How To Think Less Of Your Leaders (part 2) - [1 Corinthians 3:5-9]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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Kim and I went out for a coffee yesterday morning, and then we went into the lovely and Art Deco filled

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Searstown mall and Needed to get a couple things and we walked in and You know the very center of the malls they have small kiosks

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Trying to get some extra revenue. Maybe it's a jewelry store. Maybe it's piercing ears or something like that AT &T

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I But I saw something yesterday, I've never seen before there's a small little booth and It had a glass

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Door and you could get into the booth two or three people and you pay two dollars how many people have seen these booths and it's a replica of being in a hurricane on the inside with winds up to 78 miles per hour

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So they got in I thought it was kind of apropos with hurricane season and all that So these two kids got in we came and I were watching and in the back

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There's this little display it tells you how fast the wind is inside and the hairs kind of going up and 15 25 45 then the kids start howling when the wind starts howling 50 miles an hour 65 75 78 and the wind is just Blowing everything around I'm gonna do that one of these days two dollars

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Just too prideful to go in in front of my wife. I'll take the youth group out there. I thought to myself

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From now on in my mind First Corinthians is going to be known as the hurricane epistle

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Gale force winds Blowing away all kinds of chaff and sin and anything that distracts from Jesus Christ That's what happens in first Corinthians.

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So turn your Bibles to the hurricane epistle. I Don't think we're a

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Corinthian Church in general But this is good for us to go through this book.

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So we never become the Church of Corinth just in a few months.

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I'll be in Corinth and there won't be a church there And if they would have heeded the advice generation after generation from Paul the inspired

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Apostle There still be a church And so we're working through the book of first Corinthians chapter by chapter

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Verse by verse and if you want to outline first Corinthians, it's really easy the first six chapters

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Paul reproves them for their sin Chapters 1 through 6. It's a reproof for their sin

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Chapters 7 through 16 Paul replies to their questions So 1 to 6 reproof 7 to 16 reply

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There's some issues morally going on in the church Paul deals with those and then he answers questions that they had chapters 7 through 16

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And where we are now is in chapters 1 through 4 that deal with divisions in the local church

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Paul does not want there to be divisions and people following Paul people following Apollos somehow

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Fawning over the leadership that they have because Jesus is the leader. He wants no kind of fan club

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Jesus is the one who has died for them He's raised from the dead and as much as we like to follow people

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Paul is going to say don't do it And you see early on just for a quick review.

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We're in chapter 3, but right now look at 1 10 Chapter 1 verse 10 see early on Paul says just with this loving appeal

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I appeal to you brothers By the name who God is by the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ But you all agree Let there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same

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Judgment for it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there's a quarreling among you here the tender pastoral heart my brothers

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I Follow Paul people say verse 12. I follow

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Apollos. I follow Cephas I follow Christ and then with a shock kind of value.

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This is a lot of voltage here in this verse verse 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you or were we were you baptized in the name of Paul?

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We need to be unified here at this church. So have the right view of wisdom and have the right view of leaders

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Follow the world's wisdom Don't worship that kind of false wisdom and you see what he does in chapter 1 verse 18 and following This is a different kind of wisdom.

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This is divine wisdom for the word of the cross 118 is Folly is moronic.

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It's stupidity to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God You want real wisdom look down at verse 23.

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Here's wisdom. We preach Christ crucified Stumbling block to the

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Jews and folly to the Gentiles Paul says don't buy into the world's wisdom that you would exalt wisdom exalt humans exalt wrong things when

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Jesus Christ is the crucified Savior and then in chapter 3 he swings it over and Kind of gives him four verses that I would hate to have the

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Lord ever write to us It almost sounds like Revelation chapter 2 and 3 some of the letters from Jesus to churches where he really

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Disciplines them he spanks them Chapter 3 verse 1 but I brothers could not address you as spiritual people

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Can you imagine if I got up and said that on Sunday I have a sermon today for Bethlehem Bible Church But the first thing

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I want you to know is I could not address you this morning as spiritual people But as people of the flesh

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Can you imagine if I said this to you as infants in Christ? I have a sermon for you this morning BBC But your babies and you can't really listen because you've got the bottle in your mouth

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I fed you with milk not solid food for you are not ready for it

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And even now you're not yet ready verse 2 But you're still of the flesh for a while. There is jealousy and strife among you doesn't matter how much you know

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How good your theology is what doctrines you've been taught? Are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way when one says he changes up the order here

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I follow Paul and another I follow Apollos. Are you not being merely human? Now he swings into this very direct approach to the church so that they don't follow leaders

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Last week. We said we would look at six considerations for this church so that you may properly evaluate and look at leaders

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We looked at three or four last week. Let's just catch up Proper evaluation of leadership, and I said last week, and I really meant it

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I think the people here esteem the leaders too highly Now there's a right kind of respect a right kind of obedience and a right kind of submission that Hebrews 13 talks about It's a good office a pastor a preacher.

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There should be respect there but sometimes Built into our system because of the fall we worship people

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You don't have to go very far to find that out look at the world and you go There are people worshipers look at the the the magazines it starts off starts off in chronological order life people us

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What's the next one? I'm gonna say Self and we just love to worship people you've got fanzines

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Fanclubs, I'm gonna try not to do any sports things right now

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It's a little different than what the writer of Hebrews would say Since we have such a greater cloud of witnesses surrounding us

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But it's also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us fill in the blank out loud fixing our eyes on Jesus not

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Paul not Apollos not Abendron The author and perfecter of faith for the joy set before Jesus He endured the cross despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider

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Him so let me give you six considerations this morning so that we'll think properly about leadership

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If you're a visitor, so you think properly about your pastors This will apply to leaders apply to pastors by the congregants

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Maybe you have a favorite radio ministry you listen to this is just right thinking for the right kind of church number one

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Found in verse 5 focus on Jesus not on the hired help Focus on Jesus not on the hired help remember that verse 5 of 1st

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Corinthians Laser lock your eyes on Jesus who died for you not on people matter of fact

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Paul doesn't even give the who You see that in ESV verse 5 what then is

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Apollos mind off of the person and the who? They're a worker. They have a function

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What then is Apollos? What is Paul answer? servants through whom you believed

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How can you have a personality cult for farm help? That would not be good They're servants

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People say I want a pastor today, and I want him to be my friend. I want him to be a buddy I want him to be a CEO life coach mentor

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Paul says we're just servants And he's saying I'm an apostle.

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Yes a sent one I'm a delegate sent by Jesus with apostolic authority, but compared to Christ.

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I am a servant I think I asked last week if Paul is a servant What must

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I be? I'm a servant as well nothing higher The greatest man who was ever born on this earth next to Jesus Christ said when looking at Christ I Can't even stoop down Tie his own sandal

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By the way this all smacks in the face of leaders at any level who want to use their position of Bible teacher for honor for glory for adoration

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Listen to Jesus's words in Matthew 20 and when the ten heard it they were indignant at the two brothers but Jesus called them to him and said you know that the rulers of the

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Gentiles lord it over them and They're great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be among you but whoever would be great among you must be your servant and Whoever would be first among you must be your slave

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Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many

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So we don't want to be divided ranking leaders Comparing the four leaders here at the church comparing outside leaders with these leaders

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Frankly, I'll just tell you right now. I'm just glad to be on the team It's just a dream come true that I would be allowed to be a preacher of the gospel

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And if my ranking in the world is one million nine hundred ninety nine thousand and two,

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I am glad to be on the team I'm gladly take that Number two the second consideration so that we might boast only in the cross of our

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Lord Jesus Galatians 6 not Be unified because we follow a certain leader

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They're just servants number one number two focus on Jesus Christ because he himself

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Gave you eternal life and for that matter every other good thing How do you evaluate leadership rightly you focus on Jesus not the hired help and you focus on Jesus?

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Who's the bestower of all the great gifts? Take a look at verse 5 again servants through whom you believed

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Not because of nobody believed here because of me It's a crude analogy

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But maybe I could use it if you're parched and dry in the middle of a desert and you stumble on an oasis That's real and you have to go up to some kind of big

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PVC pipe and the water comes down the pipe and comes out into your mouth

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I guarantee you you're going to be focused on the water that comes through not on the plastic PVC.

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We're just instruments Let's see how good you are with the Bible Ephesians chapter 2 don't turn there

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But you say this out loud that vert when I give you a blank you fill in the blank for by grace you have been saved

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Okay, say it again look to your neighbor and say the word again, I'm just kidding you've been saved by grace through faith it doesn't say because of You're not saved because of your faith.

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Well, God had to save me because I came up with my faith You're saved through the instrumentality the non saving procuring instrument of faith

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Why are you saved? Because of his great love Ephesians 2 for because of what Christ did you're saved by grace through faith

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Similarly, you're not saved because of me you're saved Through the message that I preach not because of me not on account of me

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Faith is not a quality that saves Pastors aren't saviors either

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That's why if you look back in chapter 2 verse 2, don't you love this? For I decided

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Paul says 1st Corinthians 2 2 I decided I had a Determination in my mind

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Was fixed and I wasn't gonna just open my mouth and let the Lord lead me. I determined what to say ahead of time and I determined to speak less than what

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I know Wouldn't that be good for some of the preachers in the world? And maybe this one to tell the people less than what they know.

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I Determined to know nothing among you except Paul the Great Apostle No except Jesus Christ Paul didn't do this by accident.

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He didn't do it haphazardly. It wasn't random slapdash messy It was purposeful Jesus Christ and him crucified

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Whoa to the preacher who gets up and says it's all about me Look at me Paul says

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I'm focused on Jesus. Why look any farther He didn't say, you know what if you'd like to Have your sins forgiven and then really still be cool and really be successful and have the world still kind of love you

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Just just follow me Paul said to the church in Galatia It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified

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That's what I did is I just kept showing you Jesus Christ that God man The only Savior dying on behalf of sinners like you and being raised from the dead number three third consideration

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Focus on Jesus who sovereignly places pastors into his local churches not on the pastors

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Verse 5 as the Lord assigned to each I'm here as I said last week by sovereign decision of God number four

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Focus on Jesus who alone causes all church growth This is so good chapter 3 verse 6 and 7.

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I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

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So what's the conclusion verse 7? So neither he who plants nor he who waters is Anyone he does the same thing again, they're not anything

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But only God who gives the growth What are the implications

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Bethlehem Bible Church if God alone gives church growth God alone causes all church growth.

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We might work we might plow we might fertilize We might water we might irrigate but God alone causes the growth

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We're not anything By the way,

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I have to just tell you this is not really related in any way shape or form Except what someone said the whole part there

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Apollos watered in verse 6 Some traditions say that is an allusion to baptism has nothing to do with baptism.

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It has to do with this We might be the instruments who water plant fertilize

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Weed but God causes that seed to grow. I guess I thought that was more funny or interesting than you did carry on What's absent in verse 7 names?

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Personal names it's like he's trying to get the names away Because he knows we have a built -in tendency to just revere leaders more than we should

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It's a high calling it's a holy calling as I imitate Christ you must imitate me

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But imitation It's a lot different than worship God alone gives the growth side comment here.

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We are being We are the recipients of growth in the local church maturation of the

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Saints and more people So I have a question for you, I've met some people who

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I think are even here today I've forgotten exactly who said this to me, but I've heard it if this church gets too big

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We're gonna have to leave because you know, we like smaller churches and No 50 100, you know everybody by name and if it gets too big then we just can't stay any longer.

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I want to challenge you We're only one sermon away from getting back down to 50 or 100.

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So you never know what'll happen But if God is causing the growth through biblical means that is we're not trying to mess around and we're not trying to be

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You know foolish and say, you know, we're gonna spend more time with sociology and and Dewey is our man for church growth

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Pragmatics is what we do consumerism is what we do. But if we're back to the God -ordained means for growth

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Prayer preaching Evangelism the one another's if that's what we do and the church balloons up to a thousand our shrinks down to 100

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It is God Causing the growth and if God is causing the growth then who are we to say why this is getting too big for me

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Well, that may be true, but it's not getting too big or too small for God So I just want to try to challenge you

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Listen, I'm not trying to make this into a mega church I'm just trying to be faithful to preach and whether we have a parched time of ten years ago are an exciting growing time now

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They're both ordained by God and so God if you're gonna give us a lot of people then we'll minister to the people and You who have been here for a long time have enough maturity that you'll be able to minister to those people

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I'm not trying to build a church Jesus is going to build a church and why would I want to compete with him as MacArthur said?

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I'd be dumb by the way when I die. I don't know when I'll die, but don't put some kind of you know

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Let's let's it's called the Mike Abendroth wing. Let's say we go get that new building It's really snazzy and nice and we're gonna call this the

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Abendroth wing, please Just put a little tombstone by the grace of God.

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He preached the word and he was a good servant Faithful to the end by the grace of God. That's all we want.

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I'm not trying to build some kind of dynasty And if I was woe is me, this is what we have after 13 years no just kidding to understand my point

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God causing the growth the Greek tense is

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Point -in -time Paul did something point -in -time Apollos did something keep with without a point of time

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Ongoingly God is causing the growth just like today Where's he causing all the growth maybe not north of the equator, but lots of growth south of the equator

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He's building his church. No matter what the world says I'm glad to be

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Indispensable. I am glad to be insignificant and I'm glad to be Replaceable if this church falls apart when

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I die or move or get kicked out. I will grieve and Grieve and grieve.

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I like church growth that says Through preaching through evangelism through prayer God grows the church

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New people getting saved and we hear the testimonies in baptism Don't you like that? when you go to the

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Worcester Common and preach the gospel and you preach the gospel to your kids or you preach the gospel to Your friends at work and they get saved and they come to the church.

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I like that church growth but there's another kind of church growth that I don't want to have anything to do with and that is church growth that says

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The Bible's good plus Just mark it in your mind whenever you hear the Bible's pretty good, but we need some kind of social and behavior sciences

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To help us grow the church It's always a recipe for trouble when

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I drive by a church or I look in the yellow pages I looked in the yellow pages the other day and the church says

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All are welcome. Come as you are one in California said

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Contemporary music and the youth group won't be boring sermons are short. I just don't know what to do with that I just feel like I'm some kind of old computer.

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It's an IBM computer. Just like will not compute smoke coming out Of course come as you are, of course, you're welcome but definitionally

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Boring and God see if you could fit those two words in one sentence With God as a subject he said to myself,

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I'm not gonna mention names today So I won't but I will quote to you one of the number one church growth gurus.

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I Mean church growth not ordained by God growth, but sociological growth

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The music you use positions your church in your community You will determine the kind of people you attract the kind of people you keep and the kind of people you lose

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If you were to tell me the kind of music you're currently using your services I could describe the kind of people you're reaching without even visiting your church.

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I Could also tell you the kind of people your church will never reach Call me old -fashioned, but I just want to know what does it mean when it says

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God causes the growth? How about we had no music? Say well, you know what?

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This is an old dry dusty book and if you really want to have people come you got to have some drama I like drama too.

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How about acts 5 drama? That'd be good drama Ananias and Sapphira steal a little bit.

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They're killed on the spot. I call that pretty dramatic Let's see drama Let's see.

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Jesus is gonna come back and melt away the entire earth There really be a day of global warming and I'll set up everything rightly

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Most drama isn't even any good. It's second -rate And the

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Bible says at a worship service you preach you pray you sing Lord's Supper baptism

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And the next week you do it all over again and God through that causes the growth. You know what I say I say yes, sir

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And if you say well, I don't really like the music Well, if you sit here long enough, then you'll say to yourself boy

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I sure was immature when I said that because I was expecting church that was gonna fit me I was acting like a consumer

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I was acting like I had the remote control and I was gonna pick songs that I liked that I really could feel the

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Holy Spirit I mean the bass drum and I really wanted to make sure I could just do that. I like emotions.

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I like passion I like relevancy But forgiveness of sins is about the most relevant thing

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I could ever talk to you about I'm not purposely trying to make the church boring.

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See how can we bore him all the day and see who the elect really are? But I'm not gonna take a survey of you nor the community and say what would you really like in church?

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Well, let's see I'd like it if we didn't have to give to the church But the church could give to us and there was just a bunch of money in the plate and just gonna take some out

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I'd like to know why no church growth gurus have ever instituted that in the philosophies Man said it's not a sin to help people feel good

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Maybe it's not one man said

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Explosive growth occurs when the type of people in the community match the type of people that are already in the church and they both match

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The type of person the pastor is Do you really want to be like me?

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My wife can only take one of me David Wells hits the nail on the head when he says this is devastating

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When people say, you know, our church is growing therefore God must be blessing us. Oh Yeah, church is growing attendance is up buildings are up cash is up church growth.

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We're being blessed by God David Weld says hauntingly

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Such success might just as easily be a sign that the church has been willing to prostitute itself by seeking worldly accommodation today we have

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The congregant is sovereign not God I Just saw in the last week.

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Here's the stage It was a lot bigger stage than this one and the opening illustration was the pastor standing here with a huge motocross

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Sand thing there and a motocross sand thing there and the pastor stood under there and said, okay

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There's a guy in the little Kawasaki 125 enduro. He's gonna jump over me. Do you think he's gonna make it? Let's just pray and up he goes and jumps over him the guy in the motorcycle does this and twist around a little bit and then lands

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I've seen tanks on literal u .s. Tanks on the stage on the

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Platform. I let's just go back to stage on the stage where the guy sits on the platform on excuse me on the tank

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And he's got a pair of jeans on in the Bible and he comes out on the stage on the tank

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And he's gonna introduce his Ephesians 6 spiritual warfare service I've seen people sit on a bed with their wife for the worship service to talk about well today

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We're gonna kick off the series on Song of Solomon. I have lots of questions But one of my question is what will you do next week?

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Because you've got to keep people With what you win them with say well,

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I'll just change the methods, but I'll keep the message pure And possible when you see online or someplace locally come to our church, it's a church like you've never seen before I Rather have a slogan come learn about Jesus like you've never learned him before from the

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Bible Because when you read John chapter 6 you won't say Jesus thought the customer is sovereign

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Pragmatics is the best We'll just preach away and there'll be lots of people because at the end of John chapter 6

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Jesus said you know what you just think I'm here to give you food and you are not my disciples and they run

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One man said keep your pastoral prayer short in your seeker services the unchurched can't handle long prayers

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Pastor Dave, did you get that? I like church growth.

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It is exciting when people are enthusiastically Newborn Christians, I love the

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Lord Jesus is great. I want to worship him till death do us part. I'm sold out Evangelizing I like it, but I like it only when it's ordained by God through the means of preaching prayer evangelism and how

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God used weak people like us and then when somebody gets saved we don't say well I was a lot better debater

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God causes the growth If you're a youth leader ask yourself the question what we do this year will be centered on God causing the growth through the instrument of Biblical means and if we get extra kids

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Because we do something that Dewey says or Wendell James or somebody else we don't want them because we're here to honor

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God number five number five the fifth consideration So you think about things biblically leaders biblically in first Corinthians 3 5 to 9 focus on Christ Jesus The one who will ultimately judge the leaders and stop wasting time grading them verse 8

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Will be graded Of course you can say is he biblical or unbiblical But it goes too far and look what he says in verse 8 he who plants no name mentioned

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He who waters no name mentioned are one and Each will receive his wages according to his mark this success

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Isn't that good to know? That if you're successful God will bless you and tell you good job well done faithful servant

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But that's not what the Bible says He who plants and he waters are one They're not rivals.

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They each have a role They're unified. They're not competing and Each one will receive his wages according to his what?

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labor That's a universal principle for ministry, and this doesn't go for just leaders

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But if you're a Sunday school teacher you set up the chairs You're a nursery worker you cook for the glory of God of Saints here at the church.

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You are not going to be given rewards based on your success

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It's good to know but according to your work The word means wage and I might get a lot more

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Earnings a lot more rewards in heaven than you think I should Because you don't know maybe how godly

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I'm on the inside, and it's just kind of a secret between God and I piety that you could never see

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Or I might get a lot less Because this could be more show than substance

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How do you know well you can look at a life and after a while? People talk enough and act a certain way you pretty much can see what a life is like over time

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But since we can't know the heart and we don't know the motives You don't know if my motives are pure or I haven't had a pure motive in my life, but how pure they are relatively

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So let God be the judge and he will be and to think that we would get wages according to his labor

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I'd be happy with no wages. I'd be happy with just heaven seeing Jesus forever and ever versus Grinding my teeth where the worm dieth not in hell it gives wages

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So if you sit in the congregation, you're like well You know I got a rank him and put him here, and you know I pretty seems a little more

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You know a lot more modest than Mike and and maybe pretty brilliant heaven He's gonna get these rewards and Mike's not and I put him here where Steve go where's

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Dave go who ranks where? Focus is all wrong. We'll get wages. We'll get rewards and so our focus needs to be on who

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Jesus is Success no

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Faithfulness yes, and number six finally number six the sixth consideration so that you'll know how to think properly about spiritual leaders number six found in verse nine focus on Jesus and Then marvel at Christ's work among you through leaders focus on Jesus and marvel at his work among you through Vessels of clay found in verse nine

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By the way, I said it last week, but it bears repeating I just love preaching through the Bible because I'd never preach a sermon like this in a million years

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When you just get a pick one you know you have a guest your guest speaker at a church, and you think well Let's see what should I preach on today 1st

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Corinthians 3 5 to 9 think less of me, but it's so good to just preach it through Let's just do a little test.

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You've got brand new ESV Bible, so it's probably not fair How many people have verses 5 6 7 8 & 9 underlined or partially underlined raise your hand

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Wow That's good I'm wrong. I'm just a servant verse 9 for we

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The planter the water the Apostles Apollos Paul It's gonna apply to everybody we can see any leader.

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We are God's fellow workers You were God's field God's building

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Now if you had to pick the word that was repeated there most often in verse 9 I Think you're gonna see

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God God and God and these fellow workers

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Paul and Apollos Maybe if Peter went there any other ministers me the rest of the leaders here for Bethlehem Bible Church The text says we are

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God's fellow workers That either means we work for God or we work with God Practically we do both we work for God and we work with God not like we're some kind of perfect partner

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But we work with God So the focus here is not on the people the focus is on this is

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God's work Listen to what da Carson says

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The entire sweep of the analogy now becomes clear The field represents the

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Corinthians and it belongs to God The workers in the field are people like Paul and Apollos and they belong to God God owns the field

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God owns the workers. He assigns the workers their task and he alone makes a seed grow

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Truths that the Corinthians are ignoring Christian leaders are only servants of Christ and are not to be accorded allegiance that is reserved for God alone

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It is not that gratitude to Paul or Apollos or some other worker is inappropriate Rather what

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Paul finds inexcusable is the kind of fawning and defensive attachment to one particular leader

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That results in one upsmanship quarreling and jealousy

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It verges on assigning that leader god -like status in court

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This is God's field and then he says look it's God's building. I do want to say this

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Buildings in our society can go up almost overnight When I ride my bike past a certain building,

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I think they're just breaking ground Then the foundation is up. Then the two by fours are up and the drywalls on and the next thing, you know

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You see there's a sprinkler in the front yard and grass is growing and they can just put those building up overnight But when

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Paul is talking about this is God's building How long did it take to build buildings back in those days in the

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Bible days a long time? How long did it take to build the temple? How long did it take to build a cathedral in the 1200s?

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How about 300 years 400 years, but the focus here is everything is

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God's Yet he works through people. It's amazing And so we should be like mrs.

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A Supportive of our leaders, but unimpressed and a church is focused on Christ Jesus and proclaiming him

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Will be blessed. It's a man named shields.

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He lived in Ontario He tells this true story.

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It was a two generations ago, and there was a young boy and he was Crippled and he had crutches teenage boy he was walking home one day and the ruffians came by and Ruffed him up a little bit with their fists took his crutch away and threw it over The stone wall similar to the ones we have in New England walls made of stone

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And then they stood back and began to throw rocks at him Hitting him hurting him badly

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He didn't know what to do and he looked around true story according to shields He looked around and far off in a field was a big man

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Working a strapping man working and use the inflection that shields uses when he tells a story the boy looked over and said

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Father the dad dropped the hoe the dad dropped all the tools.

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He comes running over leaping over the fence Breaks up the ruffians gives the crutches to the boy and says

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You're gonna be fine. So I thought in one way that's a good illustration of salvation

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Here we are with sin and Satan and our enemies By the grace of God we call out father and he sends his son to rescue us

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But then I thought that's not quite right because the picture is We before salvation were throwing stones at the father

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We were the ones who were at enmity with God trying to kill God if we could and Then the father sends his son who uniquely who graciously takes the punishment not from Those throwing the stones

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But he takes the punishment that was due the stone throwers and he intercepts it and stands in between as a mediator as a high priest and he

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Absorbs all the rightful wrath of God as God would have retaliated to the stone throwers the son steps in And the one thing the son never said because the father had to turn his back on him was

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Father and the father in love sent the son to rescue and the son gladly in love came to rescue

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That's why we're Christians because God made us Christians one day if you're older and you're on your deathbed

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I hope you're like the old lady who said when the pastor asked Do you have a hope of heaven?

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Are you sure of eternal life? How do you know you're gonna get to heaven and she said I know I'm going to heaven because God is

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Just God is just How about merciful kind gracious?

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She said no pastor God is just and if he punished Jesus for every one of my sins

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He'll never punish me again, and I have the hope of heaven. I'm going to heaven because God is just And if God did that for us

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Then why would we ever want to worship a leader our

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Heavenly Father? It's good to be here today to be reminded again of eternal truth your truth

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Fads come and go You cause the growth Help us as a church to be faithful to your word faithful to preach

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Christ crucified Faithful to preach the literal resurrection

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Father these dear people who come and gather Pray that you'd bless them encourage them and Father my prayer today for Bethlehem Bible Church besides not following leaders

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Is that they would be so enamored with your just loving name

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That they'd want to serve you wholeheartedly for the rest of their lives

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That they'd have no God before them Not the God of sports not the

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God of kids not the God of money not the God of career But they would just want to respond out of love and out of debt and out of gratitude out of worship

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To just live their lives whether that's being a mom a worker Secular sacred means not

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I just pray that you'd give them a heart to respond to the gospel as Christians To live with all their heart soul mind and strength

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Father we do look to Jesus today who epitomized that who live for you

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Every waking moment and who you said this is my beloved son in whom