“Lego My Church”
1st Corinthians 3:9-16
You may have heard of the Crystal Palace Exhibition. It opened in London in 1851 and the purpose of it was to display some of the inventions of the day. Brand new ideas that would shape the future. One of the greatest discoveries of that time was the use of steam for power. They had farming plows that ran on steam. They had a steam cannon. All kinds of exhibits using steam.. Of all the great exhibits that year, the first place winner was a steam invention that actually had 7000 parts. When it was turned on it’s pulleys, whistles, bells and gears made a lot of noise, all kinds f commotion, all kind of movement but it served no purpose whatsoever.
In this high tech age you and i live in I think it is very easy to confuse activity with accomplishment, to confuse busyness with productivity. We can fool ourselves into thinking that the sound of gears and pulleys is the sound of something important being done. Let me ask you this morning...is that true in your life or mine? And beyond that is it possible that it’s true of our church? Is it possible that we could be building something that may be good, it may be very busy, it may be full of activity, we may even make a lot of noise but when you look at the bottom line, the results that God wants to see just are not there.
In the slide that you see this morning you are looking at what is called the Lego church. You know what Legos are. They are those small pieces made of hard plastic that fit together somewhat like a puzzle. Not every piece will link with every other piece but when you put all of the pieces together you can build something really great. Let me give you a few facts about the lego church you are seeing here.
* How long did it take to build it? The planning, photography and building took 18 months.
* How many lego pieces did it take to build it? More than 75,000.
* How big is it? 7 feet long, 5 1/2 feet wide, 30 inches tall.
* How many windowpanes does it have? 3976
* How many lego people does it seat? How many does the church hold? 1372
It also has a balcony, a lobby, stairs to the balcony, restrooms, a baptistry, an altart, a cross, a pulpit and a very elaborate pipe organ. Each slide you will see this morning is a different view of the same Lego church.
When Paul was writing his first letter to the church in the city of Corinth he was writing to a church that had many problems. Paul deeply cared about this church-partly because he is the one who first preached the gospel in Corinth in about AD 50 and he is the one who started this church.
There were divisions in the church , let’s face it, they happen-we are not all alike so we don’t always agree. It was a divided church. Paul tells us there were 4 different groups in the church who were all competing for the leadership of the church. The people were living immoral lifestyles-to name a few things...Paul gives us quite a list here. He says they were ..(1) backbiters (2) whisperers, (3) deceitful (4) full of envy, (5) they made promises, then broke them (6) kids disobeyed their parents
(7) committing murder (8) hated God.
Sounds like America in the 21st century. And that was not all that was on the list. But here’s the deal: as sinful as they were, Paul was talking to a group of people who had experienced new life in Christ...they weren’t prefect obviously and apparently they were immature and so they split up into different cliques...into different groups/factions and that always causes problems in churches...really in any organization.
So Paul is trying to appeal to them on the basis of the fact that they share something in common...they are all believers in Christ and he is saying to them stop these childish practices of following this group and this group like he told the church in Ephesus..they were acting like children and they wee allowing the wrong people to influence them. So as usual Paul gives us some advice and if we take his advice and we apply it to the church the church will be stronger, we will be one in spirit, not divided, we will be a unit, not a faction, we will be a team not lone rangers . Then he reminds us of 4 things we must remember to keep a church stable, to keep a church strong and to keep a church working together. Remember these 4 things.
(1) When you give your life to Christ, only one person changed you. You didn’t change yourself, the person who shared Christ with you didn’t change you, a pastor didn’t change you. God changed you!
Paul tells us in one passage ..he says in Colossians 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him. Colossians 2:6 LB And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. Listen why is it we start by grace which is free, unmerited favor, unconditional love then we try to live the Christian life another way. 1 Cor. 3:4-6
For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? [5] What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. [6] I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. God saved you and He will keep you in His care until the day we see Him face to face.
(2) We only have one life to live. So do it right. Being a Christian does not mean that you and I have a license to live as we please. The apostle Jude comments on this subject and says in verse 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Two groups existed at this time that really took a toll on the church. There were the Judaizers-they had taken the law and divided it into 613 rules, 248 commands 365 things that were prohibited and then made 1521 changes all designed to make it even more strict/amendments. Couldn’t drag a chair across a dirt floor on te sabbath...it would be plowing/work.
Then the other group the Libertines said now you’re saved by grace..now you can do whatever you please. You have a license to sin and you won’t be punished. Listen take this life you’ve got. Receive Christ. Live by grace. Obey God not to be saved but because you are saved.
(3) The choice is ours. We have only one choice to make so be careful. Only Christ can give you new life. There is only one foundation. Verse 12 tells us there is a construction process going o. We are all builders and we are all in it together.
Know this..Our salvation is settled. But we have a choice to make. Will w live a life that is built on something solid, gold, silver, stones or will it be built on wood, hay or straw. He says the fire will test the quality of every man’s work. The truth is the only things that will last are the things that we do for God.
(4) Invest your life in something that matters. Something tat counts. Listen to what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 5:9-10.2 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. This is a judgement. It will take place following the 2nd coming of Christ. Two things i want to say about it (1) it will have nothing to do with your salvation. If you have received Jesus as your Savior then your salvation was settled at the cross. (2) this judgement will be concerned with rewards or loss of rewards. It’s a different judgement.
Now how do we know what matters and what will count for something. Well
* invest in something spiritual. Notice the first group he mentions-gold, silver, costly stones-these represent spiritual things. They are from God. We can’t make them. We can’t produce them. They are formed by God. But notice the 2nd group-wood, hay, straw-they come through man’s work. And they absolutely will not last.
* invest in something that is valuable. There is something that is interesting here. How much hay do you need, how much firewood do you need to have something that is really valuable? You get a good bale of hay for about 10.00. That’s a lot of hay. But how big a diamond do you have to have to have something valuable. Would one this size be valuable? I could put a million dollars worth of diamonds in my coat pocket and you wouldn’t even know they were there. But a whole warehouse full of straw would not be worth the price of moving it.
Man can say look what I’ve done....look what I’ve built....look how big it is. It may be big, we may feel good about it, but it may be worth nothing. Satan says store up that straw, God says set aside a few precious stones.
* invest in something that will last. Gold, silver...these are permanent, they even go up in value. Hay gets old and wet and you couldn’t give it away.
We have to stop and ask what am I investing my life in that’s spiritual, valuable and will last? What can you invest your life in? Well I’ll tell you. Yu can invest it in this church. No matter what your job is during the week, no matter what your profession is, listen there is nothing you can invest your life in that is more important than the local church. Nothing. The church is so many things....
* it’s a Body. Different parts. Members. Different functions.
* it’s a hospital for sinners. It’s the only organization besides Hell’s angels that you gotta be bad in order to get in.
* it’s a lighthouse. Directing lost people to safety.
* It’s a schoolhouse. You can come and learn.
* But to me mostly, it’s a family.
We are family. We are all headed for a great reunion someday. We’re going to meet relatives we never knew we had. We’re going to gather at our Father’s. And you don’t want to miss it.
