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This is the fourth sermon in our series on God’s Church (1 Corinthians). This sermon is ‘God's Fellow Workers’. Preacher: The Rev’d Adam Lowe. Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
This is the fourth sermon in our series on God’s Church (1 Corinthians). This sermon is ‘God's Fellow Workers’. Preacher: The Rev’d Adam Lowe. Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
DOWNLOAD the Small Group Questions, Going Deeper, and Sermon Transcript (PDF).
BIBLE READING: 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
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. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS
CONNECT: How can you seek the Holy Spirit’s wisdom this week on one of your frontlines?
WARM-UP
Do people in our culture have a longing to belong? How do you think people satisfy this longing?
Can you remember a time when you didn’t feel like you belonged? How does belonging to Christ bring comfort (even) in times such as these?
Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Why could Paul only give ‘milk’ to the Corinthians rather than ‘solid food’? What does he mean?
What does Paul mean by them being ‘babies in the faith’? Is he questioning their salvation?
How is the Corinthian’s worldliness evident in their community? Is this a challenge for us today?
Why does maturity in Christ matter? How are we active as a church in our intention to both make and mature disciples of Jesus?
Why is it important for the Corinthians to recognise that their leaders are only servants? Who ultimately is the master and is also the one who causes the growth? How can we remember this?
In what sense are we co-workers with God? How does this look on one of your frontlines?
Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-23
What was the foundation that Paul laid? How do we dedicate our lives to building on Jesus?
How are leaders in God’s church important? How are leaders in God’s church only ultimately building on and for Jesus? What does this mean for St Bart’s as we think about the next 30-50 years?
What will happen to the things which are not sincerely built upon Jesus? What does this say about the longevity of the mission in which we participate?
What is our role in judgment? Whose judgment should we be ultimately mindful of?
What was the temple? In what way (now) are God’s people his temple?
If we are God’s temple, how should this transform the way we treat one another? What is the consequence (especially being mindful of leaders) of mistreating God’s temple?
What belongs to us? To whom do we ultimately belong? How does this change your life?
APPLY: How is your life building on the foundation of Jesus?
PRAYER
Father, we thank you for the extraordinary privilege of building our lives on Jesus. Please help us to make him the focus of our lives, that we might seek to serve him alone. Amen.
GOING DEEPER
On Your Frontline This Week: How can you trust and depend on the Holy Spirit in all your plans and conversations this week?
Listen, Watch, and Read:
Series Resources:
Some helpful resources for our Series:
WITH CHILDREN
Each week St Bart’s Kids and CHARGE Youth provides resources for you to use at home. Join the livestream and then spend 30 minutes to work through these together.
Families: Read, Chat, Do, and Pray
High School: CHARGE Discussion Questions
Kids’ Talk: Watch the Kids’ Talk
eBook: Watch the eBook
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