SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: February 20, 2015
Date Preached: February 22, 2015
Church: OPBC (AM) Sunday
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Title: What Do U Say When U Feel U Have Nothing to Say?
Text: 1 Cor 1:17-25 (ESV)
ETS: Paul’s message was that the power of the Gospel is greater than anything we have to say…focus on the Gospel, not human wisdom!
ESS: There are times when we try TOO hard and try to be too clever in sharing Christ…Paul tells us to rely on the wisdom of God thru the Gospel, not on our wisdom.
Introduction:
Before I get into my sermon this morning I want to declare to everyone here… I have something to say! WE, have something to say! Jesus is our Lord and Savior… Jesus is the answer to sin nature of our sin sick soul…
Yes siree you better believe we have SOMETHING to say! Amen! Do you have something to say today?
But what about that time when you just got into a fight with your spouse and stormed out of the house and you run into the neighbor you have been witnessing to?
What about that time when someone cut you off in traffic and you got to the office angry, but the lady you have been sharing with begins to ask questions?
What about the time when you worked a double shift, had a flat tire on the way home, plus got a ticket… and you stop for gas and a stranger sparks up a conversation with you?
What about those difficult times in life…do you still have something to say, when you don’t feel like saying anything?
My brothers and sisters for the past few weeks you have heard sermons on how to overcome fear, what kind of church we are called to be, the characteristics of a loving fellowship and then last week you heard Pastor Wren speak very well about the love we have lost here in our church…
He taught us that in losing this ‘first’ love that we have not fallen away from Christ and that we still may be ‘doing’ what God wants us to do… but we must re-evaluate WHY we are doing it! Are we doing it because of our love for our Savior? OR are we doing it because is what we think we must do?
That sermon really struck a chord in me and I began to pray about what I was going to share with you this morning and quite honestly I was stumped for most of the week. Many of you know that I fell sick on Wednesday and lost the entire day and was really weak and out of it on Thursday, but I was still praying about what God wanted me to say today!
I was sitting at my desk on Friday morning still at a loss at what God wanted me to say and while in prayer, God gave me this question. “What do you say, when you feel you have nothing to say?”
I began to think about ALL of us here at the church and I realized that we ALL deal with difficult times in our lives and that there are times when we just don’t want to say anything… when those times hit, “What do we say when they feel that we have NOTHING to say?”
How many times are you afforded the opportunity to share Christ in your life, but you don’t because you feel like you have nothing to say…that you just cannot do it… that you will fail God if you even open your mouth?
I know that is a feeling I battle with EVERY week when I step in to this pulpit! I have to constantly pray for God to use me and the words HE has granted me so that His message is put forth and not my own!
Therefore, what do you say when you feel you have nothing to say? Sadly, many of us simply do not say anything because we feel inadequate; we feel we don’t know enough Scripture; or we feel that we haven’t learned the right method for leading someone to Christ!
OR like I illustrated a few moments ago, we don’t say anything because we have just dealt with adversity and we have sin in our life and we have the thought that we don’t have the right to share Him with others when we are feeling like this…
What do you say when you feel you have nothing to say? Turn in God’s word as we read from the book of 1 Cor 1:17-25. Paul taught the Corinthian church that they not only had something to say, but he taught how they must approach saying it!
Now before I read Paul was writing this letter because the church in Corinth was struggling and had a reputation for being wild and rebellious.
Paul addressed the divisions right away in his letter and in fact THIS passage here was part of that early teaching on unity. They focused in and divided on who they were following, on whom to emulate, to whom they should respond to…
In v.12 Paul says he had heard there were those saying, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” In other words, he was dealing with a fractured fellowship and they were not in ONE accord.
This devastated Paul as unity was Christ’s desire for the church… Jesus prayed that the world would know us for our love for one another and our unity with one another… but this was NOT the case in Corinth.
Paul’s letter chastises the church/fellowship and tells them their divisions were petty and foolish! He teaches them that their bickering has NOTHING to do with what God desires of them as a fellowship. To break it down for you, Paul is telling these believers that their focus was in the wrong place and on the wrong thing!
What Paul states is that it is NOT about who is leading the flock, but is all about who the flock is ultimately following. In other words, it is all about Jesus! Now there were leaders whom God had placed there… but Paul’s focus was on the Gospel!
Stand with me as I read God’s Word beginning in v17 and going thru v25.
17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
You may be seated! What do I say, when I don’t feel like saying anything? What do I say when I feel I have nothing to say?
When you are out and about and God places an opportunity to share about Him before you… but you’re at a loss for words, or your confidence is shaken, or you have just acted in a such a way that you don’t feel you are worthy to share Him with others…
What do you say when you feel you have nothing to say? Well Paul shares that before you SAY anything I believe you must…
First Check your motivation – v17
17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
I want us to understand that Paul was NOT conflicting the Great Commission here. The great commission tells us:
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So, when you feel you have nothing to say, first check your focus! Is it where it needs to be? Your focus must be on the right thing!
Let’s look and see where Paul’s focus is in this verse? Is his focus on baptism? Is his focus on who is in charge at the church or who should be declared the ‘leader’ of this fellowship?
If you look at this on the surface, it could be seen that way, but we need to realize that when Paul says he was not sent to baptize, we have to understand the context of his statement.
He KNOWs that the Great Commission calls for the making of disciples and it specifically calls for baptism of those new disciples as well as teaching of what Christ had taught…
So when Paul says that God had NOT called him to baptize he was NOT saying that baptism was not a vital part of the Christian experience. Let’s go to the context of the passage.
What was Paul discussing? He was discussing about a division in the church over who was following whom and the division it was causing within the fellowship. Paul was addressing a unity problem, NOT the doctrinal issue of baptism.
So…Paul uses the act of baptism an object lesson to teach that they were focusing on the WRONG things… they were more interested in who was in charge or who they were following and they were missing out on the bigger picture of God’s grace! That would be the sharing of the Gospel!
You see, God’s grace does NOT care who baptizes who, but God’s grace can be realized and received ONLY when the Gospel of Jesus is spoken! When it comes to God’s grace, baptism becomes a moot point if the Gospel is NOT shared!
Paul is saying here that his focus was on the main thing and that was sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those around him. These people had gotten caught up in who was doing what and how important one was over the other and they had lost sight of the Gospel.
My brothers and sisters, this world throws many things at us. We are often faced with obstacles when we have the opportunity to share Christ with the world around us…
We cannot allow things to sidetrack us from our FIRST duty…and that is to share the Gospel, which leads to making disciples!
Now, last week Wren spoke of our FIRST love and how it was TO Christ, well our first love (love of Christ) must lead us to our 1st duty and that is obedience…
So when you are feeling you have nothing to say, the first thing you must do is check your focus! Is your focus on Jesus? Is it where it needs to be?
What do you say when you feel you have nothing to say? Well before you SAY anything I believe you must…
Second Realize the power of YOUR Savior – v18-20
18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. 20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
How often do we dive into our service to God on our own power? How often have you said, “God I got this!” in your heart…
My friends we HAVE something to say, it is called the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus Christ, AND when we take that Gospel to a world that is lost we must understand that we will NOT be well received by most!
When you share the Gospel, your hope is that they will see the love, mercy and grace of God revealed and seek to know Him, but the more likely scenario is that we will be seen as judgmental and cruel… when all we want to share the love of Christ!
The world is NOT going to ‘see’ it like we do, and it IS going to be confusing and difficult for them to hear…we will NOT be welcome in many areas, many places, or by many people. But just because someone doesn’t LIKE what we have to say, doesn’t mean we don’t need to say it!
My friends, what we have to say is so important that it provides us with eternal security…the message we have to declare to the world is SALVATION from sin… but many are going to see it as a fairy tale, as a myth, as some religious hokum that was made up by man’s religion.
BUT you know yourself that what you have to share IS the very POWER of God! You have been delivered from the dark and evil horde of this world and delivered into the kingdom of light! YOU have experienced God’s love and grace in your own life…
This means that even tho’ many may mock and ridicule you must rest firm in the power of Your savior to save you and keep you to the end.
You see this plan of God’s does not match up with the plan MAN has for reaching God OR the plan other men have in becoming gods. This plan is foolishness to them and they are going to reject it.
For those with a closed mind, God will not allow them to understand His word! Those who claim to be wise, our Savior will bring them humility…He will thwart those who believe they know what is best…
If you come to a place and you don’t have anything to say:
First know your focus or motivation for saying anything…
Second, you must know the power of the One you profess as Savior! Know the power of Jesus!
However, Paul addresses more about this subject in the next set of verses…
What do you say when you feel you have nothing to say? Well before you SAY anything I believe you must…
Thirdly, Realize there will always be skeptics – v21-22
21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
We DEFINITELY have something to say, but the prevailing wisdom of this world cannot see the importance of God in this world! Skeptics and doubters will always be IN the pew as well as outside the door…
There are those in the church who demand a sign from God for everything… they demand God act by giving them things like a new job, a pay raise, an education, a ministry they have longed for, or some other form of PROOF that God is working…they demand a sign FROM God!
Others in the church want simply to only absorb the knowledge of God! They do this NOT to learn, grow and become better believers, but they do it for the sake of knowledge. Learning God’s word is important, but we cannot place it ahead of KNOW God.
There will be skeptics outside of every fellowship the day you live that want to tear down the church, and make our message moot… and want to silence us.
When we feel we cannot say anything, we must realize that we STILL have something to say! We must know our motivation/recognize our focus. We must know our Savior and we must know that there will ALWAYS be skeptics…
So when we DON’T want to say anything or don’t feel we have ANYTHING to say, I want us to fall back on this truism, “As a believer, you ALWAYS have something to say!”
Now sadly, there are many of you in this room today who would ask the question, “Preacher what do I have to say?” Paul lets us know right here…
When you feel you have nothing to say, you must understand that you have EVERYTHING to say and you must
Foruthly, Realize the message you bring – v20-22
What do we have to say? Paul shares here we have a LOT to say!
23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
My people we have MUCH to say, but our focus must be on telling the world about the Crucified Christ… the man who died on the Cross for them and their sin!
To many this will sound foolish… to some it will throw up barriers that they seem to NOT able to cross… it seems ridiculous and like a killjoy…
But then again those people are NOT you… YOU have something to say! The message of what you have to say is RIGHT HERE!
Our message is about the God of the Universe who sent His Son to die on the cruel Cross of Calvary for our sin and then 3 days later he conquered the grave, sin and death by rising from the dead for our eternal life!
Because of what Jesus has done for YOU… you have SOMETHING to say about Him! Your message must be that God loves them… God died for them… God wants to save them! Many will brush this off as foolish and nothing more than a fairy tale, but YOU know better!
The very power of God courses thru your veins and you have to tell the world about it… my friends YOU have something to say and it is Jesus is Lord! Are you willing to say it when God places that opportunity before you?
When you think you have NOTHING to say… you have EVERYTHING to say! Jesus is our Wonderful Merciful Savior… the salvation He brings is eternal and secure in Him! You have something to say… the key thing here is ARE YOU WILLING TO SAY IT!
First know your focus or motivation for what you have to say…
Second, know the power of the One you say you serve…
Third realize there are ALWAYS going to be skeptics…don’t let that stop you from saying what yo need to say!
Fourth, know the message you bring in what you say…you bring a Savior’s love and grace in the words of your message! Don’t ever think you should not SAY what you have to say!
Invitation…
