ENGAGE (2022)

The Mission – ENGAGE

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

With a new year many of us want to start new things. We hope that a new diet will help us lose weight, a new gym membership will help us feel better, and new business practices will help us become more successfulWhile all of these new habits and practices can be good, new doesn’t always mean better - especially in the church.

Though we should always be aware of the world around us, and looking to speak gospel truth into cultural needs, we cannot see the mission of the church as a marketing strategy that changes in order to meet the temporary needs of the world.

Listen to these words of warning the prophet Jeremiah gives to Israel in their rebellion.

§ Jeremiah 6:16 - Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.”

Jeremiah is simply telling the people to stick to the known path of faithfulness to the word of God. The way of Moses and the prophets who came after him. The old paths that would have been well worn by faith-filled obedience.

So, as a church we come back to the mission that God has given. This is not a catchy slogan, phrase, or idea that the elders and I have come up with. The vision of FBC is found along the old path, it is carried out in the old ways, and will be enjoyed through faithfulness to his word.

These next three sermons are meant to stir your hearts for things eternal. To help you see that God’s methods produce fruit in your hearts and in the church that will remain.

First, we must know what the mission of the Church truly is. What has God called his church to be doing until Christ returns?

Matt. 28:18-19 - “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It is by the authority of Christ we share the gospel in order to see disciples made, we bring new followers of Jesus into the care of the church through baptism, and we spend the rest of our days teaching the full counsel of God’s word so that they know him, themselves in light of him, and mission they have been commissioned to carry out.

The mission of the church is not decided upon, modified, or enhanced under the authority of any particular person or group of people. The church exist to bring glory and honor to God, so we look to him to define its purpose and practices.

With that in mind, let’s look to 1 Cor. 2:1-5 to see how we should carry out the goal of ENGAGING believers and non-believers with the gospel through the church, both gathered and scattered.

1 Cor. 2:1-5 – And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

To carry out the vision of FBC MtP I must be willing to:

1. Meet people where they are.(vv. 1, 3)

a. (v.1)I came to you…(v.3)I was with you…

b. Paul’s pattern was not unique to him. We see God calling out individuals and groups of people to go and represent him among others. Most importantly, we just celebrated this very thing in the birth of Christ.

i. The Incarnation is the greatest example of God coming to be with his creation, coming to meet with them, coming to save them.

ii. You can see this in the garden when God came to be with Adam and Eve. He would walk with them in the cool of the day, and then when they sinned, he came and met with them.

iii. You can see this in Noah’s life. Moses wrote that everyone was wicked in the time of Noah, but God met with Noah and provided a way of escape.

iv. We have seen it this morning in the warning of Jeremiah. The prophet was sent as God’s messenger to meet with the people so that they would turn and follow him.

v. And now he has sent the church to go and proclaim the truth to a world that is looking for a reason for all that is happening.

c. Paul came to the Corinthians in weakness, fear, and trembling.

i. He didn’t expect them to come to him.

ii. He didn’t create some Christian subculture and invite people to be a part of that – he was with them just as he was, where they were. (Messiness, disunity (1:10))

iii. He did not take on the cultural tricks of the day to woo people in (“with lofty speech or wisdom”)

He disowned the protection of polished words, and verbal tricks that would make the message attractive to the masses.

He came not as visiting orator but as a man under the conviction of God. That in his weakness he would meet the weak, in his fear he would care provide relief for the fearful, and in his trembling, he would give a sure foundation to those we are on shaky ground.

2. To carry out the vision of FBC MtP I must be willing to: Simply and clearly share the hope of the gospel. (vv.1,2,4)

a. Paul did not come sharing his opinion, preferences, or ideas about how to make the world a better place. He came “proclaiming…the testimony of God.”

He explains what that is in v.2, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

This was in contrast with the orators in Corinth who went around telling everyone everything that they knew. Paul knew nothing except Christ.

Many times while trying to meet the needs of others we do everything but share the gospel.

Your marriage is struggling…Christ is your companion.

Your job is not going as you had hoped…Christ is your provider.

Your health is failing…Christ is the healing you need.

As a widow or widower you are lonely....Christ is your constant companion.

In order to share Christ as our hope in life and death you have to find your hope in him. As a christian it is easy to look to the ways of the world to define success or to find comfort, and hope - but, Jesus has made a way for us to be satisfied in him and him alone.

b. Paul had seen that earthly wisdom was not to be trusted.

Philippians 3,” If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more…”

Paul’s heritage was strong, but it could not bear the weight of his righteousness before God.

c. So, as we labor in to engage believers and nonbelievers with the gospel let us not confuse the message by not really knowing the message.

Let’s share the simplicity of the gospel, not catchy sayings we read on a card. Let’s share the fullness of Christ, not the latest article we read on Facebook. Let’s share the effectiveness of Christ’s righteousness on our behalf, not our own personal earthly wisdom.

As you remember the hope you were given in the gospel may we share it simply and clearly to a hope-seeking world.

3. To carry out the vision of FBC MtP I am willing to: Live my life as a demonstration of the power of God.(vv. 4,5)

a. Paul explained that his words were in “demonstration of the Spirit and of power”… “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Now, Paul would have been tempted to change his approach. From an earthly standpoint he was not the best preacher.

2 Cor. 10:10 - For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”

2 Cor. 11:6 – “Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.”

b. But, Paul had experienced the life-giving power of God and he knew that there was nothing that he could offer in comparison. So, he lived to make that same message of life clear and simple to anyone who would listen.

c. No doubt, this week you have resolved to adjust somethings to make your life better, your health better, your relationships better, and that is good.

But let’s not stop there! God did far more in Christ than give you an opportunity to make a temporal adjustment in your lives.

He came to be with you in Christ, he faced weakness, fear, and ridicule on your behalf, so that you might experience the power of God in salvation.

And, Christ’s work also gives you the power to engage the world, for his purpose, by his authority, and on his behalf.

John 17 - Jesus prays for this very thing – “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

Are you around people who don’t know Jesus?

What is one thing you can do to change that?

Conclusion |

God has shown himself to us in the person and work of Christ, He has revealed his mission and his ways throughout his word, and he has called you to embrace his ways as you look to engage believers and nonbelievers with the gospel.

1. Be yourself and meet people where they are…Christ in you is enough.

2. Simply and clearly share the hope of the gospel… it is enough.

3. Live your life each day as a demonstration of the power of God…he is enough.