Spiritual Super Bowl: The World Vs. The Church Series

Sunday Morning January 26, 2003 Bel Aire Baptist Church

Series: “Church On The Rocks” (#10)

SPIRITUAL SUPERBOWL:

THE WORLD VS. THE CHURCH

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Introduction:

1. Today, on this Super Bowl Sunday, I want us to look at another Super Bowl that is taking place. This Super Bowl is not a sport. It is spiritual and it has been going on for a long time.

2. This morning we are going to see a Spiritual Super Bowl.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

3. This Church was facing a major battle. With this chapter in mind, we are going to watch The World Vs. The Church. We will first take a pre-game analysis of each team. Then we will analyze the game. Finally, we will have a post-game analysis.

Analysis #1: Pre-Game

The Teams

The World

The Church

Team Uniforms

The World: Dark

The Church: Light

Coaches

The World: Satan [He is ferocious as a lion and loves to cheat, lie, etc… Whatever it takes!]

The Church: Jesus Christ [He is meek as a lamb. He is Truth. He has never cheated and does not approve of His team using any evil tactics.]

Scouting Report

The World:

1. This team has many players and everyone seems to want to be a starter.

2. This team does not give up easily.

3. This team will do anything and I mean anything to win.

4. This team is very aggressive.

5. This team is also very good at recruiting. It seems as though everyone wants to be on this team.

The Church:

1. This team has many players, but most of them do not want to play in the game. They would rather sit on the sidelines and watch.

2. This team does not look like a team. Everyone is doing their own thing whenever they feel like it.

3. This team is undisciplined. They are fat, lazy, etc…

4. This team refuses to listen to their coach although He has never made a mistake.

5. The players on this team seem to fit better on the other team. This is probably the reason for poor recruiting.

Analysis #2: Game

1. The World is playing strong. They use deceit and trickery very well. Their coach seems to do a good job of keeping them motivated, (mostly with the promise of riches and fame I believe). It also helps that many of the players on the other team are either injured, tired, or just giving up. In fact at times, it looks like the other team is just giving them the game.

2. The Church is inconsistent. They seem to have “flashes” of glory, but often times they are an embarrassment to their Coach and their team. There are some on the team that need to be suspended from the team until they can get “their act together”. This team has few players that will actually play in the game for very long and they are very tired and beaten down. This really doesn’t make much sense because there is no greater Coach in the world.

3. As the game continues to be played, there are moments of victory for each side. It seemed that the World would definitely win because they had the Coach for the Church killed. But, 3 days later when He came back to life, the momentum of the game changed. Now it seems that we are in the 4th quarter and time is running out. Who wants the win? What must the Church do to win the game?

Analysis #3: Post-Game

Revelation 20:11-21:8

1. The Church Wins!!! As watch the game it is sometime hard to tell who is going to win. The crazy thing about it is, The Church has known they win for a long time. Since the Church knows who wins, what is their goal?

Luke 19:10

2. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He also gave us instructions before He ascended to Heaven.

Matthew 28:19-20

3. We know what happens to those on the winning team. They go to Heaven. Those on the losing team go to Hell.

Conclusion:

1. This 5th chapter of Corinthians is an example of what happens when Satan gets into the Church. Notice that Satan came in on the “coat tails” of that man sleeping with his father’s wife. Once Satan got in, he ran rampant through that Church. Paul said get rid of the sin, even if you have to get rid of that man from your Church.

2. Is sin in your life hurting the cause of Christ? Does Satan catch a ride on your “coat tails” to get into our Church? If you have sin in your life, you are hurting The Church and you need to repent of those sins.

3. If you are here today without Christ, you are on the losing team. You don’t want to die while you are on The World’s team. You will lose and end up in Hell forever and ever. Join me on Jesus Christ’s team today and live with Him and the rest of the team forever and ever in Heaven.