4. We Have The Mind Of Christ Series

INTRO:

A man receives a free ticket to the Super Bowl from his company. Unfortunately, when he arrives at the stadium he realizes the seat is in the last row in the corner of the stadium-he is closer to the Goodyear Blimp than the field.

About halfway through the first quarter he notices an empty seat 10 rows off the field right on the 50 yard line. He decides to take a chance and makes his way through the stadium and around the security guards to the empty seat. As he sits down, he asks the gentleman sitting next to him,

"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?"

The man replies negatively. Now, very excited to be in such a great seat for the game, he again inquires of the man next to him,

"This is incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the Super Bowl and not use it?"

The man replies, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we haven’t been together at since we got married in 1967."

"Well, that’s terribly sad. But still, couldn’t you find someone to take the seat? A relative or close friend?"

"No," the man replied, "they’re all at the funeral."

What is the main event today? The Super Bowl, right? As excited as I am about the big game, I know that is not the biggest thing happening today.

The main event today is a Holy and all-powerful God coming to meet with frail humans who humbly turn their heart to Him in worship. Amen? And to take this thought even further, the main event is not singing songs with a great worship team leading us, and it is definitely not the simple words that I’m going to share with you over these next few minutes.

No – the main event here today is the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. He is the one who makes real change happen in our lives. He is the one who helps us to worship with authenticity. He is the one whose power draws us into closer relationship with God. And as we’ll learn from this morning’s scripture, He is the one who gives us the mind of Christ.

I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 2. throughout this chapter Paul reveals a number of ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives, and my hope is that as we look at these together that each of us will discover the incredible gift that He is to every believer in Christ.

1 Corinthians 2

1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

The Holy Spirit…

…authenticates the gospel message by demonstrating God’s power.

When Paul came to town he had recently had to flee from Thessalonica and from Berea because of persecution and he came “in weakness and fear, and with much trembling”. But that didn’t matter so much – because when he spoke the simple message of Jesus Christ crucified –this simple message was accompanied by a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. What exactly happened we don’t know – but we can assume that lives were miraculously changed. People were filled with the Holy Spirit and given power to live boldly for God. The sick were made well. The gift of prophecy was unleashed so that people could know the specific will of God. Whatever it was – there was a clear indication that what was going on was through the power of God – and not because of some incredible wisdom that Paul had.

This is my prayer for my own ministry here at CTK. And it is my prayer for every small group leader and every worship team leader and every person who is involved in ministry.

I want our church to experience the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. When people come to the Lord through our ministry as a church – I want them to do so because their faith rests upon God’s power – not on my wisdom, or the wisdom of any person in this church.

I’ve had to come to the humbling realization that though I went to a Christian university and to seminary – the diplomas on my wall will never lead to effective and powerful ministry unless they are accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit in work in me and through me to others. Any wisdom that I’ve accumulated is helpful to a degree – but it is not the “Main event”. The main event is the work of the Holy Spirit.