We're reading from 1 Corinthians 1, verses 1-17.
Praise to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus,
that in every way you are enriched in him, in all speech, in all knowledge,
even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful by whom you are called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree,
and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarrelling among you, my brothers.
What I mean is that each of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ.
Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.
I did baptize also the household of Stephanas.
Beyond that, I don't know whether I baptized anyone else.
But 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.
Well, I may have lost my marbles, but I'm moving more fluidly than Joel is by the look of it.
Okay, well, it's nice to be back, I think.
I wasn't sure I was going to be able to come back after having a FaceTime vision of what you did at camp.
Making fun of me, so I'm still to determine who actually was the instigator of that particular game.
I shall have a conversation with him sometime.
So I thought when I looked at it on FaceTime, it was absolutely brutal.
But then I thought afterwards, actually, no, there was heaps more that could have been said.
So I actually decided I got off rather lightly.
So thank you for being merciful to me in making fun of me at the same time.
Obviously, 13 weeks, 14 weeks, it turned into 26 weeks,
and we're going back for another stint after this month of April.
So, yeah, the Lord sort of swept aside our thing that we had planned for years in terms of local ministry.
He just seems to have swept that aside,
and we're in a totally different place to what we ever imagined ourselves to be,
and quite happily so.
And I just want to recognize that Alison has been a big part in that.
She's stood alongside me in ministry for 44 years.
And she's actually been encouraging me to stay longer.
What's happening out here needs your skills, is what she said.
So that's very generous over to me.
And it's very hard for her to do that sort of thing in a strange place.
So I'm particularly thankful for that.
The two congregations are small, but if they combine, which they're trying to do at the minute,
they get every chance of thriving.
So if we can keep the vision dominant of the enjoyment of being together
and the benefits of being together and stop people becoming process dominant,
that is, arguing about governance or what the style of church looks like,
then there's a good future.
And the two churches out there think I might be useful in helping that process
because while I know both the Presbyterian system and the Anglican system,
I'm not rusted on to either of them.
So that puts me in a position, they think, to be able to sort of, I don't know,
help them navigate or referee this time of change for them.
So, yeah, all right, we'll look at God's word now.
So, hmm.
Well, the question, as I always do to start, is,
is it possible to be married but to continue living as though you were a single person?
Now, sadly, we've got to answer that not only is it possible,
but it's actually very common these days.
A more personal question then to develop that.
Is it possible to be a Christian,
to be committed to this church family here
and yet live and act like a non-Christian?
Is it possible for us, speaking collectively now, corporately,
is it possible for us as a church family to be Christians,
to talk about Jesus, to pride ourselves on our Christian heritage
and still act collectively like non-Christians?
I think the answer must be yes.
And that's a scary answer.
And that answer, yes, is our point of connection into Paul's letter
to the Christians at Corinth.
The reality for the Christians at Corinth was
that they were being tutored more by the Corinthian culture all around them
than they were by Jesus and his word.
And the evidence of that was in the church.
They were Christians, and we'll see that.
Paul has no trouble at all in saying they're Christians.
But in the challenge of relationships in the church family,
they very quickly defaulted back to their old pre-Christian way of thinking
and acting towards one another.
Hence the title.
They were plugged into Jesus, but not switched on to Jesus.
It's just like a fan.
Imagine, just picture a fan, just a cooling fan.
It can be plugged into a PowerPoint,
but it actually is useless until it's switched on,
until the power flows through the fan
and enables the fan to do what the fan was created to do.
We've got to be plugged in and switched on to Jesus.
But let me pause for a moment and just say two things.
The next four Sundays are my last four sermons,
four periods of formal teaching after 24 years.
The elders wanted me to do some handover stuff,
some things, some pointers that I would urge the church family to
as I move out the door and others step up.
And I thought 1 Corinthians would be a really good way of doing that,
looking at this thought of how we can be plugged into Jesus,
but not switched on.
In other words, how we can be here,
but not actually useful, mature disciples of Jesus.
Second thing that I want to do is just step back into the background,
the backstory of the church at Corinth
before we jump into the details.
Corinth was a large, young,
absolutely booming city.
It was a melting pot of religions and philosophies and lifestyles.
It was said by the local writers of the time
that any pleasure, any vice or sexual perversion imaginable
could be found in Corinth.
That's the sort of cosmopolitan city it was.
Personal freedom was valued most of all
and meant that then any behaviour had to be deemed to be acceptable.
It's my freedom, it's my right.
I'm talking about a city some 2,000 years ago.
It sounds a little bit modern and familiar, doesn't it?
In among all that was a fledgling church,
probably only about five years old when Paul writes this letter back to them.
Acts tells us, Acts chapter 18 is the backstory,
and you can go and read it.
It's a very interesting reading.
Paul was there for about 18 months,
getting the church set up and running.
But 18 months isn't very long.
And then Paul moved on to other fields,
and Apollos took over the pastoring of the church.
So, in this very strong Corinthian culture,
was this young church.
It's not surprising there, I think,
to discover heaps of serious issues in the church.
It's not too much to say this church
was almost dysfunctional
in terms of relationships,
and on a bigger level,
their credibility in the local city
was almost in tatters.
The people looking into the church
couldn't see any difference
between what was happening in the church
and what was happening out in society.
It was a mess.
The Corinthian culture was impacting,
and you'll see this if you read through the letter
of Corinthians 1 and 2,
it was impacting what they thought
was important in the church,
who were considered good leaders in the church.
What was appropriate sexual behavior
among individuals in the church?
What was their own view of personal freedom,
and how should you exercise freedom
in the context of a community?
Their rights,
their use of money.
What makes a person worthy of respect in the church?
How and when to get involved in the church,
and on what basis?
And so the list of problems,
you can read through,
and you can tease all those problems.
There was a bag full of problems.
The church was
a mess.
And it's into that relational dysfunction
that Paul introduces the key principle.
And this key principle underpins
everything else in this letter.
And it's such a simple principle,
and yet it seems so hard for us
to get a hold of it.
The principle is really simple.
It is, if you're following the outline,
you'll see it in front of you.
The principle is this.
Remember that in Christ,
you have it all.
In Christ, you have it all.
Paul was hurting for these believers.
He was their spiritual father.
And he was responding to a report
that things had fallen apart.
And they were pleading to Paul
for urgent help.
And when you think about
the dysfunctional mess
that Paul's speaking into,
and then the way in which
he engages the believers
at Corinth,
it's absolutely amazing.
Paul begins with an absolutely
extravagant description of them
in verse 2.
And remember,
as we start reading this text,
remember the dysfunctional mess
I've just described.
It's everywhere.
The place has just fallen apart.
And Paul says,
to the church of God
in Corinth,
to those sanctified
in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints,
together with all of those
who in every place
call upon the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
both their Lord and ours.
Grace,
and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul's response
first utterance
into this dysfunctional mess.
Hey guys, remember,
you're the church of Christ.
You're died for people.
You're sanctified.
You're called
saints
in Christ.
God's special,
holy,
set apart people.
In other words,
Paul sent him,
remember guys,
you are a community
defined by Jesus,
defined by God's
saving work within you.
You have the most
incredible privilege
of being forgiven.
You've been made new
from the inside out.
You've been brought
into God's own family.
And you're brought
into fellowship
with Christians
everywhere across the world,
but especially there
in Corinth.
Paul wants them
to remember
and take on board
practically
that in Christ
they have it all.
And he follows through
with lots more detail
in verses 49.
Paul wants them
to remember
that in Christ
they were graciously
saved,
verse 4.
I give thanks
to my God
always for you.
Put that alongside
the dysfunctional mess
I've just described.
Isn't that quite
extraordinary?
because of the grace
he gives thanks
because of the grace
that was given you
in Christ Jesus
that in every way
you were enriched
in him.
Get that?
In every way
you were made rich
in him.
They have every blessing
imaginable.
What is every blessing
imaginable?
it's in there.
They've got the ability
to understand
the gospel
and they've responded
to the gospel.
They've been plugged
into Jesus.
What more is there
says Paul?
That's the secret
of light
and life.
and more than that
they've got the ability
to speak it to others.
Verse 6
they were the living
proof
testimony
about Jesus
was confirmed
to me.
They actually
were the living
proof
of the changing
power of the gospel.
people.
Verse 7
they lacked
nothing
by which
they need
or nothing
they needed
to live obediently
until Christ
returns.
And verses 8
and 9
who will sustain
you
the same Jesus
who will sustain
you to the end
guiltless
in the day
of our Lord Jesus.
Again
get that
against the
dysfunctional mess
these people
were making
and continue
to make
guiltless
in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful
by whom you were
called
into the fellowship
of his son
Jesus Christ
our Lord.
In other words
in spite of
all the mess
that's all around you
that you're causing
actively
says to these
Christians
these believers
the Lord Jesus
himself
would keep you
to the end
why?
Because that's
what God
does
it was
God who
called you
to himself
sovereignly
in the first
place
and promised
to keep you
for eternal
life.
Now
why have I
labored that?
Because friends
we ought to be
so encouraged
by
and drawn
to
Paul's
grace
based
approach
to this
church.
There were
serious problems
in the church
divisions
immorality
power struggles
but Paul's
reminding them
those struggles
actually
while they're
real
do not
define them
as believers.
they're the
church
says Paul
not because
you got
everything
right
or are
getting
everything
right
but because
the Lord
has started
a wonderful
work of
total renovation
through his
spirit
in your
midst
and he
will
complete it.
my friends
it's just a
very practical
problem for
it is so
often
we lose
sight of
our standing
in Christ.
When we
come under
pressure
when our
relationships
come under
pressure
what do we
do?
We immediately
toss out
gospel categories.
We might be
gospel shaped
for years
and then
pressure
comes on
and suddenly
we turf
out gospel
shape
and we
revert back
to the old
pre-Christian
way of
thinking and
doing things
and relating
to one
another
and it
just causes
carnage.
We lose
sight of
our standing
in Christ
and all
the blessings
that are
ours to
be enjoyed
the blessings
that we
need
to be
mature in
Christ
to be
different
in this
world.
we
already
have
them
in
Christ
but we
lose
that
because
we
become
focused
on
our
failings
and
shortcomings
things.
It's
so interesting
to me
and it's
been a
model I've
tried
you can be
the judge
of how
successful
I've
been
but it's
a model
I've tried
to have
all my
ministry
years.
Paul doesn't
rip into
these believers
when they get
it so badly
wrong.
He doesn't
rip into
them in
anger.
He doesn't
say what a
hopeless bunch
of losers
you are.
I'm out of
here.
He doesn't
seek to
shame
them
in their
stupidity.
He doesn't
seek to
intimidate
them into
just doing
the right
thing because
of what
will look
good.
He doesn't
seem to
manipulate
them or
threaten
them.
He doesn't
withdraw
support of
them as
a strategy
to put
pressure on
them to
do the
right
thing.
Paul will
have nothing
of that
sort of
approach.
It's
always,
hey,
remember
who you
are in
Christ.
That's
what you
need to
think about
at this
stage.
Paul's
confident
that if
only they
can understand
their new
identity in
Christ,
then they'll
overflow with
the right
connections from
that, right
thinking, right
desires, right
actions.
All of those
things that
reflect their
new grace-based
life.
things that
are
going to
apply to
the right
principle
practically in
verses 10
to 7.
It applies
it to the
relational
dysfunction.
Verse 10,
11 puts
the spotlight
on a
very serious
problem in
the church.
It says,
verse 10,
I appeal to
you,
brothers,
by the
name of
our Lord
Jesus
Christ.
There's
that grace-based
approach again,
that all of
you agree and
that there be no
divisions among
you, but that
you be united in
the same mind
and the same
judgment.
The serious
problem is this.
There's some
sort of major
disconnect in
these Christians,
as I said
before,
plugged in but
not switched
on.
They were not
living as
people who
have it all
in Jesus.
Internal
fights,
bickering,
had caused
them to
splinter into
hostile,
competing
factions.
Verse 12,
it seems so
innocuous and
yet so profound
in the church.
Division seems
to have arisen
out of
seemingly
harmless
loyalties.
Look at
verse 12.
What I mean
is that
each of you
says,
and here's
the seemingly
harmless
loyalties,
I follow
Paul,
or I
follow
Apollos,
or I
follow
Cephas,
or the
super-spiritual
ones saying,
well I don't
follow any
person,
I just get
my orders
direct from
Jesus.
It seems
harmless,
doesn't it?
It's just
human nature.
To warm
to one
personality
more than
another
personality.
To warm
to one
style of
teaching
more than
another
style of
teaching.
To engage
with one
person over
a longer
period of
time than
another
person.
But what
happened here
was that
this seemingly
harmless
loyalty,
as people
promote the
various
teachers who
had featured
in the
life of
the
church.
But it
turned into
rivalry,
which turned
into
hostility,
which turned
into competition,
as their
preferences and
loyalties
became reasons
to break
fellowship with
those who
thought differently,
and perhaps to
stand in judgment
over them.
Well,
obviously,
we,
our group,
has actually
got it better
than your
group.
My friends,
what started
with seemingly
harmless
loyalties
ended up
in civil
war in
the local
church family.
And you've
got to scratch
your head and
think,
how the heck
did we get
to there?
How the heck
did we get
to there?
How the heck
did we get
to there?
And Paul
responds firmly
because it's a
serious threat
to the community
of believers.
His challenge,
again,
is to live
as the grace-based
people you are.
He makes
three points
in these
verses,
and bear with
me,
it's not going
to take too
long.
I just said
that especially
for Sarah.
It tells me
not to apologize.
Paul appeals
for agreement.
Renewed
unity
in both
mind and
action.
New determination
to handle
differences of
opinion and
preferences in
a way that
demonstrates their
deep unity in
Christ.
You look at
verse 10,
this is where
the knitting
bit comes in.
I appeal to
you,
brothers,
by the name
of our Lord
Jesus Christ
that all of
you agree
and that there
be no divisions
among you,
but that you
be united
in the same
mind and
the same
judgment.
In the Greek,
that word united
there is the
word,
it's like
knitting,
that you be
knitted together.
And it's
probably a
medical term
where a
bone is
broken and
when properly
set,
so I've read,
hopefully the
medicals here
aren't going to
jump up and
disagree with me,
disagree with me
afterwards,
just let me in
my own little
world in the
minute.
But apparently
when a bone
is properly
set and
knits together
again properly,
then that
knitted together
joint is
actually stronger
than the
original bone.
That's the
picture that
Paul's saying
here.
Bickering in
the church,
says Paul,
is like having
a broken bone.
And we all
know what
happens if we
have a
displaced fracture
and we
ignore it.
It can
cause serious
deformity,
or in the
worst case,
it can cause
death if
sepsis gets
in.
So Paul's
saying,
look, we
just can't
ignore a
broken bone.
We can't
leave it
unattended.
It will
cause infection,
it will cause
pain, it will
cause disfigurement,
it will cause
the destruction
of the church
family.
Now, given
that we're all
sinfully self
interested at
some point,
or many
points, it's
impossible to
imagine in a
community like
this that we
will avoid
relational breaks.
They will
happen.
Far more than
we want them to
happen, but they
will happen.
Paul's point is
that when they
do occur,
then every
effort needs
to be made
to ensure
they're healed
properly,
properly knitted
together again,
and even
stronger,
therefore, than
the original
connection.
My friends,
here's where it
starts to become
really practical.
Every person
here,
knitting's often
seen to be the
domain of old
women, but I'm
telling you this
morning, every
person here,
men, women,
boys and girls,
every one of us
need to be
master knitters.
if the future
of this church
is going to be
guaranteed.
We need to be
passionate about
healing relational
dysfunction,
properly healing
relational
dysfunction.
We must be
passionate in
choosing not to
live with
permanent relational
pain, permanent
relational
disfigurement.
the pathway to
true healing
simply to
express
practically who
we are in
Christ.
We already
have deep
unity in
Christ.
Being
passionate to
maintain,
protect, and
build up deep
unity in
Christ is what
will make you
the most useful
and mature
disciple you
can be in
this church
family.
And that's one
of the things I
want to say to
you all as I
sort of am out
the back door.
You want to be
useful?
I hope you do
want to be
useful in this
church family.
Well, be a
relational
knitter.
Don't live with
relational
disfigurement.
we're just in
the process of
combining two
churches in
Weewa.
The biggest
issue I'm
going to be
dealing with
when I go
back for the
next ten
weeks is a
whole raft of
relational
dysfunction.
People move
from the
present church
to Anglin
because of
broken
relationships and
vice versa.
And it's all
coming to the
surface.
It's all
coming to the
We must be
knitters.
You must be
a knitter.
It's not the
elder's job.
It's your job.
Well, it's not
only their job.
Sorry.
It's your job.
Not only is it
a threat to the
congregation, but
even worse than
that, failure to
be passionate about
healing and
relational
dysfunction ends
up making a
mockery of
the changing
power of the
gospel.
And the
church just
becomes like
the rest of
the world.
Another place
of rival
factions and
vicious attack.
Well, the
second thing
then Paul says
to the
believers in
Corinth is
major in the
majors.
Keep Christ
and salvation
issues central.
Paul throws
up three
questions in
verse 13.
Very profound
questions and
yet very simple
questions.
Is Christ
divided?
You guys
have managed to
make it appear
as if he
divided.
You've got
now all these
different factions
all claiming to
be followers of
Christ and yet
not talking to
each other or not
relating to each
other.
Is Christ
divided?
Is Christ
divided?
Was Paul
crucified for
you perhaps?
You've given
absolute loyalty
to Paul or
Cephas or
Apollo or
somebody else.
Are they the
ones who are
responsible for
you being here
now in new
life?
Or perhaps
you were
baptized into
the name of
Paul.
And Paul
then goes into
a little bit of
discourse.
pretty blunt
point isn't
it that Paul
makes here?
Remember
your
indebtedness
for all the
help that
Paul or
Cephas or
Apollo or
any of the
other leaders
or any of
the other
pastors for
all the help
they've been to
you in your
Christian walk.
Perhaps they
were the one
who introduced
you to Christ
in the first
place.
And that's a
wonderful thing
but for all of
that,
your
indebtedness
for your
new life
belongs to
Christ.
And remember
that when you
were baptized
you weren't
Paul may have
baptized you
or Cephas or
Apollos but you
weren't pledging
loyalty to them
when you were
baptized.
You were making
a statement to
the whole world
in the church
community of
your loyalty
to Jesus
Christ.
I'm thanking
him that
he's washed
you and
made you
clean.
The
identity,
the personal
gifts of
the baptizer,
the emphasis
of the
baptizer,
totally irrelevant
says Paul.
Paul wanted a
following for
Christ,
not himself.
And my
friends,
I tell you,
I've lived long
enough to say
that too many
pastors,
yep, I'm
talking about
pastors,
too many
pastors I
think have
sought to
build a
following for
themselves.
And I
trust that
that's not
been the
case here
for me.
That would
be the
worst thing
anybody could
say to
me, I
think,
is that
Father,
would you
just
sought to
build a
following
for
yourself?
And
verse 17,
Paul says,
For Christ
did not send
me to
baptize,
but to
preach the
gospel,
not with
words of
eloquent
wisdom,
lest the
cross of
Christ be
emptied of
its power.
Remember,
says Paul,
it's Christ's
mission that
you're engaged
in.
What was I
sent to
do?
Not to
big note
myself,
but to
serve
Christ.
And it
says to
these
believers,
your
responsibility
is to
promote the
lordship of
Christ.
And when
you promote
the lordship
of Christ,
you can't
promote your
own lordship
at the same
time.
It's that
simple.
You can't
promote your
own preferences,
your own
understanding.
Those sorts
of things
actually undermine
the gospel,
undermine the
lordship and
the focus
on Christ.
Friends,
if we're
practically aware
of who we
are in
Christ,
then we'll
be able to
keep first
things first.
We'll be able
to measure on
the measures
and keep the
minors in the
place where they
ought to be in
the minor.
And that
will promote
unity rather
than difference.
Third and
final thing
then,
think harmony,
not unison.
Promote unity
in the context
of diversity.
Now,
when you look
at verse 10,
it's very clear
that it's not
saying that
every church
family,
every believer
in every church
family should
agree absolutely
on every single
issue.
I don't think
it's saying
that at all.
But it does
demand that
the differences
should not
leave to
strife and
division.
Paul,
Peter,
Apollos,
they all had
absolute
identical convictions
about the
necessity for
somebody to be
saved and how
they're saved
through the
Lord Jesus
Christ by
grace alone.
But undoubtedly,
three different
personalities had
three different
approaches to
teaching.
Perhaps even
three different
emphases.
Well,
we know there
are three
different
emphases in
teaching on
things other
than the
actual means
and pathway
of salvation.
They had
different
emphases,
no doubt,
in terms of
how things
should be done
in the church.
I have said
to you this
morning that
such differences
are normal
within a
community like
this,
especially a
larger community.
Because all
the time we're
looking at
biblical principles
and we're
trying to work
out how do
we apply those
biblical principles
faithfully into
a changing
cultural setting.
And that's a
legitimate thing
to struggle with.
But here's the
problem.
When one
Christian or one
group of
Christians push
their preference
as the only
godly option
for how things
should be done
and refuse to
allow legitimate
differences in
viewpoint where
legitimate
differences in
viewpoint might
actually legitimately
be held.
That was a
very clumsy
sentence,
wasn't it?
But I got
there in the
end.
Then when we
do that,
harmony has
been sacrificed
for uniformity.
Uniformity,
we all have to
just be vanilla
flavoured.
Harmony is
we get a
whole range of
colours and
flavours,
but we stand
united.
holding our
convictions
strongly and
interacting with
others who
hold different
convictions
strongly where
those different
convictions are
legitimate.
See,
uniformity,
and I've
seen it in
churches,
uniformity is
where every
believer has
to have the
same viewpoint
before they
can be accepted
as serious
minded Christians.
And unfortunately,
uniformity,
as I've observed
it,
has always been
imposed from
the top down
by heavy-handed
leadership.
But true
unity is
expressed in
diversity.
That's when
you have
harmony.
Now,
hear me
carefully.
There needs
to be fundamental
agreement on
salvation issues.
But beyond
that,
there are
legitimate
issues where
legitimate
differences might
be held
and debated.
Different
ideas about
how we might
do church.
Different
ideas about
what projects
this church
family should
follow into
the future.
These are
things that the
elders will
call you to
contribute to
and perhaps
make suggestions
to.
And there
will range.
Some of them
will be quite
out there.
One
personality
or preacher
will engage
you much
more easily
than another
personality.
Some of you
will be saying,
well, it's nice
to have
Calderwood back
and others
will be saying,
oh, gosh,
why can't we
have Dave
Bott up the
front as
normal or
whatever.
That's the
way it
works.
others
won't always
see your
viewpoint with
the same
passion that
you see it.
But here's
the rub from
1 Corinthians
as I understand
it.
Those
differences are
legitimate,
but what's
never right is
to dig a
trench based
on your
differences.
to withdraw
from people
based on your
differences.
To refuse
to join
fully in the
life of this
congregation
because that's
not how I
see it at
this point.
And worst
of all,
even to go
to war
with the
church family.
Maybe it
seems extreme,
but I tell you,
I've seen it.
I suspect most
of you here
have seen it
too.
legitimate
differences
should never
determine the
existence and
quality of
relationship.
And here's
putting this
positive now.
Hopefully it
hasn't been too
negative, but it
needs to be said
the way it was
said.
If we turn that
around now, if
we discuss our
differences and
debate them while
keeping our focus
on Christ,
then what
happens is that
we actually
enjoy helping
one another
better understand
God's word.
That can't be a
bad thing, can
it?
There's nothing to
fear in that,
is there?
And we remain
united and avoid
bitter strife
and division at
the same time.
Now friends,
as I wrap up now,
I have to say
this, I'm so
glad that the
Lord has
preserved us
from these
types of deep
division and
disunity that
was evident in
the church in
Corinth.
But hear this
equally, we are
not immune to
such developments.
And I tell you,
they can just
spring up
overnight.
we need to be
careful and
vigilant,
especially in
times of
change like
our church
family is
experiencing
currently.
A raft of
new elders,
me stepping
out after 24
years, others
stepping up.
All the seeds
are there
for people to
start saying,
I wish it
was like
the good
old days.
I wish
colder was
it was
back.
I wish
this, I
wish that.
I'm not
happy with
this, I'm
not happy
with that.
What a
tragedy, this
next point
might seem
self-promoting
but I'm
trying to use
it as an
illustration.
What a
tragedy it
would be
if folk in
this congregation,
I'm looking at
you now, if
you were more
rusted onto
me than
rusted onto
Jesus.
That would
torpedo my
life ministry.
What a
tragedy it
would be if
your involvement
in this church
was just tied
to personalities
rather than
tied to
Jesus.
What a
tragedy it
would be if
your commitment
to being a
useful disciple
in this
family was
tied to,
again, a
personality.
I don't
like the
new regime
so I'm
going to
adopt a
passive-aggressive
commitment and
involvement.
friendship.
My friends, we
need to be
committed to
displaying the
reality that we
already have in
Jesus, a deep
unity, that we
might continue to
display the
changing power of
the gospel.
What a
tragedy it
would be if
moving into
the new
chapter of
life as this
church family,
all you could
do was find
fault with the
new elders.
elders.
Will they
fail you?
Of course they
will, just like
the last lot
did.
John and me
can testify only
too well to
that, can't
we?
Of course they'll
fail you, because
they were sinful
men when they
were appointed
elders, and
they will remain
sinful men until
the day they
die, or the
Lord comes to
take them
away.
Get alongside
them.
Support
them.
Encourage
them.
And if
necessary, challenge
them on the
basis of God's
word, and I
tell you, the
men that are
there will
welcome being
pushed back into
God's word.
That's their
nature, that's
their character,
that's why
they're there.
And value the
different personalities,
value the
different approaches,
and have this
harmony view.
Say, look, any
one of them by
themselves, like
just Coldward by
himself, would
really get up your
nose super quick.
when he's part of
a team, he's
tolerable.
He might
actually even be
helpful.
That's a
harmony expression.
Realistic and
harmonious.
In Christ, we
already have deep
unity.
We will always
have more in
common than we
have at odds.
Christ.
So let's be the
best disciples we
can be by
approaching every
relationship and
knowing who we
are in Christ.
Pray with me.
Please.
Lord, these words
are so easy to
hear in some ways.
They're not hard to
comprehend the
meaning of the text,
and yet so, so
difficult for us to
apply them
consistently.
Lord, help us.
Help us to be
relational knitters.
Help us to be
first and foremost
rusted onto you.
And from there,
then, Lord, value
those that you've
brought into our
lives that have
been helpful to us
in numerous ways
in our Christian
work.
Help us to value
that, but be
committed to you.
In Jesus' name,
I pray.
Well, thank you
very much for
listening to me.
Thank you.