How To Build A Church Building.
Memory Verse: 'The last enemy to be destroyed is death. '
1 Corinthians 15:26
Sermon Sentence: In order to make the building last a really long time we have to build it with eternal things and aim at eternity.
1 Corinthians 15:26
Sermon Sentence: In order to make the building last a really long time we have to build it with eternal things and aim at eternity.
Day 1
Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
I love to watch what God does around me. To hear a good story of change and salvation is one of those things that never seems to get old. When you see a life that is broken beyond repair or beaten up in a way that it doesn’t look like it could recover, and then to see God orchestrate relationships and events in a way that defies the ordinary, all while He is writing a story that brings joy and happiness to so many people that even just hear of it, that is amazing!
But the fact that I am personally invited into that whole process is even more amazing to imagine. God has a lot of really important and grand work, but it is not so important and grand that He doesn’t care or have time for me. Rather, His perspective is that He doesn’t need me, but yet invites me in to be a part of it. He brings me to the work and gives me a role. That is how I hear Paul starting out in this passage. “According to the grace given to me…” That is the ultimate way to realize where I am in this process. I was “graced” into it all. I didn’t earn a spot….deserve a spot….or qualify for a spot. I was given grace. Therefore, I can work like a “Master builder.” You could read that and think that Paul is a bit full of himself…but he started where he started for clarity. “I was given grace…therefore I operated like a master builder.” It is that very position that determines what it is that you do. Why would Paul do anything other than what he was invited to do? How dare him to hijack the situation, plans, or efforts for a selfish and distorted motive? He was there to lay the foundation. It has to be built off of Jesus. Anything else sets up failure for all of the efforts that come after it.
The idea of starting with a foundation of Jesus is important. Whether it is a family, a marriage, a relationship, or even building a church, how do you start with Jesus as the foundation?
How is it harder to set Jesus as the foundation later as opposed to in the beginning?
What area of your life could this idea apply to right now?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
I love to watch what God does around me. To hear a good story of change and salvation is one of those things that never seems to get old. When you see a life that is broken beyond repair or beaten up in a way that it doesn’t look like it could recover, and then to see God orchestrate relationships and events in a way that defies the ordinary, all while He is writing a story that brings joy and happiness to so many people that even just hear of it, that is amazing!
But the fact that I am personally invited into that whole process is even more amazing to imagine. God has a lot of really important and grand work, but it is not so important and grand that He doesn’t care or have time for me. Rather, His perspective is that He doesn’t need me, but yet invites me in to be a part of it. He brings me to the work and gives me a role. That is how I hear Paul starting out in this passage. “According to the grace given to me…” That is the ultimate way to realize where I am in this process. I was “graced” into it all. I didn’t earn a spot….deserve a spot….or qualify for a spot. I was given grace. Therefore, I can work like a “Master builder.” You could read that and think that Paul is a bit full of himself…but he started where he started for clarity. “I was given grace…therefore I operated like a master builder.” It is that very position that determines what it is that you do. Why would Paul do anything other than what he was invited to do? How dare him to hijack the situation, plans, or efforts for a selfish and distorted motive? He was there to lay the foundation. It has to be built off of Jesus. Anything else sets up failure for all of the efforts that come after it.
The idea of starting with a foundation of Jesus is important. Whether it is a family, a marriage, a relationship, or even building a church, how do you start with Jesus as the foundation?
How is it harder to set Jesus as the foundation later as opposed to in the beginning?
What area of your life could this idea apply to right now?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
This is why we don’t smoke cigarettes. That is what I was always taught growing up. The absolute best application of verse 16 is that cigarettes are morally bad and you need a verse, so therefore here it is. That is not a good application, in the least bit, for this verse. So should you smoke cigarettes? That is not what Paul is addressing here, so I recommend reading the warning on the back of the box rather than 1 Corinthians. You won’t find a Bible verse about cigarettes.
Verse 16 is about the church. It is about the collection of people that have gathered together with the foundation of Jesus as the starting place. The language is for you all. In English, we read “you” as referring to “me.” Like Paul was writing to the individual person and wanted them to know that they are the temple of God. There are places this argument could be made…well, a version of it, but this is not the place. Paul is saying to the church that they are the place of God’s Spirit dwelling. Yes, it still works individually, but that is not the point here. Paul is worried about the ideas and wisdom of other places coming into the ears of the collection of people that make up the church and beginning to tear down what was built on Jesus. If anyone does that…if anyone tries to bring in a wisdom that is not Jesus, and it begins to tear down the church, let it be known, God will come at them in wrath and destroy them. What does that mean? I don’t want to find out!
Why is it important to understand this verse the way it is written, as about the church as a collective people versus how it is traditionally presented?
When you think of the wisdoms and ideas that could come into the church and change the foundation as that of Jesus, what do you imagine could be closest for our modern day settings?
How do we fight against these things?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
This is why we don’t smoke cigarettes. That is what I was always taught growing up. The absolute best application of verse 16 is that cigarettes are morally bad and you need a verse, so therefore here it is. That is not a good application, in the least bit, for this verse. So should you smoke cigarettes? That is not what Paul is addressing here, so I recommend reading the warning on the back of the box rather than 1 Corinthians. You won’t find a Bible verse about cigarettes.
Verse 16 is about the church. It is about the collection of people that have gathered together with the foundation of Jesus as the starting place. The language is for you all. In English, we read “you” as referring to “me.” Like Paul was writing to the individual person and wanted them to know that they are the temple of God. There are places this argument could be made…well, a version of it, but this is not the place. Paul is saying to the church that they are the place of God’s Spirit dwelling. Yes, it still works individually, but that is not the point here. Paul is worried about the ideas and wisdom of other places coming into the ears of the collection of people that make up the church and beginning to tear down what was built on Jesus. If anyone does that…if anyone tries to bring in a wisdom that is not Jesus, and it begins to tear down the church, let it be known, God will come at them in wrath and destroy them. What does that mean? I don’t want to find out!
Why is it important to understand this verse the way it is written, as about the church as a collective people versus how it is traditionally presented?
When you think of the wisdoms and ideas that could come into the church and change the foundation as that of Jesus, what do you imagine could be closest for our modern day settings?
How do we fight against these things?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 3
Read Galatians 5:16-26
I wish I would have worked through these verses as a teenager. I don’t really have a complete thought here, I just feel I could have best learned the practice of these verses at that stage of my life. I can’t say that I understood it like I do now, but it would have been a good practice to meditate on then. I was always taught “if you talk the talk, then walk the walk.” For some reason, that is where my mind goes in thinking about these verses. The difference between that popular saying and what the Bible says, is that in the popular saying, it seems that my words are guiding my steps. I get that it is more about accountability, but in the verses here, the emphasis is on the Spirit. For the Jesus follower, this is the main source of difference in our walk, we have a Guide!
If we are following our hearts, it will be really easy to have missteps and slips. But if we are following the Spirit that is always guiding us, then there is a different dynamic in our lives that will be obvious. In other words, you can’t have faith in God without it changing your life. Paul’s words here are very direct and seem to worry so many people. He says very bluntly that you can’t inherit the kingdom of God and do the list of things he lays out here. So many people are bothered by that and want to create categories of those going to Heaven and those not going to Heaven. But Paul’s point is way more simple than that! He is simply saying you can’t follow God and do these things. If you are truly following God, then you are not doing these things…not that these things are keeping you out of Heaven. The Spirit leads to life and good, if you are following something or someone to death and bad, then it must not be that you are following God. That is as simple as the old saying “You must walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk.”
How could Paul be so bold to say that these are the people that will not inherit the kingdom of God?
One of my all-time favorite verses is Galatians 5:25. How does this verse help you in your life today?
How does this become your prayer today?
I wish I would have worked through these verses as a teenager. I don’t really have a complete thought here, I just feel I could have best learned the practice of these verses at that stage of my life. I can’t say that I understood it like I do now, but it would have been a good practice to meditate on then. I was always taught “if you talk the talk, then walk the walk.” For some reason, that is where my mind goes in thinking about these verses. The difference between that popular saying and what the Bible says, is that in the popular saying, it seems that my words are guiding my steps. I get that it is more about accountability, but in the verses here, the emphasis is on the Spirit. For the Jesus follower, this is the main source of difference in our walk, we have a Guide!
If we are following our hearts, it will be really easy to have missteps and slips. But if we are following the Spirit that is always guiding us, then there is a different dynamic in our lives that will be obvious. In other words, you can’t have faith in God without it changing your life. Paul’s words here are very direct and seem to worry so many people. He says very bluntly that you can’t inherit the kingdom of God and do the list of things he lays out here. So many people are bothered by that and want to create categories of those going to Heaven and those not going to Heaven. But Paul’s point is way more simple than that! He is simply saying you can’t follow God and do these things. If you are truly following God, then you are not doing these things…not that these things are keeping you out of Heaven. The Spirit leads to life and good, if you are following something or someone to death and bad, then it must not be that you are following God. That is as simple as the old saying “You must walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk.”
How could Paul be so bold to say that these are the people that will not inherit the kingdom of God?
One of my all-time favorite verses is Galatians 5:25. How does this verse help you in your life today?
How does this become your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Matthew 25:14-30
I love to read the parables that Jesus told. Parables are a tricky teaching to work out. They are meant to display a teaching in a story, but the story has a hidden meaning in it that you have to meditate and roll around to get the point. The problem becomes the more that you spend time rolling it around the more the details start to hang you up. Like this one: Jesus is telling them about the Kingdom of God and what it is like. That is what he has been doing for a few stories now, and by the time we arrive at this one, the point is the same. So by that understanding, the servants are all “followers” of the master. They are all given a version of responsibility and we don’t know why they were given the quantities that they were given. Which makes that a fun point to get hung up on and speculate on, but the story is not meant to reveal that. The master entrusts them with his own property while he is away. We do get that the master is representing God in this story and therefore it seems, that the entrusting is given in the span of a life. The far off country is the Kingdom of God and the idea that the master is returning is understood from the very beginning. The behavior of the servants is assumed to be expected to reflect that reality.
Now the unpacking starts to happen in your mind! Clearly we are being taught that we have been given responsibilities and the expectation is that our lives will reflect that we have been given responsibilities. The outcome of whatever the end of this story looks like, needs to reflect the reality that one day we will answer for what we have been doing with what we have been given. That is a different way of living than spending my whole life trying to get stuff for me and live for me. One day, I will have to answer for how and what I built while I was here. The outcome of what my life means will be determined by who or what I have to answer for in the end. I believe that is the God of the Bible. Therefore, I have been given “talents” and there are obvious “expectations” for what life should consist of.
How is this perspective different from how the world lives?
If it is true that all of the servants were given something, why do we struggle with not having as much or enough or thinking we can’t accomplish much because of how much we have been given?
Does the Bible answer any of these thoughts in other places?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
I love to read the parables that Jesus told. Parables are a tricky teaching to work out. They are meant to display a teaching in a story, but the story has a hidden meaning in it that you have to meditate and roll around to get the point. The problem becomes the more that you spend time rolling it around the more the details start to hang you up. Like this one: Jesus is telling them about the Kingdom of God and what it is like. That is what he has been doing for a few stories now, and by the time we arrive at this one, the point is the same. So by that understanding, the servants are all “followers” of the master. They are all given a version of responsibility and we don’t know why they were given the quantities that they were given. Which makes that a fun point to get hung up on and speculate on, but the story is not meant to reveal that. The master entrusts them with his own property while he is away. We do get that the master is representing God in this story and therefore it seems, that the entrusting is given in the span of a life. The far off country is the Kingdom of God and the idea that the master is returning is understood from the very beginning. The behavior of the servants is assumed to be expected to reflect that reality.
Now the unpacking starts to happen in your mind! Clearly we are being taught that we have been given responsibilities and the expectation is that our lives will reflect that we have been given responsibilities. The outcome of whatever the end of this story looks like, needs to reflect the reality that one day we will answer for what we have been doing with what we have been given. That is a different way of living than spending my whole life trying to get stuff for me and live for me. One day, I will have to answer for how and what I built while I was here. The outcome of what my life means will be determined by who or what I have to answer for in the end. I believe that is the God of the Bible. Therefore, I have been given “talents” and there are obvious “expectations” for what life should consist of.
How is this perspective different from how the world lives?
If it is true that all of the servants were given something, why do we struggle with not having as much or enough or thinking we can’t accomplish much because of how much we have been given?
Does the Bible answer any of these thoughts in other places?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read Romans 14:7-23
Remember the other day when we were talking about cigarettes and whether they were good or bad? Let’s return to that idea. Once again, not that this passage or the one we have been studying in 1 Corinthians 3 is anything about cigarettes, because it's not. But the Bible does teach us principles that can be applied to things like holy days, food offered to idols, cigarettes and all of those other things. Let me start out by saying that cigarettes can’t be bad morally. So have you just stumbled upon a pro-cigarette devotion that is funded by Big Tobacco and now Keystone ads will be featuring the long ago cancelled Joe Camel? Nah. I am just simply saying that things can’t be inherently good or bad if they are not meant to have a moral standing. The good and the bad comes in how and why they are used.
So let’s go a step further and remember the old days, when you would walk into a restaurant and they would ask you if you wanted the smoking side or the non-smoking side. If cigarettes are not inherently bad, then would it be ok for you to light up a cigarette during service next week and smoke it? This dumb analogy that is totally meant as a joke and is just funny more than anything, hides a point that is being made in this text that recalls the point in 1 Corinthians 3. It would be improper because I have asthma. And others don’t want to smell smoke. And it is not considerate of those things. So don’t smoke in the church. Why? Because your “body is a temple” and that is messing up the health of the temple? No. Because your decisions can and should be considered from more than just a perspective of your selfishness and what you think or feel or experience. Because WE are the temple. Not just you and your body, but us as a collection. Therefore my life actions are considered from the perspective of the body of believers that I am a part of and my decisions are not just my own. That should open the doors for a lot of discussion and meditation on life!
Paul was talking about the issues of his day, what are the issues of our day this principle could be applied to?
What is Paul’s motivating factor that he states in this text for considering other people this much?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Remember the other day when we were talking about cigarettes and whether they were good or bad? Let’s return to that idea. Once again, not that this passage or the one we have been studying in 1 Corinthians 3 is anything about cigarettes, because it's not. But the Bible does teach us principles that can be applied to things like holy days, food offered to idols, cigarettes and all of those other things. Let me start out by saying that cigarettes can’t be bad morally. So have you just stumbled upon a pro-cigarette devotion that is funded by Big Tobacco and now Keystone ads will be featuring the long ago cancelled Joe Camel? Nah. I am just simply saying that things can’t be inherently good or bad if they are not meant to have a moral standing. The good and the bad comes in how and why they are used.
So let’s go a step further and remember the old days, when you would walk into a restaurant and they would ask you if you wanted the smoking side or the non-smoking side. If cigarettes are not inherently bad, then would it be ok for you to light up a cigarette during service next week and smoke it? This dumb analogy that is totally meant as a joke and is just funny more than anything, hides a point that is being made in this text that recalls the point in 1 Corinthians 3. It would be improper because I have asthma. And others don’t want to smell smoke. And it is not considerate of those things. So don’t smoke in the church. Why? Because your “body is a temple” and that is messing up the health of the temple? No. Because your decisions can and should be considered from more than just a perspective of your selfishness and what you think or feel or experience. Because WE are the temple. Not just you and your body, but us as a collection. Therefore my life actions are considered from the perspective of the body of believers that I am a part of and my decisions are not just my own. That should open the doors for a lot of discussion and meditation on life!
Paul was talking about the issues of his day, what are the issues of our day this principle could be applied to?
What is Paul’s motivating factor that he states in this text for considering other people this much?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
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