Student Leadership A

The Master Builder

Pray

Intro:

Attending this meeting assumes you are a Christian, meaning you have believed the Gospel given to us from God’s inspired Word and you desire to go deeper into your faith, learning how to live as God has called you to and how to live with others as God has called you to.

A Christian, “Little Christ,” is someone who, having put their faith in Christ as Savior from their sins, now seeks to emulate the mind (Phil 2:3-5) and life (1 Jn 2:6) of Jesus.

Mt 28:18-20, we have a calling and purpose given by Jesus to His disciples, in which they were to go and make disciples, baptizing them, and and teaching them how to follow Jesus. They were to be Master Builders, as Paul likens himself to in 1 Cor 3:10 and later on instructs the church he was writing to to be like him as he is of Christ (1 Cor 11:1).

Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-15

Noting the division that was present in the church of Corinth, he emphasizes that the focus on the servants tending the church should be shifted to the Lord who gives the growth to the church.

On that premise, he notes that for anyone who will build off of the foundation of Jesus using anything but that which is compatible with Christ will suffer the loss of it, though they be a Christian. Verse 15 is important to note for our purposes, as it indicates suffering that we can avoid: let your labor be focused on what is compatible with Christ.

What then does the Master Builder’s labor entail?

Foundation

1 Cor 3:11 “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Mt 7:24-27 ““Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.””

Mk 12:10 ““Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone;”

Eph 2:20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,”

we continue in the labor of building up the Church. (1 Cor 3:16, notable plurality language attached to the singular temple of God)

The Three Building Components

Character (Be), Gal 5:16-26

Knowledge (Know), Pr 2:5-6

Application (Do), Jm 1:22

The Building Blueprint

Now as Master Builders, how do we ensure that the components we work with will not be burned up, as described in 1 Cor 3:15?

Heb 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Ps 1:1-3 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”

Ps 119:9-16 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.”

Ac 17:10-11 “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”

Jn 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

If the Christian is not actively engaged in the listening (Rom 10:17), reading (Rev 1:3), studying (Ac 17:11), memorizing (Ps 119:9,11), and meditating (Jos 1:8) of Scripture and putting into action (Jm 1:22), facets of the Christian purpose which result in a renewed mind (Rom 12:2), sufficiently equipped to take up crosses daily (Lk 9:23), the results of our labor on a regular basis, we are in danger of forsaking the costly grace by which we were purchased with the blood of the God-man, Jesus (Ac 20:28, 1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). We are in danger of pursuing a cheap grace that does not call us into submission unto God, that does not call us to repent of our pride, selfishness, and idolatry, that does not shape into Christlikeness, but rather attempts to shape God into our likeness.

Takeaway

As disciples of Jesus, called to be like Jesus (Lk 6:40),

Delete later, why does God love us 1 John 4:8-10, 16; Rom 5:8