WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:08.759 The writer of 2 Corinthians, Paul, was passionate about the church and we should be too. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:14.160 Now I know that at least some of you are probably thinking, well you would say that Russell, 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:20.839 you're a minister. But I want you to know that I don't say that we should be passionate about 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:28.080 the church because that's who I work for. I say it simply because if you're a Christian, 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:36.700 church is the body you belong to. It's your family. It's the people among whom you can 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:45.259 and should expect to encounter the love of Jesus Christ. Now that's all very well, I hear you say, 00:00:45.420 --> 00:00:54.539 but what about when things have gone wrong? What about those times when someone else who is supposedly 00:00:54.539 --> 00:01:02.339 part of the church and who claims to be a Christian has said or done something that's upset me? 00:01:03.700 --> 00:01:09.700 You know, I think that's a fair point. My guess is that all of us who have been part of a church 00:01:09.700 --> 00:01:17.359 for a while will have at some time or another witnessed the words and actions of others 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:25.180 that have made us want to, frankly, walk away from it all. If only, we say to ourselves, 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:30.560 if only the church was like it was back in the days when the Bible was written. 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:38.019 Well, let me quote you something that was written years ago by someone called Clive Calver. 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:49.579 A young man named Mark had just become a Christian, so he was looking for a good local church to attend. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.899 One Sunday, he went along to the church that was situated closest to him, 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:58.959 but he was shocked by what he discovered was taking place. 00:02:00.099 --> 00:02:04.299 It wasn't just the savage gossip that he overheard before the service began. 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:10.460 There were plenty of other things going on that he hadn't expected to find. 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:16.120 There was the sermon that denied the resurrection of Christ. 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:21.199 Then the quarrelling that broke out during Holy Communion. 00:02:22.060 --> 00:02:25.960 And the group of people who got up and walked out during the prayer time. 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:35.360 After the service, someone took the time to fill Mark in on all the latest gossip about others in the church. 00:02:36.140 --> 00:02:41.780 He explained how two members of the congregation were taking legal action against each other. 00:02:42.980 --> 00:02:48.960 He exposed the fact that one individual was carrying on an affair with his stepmother. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:55.560 He also elaborated on the presence of internal strife and party rivalry. 00:02:56.300 --> 00:03:02.060 And on the way in which that church looked highly likely to undergo a four-way split. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:13.719 In the light of this disconcerting visit, Mark returned home and started to have serious second thoughts about his newfound faith. 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:27.379 Perhaps the advice that would most readily be given to Mark might focus on his need to look elsewhere and to try to find a different church. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:33.680 To concentrate on seeking out a church more closely modelled on New Testament lines. 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:37.599 That advice sounds fine in theory. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:47.099 The only problem is that the church that Mark went to was not only patterned on the New Testament ideal of church. 00:03:48.079 --> 00:03:51.259 It was a New Testament church. 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.359 See, Mark was a citizen of the first century. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:59.599 And his local church was the church at Corinth. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:02.959 You see, the point is this. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:07.280 Church always has been in a mess. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:09.599 And that's because it's full of people. 00:04:10.079 --> 00:04:14.359 And people, people like you and me, are, to put it bluntly, in a mess. 00:04:14.859 --> 00:04:16.139 That's because we're human. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:23.219 Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians not because they had it all sorted out and all was neat and tidy. 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:25.240 That was not their reality. 00:04:26.139 --> 00:04:28.740 If it was, he wouldn't have needed to write to them. 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:31.600 But he did need to write to them. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:43.439 And what he wrote to them about the mess they were in is right there in Scripture to remind you and me that life in this world is a mess. 00:04:43.840 --> 00:04:45.260 And we are in that mess. 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:49.740 So why should we be so passionate about church? 00:04:50.219 --> 00:04:52.360 Well, we might be in a mess. 00:04:52.579 --> 00:04:57.719 But Paul uses a phrase here to tell us of something far more fundamental. 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:00.400 We may be in a mess. 00:05:00.400 --> 00:05:06.140 But most importantly, as Christians, we're in Christ. 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:08.760 In Christ. 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:12.640 That's a term that comes up over and over again in the New Testament. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:22.599 In fact, the expressions in Christ and in the Lord and in him occur some 164 times in the letters of Paul alone. 00:05:23.459 --> 00:05:26.300 And we find it in our passage today as Paul writes, 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:33.459 It is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:35.579 So what does it mean? 00:05:35.939 --> 00:05:38.399 Well, we could go on all day. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:43.039 It's such a profound term and so unfathomably rich in meaning. 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:47.099 So I just want to share one piece of imagery with you. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.120 I've got a Bible in my hand. 00:05:50.419 --> 00:05:53.399 I want you to imagine that this Bible represents Christ. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:58.539 And this scrap of paper that I've got here represents you and me. 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:03.419 When it's placed inside, it becomes part of the book. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:07.239 So where the book goes, so does that piece of paper. 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:12.639 If I pass you the book, the paper comes with it because it is in the book. 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:20.120 When we're in Christ, it means as messed up as we might be, Christ has got us covered. 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:22.519 We go where he goes. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:23.800 He carries us. 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:27.900 Life might be troublesome at times, but we're in him. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:30.620 He's the one who holds us together. 00:06:30.840 --> 00:06:34.019 And it's in that togetherness that we can encounter him. 00:06:34.019 --> 00:06:40.139 Now, of course, at this precise moment in time, we're not physically gathered together. 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:43.339 Hopefully it won't be too long before that changes. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:52.719 But remember, we're still held together in Christ, just as Paul was with the church in Corinth, even though they were apart. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:07:04.620 So wherever you're watching this from right now and whatever's going on in your life right now, whatever mess you might find yourself in right now, know this. 00:07:05.300 --> 00:07:10.380 If you believe in Christ, you really are in Christ. 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:12.260 We're in it together. 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:15.659 Or rather, we're in him together. 00:07:17.219 --> 00:07:18.180 Let's pray. 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:27.899 Lord God, life can be really, really messy and church can be really, really messy. 00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:35.259 Thank you that however difficult life is, we can be reassured that we are in Christ. 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:43.259 Help us to know that, to remember that and to cherish that every day. 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:45.740 Amen.