1 Cor. Introduction
Notes
Transcript
Good morning church! Today, we are kicking off a new message series called Rivalry. It’s gonna be a brief study through the book of ’ll explain what I mean by brief in just a bit.
Tonight, there is some sort of game going on, right? THE SUPER BOWL! It’s a pretty big deal if you haven’t noticed! Here’s what I have noticed about sports as I’ve observed. People we would call “Die hard fans” don’t just love their team, support their team, wear t shirts, follow recruiting, trades, and free agent possibilities. To truly be a die hard fan, you have to have someone to hate!
Today, we are kicking off a new message series called Rivalry.
If a Florida State fan can even mouth the words “Go Gators” you would question their devotion. If a UNC fan could cheer for Duke in the Final Four, you would think they were a wishy washy fan. And if an Auburn fan can wear a red and white checked shirt in public, they are not truly a die hard fan right? In sports, we need someone to hate more than we need someone to love! I have heard people say, “I can deal with a Bama loss, but I can’t stand to see Auburn win.” That’s an intense rivalry!
But what I’m noticing about our world is that the sports arena isn’t the only place where this exists!
Think about the political sphere. Is it not the same? Many Republicans hate Democrats more than they support their own party and vice versa. You see, we need someone to hate more than we need someone to love.
Think about your workplace. I talk to a lot of people about their workplaces, and what I find is that a lot of people don’t have what they would consider really good friends at work, people you hang out with regularly and trust with your life kind of friends. But just about everyone I talk to has someone they can’t stand at work, right? Isn’t that interesting?
This is who we are! This is our sin nature at work everyday! God has called us to find people to love and instead we seek out those we can hate. It’s a sad state of the world, but it is reality. We feel that we need someone to direct our bad feelings and frustrations toward.
Isn’t it good that people like that aren’t in the church though? Whew. That would be a mess..................
Does this attitude exist in the church? Absolutely! Do we have sinful people in the church? Absolutely! SO, yes, this idea that we need someone to hate bleeds over into the church and it can be detrimental to the witness of a church in a community and it turns pastors into referees more than spiritual leaders, amen?
Right before the process for me coming here started, I began studying 1 Corinthians. Not exactly sure why. It was just what God laid on my heart to study. As I was reading through, I saw this verse...
For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you.
Paul is not talking about sports, politics, or the workplace. Paul is talking about the church of God that Christ died for! There is RIVALRY in God’s church!
The Greek word for rivalry here gets translated other places as strife or most often as quarreling. How can this happen here? That’s Paul’s argument!
If you read through 1 Corinthians, you will see a lot of topics covered. But there are 5 in particular that seem to deal with this issue of rivalry in the church.
Today, I am going to give you somewhat of an introduction to the book and to its author and audience. Then we will look at factions, family issues, friction, (my staff had to help me with this two…) frivolity, and farrago. We will talk about how Paul says that each of these cause rivalry and disunity in the church. It’s gonna be a good study that will be greatly helpful for us moving forward to point back to as issues arise in the future.
So, open your Bible to . We are going to see Paul set this whole conversation up through the introduction of this letter. Let’s read the first three verses, I’ll pray, and then we will come back and look at all of this together.
Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother:
To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus,
that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge.
In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother:
To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 1:1-3
1 Corinthians 1:
PRAY
PRAY
PRAY
As we just read in the text, this letter was written by… (PAUL) and it was written to…(the church at Corinth.)
We don’t know the birth stories of all the churches Paul writes to, but we do know the story of the church at Corinth’s birth. And it’s a neat one.
In Acts chapter 18, we see Paul leaving the highly intellectual city of Athens where he has been debating with philosophers and stoics, to go to Corinth. There are no mention of any believers in Corinth prior to his arrival. There is a good chance that as one of the commentaries I read said, “Paul was the first Christian to set foot in the city.” Isn’t that incredible to think about?
Paul stays with a couple of tentmakers that become highly influential in Paul’s ministry, Aquila and Priscilla. Verse 4 says that he reasoned in the synagogue every week on the Sabbath trying to persuade all those gathered to believe. He winds up leading the leader of the synagogue named Crispus to Christ! And that was a big deal because the synagogue by this point in the culture was an important part of the society. The very next thing after that news is that “Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized. Amen?
So, the people of Corinth were obviously pretty responsive to the Gospel. Then Paul has a vision in a dream...
The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent.
The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent.
For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”
God was saying, “Stay in it Paul! There are more here who will respond. Keep preaching!” And Paul does! Verse 11 says he stays 18 months.
This is the beginning of the story of this church. They seem to be this incredible, Spirit filled people who are hungry for Christ, right? But as we read through the letters Paul wrote them, it becomes clear that the Corinthian church had some major issues. And their biggest issue was that of unity.
Paul is going to unpack some of the particular issues going on that are hindering this unity, but let’s look just at his opening argument this morning…
1. Church is bigger than an individual
1. Church is bigger than an individual
Look how many “you”s are in this section! It isn’t just a ridiculous amount, but as I was studying, it stuck out to me.
I thank my God for YOU
God’s Grace was given to YOU
You were enriched in every way
Christ’s testimony was confirmed in you
you do not lack any spiritual gift
you eagerly await Christ
he will strengthen YOU to the end
You will be blameless in that day
You were called into fellowship with Christ
Let me ask...Is Paul writing to an individual here? NO! He is writing to a body of believers. This letter was to be read out loud in the assembly of the Christians. What are they being reminded of with every YOU? (togetherness! unity!)
Is Paul writing to an individual? NO! He is writing to a body of believers. This letter was to be read out loud in the assembly of the Christians. What are they being reminded of with every YOU? (togetherness! unity!)
Paul is helping them remember that Christianity is not a solo game.
I got to share yesterday at two halftimes of upward basketball games at the main campus. The thing I shared was that Christianity was never designed to be just about you and God. Your decision to follow Christ is a personal one, but after that, the Christian is supposed to be very much communal!
Theologians and Christian Historians help us see that the 1900s brought a new idea to Christianity that hadn’t really been talked about in the previous 1900 years. Pastors started putting emphasis on a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” We separated A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS from THE WORK OF THE CHURCH. Now, we have people sitting on the couch or in a tree stand every Sunday claiming to be followers of Jesus when they don’t even know or love his bride!
I’m gonna tell you… You want to be friends with me, Don’t bad mouth my wife. My best friends in the world are those who treat my wife well and love and care for her like they do me.
Christ is no different! The Bible tells us that the Church is the bride of Christ, So… How can someone claim to love Jesus when they aren’t acquainted with his bride, the church! And we have caused this problem as preachers. But, that’s another sermon...
The first thing to point out from Paul’s language here is that he seems to be reminding them that the bride of Christ is bigger than an individual faith.
The second thing he says is that
2. Church is bigger than a local body (v. 2)
2. Church is bigger than a local body (v. 2)
1. Universal church (v. 2)
1. Universal church (v. 2)
Paul seemed to then want them to be overwhelmed at the magnitude of God’s grace.
Look at verse 2 with me...
To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.
Paul reminds the saints of Corinth that they are part of a larger body who have called on the name of the Lord!
How does he end that verse? BOTH THEIR LORD AND OURS. I love that!
Paul is trying to overwhelm them with the magnitude of Christ’s reach.
As we just talked about, often times we can get our blinders on and just have this happy clappy image of Jesus as our personal Savior, but Jesus didn’t just die for you, right?
But he also didn’t just die for this church or this denomination! Jesus is the Lord of Lindsay Lane East, but he is also the Lord of Believers gathering today in Florida and New York, those gathering to worship on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota, some standing on a beach in Hawaii, those gathering in Japan, Russia, Kenya, Brazil, Australia, and the list goes on and on!
And not just that… Let me blow your mind for a second...
He’s also the Lord of all believers who have died previously and have yet to be born. MIND BLOWN!
When you think about that… does it make you rethink your personal issues and preferences about church? It should! I believe that’s Paul’s effort here.
I listened to a couple of Christian podcast guys talking about the death of Kobe Bryant this week. They were talking about how great of a basketball player Kobe was, yet in the middle of that conversation, one of them said, “It seems trite to even be talking about the man’s abilities. Yeah, family, I know you are hurting because you lost a husband, dad, or friend, but don’t you remember when he put up 60 against the Jazz in his final game?”
I listened to a couple of Christian podcast guys talking about the death of Kobe Bryant this week. They were talking about how great of a basketball player Kobe was, yet in the middle of that conversation, one of them said, “It seems trite to even be talking about the man’s abilities. Yeah, family, I know you are hurting because you lost a husband, dad, or friend, but don’t you remember when he put up 60 against the Jazz in his final game?”
Our small, everyday things that seem like big deals to us get totally squashed by the enormity of actual issues. This seems to be Paul’s argument. If he can get them thinking about the fact that God has redeemed folks from many other cities and countries to follow Jesus and love one another, then these minor issues within the local body should be diminished, right?
We have brothers and sisters around the world in places where it is illegal to be a Christian who will meet this week under the cover of night in secret places. You know that right? And what is that complaint you had about the temperature in the room? What was that about the message going a little long? Do you want to rethink the petty issue you have with your brother or sister across the aisle?
YOU SHOULD! Paul is screaming THIS IS BIGGER THAN YOUR PETTINESS! THIS IS BIGGER THAN YOUR LITTLE ISSUES! GOD IS IN A GLOBAL, ETERNAL LIFE CHANGING BUSINESS! AMEN?
That’s the hope by Paul here!
It’s bigger than just you!
And if you thought I got fired up there… just wait.
3. Church is a celebration of our union with Christ
3. Church is a celebration of our union with Christ
3. Church is a celebration of our union with Christ
3. Church is a celebration of our union with Christ
Look how many “you”s are in this section! It isn’t just a ridiculous amount, but as I was studying, it stuck out to me.
Give examples.......
Is Paul writing to an individual? NO! He is writing to a body of believers. This letter was to be read out loud in the assembly of the Christians. What are they being reminded of with every YOU? (togetherness! unity!)
Paul is helping them remember that Jesus
3. Union with Christ
3. Union with Christ
There is one more thing that stuck out to me as I was reading and studying this week. I am going to use a theological term to talk about this, but it will be vastly helpful to all of us to use the term and not simply just the idea.
Over and over again in the New Testament, we see a consistent theme: that we are IN CHRIST. The Bible never fully explains that term, but it is clear that it is a reference to believers. “Believers in Jesus are ‘IN CHRIST.’” They will also use “with Christ” among other variants.
But the idea expands to include all the benefits that we have IN CHRIST. Paul writes tons of things that we have IN CHRIST. Look just at these verses I read earlier...
We are SANCTIFIED (made holy) in Christ.
We are GIVEN GRACE BY GOD in Christ.
We are ENRICHED IN EVERY WAY in Him.
We are CALLED INTO FELLOWSHIP with Him.
These verses, among many others, are verses that teach us about our “UNION WITH CHRIST.” This is the eternal, unchanging and consistent relationship we have with God because we have trusted in Jesus. And by trusting in Him, we have been brought into a UNION with Christ.
We usually use just the term “salvation” to describe our coming to Christ, but the Bible gives a lot of analogies and descriptions of what happens when we trust in Jesus. All of them have been summed up by theologians throughout Christian history as “union with Christ.”
The church, then, is at its core a gathering of the UNION!
Notice what Paul said in the last example I gave from verse 9: You all have been called into fellowship with Jesus Christ. Two weeks ago, we looked at that word “koinonia” as the desired relationship with one another in the church. But here Paul clarifies that we are brought together in that “koinonia” with Christ! Through Christ redeeming blood, we have been brought together. And, therefore, to separate ourselves is to undermine the very thing that the blood bought to begin with.
We have been saved by Jesus to be a body of Christ here in Harvest and to impact the world. What we are doing here at East is bigger than any one of us. It’s bigger than a pastor, it’s bigger than you. It’s about us. WE have been saved. We have been redeemed. We have been bought and brought for a purpose! We must acknowledge that togetherness, fight for it, and let it drive us deeper into who God has called US to be! AMEN?
This has probably been like drinking from a fire hydrant today. As I was studying, I just kept getting more and more fired up about how Paul is setting this whole convo up! The next few weeks are going to be difficult for us to talk through. There will probably be at least one of the sermons where you leave here mad at me or at God. Let’s commit now to be open and honest about our hearts through this series. And let’s be commited to put to death any rivalries that we find in our hearts and in the church, AMEN?
You see, we have this idea that our relationship with God
Today, we are going to sing one more song in closing. During the song, I will stand down here or I will be on the front row. If you want to talk to me about anything that God has spoken to you today, I would be glad to do so. Or, we have others who like to come and kneel here and voice a prayer to God about something on your heart. You may want to come bring the request of a friend or neighbor. Or you may want to come and ask God to help you open up to him in this series.
Or if all this talk about entering into a relationship with Jesus got you realizing that you have never done so, come let me know that. I would love to talk with you about how can find that eternal, unchanging and consistent relationship with God by trusting fully in Jesus.
Let me pray and then you can respond as God leads you to.
Pray