Easter 2022

Easter 2022

I Corinthians 15

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

04-17-2022

Bridges

Growing up in Memphis, I crossed the bridge into Arkansas many times. If you don’t know, it’s in the Genius World Book of Records as the largest bridge in the shape of a letter.

If there wasn’t a bridge there, it would be very difficult to get to Arkansas.

That’s what bridges do. They connect places.

The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco to Sausalito, California.

The Brooklyn Bridge, which I’ve walked over, connects Manhattan to Brooklyn.

The the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain is the longest in the world and ends in New Orleans.

How many of you would like to cross this bridge?

Bridges help us get from one place to another. But when something goes wrong with a bridge, it can be devastating.

On August 1, 2007, the I-35 Bridge that spanned the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis collapsed in the middle of rush hour. 111 vehicles went into the water and 13 people died.

There have been many bridge collapses in recent years, but one was burned into my memory from my childhood.

It was a dark and rainy night, March 16, 1980. I was eleven years old. My brother came into my room and we both listened as sirens and helicopters buzzed over our house to the Perkins Road bridge, less than a mile from where we lived.

The northbound lane of the bridge had collapsed and several cars went into the flooded creek below. Two people died.

Even after I started driving years later, I hated going over that bridge.

What do bridges have to do with Easter? I’ll tell you at the end of the service!

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 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.

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 place their faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.

It was the ground on which the 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 that you would be in heaven.

There are those who don’t have a clue what the Gospel is but you are curious. At the end of this service, I’m going to give you an opportunity to respond to Jesus.

And there are those who simply 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 you own.

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

The Main Thing

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…” (I Corinthians 15:3a)