Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Introduction

A Beautiful Symphony!

Everyone has an individual instrument to play, an individual gift to play it and the individual has sheet music to play from that guides them to the music they ought to play in order to achieve a harmonious, glorious sound!

Imagine, however, if the viola decided it wanted to play the music of the timpani?

It would be disastrous!

What if the triangle felt up to taking over for the first chair flautist?

Horrible!

Or worse yet, what if a world class director came in to lead in the performance of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, “From the New World”: Largo, only to find the cello, clarinets and violins decided not to show up?

It would be devastating to the performance!

You are God’s Orchestra, ladies and gentlemen.

You are chosen to perform His grand and glorious Opus of all time!

Together we play his beautiful and moving score.

Together we are following the timing of the timeless director.

Are you practiced?

Are you showing up to the concert prepared?

Everyone in the orchestra is depending on you and you are depending on everyone in the glorious orchestra known as His local church.

Our theme for this year and this month in particular is Discipleship.

“Disciple: Be one.

Make one.”

And we started of this year talking about this from .

This addressed the “Why” of discipleship.

The second Sunday we addressed the How of discipleship as an individual from .

Last week we talked about the How of discipleship from a corporate level and we used many texts from the bible and also leaned heavily on the book, “The Vine Keeper” I invited 5-15 people to help me help this congregation.

Their task is to help develop a culture of Discipleship her at ABC.

So that discipleship becomes a natural reflex of who we are as followers of Christ.

This then brings us to today.

We are again going to address the “How” of discipleship in the Church and we are going to do so by walking through ...

Main Idea - Biblical Discipleship is Most Powerfully Accomplished Together

Transition - there are three things we all must know and believe from Paul’s teachings this morning.

And the first is this...

1.You All are Gifted by God’s Will (vs.

1-11)

1 Cor

Spiritual gifting has always had a bit of confusion associated with it and it still does today.

Paul, in verse one wants to make things clear for the church at Corinth, he wants them to be properly informed about their spiritual gifting.

The first thing he wants them to understand is there are Gifts that believers receive as a result of their relationship with Christ.

When you believe, you are gifted!

This is true of ALL believers.

In verses 2-3 Paul tells them the difference between the “religious experiences” of the pagans and Christians.

There is a great contrast.

You were in the darkness, now you are in the light...

In verse 2, he reminds them of the time before they knew Christ.

They were still religious but their religion was carrying them in the wrong direction.

“...that since there are innumerable idols in the world there would have been innumerable ways in which any given pagan might have been led astray.

Each idol temple would have offered something slightly or significantly different to its potential worshipers, and worshipers of each idol may have been (mis)led differently.

The following passage will stress that for Christians there is only one God and Spirit.

That same God is experienced by all of his people and blesses them all in the most diverse ways.

In paganism there may have been many gods, but each one tended (tends) to be associated with a particular and distinct type of experience.

In Christ there is one God, who makes himself known to his people in a great diversity of ways (all consistent with his perfect character).

We do not need different gods for different needs or blessings, for there is only one God, and he provides for our every need.”

Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 563.

Paul is laying forth a case that will take three chapters that there is a proper way to function in the body and there is an improper way.

And the proper way is through Spirit-filled believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believers who refuse to rely on their old pagan religion to exact change in the church or give them some sort of grandiose, elevated position in the body.

Paul is clear, there is no blending of the pagan and the godly.

You can’t be part of a religion that doesn’t exalt Christ if you are to be pleasing to HIm.

True and genuine Christians can only be involved in a religion that exalts Jesus as Lord because that confession only can come from the Spirit of God.

So the groundwork is laid.

We worship God in Spirit and in truth.

This is the point of the next three chapters.

Spiritual Gifts, gifts that come from God Himself when one is born again.

There is no gifting from the pagan religions, only lies and confusion.

And Paul was desperate to keep lies and confusion out of this local congregation.

In verse 2, he reminds them of the time before they knew Christ.

They were still religious but their religion was carrying them in the wrong direction.

Why do I bring you to this passage this morning?

What does have to do with our theme of Disciple: Be One.

Make One?

Because of the overarching truth that Paul demonstrates in this passage, namely that The Body of Christ, made up of individual, spirit filled, spirit gifted members, is God’s nuclear weapon to destroy darkness and bring forth the light of the Gospel!

The Body of Christ is God’s best tool to “Move people to the right.”

Show diagram again...

And biblical discipleship is not the option of every believer but the glorious responsibility and privilege of EACH AND EVERY Believer.

And so, in verse four, five and six, Paul teaches the Corinthians about “Spiritual gifts.”

Now, of course as you study through chapters 12-14 you find that Paul is dealing with a bunch of Christians who where not thinking very Christ-like in regard to their gifting.

They desired the gifting that brought them the accolades and attention as individual.

They wanted the “cool”, “spectacular” gifts that gave them the glory and not Christ.

1 Cor

By the way, this is not the point of this sermon and regardless of where you are at in your understand of the Holy activity today regarding the “spectacular” gifts, Paul’s message is clear.

Humility must be at the root of any and all of the gifting we have because are gifting is GIVEN to us, not for our own glory but for Service to HIM!

In verses 4-6 Paul makes a few things clear.

First, there isn’t just one gift, there are many gifts.

And all of these gifts come from not many sources, but one source.

He also says there are a variety of service and a variety of activities

Gifts, service and activities but the same God behind them all.

By the way, did you notice the Trinity in these verses?

Gifts - Same Spirit

Variety of Services - Same Lord (Christ)

Variety of Activities - Same God (Father)

David Lowery - Paul had referred to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in verse 3. Now in reverse order he stressed the unity of the Godhead in relation to the different spiritual gifts.

The Holy Spirit gives a diversity of gifts (cf.

“Spirit” in vv.

7–9, 11) so that individuals can serve the Lord and His body, the church, in various ways (cf.

vv. 7, 27), all empowered by God and exercised under His aegis (support) (cf.

vv. 18, 24).

Though there are different (various) kinds (diaireseis) of gifts … service, and working (activities), the same Spirit … the same Lord (Christ), and the same God are involved in all of them.

Paul had referred to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in verse 3. Now in reverse order he stressed the unity of the Godhead in relation to the different spiritual gifts.

The Holy Spirit gives a diversity of gifts (cf.

“Spirit” in vv.

7–9, 11) so that individuals can serve the Lord and His body, the church, in various ways (cf.

vv. 7, 27), all empowered by God and exercised under His aegis (cf.