1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1

If you've ever had a toddler, you know there's a point where they reach, where they try to

figure it out.

When you say, come here, and instead of toddling over going, like, okay, they look at you and

they think, they take one step forward and they look at you, like, is that enough?

And then they take one more step and then they look at you and they think, is that enough?

And they take one more step and they look at you and they say, is that enough?

Is that enough?

For some of you, you have teenagers.

And if you've ever tried to get a teenager to do the chores, clean up their room, get

out on a Saturday morning to help in the backyard, you know that what they're going to say is,

do I have to?

So, maybe that's unfair to those of you who are teenagers.

I'm sure some of you are far better than that.

I was like that as a teenager.

So, when I was working with college students, I remember the conversation we had with dating

and what are the limits of physical interaction on a dating relationship.

And often it'd be like, well, how far can I go?

Well, you know, how much can I get away with?

And, you know, I think that that's what often we can fall into in our own lives.

I think it's also what we can fall into with our spiritual lives.

Oh, it's never a conscious thought.

We don't set out to say, how can I do the least for God possible and still be okay?

Okay.

Very few of us have the bravery to say that that's what we're actually thinking.

It might be that we don't know any better, that we've grown up in a church culture where

going to church on Sunday was what it meant to be a Christian, to know God.

It might be that you have at one time lived zealously for the Lord and then faced your own failure

and thought, I don't know if I can continue with that kind of zeal.

So, we lower our standards.

Sometimes we've served and we've served and we've served and we've served and we've served

and we've become exhausted trying to perform and trying to keep up and trying to be the good

Christian servant.

Sometimes we face great trial and we think, I have no more.

I'm beat down.

I'm spent.

All of these things are things that we may have experienced in our Christian lives,

trying as we seek to serve and to know God.

And I want to acknowledge this morning that it's hard.

The Bible describes the Christian life not as a walk in the park or a sitting by the pool,

but as a race, as a marathon, as a battle, as a journey.

And it is hard.

But how often do we get to that point in our spiritual lives where we think,

how little can I do and still be okay?

Is one step enough?

Do I really need to come all the way?

How do we know if we've fallen into this?

Well, I often think that it's how we respond when someone puts before us a challenge to do more.

Well, nobody's perfect.

You can't expect me to really follow God in every part of my life, can you?

Everyone sins, right?

Isn't that what the gospel says?

We're all sinners, so get off my back.

Sometimes we say, I'm not strong enough.

I'm not mature enough.

I don't know enough.

And I know in my own heart and in my own life,

one of the things that I've seen that is most indicative of what's going on in my own heart

is when I see someone else who seems to be just living in that sweet spot of zealous pursuit of living for God in everything they do.

And in my own mind, I diminish that.

I dismiss it.

Or I attack them in my own heart.

I think,

well, don't tell me how I ought to live.

You're young.

You'll understand more later.

It's not always going to be like that.

Who do you think you are anyway?

Spiritually superior to me?

Or, well, that's them.

They're sort of special saints, but that's not for me.

That can't be for my life.

However it is, when we see someone else living a life fully to the Lord,

we often can feel threatened.

And feel insecure.

And out of our heart flows these things to seek to justify ourselves.

Justify the place that we are at with God.

Justify this unacknowledged, but often deeply held conviction of,

isn't this enough?

How little can I do and still be okay?

Or, on the other side,

how far can I go away from God and still be okay?

I think we often fall into this,

what I call spiritual minimalism.

How little can I do and still get by?

I think as we look to our passage this morning,

as we look to what the gospel speaks to us,

we will find both a challenge and an encouragement

in light of this question.

So, if you want to turn with me,

we are going to continue our series in 1 Corinthians.

We're in chapter 10.

We're looking at, starting in verse 23,

it's on page 958 in your pew Bibles.

We're going to be reading this passage together.

Page 958, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 23.

1 Corinthians 10:23

All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful.

All things are lawful, but not all things build up.

Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market

without raising any question on the ground of conscience.

For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.

If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner

and you are disposed to go,

eat whatever is set before you

without raising any questions on the ground of conscience.

But if someone says to you,

this has been offered in sacrifice,

then do not eat it.

For the sake of the one who informed you

and for the sake of conscience.

I do not mean your conscience, but his.

For why should my liberty be determined

by someone else's conscience?

If I partake with thankfulness,

why am I denounced because of that

for which I give thanks?

So, whatever you eat or drink

or whatever you do,

do all to the glory of God.

Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks

or to the church of God,

just as I try to please

everyone in everything I do,

not seeking my own advantage,

but that of many,

that they may be saved.

Be imitators of me

as I am of Christ.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, we ask this morning

that you will help us, Lord,

help us to understand this passage.

Lord, I pray this morning,

Lord, for you know

my own weakness

and my own frailty.

Lord, you know my sinful heart.

Lord, will you work through me this morning

and may my words be useful

to build up.

Lord, may we,

those of us who sit here

under your word this morning,

be ready to hear

what you have to say to us.

Help us, Lord, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

What does the gospel say to us?

How does the gospel address

our spiritual minimalism?

We're ending a large chunk

of 1 Corinthians.

We've been in a three-chapter

conversation about the issue

of food offered to idols,

which in the first century

was a very common reality,

particularly in a place like Corinth.

In lots of the world today,

it's still a common reality,

but it's not so much here in America,

at least in the same kind of a form.

And so,

but Paul has been answering a question

that the church has asked,

the Corinthian church

has written to them saying,

hey, what are we supposed

to do with this?

And as we've noted a number of times,

Paul takes not five verses

to say, well,

this is how you should do it

with three simple instructions,

and then he's done.

He spends three chapters

because he wants to engage

not simply what's the right answer

to the question,

but also how do we think Christianly?

How is it that the gospel

shapes how we think

about a question like this?

And as Paul is summarizing

at the end of this,

end of chapter 10,

he's going to bring together

some threads,

and that's what we're going

to do this morning.

We're going to spend less time

talking about meat offered to idols

and more talking about

a broader perspective

on how we think about these things.

But first, let's make sure

we think through

what has been the argument so far.

Chapter 8, Paul has encouraged

the Corinthians,

you may be thinking rightly

about this,

but don't use your knowledge

to destroy your brothers

who may not have

the same knowledge you do.

And then chapter 9,

he talks about his freedom

and his rights,

and he says,

you are to use,

you are to,

though you have rights,

you are to defer them

so that the gospel will flourish

in the lives of others.

And then at the end of chapter 9,

he says,

and you have freedom

to do all things,

but use your freedom

to serve others

so that they might know

Jesus better.

And then at the beginning

of chapter 10,

what is,

it's mostly a warning

to say,

be careful.

Be careful that in your freedom

you do not compromise your soul

and imperil your spiritual life

and worship.

And so that's been the flow.

He's given these broad principles

so far,

and then as we come to our passage,

you see he returns

to some of the things

that Corinthians have been saying.

All things are lawful.

Don't I have the freedom?

And Paul says,

yes, but.

Yes, but.

And he gives two little,

he gives two more case studies,

and in these two case studies,

he gives answers two and three.

Nick helpfully outlined this

a couple weeks ago.

The summary of what Paul's answer is.

What do I do with food

offered to idols?

You don't go to the temple

and eat it there.

It's participation

in worship of idols.

You can't do it.

And then he gives

two more answers here.

He says,

but if you're in the marketplace

where most of the meat

would have been provided

probably through

the sacrificial system

in the pagan temples,

and certainly the best foods

would have been offered

in the temples,

sacrificed there,

and then taken to the market

and sold,

he says,

if you're going into the market,

eat, enjoy.

It's all from God.

It's just meat.

It's good.

There's nothing magical about it.

So you can enjoy the meat

in the marketplace.

And then he takes

one more example,

and he says,

and if someone invites you,

and he specifies

an unbeliever,

someone who probably

is involved

in this pagan worship,

if they invite you

to their home

and they put meat

before you,

you don't have to make

a big deal of it.

You don't have to make...

He actually says,

don't ask.

This is the best application

of don't ask,

don't tell.

Lots of bad ones

in the world,

but this is one

where Paul says,

no, use it.

Don't ask about the meat.

Just enjoy it,

and enjoy the gift

of this unbeliever's hospitality

in your life.

But,

and then he puts

a little qualifier in.

But,

if he says,

hey,

this is part of idol worship,

maybe that's a comment

made to you

out of concern for you.

Like,

hey,

I don't want you to eat this

if this is wrong.

Maybe it's simply them saying,

hey,

this is a part of who we are

that we worship God,

or we worship these idols

and this meat came from the temple.

It says,

for their conscience sake,

so that they will understand

the gospel clearly.

Don't eat.

Don't eat it,

not because it has,

it impinges on your own convictions

or your own freedom,

but don't eat for their sake,

so that they will understand

that the gospel claim

is that there is only one true God,

and he demands

unswerving loyalty.

And that's basically

the argument that he gives.

Leading up to,

in verse 31,

what for any of you

who have grown up in church

or have been around for a while,

this,

one of those famous verses.

Look with me again,

verse 31.

I gotta find it

so I can read it.

So whatever you eat

or drink

or whatever you do,

do all

to the glory of God.

Friends,

this is the answer

that Paul is giving

to how,

what do we do

with meat

offered to idols?

It's also the answer

that he gives to us

as we wrestle

with the question

of spiritual minimalism.

How far,

how far can I go?

How little do I have to do?

He says,

do all things

to the glory of God.

Now,

brief,

brief side note

or excursus

or a definition

because the glory of God

is something

that we talk about

all the time.

But what is it?

I mean,

really,

it's a word we use

all the time,

but what does it mean?

Right?

Think about it this way.

the glory of something

is when

the attributes,

the character,

the nature

of that something

is somehow

displayed

or exhibited

or recognized

and reflected

in such a way

that all the admirable

qualities

of that thing

are seen

and recognized

and honored.

And in God's glory,

what He's saying to us

is to do all things

to the glory of God

is to say

everything in our life,

every moment of our day,

every thought,

every action,

every aspect,

all of that

is given to us

to live in such a way

that the nature

and the character

and the work of God

is seen in the world.

This is what it means

to glorify God.

in all that we do.

And in fact,

what we've seen

in this discussion

about meat offered

to idols

is two core principles

of what does it look like

for us to live a life

that glorifies God.

Two principles are this.

We glorify God

by a pure,

single-minded devotion

without rival,

without compromise,

a pure devotion

to God.

And then secondly,

we see that we glorify God

with a sacrificial love

for others.

So that's what I want

to explore this morning.

And we'll see it

in the passage

and we'll think about it

a little bit more broadly

for our own lives

as we go.

So first,

glorify God

with a pure devotion

to God.

Jonathan Edwards,

a great American theologian,

as he lived his life,

he wrote out a list

of resolutions.

You may know them.

If you're not familiar

with Jonathan Edwards'

resolutions,

you should go read them.

They will challenge you.

He compiled it

over a period of time,

but his first one

was this.

Resolved,

that I will do

whatsoever I think

to be most

to God's glory

and for my own good,

profit,

and pleasure

in the whole

of my duration,

that is,

for my whole life,

without any consideration

of the time,

whether now

or never,

so many myriad

of ages hence.

Resolved to do

whatever I think

to be my duty

and most

for the good

and advantage

of mankind

in general.

Resolved to do this

whatever difficulties

I meet with,

how many

and how great

so ever.

A little

18th century language

in there.

But he said,

what I want to do

most of all

is to make

everything that I do

be clearly

for the glory

of God.

And so,

how did Paul

play this out?

In this particular case

of food

offered to idols,

what does it look like

to have this

pure devotion

to God,

this pure,

this clarity

of devotion to God

in the issue

of meat

offered to idols?

And in some ways

it's very simple.

This is actually

what Pastor Greg

preached on

a bit last week.

It goes back

a little bit

in chapter 10.

He basically says

when you go

to the temple courts,

when you go

to those places,

and the interesting

thing is the temples

ran places

that were kind of

like the restaurants

of the day.

And they were

significant social places.

There were places

where you would go

to do business.

There were places

where you would go

to see and be seen

in society.

There were places

where you would

hodnob with

the power brokers

and the significant

people in the city.

And the food

that would be served

there would be

a part of temple

worship and temple

ritual.

And Paul says

don't muddy

your devotion

with Christ

by being sucked

in to eating

at those meals,

eating that meat

that has been

offered to idols.

It was a costly choice

for the believers

to not do that.

They gave up

opportunities

to do that.

They gave up

the opportunity

to be welcomed

and to be brought

in and accepted

by the society

in a particular way.

I'm trying to think

I don't know

if there's a good example

because I don't know

the power brokers

of New Haven enough

but somewhere

between Union League

and Goodfellas

and somewhere else

there's a restaurant

that's like this

where if you want

to go,

if you want to see

where the power brokers

of the city go

that's where you go.

I don't know

where it is

but I believe

it's out there

somewhere.

Right?

But if you knew

that you couldn't

go there

because of your

religious convictions,

because it was

attached to

and associated

with

worshiping

a different God

that you know

that you could not do

and maintain

your purity,

this would be

the cost.

You'll never get in

on some of those

conversations.

You'll never be able

to broker

some of those deals.

It was a high cost

for them

to do it.

And friends,

the evangelical movement

in the West

at least

set out

50 years ago

to re-engage

with our culture

after fundamentalism

had sought to

disengage

from our society.

And it has been

a great blessing

in many ways.

But this is perhaps

where we most need

to be careful

in that evangelical

impulse

to re-engage

our society,

to believe that

as we live out

our lives

following Christ

among

our neighbors

and within our society,

to do good

to our city

and to our neighbors,

we need to maintain

the purity

of our devotion

to Christ.

And sometimes,

out of a desire

to not look weird

or to not be accused

of being unloving

by our neighbors

or because we live

in a very tolerant society

and to draw hard

and fast lines

based on your

religious conviction

is pretty out there.

we cannot do it.

We can hide behind

I don't want to offend

and fail

to have a pure devotion

to the Lord.

We need to care more

about what God thinks

than what others

think of us.

So purity of devotion

may be saying no

and setting boundaries

to this,

but I also want you

to see that

the pure devotion

to God

also gives us

this beautiful freedom.

Look with me

verses 24 through 27.

Right?

Verse 25

in particular

he says

hey,

if you go to the market

eat whatever's there

enjoy it.

And then he quotes

this psalm

that we read earlier

Psalm 24

where the psalmist

says the earth

is the Lord

and the fullness

thereof

and then he goes on

in the context

of pure worship

rejecting the idols

and he who can

approach God

on this holy hand

of pure hands

and a clean heart

and this single-minded

devotion to God

the psalmist

says

everything we get

from God

is good

and in fact

the Jewish tradition

took this verse

as the basis

for what is now

both Jewish

and Christian tradition

to thank God

for our food.

This is actually

where in the

Old Testament

and in the Jewish

community

this is where

the thought of

why should we pray

before we eat

because the earth

is the Lord's

and the fullness

thereof

everything God

has given us

he has given it

to us

to enjoy

and to eat

and as long

as it doesn't

have these

overbearing

associations

with worshiping

an idol

we can enjoy

it freely

and interestingly

then he says

when you go

to your friend's

house

and they offer

you food

don't fall

into the trap

of getting

all tied up

in knots

about oh

I don't know

maybe this was

offered to an idol

do I have to eat it

maybe I shouldn't

what do I do

do I have to ask

he gives them

immense amount

of freedom

there's this

great joy

to say

hey this food

is yummy

that's all

you have to say

to your friend

unless he

attaches it

and associates

it with idol

worship

and then you

have to say

oh brother

thank you so much

you are so kind

but I couldn't

eat that

because I can

only worship

my God

and this

I need to

separate from

the worship

of idols

which is

incredibly offensive

we talked about

this a couple

weeks ago

it's incredibly

the food

you didn't eat

meat that often

when you were

offered meat

it was a real

gift

and there's a huge

social cost

to doing that

but in general

the principle

is once we

have this clarity

of devotion

in our heart

then we live

freely

and we get to

enjoy this world

we get to enjoy

the things in it

we get to enjoy

our neighbors

and our friends

because we know

and we have

this clear

and unbending

devotion

to the Lord

it's not always

easy

you can think

about the book

of Daniel

as some

interesting case

studies

Daniel 1

he and his

friends have

been taken

forcibly

from their

home

brought into

the highest

levels

into sort

of a training

program

to be

in the highest

levels

of government

in the

Babylonian

empire

which is

an idolatrous

nation

that worshipped

a false

god

and Daniel

has to think

how do I

respond to

this situation

right

in Daniel 1

there's this

meat from

the king's

table

and it says

Daniel determined

not to defile

himself

it doesn't seem

that it was

a violation

of Jewish

law

to eat

that food

but he

had determined

not to

defile

himself

so I

had to

think

what do I

do

if I

say I

won't eat

that

they might

just kill

me

I'm

basically

a slave

they might

throw me

out in the

salt mines

you know

rather than

having this

place

of influence

I'm risking

my opportunity

to influence

by taking

a stand

and in

this case

Daniel is

creative

he goes

and he

asks for

leniency

and he

asks for

a chance

for him

to try

something

a third

way

a different

way

not simply

saying yes

or no

but can I

try something

different here

and maybe

it will actually

serve what you

most want to

see happen

and in God's

grace he opens

that up and the

chief steward

gives them this

opportunity

and by God's

grace he sustains

them through the

food that they

eat which is

not from the

king's table

such that it

actually exalts

them and they

have this

great wonderful

opportunity

then to

witness to

Christ because

of his creative

engagement in the

third way

but then you go

to Daniel 6

Daniel is now

in he's the

secretary of

state or

whatever he's up

in the cabinet

right he's

risen to the

highest levels

of leadership

again what a

great opportunity

how can I use

this for influence

for the kingdom

of God how can I

witness to the

God that I

serve and yet

the leaders

his peers who

are jealous of

him and his

popularity go to

the king and

work out a deal

where they raise

up a huge statue

and then they say

king don't you

think everyone

should bow to

this you're such

a great king why

don't you do

this and and so

the king passes a

law everyone must

bow to my statue

Daniel says I

can't do that I

can only bow to

my one God he

doesn't make a

big fuss he

doesn't make a

big stink but

what he does do is

he simply goes

about his faithful

life of prayer I

will pray only to

my God I will not

bow down and pray

to this God as I've

been told to do and

I will not limit my

prayer the the command

was actually you may

not pray to any

other God you must

pray to this one

Daniel said I

can't do that he

got thrown in a

lion's den sometimes

that may be happen

that may happen to

us too and then God

may deliver us the

way he did or he

may not read the end

of Hebrews 11 not

everyone who is

faithful to God is

delivered from those

consequences of being

in conflict with the

world because of

their pure devotion to

God some will suffer

some will die some

will lose lots of

things you may lose

your standing in your

company you may lose

your job you may lose

the respect of your

peers you may lose a

career track that you

hope for but through

the lens of meat

offered to idols Paul

wants us to think

about how is it that

we live a life of pure

devotion to God how does

it how is it that my

money my sex life my job

as a parent my studies my

career track the movies

that I watch on Friday

night the nightlife I

engage in the food that

I eat the exercise that I

do or don't do social

media that I engage in how

can I do all of these

things with a pure

devotion to God here's

some questions that you

might want to ask

yourself first of all

there's a bounded

question which is is it

sinful does scripture

say don't do this

because then you don't

have to think about it

anymore then scripture

has told you what you

need to do and then

you just need to decide

to obey but for many

many things and as you

see here with food with

the meat it was a

complicated question right

there are lots of

discernment questions we

want to ask so here's

some questions we want to

ask does it help me love

God more to do these

things do I represent God

well to others when I do

these things that might

both be in inherently what

I'm doing but also in the

character I've seen some

seminary students who

don't know how to

represent God on the

intramural basketball floor

it's an ugly sight sometimes

they ought not to do that

until they can do it for

the glory of God that in

registration lines those

are the two places where

you see the true character

of seminary students do I

represent God well when I'm

doing this is this activity

encouraging or corrosive to

my spiritual life does it

lead me to worship something

other than God himself if we

ran the totality of our life

through the filter of those

questions then we're beginning

to see what it would look like

to live for the glory of God

with pure devotion to God but it's

not just that Paul goes on he

says it's not just pure

devotion to God then I could go

be a monk and live on the top

of a pillar in the desert and

not be distracted by the world

but in fact God has actually put

me in the world and Paul says

that living for the glory of God

also has to do with loving with

loving our neighbor you see this

so clearly in this passage verse

24 here's the principle let no one

seek his own good but the good of

his neighbor look down again in

verse 32 and 33 give no offense

give no offense to the Jews we're

going to be sensitive to what

kinds of food you eat and your

ritual purity and you know I live

in a Jewish neighborhood where

there are a lot of Orthodox Jews

I've learned you don't shake hands

with them it's crossing boundaries

they don't want you to cross

boundaries and so it's at least

that's a maybe I misunderstood it

I haven't developed great

relationships yet but even in the

few interactions I've had I've

learned like I need to be

restrained in my sort of

gregarious Americaness and just

go oh I shouldn't do this right

don't give offense to the Jews or

to the Gentile or to the Greeks

which really means to the Gentiles

people don't know God people or to

the church of God Paul's vision of

loving those around us is

encompassing both people in the

church and the people outside the

church and saying our love should be

comprehensive in how we do this

the hard part about this is that it

means that in every situation to

love our neighbors is going to be a

matter of context isn't it this is

why you can't give a hard and fast

rule about many things and oh how

we love rules don't we we just want

someone to tell us if you can just

tell me if it's right or wrong then I

can wield that rightness or wrongness

like a bat and barrel my way through

life and it doesn't matter what you

think but that's Paul is saying

explicitly through these chapters

that's not what the Christian life

looks like the Christian life looks

like the gospel transforming our lives

changing our hearts and then sending

us out to glorify God displaying who he

is through our worship of him and now

our love for our neighbors and so

loving our neighbors doesn't have a set

of rules

right so when your unbelieving friend

invites you enjoy it eat it be thankful

for it unless he associates it with idol and

then you have to give offense for his

sake so that he understands the gospel

better not just so you can be a prudish

Christian or you can go back and say I

did it right look at me I did it right

but for his sake so that he understands the

gospel better it's tricky it's tricky to not

do something stupid that will wreck of

another person's understanding of the

gospel it's tricky to neither accommodate

sin nor allow legalism to be imposed in a

particular situation it's hard to know how to

surprise your friends with love and with

grace how to explore the world and their

lives to see the fingerprints of God in

their lives so they might see a little bit of

God's glory in it and yet not accepting or

condoning the things in their lives that

are not of God and don't reflect his

kingdom it's tricky there's no doubt about

it and yet this is what it means to glorify

God it means to think about them and not us

here's an analogy for you you know when you

first start dating not the first couple of

dates those are awkward and you're like I

don't know what is going on here but right

when you get over that right you sort of like

get into this sweet spot of like man I love

this person and you know what you go through

your day and you're thinking about them all

your time and everything in your disposal

sort of like how does this relate to this

person this is the interesting thing is

that God wants us to live our life like

that all the time to be thinking about this

is the neighbor that I rub shoulders with

when I'm pulling in my trash in the morning

this is the neighbors I rub shoulders with

hopefully not literally as I'm driving

through New Haven this is this is the

neighbor that I'm called to love this is the

brother that I'm called to love in my

workplace and so on and so forth every the

gospel pictures us being freed from a

selfish impulse of how little can I get

away with and it frees us to then look

outward and to see how much can I love

God and how much can I love other people so

that they will know Jesus more now I want

to be honest it's costly it's going to cost

you your comfort and your preferences it

will cost you things that you think are

your right personal space time comfort being in

the right circle of friends it will cost you

emotional and spiritual energy because when

you love people it's hard it demands things of

us our attention our thoughts our prayers it may

cost you success if you choose to help others

rather than simply advance yourself may cost you

prestige as you associate with people who

aren't in the right crowd loving people

sacrificially is costly but friends it is so

worth it because it is the way we display God's

glory in the world because the God who is love

has set us here so that we might love others for his

glory and so in the same way that we think about the our

devotion to God let me think about how do you love others with

your money with your sex life with your parenting with your career

pursuits with your movies with your nightlife decisions with your food with

your exercise with your use of social media how can I do these how can I take all of

these things that are parts of my life and array them so that I might be

encouraging to my brothers and sisters in their devotion to Christ how might I use

these things to help clarify what the gospel is for my friends who don't know Jesus yet

conversely we need to ask the question how might these things feed my own selfish agenda my own

comfort my own ease of life

and friends Paul at the end of this passage

beginning of chapter 11

says imitate me follow me because this is how I have done it

not seeking my own advantage but the advantage of others

but the only way I have known how to do this is that I followed in the

footsteps of the one who went before for me I've imitated Christ

because this friends is what Christ came to do to glorify God with pure devotion

and love for others he came and he said behold I have come to do your will oh God

and he lived a sinless life a perfect life of devotion everything he did

was with a view to God and that God would be known and God would be worshipped and God would be loved

in the display of his person in his actions in his ministry in his times both doing and in his times of resting

they showed a display of the perfect devotion to God

and then this same Christ who in his devotion to God came

not to

be served but to serve and to give his life

a ransom for many

he came

for us

to rescue us from sin and death

he came for us

friends this is the savior that we serve

he came for us to point where he suffered

on the cross and died

he took upon himself

the penalty

and the pain

and the guilt

of our sin

when he died on that cross

so that he might win us back

so that we might be his

what a beautiful savior we have

that in his redemption

he not only

secured for us

the possibility of salvation

for all who have placed their faith in this Jesus

but he's given us a pattern to follow

so that we

in following in his footsteps

might live

whether we eat

whether we drink

or whatever we do

we might do those things

to the glory

of God

friends I think this is what rescues us

from minimalist

spirituality

it rescues us from simply

trying to get by

with as little as possible

this is what we were created for

and in Christ

this is what we were redeemed for

to display God

in this world

so that the greatness of the God

that we know

and that we serve

and that we worship

would be known

and extended

to the ends of the earth

that they too

would see how great

this God is

and that they

would turn from idols

to serve the true

and the living God

and he calls us

to engage

everything we have

for that

everything we have

needs to be run

through the filter

of how do I

worship God

in this

everything we have

run through the filter

of how do I

love my neighbor

and if we do that

then we have something

worth living for

let's pray

Lord this is a hard word

for we see how often

we fall short

of these things

and Lord we thank you

for your grace

that covers us

Lord that you do not

like a harsh taskmaster

demand perfection

and then cast us off

when we are imperfect

but God in fact

you have given us

the perfect one

to be our redemption

and that in him

you have given us

a new life to live

that we might live it

not for ourselves

but for him

who died for us

God I pray

that you will help us

this morning

Lord if we are

if we have fallen

into spiritual minimalism

if we are

defending

Lord a life

that is not being lived

to your glory

Lord I pray

you would help us

to see that

and repent of it

Lord I pray

that we would see

the greatness

of you

and of your gospel

and of your kingdom

and of most of all

of your Savior

and our Savior Jesus

and that in seeing him

we might be moved

to live a life

to your glory

whatever we do

be with us

we pray

in this

in Jesus name

Amen

Well friends

this is a

beautiful day

for us to

celebrate communion

because

when we think about

where do we see

the glory of God

it is

what we remember here

most fully

when Jesus said

I have come

to do your will

I have come

to bring you glory

it is when we

recognize

and see

God's love

and his mercy

his justice

his righteousness

and his love

in this

in this table

the bread

that represents

Jesus' body

broken for us

the cup

that represents

Jesus' blood

shed for us

and so we come here

to display

God's glory

as we partake

together

of these things

if you are here

this morning

and you are visiting

you have not

placed your faith

in Jesus Christ

as your Lord

and Savior

we would ask

that rather than

taking these elements

that you would

consider

what the significance

of them is

and see the greatness

of who Christ

is

you would

think of

ponder

what it is

to live

a life

to God's glory

this morning

but if you have

placed your faith

in Jesus Christ

if you have

known him

as your Savior

then take

and eat

these things

as a joyful

reaffirmation

of your trust

in Christ

and of your

taking hold

of this great work

for you

can I ask those

who are serving

to come on forward

and as they are

coming up

just so you know

we will pass out

the

wafers

together

you can hold

on to them

and at the end

we will eat together

and then we will

pass out the cup

similarly

hold on to it

we will drink together

and then

we will close

so

John will you pray

for the bread

this morning

Lord may

we see

in this

broken bread

your broken body

and in it

the measure

the horror

of our sin

that put you there

on the cross

as we

consider the cross

and the bread

as we take it

may we be cured

from

slight

regard

for our sin

that would

minimize it

may we also

see in the

broken bread

of your

body

the magnitude

of your mercy

and the greatness

of your grace

the lavish nature

of your love

toward us

and may we

eat

to your glory

by as we

eating

exalting you

as Savior

our Savior

in who

Christ

worth

and

thank you

for having me

to

share

and

let me

describe

God

Waters

and

your

уб Tao

and

side

and

its

vis

and

it

through

and

our

good

Gift

and

everything