel message. And our congregation has been built on the gospel message. The account of Jesus’ death and resurrection is at the heart of our nearly 40-year history as a congregation. The good news of God’s salvation through Jesus is at the heart of every worship service, every sermon, every baptism, and every celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
We don’t say it the same every single time, but we’ve got no other story, nothing else to offer to each other, no comfort in the face of death or trouble but our salvation and life through Jesus. We’ve got no hope to offer our guests and neighbours except the assurance that forgiveness of sins and life with and for God is offered freely in Jesus Christ.
In the 9 months I’ve been leading worship in Tillsonburg, I took these verses from I Corinthians as my motto:
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1 cor 2:1
Jesus came to die in place of sinful humans. He was born to Mary as the Son of God - fully human, fully God. He needed to be human because God wouldn’t punish any other creature for humankind’s sin. He needed to be God to bear the weigh of sin and God’s anger at sin.
He bore that sin and anger on the cross. He died the death that all humans deserve.
But he rose again. The tomb was found empty on Easter because he didn’t remain dead. He rose to life to demonstrate that the punishment for sin is finished. All who believe in Christ can be forgiven and gain life with God and for God.
That’s what our hearts long for. We long to live with God. We long for the purpose and direction that comes from living for God.
Too often we find that our life is misdirected. Our aims and goals fall short of the holiness God calls us to. And then . . . we fall short of our own goals.
It’s like a computer. These things pack massive computing power. Enormous amounts of memory - a Terabyte! And what do I catch myself doing once in a while? Scrolling through FB. I’ll play cards against the computer. Sometimes it’s a healthy mental break, but sometimes the break stretches a little . . .
Sometimes we do that with the gifts and abilities God has given us: we use our size and strength to push our way instead of using that size and strength to serve and protect. All the good gifts we have from God can be misdirected, misused, twisted from good to sin.
The penalty for sin is death. God said it right away to our first parents. If you disobey, you’ll die: physical death, but also the eternal death of being cut off from God. Not even our best efforts measure up. Our best efforts today cannot cover over yesterday’s failures. Our only hope is in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Only Christ can take the punishment we deserve and give us life with God and for God instead of death.
The challenge is that we don’t like to ask for help. We love the illusion of being able to do it on our own. Even as Canadians we’ve bought into the American dream of pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. So Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth brings us down with a bump. God’s Word deflates our swollen egos.
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
Everything we have, we have received from God in Christ Jesus. Any righteousness or holiness you see in the followers of Jesus is a gift from God. Any wisdom is a gift of God the HS.
Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
But if - in his mercy and love - God has lavished his gifts and grace on the likes of us, then there’s hope for anybody!
But if - in his mercy and love - God has forgiven the sin lavished his gifts and grace on the likes of us, then there’s hope for anybody!
So it’s September. School has begun. The usual routine of clubs and sports and other activities is winding up again. As we get going on this new season, my message this morning has 2 points.
Proclaim the gospel
Remind us of our goal as a congregation
It’s not just me who comes with this testimony about God. It’s our message to the community as a whole congregation. It’s our message to our family and neighbourhood as individuals and households. In humility and kindness, we bring this hope to our neighbours.
Goals as a congregation
Goals as a congregation
Gospel
Goals as a congregation
becoming more community oriented
hospitality ABCs
developing fellowship
The goal is not to have people become more like us. I’m not sure that would be a good idea. The goal is that people are redeemed and become more like Jesus Christ. Jesus - the first human since the fall into sin to love his heavenly Father with everything he has and to love his neighbour as himself.