Are You Amazed? (Easter 2024)

Easter 2024

I Corinthians 15

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

03-31–2024

Amazing

When you hear the word amazing, what do you think of?

The definition of amazing is “causing great wonder or surprise, astonishing.”

I’m learning to juggle. It’s not easy. But, recently I saw something amazing.

[Video of kid solving Rubik’s cubes while juggling!].

I asked people on Facebook what they thought of when they heard the word “amazing.” Here are some responses:

A sunset over the ocean, bald eagles, childbirth, tasty food with good friends, Eddie Van Halen playing guitar, and Barry Manilow.

Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon, seeing Eddie Van Halen play a solo live, or seeing a baby born may cause us to experience amazement.

But if you live near the Grand Canyon and see it every day, you might lose your amazement at it. If you are a roadie and heard Eddie play Eruption a thousand times, it might become just another solo. If you are an OBGYN and have delivered thousands of babies, it could become just another successful birth. If you have seen Barry Manilow, let’s face it, he’s amazing every time!

If you type the word “amazing” into Google, you get almost six billion results. If everything is amazing, then nothing is amazing.

The same thing can happen with the story we celebrate this morning. We can hear it so many times that we lose our astonishment at the extravagant lengths God went to rescue us from ourselves.

We can find ourselves thinking, “Yes, I know that.” Or yawning through worship songs. Or even nodding off to sleep because we have lost our wonder.

This morning, my prayer is that we will experience wonder and amazement like the first time we heard it.

Corinth

We will be in the letter of I Corinthians this morning. The Corinth of Paul’s day was the wealthiest city in Greece. It was a major multicultural urban center with more than 80,000 residents.

There was an 18,000-seat amphitheater and a 3,000-seat concert hall. Farmers would bring their wares to a large market in Corinth.

The city was full of pagan shrines and the people of Corinth had many different religious and philosophical perspectives.

One commentator likened Corinth to New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles rolled into one.

Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthian church in 55 AD to address multiple issues within the congregation. There was division, believers were suing other believers, and sexual immorality was common and tolerated.

They were arrogant and spiritually immature. The church was a mess.

Aren’t you glad that the church isn’t like that anymore? Hmmm…we’ll come back to that.

Turn with me to I Corinthians 15.

Prayer.

Reminders

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” (I Corinthians 15:1-2)

Paul planted the church, consisting of mainly Gentiles, on his second missionary journey.

In chapter 15, Paul is winding down his thoughts and wants to remind them about what is most important about their faith.

He wants to remind them of something. Every good teacher knows the power of repetition and reminding. I have nothing original to share on Sunday mornings. My main intent is to remind you of things you already know.

He wants them to remember the Gospel that Paul preached to them. The word “Gospel” means “good news.”

The Corinthians heard the Gospel message and received it. They had placed their faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.

It was the ground on which they stood and the basis of their salvation.

But not all had received the message. Not all were standing firm in the hope of the Gospel. There were those in Corinth, just like in Chenoa, that were just good at playing church. Their belief wasn’t belief at all.

I’ve said it many times but I will remind you again, there are three types of people in this auditorium.

There are those of you who know for sure that if you died today you would be in heaven.

Some don’t have a clue what the Gospel is but you are curious. At the end of this service, I’m going to allow you to respond to Jesus.

And some know how to play church. You are a good church person. Corinth had these people in their congregation as well. All churches do. The problem is that hell will be filled with good church people. Without the Gospel, there is no hope of making it to heaven on your own.

Paul then reminds the Corinthians what is most important in their Christian faith.