Sermon Central
-
Book Of 1 Corinthians
Contributed by Chris Appleby on May 9, 2003 (message contributor)
-
1. Unity In Diversity
Contributed on May 9, 2003
In a Church where diversity is the norm, our unity is of vital importance. Let’s remember to emphasise the centrality of Christ as Lord and of the saving power of the gospel; and the need to look to Christ rather than to human wisdom to determine how to l
I guess most people would say that we’ve come a long way in the past 2000 years. We’re far better educated. We’re much more sophisticated. We know a whole lot more about the world we live in, the universe around us, the microscopic world within. We have the benefit of 2000 years of thinking, of ...read more
-
2. Wisdom Or Foolishness
Contributed on May 31, 2003
The Christian message is foolishness to our world. But God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. Christians can only boast in God, and not in ourselves. And Christians maturity is about having God’s Spirit, not our own wisdom. It’s about having the mi
By Guerin Tueno Imagine yourself a member of God’s heavenly selection committee. God has given us the job of putting together a profile of the sort of person that Heaven’s looking for. What sort of person should we be keen to select? Smart people? – God knows everything. Surely he’ll want to ...read more
-
3. Fools And Factions
Contributed on May 31, 2003
Lets work together as servants, building on the one foundation, Jesus Christ, so as to build up the church in unity according to God’s wisdom, not human wisdom.
The Corinthians self-image was of a spiritually mature congregation, endowed with all the spiritual gifts they needed, well taught and self-sufficient. In fact they were quite similar to many churches today, particularly those of an evangelical persuasion, let me say. They thought their learning ...read more
-
4. Weakness Or Power
Contributed on May 31, 2003
Be faithful, stick to what’s been revealed to us in God’s Word and rely on God’s power to bring the growth.
There’s an old Indian Fable I heard recently. A water bearer had two large water pots which he carried on either end of a pole slung across his shoulders. One of the pots had a crack in it, so every day as he carried water to his master’s house he arrived with one full pot and one only half full. ...read more
-
5. Freedom And Morality
Contributed on Jun 24, 2003
We’re to live such lives of purity that we glorify God not just with our words but with our whole bodies. And as a church we’re to encourage one another to live lives of purity so that the church is strengthened in its purity, not weakened.
As you well know, the Governor-general has just been forced to resign over his failure to censor a priest who was guilty of sexual abuse of one of his parishioners. The Roman Catholic bishop of Phoenix has just been charged with obstructing the course of justice for protecting priests who were ...read more
-
6. Marriage And Singleness - 2 Gifts From God
Contributed on Jun 24, 2003
Marriage or singleness, celibacy or asceticism. The issue, whatever state we happen to be in, is this: "unhindered devotion to the Lord." Married or single, this is what matters: is your mind set on the things of the Lord? Are your energies directed to se
You can almost imagine Paul, sitting at his desk, with the letter that the Corinthians have sent him in his hand, as he dictates his reply. He’s been through the introductory remarks and now he comes to the questions they’ve put to him. And again we discover just how contemporary some of their ...read more
-
7. Freedom And Sensitivity To Others
Contributed on Jul 7, 2003
Make sure whatever you do leads to either you or others being built up because knowledge puffs up but love builds up.
I’d like you all to come to a Barbecue. You won’t all fit at our place, so I’ve booked the Apollonia Temple Plaza. The evening will begin with the usual festivities. First there’ll be the slaughtering of the bull as an offering to the gods. If you’d like, you can join the procession beneath the ...read more
-
8. Freedom To Restrict Our Freedom
Contributed on Jul 7, 2003
Freedom isn’t everything. Make sure the freedom we hang onto includes the freedom to win others for hrist ansd the freedom to love other Christians even above ourselves.
A Small Confession... I have something to confess to you today. Something that may forever change the way you look at me. Something that may lower me in your esteem. I like to watch Jerry Springer. What really interests me is how the participants see their right to free speech. Because they ...read more
-
9. The Gifts Of The Spirit
Contributed on Jul 27, 2003
The body is made up of many members, all of which are vital if the body is to function correctly. But test the gifts to see whether they exalt Jesus as Lord. Second, check whether their exercise is building up the body of Christ. And thirdly make sure you
I was listening to Di talking to our son Paul about his holiday around Europe the other day trying to piece together the conversation from what I could hear Di saying, but of course without being able to hear what he had to say. I’m sure you’ve done that from time to time, these days probably in ...read more
-
10. Gifts And Worship
Contributed on Sep 24, 2003
Worship requires order. If the Spirit is to be enabled to work, then decency and order are needed to allow that work to happen.
Corinth must really have been a "happening" place. we sometimes have people complaining that St Theodore’s is too noisy on a Sunday morning at 10 before the service begins or after it’s over for them to be able to pray. Some people complain about the noise the kids make during the service. But by ...read more
-
11. The Fruit Of The Spirit
Contributed on Sep 24, 2003
Forget gifts for a moment. Let me show you the best way to demonstrate your Christian maturity. If you want to show just how mature you are as a Christian, then show it not by the way you exercise the gifts God gives you, but by the way you bear the fruit
Today we return to 1 Corinthians, but it’s been over a month, so I thought I should bring us all up to speed again. Let me remind you of where we got to last time. Paul has been addressing the question of the nature and function of spiritual gifts in the congregation. Corinth is a place where ...read more
-
12. An International Church
Contributed on Oct 20, 2003
Corinth is a church with great resources, both material and spiritual, but it’s also a church with great responsibilities. It needs to recognise that it’s part of a world wide church and express that membership materially. And it needs to be on guard agai
We tend to think of the world today as shrinking, getting smaller and smaller. For example, last week, Di and I boarded a plane in Melbourne and 2 hours later we were throwing off our jumpers and getting ready for a swim in the pool at Noosa. You can get on a plane this afternoon and by tomorrow ...read more