Count You Blessings

Introduction

It is no secret to most of you that I am a big Science Fiction and Action Thriller type movie fan. One of the Action movies I watch about once a year is the Bourne Idenity movies. There are five that have been produced with a sixth one in production right now.

The overall plot of the movie is that Jason Bourne, a CIA agent, was dealing with dissociative amnesia and struggled to try and remember who he was. He couldn’t remember his name or what his purpose in life was, all he knew was that he is being chased and he had all these skills and didn’t know how he acquired them.

I often wonder what it would be like to wake up one morning and not know my identity, what my name was or what my purpose is life was; all the memories I would be missing out on, the blessings, the challenges I had overcome, and even the failures and set backs.

That would be weird, but that was kind of what Paul was dealing with when wrote to the church in Corinth. Paul was reminding them of who they were and the many blessings they had received from God, as if they had forgot them. And when you read the rest of the letter, they evidently had!

And so Paul began his letter reminding them of who they were and who’s they were, and why they existed.

I want to share the beginning of his letter with you this morning. Paul wasn’t writing to any one individual, like some letters in the New Testament do, Paul was writing to the church. And although we live in a different century and a different culture than his readers did, we are the church.

(Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-9)

them that they in fact, been chosen by God. He wanted them to know how God had chose them and why.

God has named the Church

After reminding his readers that he was called by the will of God, Paul reminds them of who they are. He reminds them of what their name was and what their purpose was.

There name? was the Church of God. That name implies not only who created them but who they belonged to. They were God’s chosen people. Paul uses two terms very important in understand their identity: called and sanctified.

To be called means first of all to be named, to be identified from those different names. But it means more than to just be named, it speaks of receiving an invitation. God had invited them, through Jesus Christ, to receive his name. And those who responded not only bore the name Church of God, but belonged to him as well.

Have you ever thought about the fact that you belong to God?That you have been chosen by God to bear his name? What a privilege and a blessing that is! that we belong to God and bear his name.

The other word, sanctified, refers not only to being holy, but to being separated from the rest of the world. God has set the church apart from the rest of the world to be a holy people. Being holy not only speaks of being pure, but speaks of being in relationship with God.

One of the great challenges the church faces today is sanctification, being set apart or different from the rest of the world. We are too busy trying to be like the world, so that we don’t offend the world. But God has chosen us to be like him, so that the world can see what God is like and hopefully come to him.

Sanctification definitely has it’s beginning point and it starts when we accept Christ into our life. But it is not something that happens and then it is finished. Sanctification is an on going process of being transformed into the image of Christ. The more like Christ we become, the more set apart from the world we are.

When

So Paul reminded the church at Corinth that they were to be a different people, separated from the rest of the world by living holy lives before their God. They were special! We are special!

One of the great challenges the church faces today is sanctification, being set apart or different from the rest of the world. We are too busy trying to be like the world, so that we don’t offend the world. But God has chosen us to be like him, so that the world can see what God is like and hopefully come to him.

God has blessed the Church with many blessings

Then Paul goes on to remind the church just how God had made them so special. It was not that they were special before God chose them, it was that in God choosing them, they become special. It is only by the grace of God any of us are special!

Paul said they had been enriched by God in every way, in all kinds of speech and knowledge. It is evident they would let that go to their heads and use their speech and knowledge for their own personal edification.

Paul said they had been enriched by God in every way, in all kinds of speech and knowledge. It is evident they would let that go to their heads and use their speech and knowledge for their own personal edification.

They had been blessed by God with every spiritual gift they needed to be the church as they waited for Christ to be revealed. They lacked nothing!

And it is God who keeps us firm and blameless until the day the Lord returns. It is not because of our faithfulness, although we are all called to be faithful; it is because God is faithful and true to his promises.

It wasn’t because of their faithfulness, although we are all called to be faithful, it is because God is faithful and true to his promises.

Paul’s words remind us of how blessed we really are! He reminds us of who we are and all the blessings we have received from God.

God has given the Church purpose.

I sometimes I wonder why God, with his infinite wisdom and foreknowledge, would bless people like the church in Corinth, knowing how easily they would forget and the way they would treat each other and God. For that matter, I sometimes wonder why he blesses us the way he does.

But the is that he wants a people to call his own; a people holy and blameless, who can fellowship not only with one another, but with his Son, Jesus Christ. That is the reason God has called us, the reason he has set us apart from the rest of the world.

He has blessed us with all language and knowledge, with every spiritual gift, and with the promise that he will keep us firm until the end. He hasn’t blessed us because we are anybody special. He has made us special by calling us into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, along with all of those in every place who call upon the name of the Lord.

Conclusion

If Paul were here this morning, I think he would have the same words to say to us.

He would give thanks to God that we are his. He would praise the Lord that we have been set apart to be a holy people unto God.

He would remind us of the many blessings we have received from the Lord, the gift of speech and knowledge, the spiritual gifts needed to do the work he has put before us.

And the promise that God has made to us to keep us firm until the end.

Last week I asked you to remember your baptism and the promises you made to God. Today I ask that you remember the blessings God has given to us as the church. Remember and be thankful!