1 Corinthians Week 3 • 1 Corinthians 4

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Good morning.

If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to 1 Corinthians chapter 4.

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

It's where we're going to be as we continue on in our study of this letter.

As you turn there, hopefully everybody was able to stop by and grab the elements for the

Lord's Supper.

If you did not, at the end of our message, we'll be taking the Lord's Supper together

as a church family.

And so if you're a believer, follower of Jesus Christ, whether you're a member of this church

or not, we'd like to give you that opportunity to do that with us.

And if you did not grab one, they're right back over here behind our camera area.

Pastor Dave is back there.

No one will judge you if you want to get up and go ahead and grab one, but would love for

you to have that.

It's been a practice that we've put into place for us the first Sunday of every month to obey

what God's called us to do in partaking of the Lord's Supper together.

And so our practice is we do that once a month.

If you're joining us at home, you know, grab what you can from your house and we will encourage

you to take this with us as well.

Well, it's been an interesting journey in 1 Corinthians.

I hope you're enjoying your quiet time of reading through this together.

I hope you're enjoying working through this with your small group.

And I know that I'm enjoying preparing as we go through this.

Now, what we're going to, what we're working toward, and I believe, yep, next week, we're

going to kind of get to some of these really practical examples of this church that is really

kind of crumbling within itself of some of the sinful practice that are beginning to take

root.

But what we've been looking at over these first four chapters is Paul, as he deals with

some of the divisions that are in the church.

And so week, actually week one, when we were at home for the ice storm that didn't really

happen, right, we kind of gave the background information.

And then the next week we came in, gathered together, we talked through chapter one.

And then last week we talked about chapter two.

Now, I didn't really get to go into chapter three.

So just kind of really quickly, I want to hit some high points because we need to understand

where Paul is going as we get into chapter four this morning.

Now, the whole time what we've been seeing is that Paul is dealing with, from the very

beginning, the divisions that were in the church.

And these divisions were over church leadership of different ones saying, you know, I follow

Paul.

Some saying, I follow Cephas, who is Peter.

Others saying, I follow Apollos.

And so we're navigating through as Paul's breaking that down and says, no, no, no, no, no, we're

following Christ.

It's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's not the gospel of Paul.

It's the crucifixion of Christ.

It's the baptism in Christ's name.

And these are all things that we are pointing them to.

And so Paul's breaking down this church division by saying, no, no, no, it's not about following

man.

It's about following Christ.

And then in chapter three, what we missed, and I'm not going to do it justice.

And if you haven't, please spend some time reading in this.

But Paul shifts the conversation a little bit away from the overall church body of dealing

with the issues in the church body.

And he begins to explain biblical church leadership of what church leadership is there to do and

what church leadership is there to build on.

And this is what we've continued on in working in our church and every Bible-believing, Bible-following,

Christ-believing church.

And he says, first and foremost, that church leadership is there to do the work of God.

Like, that's what we're here for.

That's why we exist.

That's what we pray for.

That's what we long for.

That is, church leaders, we're not here to do our work.

We're not here to do your work.

We're here to do God's work.

But that it's a continual process.

And it's a continual thing that continues to grow and to function.

And so, church leadership is building toward the future.

All right?

And we see some healthy evidence of that, even in the context of who we are.

I don't know if you know the history of our church, of Willow Ridge Church, but Willow Ridge

Church was planted in 1979 out of Red Bank Baptist Church right down the road.

And what I love about that and what has continued on in the culture and DNA, and yeah, maybe people

aren't supposed to do this, but they are supposed to do this, right?

Let's talk really well about the church right down the road.

They've got a DNA built in and of themselves that says it's important that the gospel spreads,

that the kingdom spreads, and not just the kingdom of Red Bank Baptist.

And so, what Red Bank Baptist did in 1979 and continues to do today is they press toward

making sure the gospel is growing.

And so, they decided to do that in 1979 by planting Agape Baptist Church that would later

on become Willow Ridge Church.

And they planted them right down the road, right?

And they said, this is what's important and what we've seen from 1979 until today is the

continuation of church leadership building toward the future.

And so, it's not just for us, for tomorrow.

It's not just for us until next week.

It's not just for us until the next pastor comes and then it's a reset.

No, no, no.

It's continuing on building toward the future, but most importantly, with the foundation being

Christ.

And that everything is done that is done in his name and for his glory.

But what we see in this and what we love and what we celebrate within our family and within

the congregation of the church is that we build through people, through generations.

And so, I like to think of it like this, whether you're looking at your church family or you're

looking at your own family.

Like, I come from a generation, or generations, I'm sorry, of believers.

Now, that didn't earn me the right to be saved, okay?

So, my salvation is not passed down from my grandfather to my dad to me, right?

But my faith has been exhibited, has been modeled, and has been lived out for me.

And so, when I celebrate all that God is doing, I celebrate the generations of believers in

my family that God has blessed me with.

But it also reminds me of the incredible work that God is doing, and some of you in here today

fall into this category where you are the first generation believer in your family.

Like, you didn't, mom and dad didn't follow Christ.

Grandma and grandpa didn't follow Christ.

But yet, you choose to follow Jesus and are saved by him, that transforming work that is

there.

And so, you continue to build on that.

And that's what we celebrate and what we see.

So, now, as we look at chapter 4, which we're going to focus on this morning, Paul is going

to focus in on, in fact, if your Bible is like mine, it probably has some of these titles

that were added later on, we're not originally there.

But mine says, the ministry of the apostles.

And so, what Paul is going to do in chapter 4 is say, here's what we are here to do, but

also, more importantly, here's who we are to be.

And what I want to look at this morning and talk about is characteristics of church leadership.

But here's the deal.

While the context here is church leaders, so like, church, run this through the filter

of us as your leaders of who we are, of what we're doing, of what we're about.

Do you believe this to be who we are and who we claim to be and how we live our life?

But also, the application that I hope it hits for all of us is that we can take these truths

and apply them to any area of our life in which God has called us, equipped us, and positioned

us to lead, right?

So we're going to take these and we're going to apply these to your business world, to your

career path.

We're going to take these and apply these to your family context in which God has placed

you and in the community which you find yourself living in, right?

Because as a believer, there's not the church identity that we put on when we come into these

doors and say, this is who I am in Christ here.

But in all of these, we live for His name and to model these things wherever God calls

us and wherever God sends us, because all of these should reflect a life surrendered to

Christ.

So this isn't just like, hey, well, here's what I hold my small group leader to, my pastor

to, my elders to.

No, no, no.

Here's what God is saying that as leaders, that this is what God has called us to, and as

those who have surrendered to Christ, this is what we're going to model in our life.

So whether you're a nurse, whether you're a dad, whether you run the HOA in your neighborhood,

which pray for you, because I know that's difficult, right?

This is the standard that God calls you to as a believer.

We don't get to say, no, no, no, the business world's different.

We don't get to say, no, no, no, no, school's different.

We don't get to say, no, no, no, no, my home is different, my neighborhood is different.

No, no, no, no, God's called us to believers and live out his faithfulness with where we

are.

So let's start reading 1 Corinthians 4 verse 1.

1 Corinthians 4:1

Paul says, this is how one should regard us, talking about leadership here, as servants

of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

All right, so a couple of things that we want to look at from these two verses.

Number one of what Paul points us to as leaders, who we are to be, is faithful servants.

Faithful servants.

Paul defines his primary servant here as being a servant to Christ.

Yes, there is a call to serve one another.

Like, we can't eliminate that from scripture continually over and over again.

We are called to, we are challenged to serve one another in the body.

So we serve each of us in the context of our church family, of who we are.

And we are called to serve out of here to others who are part of the other church's bodies,

to those who are not part, to those who are lost.

We are called to serve.

But Paul says here that the primary servant of who we serve from is that we are servants of Christ.

And this is the primary expectation for our life.

So why does this matter?

Why do we understand that most importantly, that our service is aligned with him and him alone?

A couple things that I'm able to draw from this.

Number one is then when I serve you, out of understanding that primarily I'm a servant of Christ,

then I'm no longer serving you out of selfish motivation.

I'm no longer serving you because of what you can bring, what you can give, or how you can benefit me.

Right?

It's what matters because I'm not serving you.

You aren't my object.

You aren't my focus.

Christ is.

And so I'm not serving you out of selfish motivation.

But then also within this, I can now serve those who seek to do me harm.

I can now serve those who seek to persecute me.

Or let's maybe talk a little bit more of our sinful tendencies in life.

I can now serve those that I just don't like.

All right?

If we're called to go out and serve the world, we would admit there are those that are easy to serve.

And we would also admit that there are those difficult to serve.

But if our service is not aimed at them, if our service is aimed at Christ, then we can serve them.

So you are not the bullseye for me.

My wife is not the bullseye for me.

My kids are not the bullseye for me.

My neighbors aren't the bullseye for me.

No, no, no, no.

Christ is.

And so I serve you out of my love and of my obedience to him.

So it does not matter the positives or negatives of which you bring because you are not my object of service.

That Christ is.

And that's the serving that we call to.

So I'm going to begin by asking you this.

How are you doing in serving?

As leaders, what does that look like?

How are you serving your family?

How are you serving at work?

How are you serving in the community in which God has placed you, right?

In your neighborhood, at your ball teams, at your dance studios, where God has.

Like, how are you serving within this?

Are we receiving or are we serving?

And then the next thing that Paul talks about in these verses is he calls us not only to be a faithful servant,

but he calls us also to be a faithful steward, right?

Now, again, when we talk about stewardship, oftentimes we think about something else.

When we talk about money, right?

How to be obedient, how to be responsible with the financial matters that God has entrusted you with.

How are you a good steward of those?

And that is biblically true.

That's what we are to do.

We are to take the money that God gives us, that God blesses us with, and we are to be a steward of that.

We're not to just be a saver.

We're not just to be a spender.

We're not just to be a giver.

But in all of those, we look at this and say, God, this is what you blessed me.

How am I a steward of this?

But Paul here is talking about a different type of stewardship, right?

He's talking about one that is going to specifically point to the eternal matters which are at hand.

And he says, as leaders, that we are stewards of the mercies of God.

I'm sorry, the mysteries of God.

And he's talking about what we looked at last week with the gospel.

So how are you being a steward of the gospel?

How are you looking as what God has given you, what God has granted you to be a steward of that with where God has placed you?

One of the things I heard a guy talk about one time that I really loved and that clung to me and this visual stuck to me is he said, regardless of who you are, regardless if you're the boss or the employee, regardless if you're the wealthiest or the poorest, regardless of if you're the oldest or the youngest, where God has placed you is around you as a circle of influence.

That every time, every time, every day, every moment in your life, there's opportunities that God has given you to influence those around you.

And he's talking about this is the true aspect of leadership, that in this, how are you leading people in your circle of influence?

And so church, I want to ask you, how are you doing in your circle of influence with the gospel that you've been entrusted with?

What does that look like in your life?

Are you working to have gospel conversations, seeking to serve so that the moment opens up and then when God graciously opens the door to have those conversations, are you taking them?

Are you taking them so that you can share?

Are you taking them so that you can lead people, draw people to the beautiful gospel that God has entrusted you with, right?

That this is what he has for us, and this is what we are to do.

And I love that in both of these, in both being a servant and to being a steward, the challenge isn't to simply be those.

But there was a word that I added to each one of those that we pulled from for scripture, and it says that we are to be faithful in both, right?

And so I thought, what does it mean to be faithful?

What does it mean to be faithful?

What does it mean to be faithful to your spouse?

What does it mean to be faithful to your employer?

What does it mean to be faithful to God?

That it's not simply something that we do, but it's who we are.

That what we are seeking is not to have actions of being a servant, of actions of being a steward, but that through the power of the gospel, it's simply who we are, right?

I don't have to be reminded that I need to be faithful to my wife.

Because I know because it's who I am, because of what God is doing in me, right?

And that's what Paul is reminding, that in these, that we are found faithful.

It's not necessarily just what we do, but it's who you are consistently.

And there's an important reason for this.

Let's look at verse 3.

Paul says,

But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.

In fact, I do not even judge myself.

For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.

It is the Lord who judges me.

Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart.

Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

I have applied all these things to myself and to Paulos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

There's so much in this.

But as I look at leadership, one of the things that I want us to all be acknowledged and see within us is that we are accountable.

We are accountable.

As leaders, every single one of us is accountable.

So let's look in areas.

Inside the church, I'll look at myself and then outside the church, right?

In business, in your employment, you're accountable to those who employ you, right?

Now, here's where it is for me.

I'm accountable to you.

I'm accountable to our elders.

I'm accountable to the lay leadership and to the congregation of the body of Christ.

Let's say that I am accountable to them and to you, right?

The second, in your family, right?

You're accountable to those in your family.

Kids, you're accountable to your parents.

Parents, you're accountable to your kids.

Spouses, you're accountable to each other.

I'm accountable to my wife.

I'm accountable to my kids.

And they are accountable to me.

In my community, I'm accountable to the people of Lexington as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ.

To be the neighbor that God has called me to be.

To live in grace and truth and to seek to live in harmony with all.

That's the accountability that God has placed me in.

And that's the accountability that I have.

But what Paul is talking about here, again, is like in the mindset of serving.

Ultimately, though, I and you, before my wife, before you, before my kids, before my community, before everyone else,

ultimately and supremely, I am accountable to God.

This is who I answer to, and this is who I will ultimately answer to.

Look at Midway 3, verse 5.

Paul says, God will bring to life the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.

Then each one will receive his commendation from God, right?

I want to ask you this.

This has been the question that has hit me the hardest this week.

Are you ready to give an account for how you lead in the circles of influence in the areas that God has entrusted you with?

In your work, in your home, in your church, in your family, in your community.

Are we open to the fact that we are accountable to God, right?

When we look at the parable of the talents that Jesus shares, he gives some talents, and some go, and they grow them, and one goes and buries them.

And the point as we navigate through this parable is Jesus comes back, the master comes back, and says, what did you do with these?

I entrusted you with this.

What did you do with this?

What did you do with the gospel?

As stewards of the gospel in your business, what is your end goal?

As stewards of the gospel in your family, what is your end goal?

As stewards of the gospel in your community, what is your end goal?

If your goal is to grow your business so that you can retire wealthy and comfortable and fat, right, then we're missing it.

If the goal of my family is to raise athletes and scholars, ultimately, then we're missing it.

If the goal of my community is just so that everyone will like me, or maybe on the other side, right, for some of us, that no one will like me, right, then we're missing it.

As stewards of the gospel in business, in my family, I'm going to tell you, I want my kids to thrive and succeed in so many areas.

I'm having a hard time this weekend.

They turned 14, which just makes me realize they're even closer to being 18 and being out of the house, and that's going to be a bad day, and I'm going to take a lot of time off for that, right?

Still praying through a homeschool model for college, right?

But I want them to thrive and I want them to succeed.

Don't miss me on that.

But more importantly, who I want them to be is who they are in Christ and impacting lives for the sake of the gospel beyond anything else.

Beyond anything else.

Does the goal of your business, does the goal of your career have a centeredness around the gospel?

Does the goal where you live and the goal of your community, does it have a centeredness for the gospel?

Because we will be accountable for these.

Another trait, let's keep reading verse 7, a characteristic of leadership.

For who sees anything different in you?

What do you have that you did not receive?

If you then received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Already you have all you want.

Already you have become rich.

Without us, you have become kings.

And with that, you did reign so that we might share the rule with you.

For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ.

We are weak.

You are strong.

You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.

To the present hour, we hunger and thirst.

We are poorly dressed, buffeted, and homeless.

And we labor without working with our own hands.

When reviled, we bless.

When persecuted, we endure.

When slandered, we entreat.

We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

As leaders, we're called to be humble.

Now, I could talk a lot about humility in areas where God has grown me, needs to grow me, in areas that God points out to all of us very evidently and very clearly in Scripture.

And we haven't arrived.

And I feel like that's what we've done a lot over the last several weeks.

But I just want to kind of hit one high point, especially concerning the gospel here.

I want you to look back at verse 7.

For who sees anything different in you?

What did you do that you did not receive?

If you then received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

I'm going to paint this picture for you, if I can.

My grandfather, who many of you know, I talk about him often.

He passed away years ago, right before Aaron and I got married.

He served in the Army, served during World War II, was a part of a lot of different historical, well-known battles.

And before he died, he actually gave to me a lot of the things that he had been able to keep and been able to salvage from his military career.

He got pictures, he got some weapons, he got different things from his uniform.

And one of the things that he gave to me that I hold very dear to my heart are the bars from his uniform.

Got them in a storage area in my closet where they'll be kept safe.

And the way I lose things all the time, honestly, not be lost, right?

It's what he entrusted to me.

It's what he gave to me.

Now, let's say there's a 4th of July celebration this summer.

And I decide I'm going to put those on my shirt.

I'm going to go out and I'm going to wear those.

That wouldn't be right, would it?

That's not what I've been called to do.

That's not what I've been trusted with.

Why?

Because I didn't earn them.

I wasn't the one on the battlefield.

I wasn't the one that was paying the price.

But instead, I've been entrusted by the one who did that to hold on to those.

And that when I see those, when I'm reminded of those, to share the story of not only him,

but so many different men and women who made the sacrifices that they made

so that you and I could experience the life that we experience here.

But if I were to talk about them, they were mine, that would be a lie.

Because I didn't earn them.

And Paul says this.

Why do you, as a person who received the gospel,

treat it as if it's something that you did not receive, as if it's something that you earned?

It's our humility that even our standing of what we find in Christ

is that this is what he did.

And this is why we live in the way that we live for the glory of his name.

We've been entrusted with something to share, to reflect, to show,

and to point people not to us, but to someone else.

The ultimate sign of humility.

And then lastly, let's finish reading out the chapter, starting in verse 14.

Paul says this.

I love these verses.

Now, Paul's going to really lay the smack down on the rest of these, all right, these chapters.

And here's how I start this off.

I do not write these things to make you ashamed,

but to admonish you as my beloved children.

For though you have countless gods in Christ,

you do not have many fathers.

For I became your father in Christ through the gospel.

I urge you then, be imitators of me.

That is why I sent you, Timothy,

my beloved and faithful child in the Lord,

to remind you of my ways in Christ,

as I teach them everywhere in every church.

Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.

But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills.

And I will find out, not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power.

For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.

What do you wish?

Shall I come to you with a rod,

or with love in the spirit of gentleness?

When we look at this passage of scripture,

what is commonly referred to,

and what we oftentimes see,

is this element of church discipline.

That here's what Paul is coming to do

as there's this church that's gone off the rails.

That there's this church that's missing it.

And that the rest of what we're going to see here

are these punishments that are being leveraged

from Paul to them

because of how bad they are

and how wrong they're doing things.

And I don't believe at all that's the goal of what we're to see here.

I think his leadership is what Paul pours into

of what we're going to see in these eight verses right here

is that Paul is pointing to leadership being disciple makers.

And that's the goal of what we are to do.

When Jesus entrusted us with the Great Commission,

he calls us to go and make disciples.

That's what we're to do.

We are to go and to make disciples.

And what we see from here

is if we're going to be a leader in the sake of the gospel,

if we're going to be a leader in seeking to make people follow Christ

in our work,

in our home,

in our communities,

that there's some evidence of what we need to be able to see

from ourselves

as the Great Commission calls us to this.

The first thing that we're to be,

that we are to see in our lives

is what we call a spiritual parent.

In order to be a disciple maker,

we must be a spiritual parent.

Look at verse 14 and 15.

I do not write these things to make you ashamed.

Let's pause for a second.

Parents,

in your love for your child,

do you ever seek shame in their life?

No.

No.

It destroys,

it breaks down,

it'll ruin them.

Shame is the opposite of the gospel.

Shame is what Christ came to work against.

Shame is what the devil uses to bring us down.

I do not write these things to make you ashamed.

But to admonish you as my beloved children, right?

Paul says,

there's going to be some correction that takes place.

For though you have countless gods in Christ,

you do not have many fathers.

For I became your father in Christ through the gospel.

And so what Paul's saying is that

we don't need more gods.

You've got gods.

I would argue if the church at Corinth had gods,

you and I have way more gods than they have, right?

Thank you.

Podcasts,

bookstores,

right?

Facebook,

like everything else.

It ain't hard for you and I

to go and to seek out gods

that are going to appoint us

but not go on the journey with us.

And Paul says,

but that's who we are.

We're not called as disciple makers

to simply be those that speak truth

and say go figure it out.

We've got those.

But we don't have many fathers.

And so if you're here and you're a leader,

I want to ask you a question.

Are you a god or are you a parent?

Are you a god or are you a parent?

Now, yeah,

there's going to become a point in time

a lot sooner than I'm probably wanting to be

or are comfortable to be.

Even in some areas

that I'm already seeing

in my life with my kids

where there's those moments of,

all right,

it's time to go.

It's time to grow those wings.

It's time to lead out.

It's time,

this is what God needs you to do,

right?

But at no point in time

am I not here with you.

Maybe not physically

but there's not a point in time

that I'm not with you

in my prayers,

in my minds,

in my heart

and that I'm always available for you.

And that's what it means

to be a spiritual parent.

I want to ask you, church,

in your life,

here in our context,

in your home,

in your job,

in your community,

who are you looking

to not be a guide to,

to simply be a person

that points out

and says do better,

but who are you looking

to come alongside?

Don't be a guide,

be a parent.

The second thing

is be an example.

Look at verse 16 and 17.

I urge you,

then be imitators of me.

Pause for a second.

This is not the arrogance of Paul

that says this,

but this is the confidence

of Paul in Christ,

all right?

Verse 17,

that is why I sent you Timothy,

my beloved and faithful child

in the Lord,

to remind you of my ways

in Christ

as I teach them

everywhere

in every church.

So Paul says

it's important

to be an example.

Parents,

look at your kids

and be able to say,

can you say,

you want to know

what it looks like

to follow the Lord?

Look at me.

Look at your mom.

Look at us.

Be imitators of us.

At work,

can you look at those

around you

in the meetings

when the sense

of anger,

of stress

begins to rise

and you say,

no, no, no,

it's going to be different.

Be imitators of Christ.

Watch how I imitate him

in this.

This is what Paul

brings us to

that you and I

are living examples

and what Paul

is pointing to here.

He says,

be imitators of me

because that's why

I sent you

Timothy.

Timothy.

We were having

our staff

Bible study

with this

this past week

and I asked

one of our

staff members,

Joel.

Joel Van Ham

knows how to fix

way more things

than I do.

More mechanically

inclined,

can build things,

do all those things

and Joel is doing

a wonderful job

within that

of pouring these

things into

his son Jacob.

He's teaching,

he's modeling,

this is what he's

doing in his life

and I asked

Joel,

I was like,

if I wanted

to learn this

from you,

who would I ask

to be taught?

Would I ask you

or would I ask Jacob?

And he sat there

and he had an honest

assessment of the

situation.

He goes,

no, no, no,

no, it would be me

and that's what so

many of us would do,

right?

I know how to do

this,

come to me.

But Paul says,

when we're this

example of who

God has called

us to be,

that I've invested

so much into

my spiritual son

in the faith,

Timothy,

that that's why

I sent him to you.

When we go back

and we look at

the generations

of faith that

are built,

it's because of

the poured in,

the replication

of a spiritual

parent,

the reproduction

of new believers

in Christ

so that our

examples

don't end

with us

but our examples

continue on

and continue on

and continue on.

And then lastly,

as a disciple

maker,

we're a corrector.

We're a corrector.

verse 18,

some are arrogant

as though I were

not coming to you.

Paul's like,

oh, and by the way,

I'm coming on my way.

We're going to find

out all of this

for myself.

But I will come

to you soon

if the Lord wills

and I will find

out not the talk

of these arrogant

people but the power

for the kingdom

of God does not

consist in talk

but in power.

what do you wish?

Shall I come to you

with a rod

or with a spirit

of love

and gentleness?

And so Paul gives them

the challenge

to change.

Paul gives them

the challenge

to change.

And he says that

in this,

as this spiritual parent,

in this,

as this example

that I'm coming.

it hit me this week

when we talk

about disciplining

a behavior.

So someone does

something wrong,

our kids do

something wrong,

our employee

does something wrong,

our peer

does something wrong,

someone in our life

that discipline

is appropriate.

Why do we do that?

Why do we do it?

Well, what we see

in scripture

and in the context

is we don't

discipline

to punish.

We discipline

to correct.

And this is

what Paul's seeking.

That I seek

to discipline you,

I seek to bring

this to you

because here's

what God

wants from you.

Right?

I had a pastor

say this one time

and it's just stuck

with me

and embedded

into my heart.

He says,

when I see

my kids

and my wife

and my church

people

sin

it hurts

my heart

not because

I'm mad

but because

they've chosen

the lesser thing

instead of the

greater thing

of God.

They've chosen

the lesser thing

and not the

correct thing

for the Lord.

And so Paul says

as we're going to go

through this

and as you're

going to see

all of these

different things

that are here

it's not that

I want to punish

you

Paul says

it's that

I want to

correct you

so that you

see the life

that God

has called you to.

As we go

over these next

several weeks

and we continue

to navigate

through these

chapters in

1 Corinthians

I want to be

honest with you

there's going to

see like

time and

time again

the areas

that are

foreign

from where

we are

in our

world

with what

we're doing

but the

truth of the

matter

it reigns

true

into who

we are.

are we taking

these

and applying

these

in our

circles of

influence

where God

has called

you to.

Let's pray.

God I

thank you so

much for

this time

that we

could be

here

together

to be

into your

word.

Lord I

thank you

for the

wonderful

opportunity

that you

give us

to study

your

word.

Lord I

pray that

you would

open up

our eyes

and our

hearts

to the

different

areas of

the circles

that you

have

provided

us

where we

can live

for your

glory

and for

your

name

in a

way that

points

people to

you

and shares

the hope

of the

gospel

with them.

And it's

in Jesus

name we

pray.

Amen.

You know

one of the

things that

we want

to continue

to remind

ourselves

of is

not only

the price

that Christ

paid for

us but

the life

that he

calls us

to.

And so

if you

want to

go ahead

and take

the elements

of the

Lord's

Supper

that we

have

we're just

going to

pause for a

few moments

before we

continue in

worship

before we

respond in

any way

and show

our

gratitude

gratitude

and our

thankfulness

and humility

before him

we did not

earn our

salvation

but we

were gifted

it

and we

receive it

with joy

and with

thanksgiving

and so if

you take

your bread

the bread

that represents

the body

of Christ

who paid

the price

that you

and I

deserved

who died

the death

that you

and I

deserved

and he

did it

for us

scripture says

that Jesus

on the night

that he was

betrayed

he took

bread

and when he

gave him

thanks

he broke

it

he said

this is my

body

which is

for you

do this

in remembrance

of me

amen

and then

Jesus

would take

the cup

the cup

that would

represent

his blood

the blood

that was

spilled

so that you

and I

would be

washed

clean

made right

to stand

before God

and he

says

in the same

way

he took

the cup

after the

supper

saying

this cup

is the

new

covenant

in my

blood

do this

as often

as you

drink it

in remembrance

of me

let's pray

Jesus

we thank

you

for the

price

that you

paid

so that

we

may be

made

right

before God

Lord

would we

live

in the

expectation

that you

have

for us

to be

a faithful

servant

of you

and a

faithful

steward

of the

gospel

Lord

may we

live our

life

knowing that

we are

accountable

to you

ultimately

and to

approach

this world

those around

us

and you

the grace

and humility

that we

understand

of who

we are

it is not

through our

own works

that we're

made right

but it's

through your

work on the

cross

that you

made us

right

let me

rest in

that

Lord

would we

live in

the boldness

of being

a disciple

maker

what that

means

not

seeking

just to

God

but

Lord

seeking

to be

the parent

that walks

alongside

correcting

being the

example

living

for your

name

so that

we can

see the

reproduction

of the

power

of the

gospel

in the

lives

of so

many

Lord

we thank

you for

the joy

to serve

you

and to

worship

you

Lord

as we

respond

in worship

that it

would be

done

out of a

life

surrendered

to you

it's in

Jesus name

we pray

amen

there's

prayer

encouragers

on either

side of

our

auditorium

this

morning

if you

came in

here with

a burden

needing

someone to

pray with

you

they would

love to

pray with

you

if you

came in

here this

morning

and want to

talk to

someone about

a relationship

with Christ

they'd love to

talk to you

about that

we just ask

that you

simply respond

to God

as he leads

you this

morning

would you

stand

as we

worship

thanks

thanks again

for listening

to the

Willow Ridge

Church

weekly

podcast

we hope

that you

enjoyed

listening

to this

week's

message

if you'd

like to

learn more

about who

we are

or explore

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