INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• We are finishing the Story, we are in chapter 29 of 31. I hope that as we go on our journey through the Story that is beginning, you will understand the higher story of God.
&# 8226; I hope you are seeing that God is not a God who persecutes you, but he is a God who has been persecuting you with his love!
• In the gospels we read that God sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we can be with Him for eternity.
• Our sin problem was solved at the cross by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!
• During Jesus’ ministry he shared the Kingdom of God with the people. But Jesus’ would finish the earthly ministry.
• After Jesus ascended to heaven, there had to be a way to tell people the great things God had done for them.
• This was going to be a big job, it would require a lot of prayer, a lot of work and a lot of people.
• In the book of Acts and the other letters of the New Testament we see that God planned to use the church to help save those who are lost. The church (which is America) is called to help guide people back home!
• A typical church can easily get out of mission because it is made up of people who are sometimes not always going in the same direction. We always need to remember why we are here. We must NEVER forget the call that the church has from Jesus!
• As the church took off, God knew they were going to need help. Today, in chapter 29 of The Story, we are going to see the church and the interesting person that God chose to help her.
• That same help is with us today!
• Let’s start by reading 1 Corinthians 12:27-30
• SLIDE #2
• 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NIV) Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first apostles, then prophets, then teachers, then those who perform miracles, then the gifts of healing, help, guidance, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are they all apostles? Are they all prophets? Are they all teachers? Do they all perform miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do they all speak in tongues? Does everyone interpret?
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. The church is the body of Christ, called to do His work.
• The early church had many struggles, not unlike the church today.
• The church was struggling with spiritual gifts, immorality, who was greater than who, among other things.
• The Corinthian church (CORE WRITH) HAD MANY PROBLEMS.
• Paul was trying to get them back on track, so he wrote the first and second letters to the Corinthian church.
• When the church doesn’t stay focused, the eternities are at stake because Jesus chose the church as the mechanism to carry out His work on earth!
• Gathered together, the church is Jesus, and we are to think like Jesus, act like Jesus, and love others as Jesus loves them.
• In the passage we read, the church was fighting over spiritual gifts, some who had particular gifts thought they were more important than those who did not have the same gifts.
• I’m glad that scenario doesn’t play out in the modern church!
• Verse 27 reminds us that the church is the body of Christ and that each of us is part of it.
• And unlike a sports team, there is no BANK in the church. You don’t have to sit on a bench and wait your turn, you’re already in the GAME!
• So, if we are the body of Christ, we must be like Jesus, in our thoughts, actions and love.
• That is not an easy task!
• Being the church the body of Christ, we are called to carry out the mission that JESUS calls us to carry out.
• The church is commissioned to go throughout the world as witnesses for Jesus.
• SLIDE #4
• Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
• MANY people inside and outside the church have ideas about what the church is called to do.
• I’ve had people walk through the doors wanting money to recharge their cell phone or call from a motel to tell us that the church is supposed to help the poor.
• Is that PART of what we do, yes, BUT is that the main mission of JESUS? NO!
• Some within the church think it is our job to visit the sick and care for church members. IS that PART of what we do, yes!
• Is that what Jesus said our primary mission was? NO!
• Some say that we should fight against the injustices of the world. That may be part of what we do, but is that what Jesus said our primary mission was? NO!
• SLIDE #5
• Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will certainly be with you every day, until the end of the world.”
• Acts 1:8 was the last thing he shared with his disciples before he ascended. Your mission from him must have been important!
• Our PRIMARY calling is to reach lost people and then teach them to be like Jesus!
• God wants all people to the ends of the earth to hear the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.
• SLIDE #6
• 1 Timothy 2:3–4 (NIV) This is good and pleasing to God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
• Jesus said that the poor would always be with us. Jesus did not stand up to the Roman government when He was here, He did not even lead a crusade to stop the abominable practice of slavery. He did not heal EVERYONE in need.
• Jesus was on a mission all the time!
• SLIDE #7
• Luke 19:10 (NIV) For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”
• Doing the other things opened the door for him to accomplish this mission! As a church, we must ALWAYS make sure that what we do improves our chances of reaching lost people and helping them grow in Christ!
• SLIDE #8
• 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV) Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ, as if God made his call through us. We beseech you in the name of Christ: be reconciled with God.
• My question to all of us is this, how are we doing as ambassadors for Jesus? Our mission is to seek and save the lost!
• Now the church was fresh, new, it needed leaders and direction, it started with the original apostles plus a new one after Judas, then God did something interesting.
• SLIDE #9
II. God raised up a leader to help the church fulfill his call.
• God has made some interesting decisions when he taps people on the shoulder. Abraham and Sarah. Moses. Gideon, and the list goes on.
• I think the most intriguing choice was a man named Saul.
• Here is the pedigree of this man.
• SLIDE #10
• Philippians 3:5–6 (NIV) circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews; as for the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecutor of the church; as for justice based on law, without blemish.
• This guy is very qualified, but did you catch verse 6? as for zeal, persecutor of the church; as for justice based on law, without blemish.
• Wow! PERSECUTE THE CHURCH?
• Saul of Tarsus was an unlikely candidate to help the church grow, he was the Osama bin Laden of his day!
• He hated Jesus, he hated the church and he persecuted Christians and put them in jail and he was holding the coats while he agreed to stoning Stephen!
• SLIDE #11
• Acts 8:1–3 (NIV) And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all but the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Pious men buried Stephen and wept deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in jail.
• The road to Damascus in Acts 9 changed everything for Paul! He met Jesus!
• Jesus has a way of changing lives!
• Saul, later to be known as Paul, was amazed that Jesus would use him as a missionary!
• SLIDE #12
• 1 Corinthians 15:9 (NIV) Because I am the least of the apostles and I don’t even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
• So how did this man help the church?
• This man who started out by persecuting the church went on to plant 10 churches and wrote 13 (maybe 14 if you count Hebrews) of the 27 books of the New Testament!
• It wasn’t always easy for God’s chosen man to help build up the body of Christ!
• SLIDE #13
III. Paul stayed focused in the face of difficulties.
• Paul faced many obstacles, first once he became a Christian, the churches were not too eager to trust him. I wonder why?
• SLIDE #14
• Acts 9:26–27 (NIV) 26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was really a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took it and brought it to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had fearlessly preached in the name of Jesus.
• It took Barnabas around Paul before the people accepted him.
• Later, when Paul felt called to preach to the Gentiles, he was winning many Gentiles to the Lord.
• Some Jewish leaders said that Gentiles had to do two things to become true Christians: 1) believe in Jesus Christ and 2) be circumcised (ie, practice the Jewish laws).
• So in Acts 15, we see what people call the Jerusalem Council. It was about the question: Do Gentiles have to become Jews in practice to be true Christians?
• The Council presided over by Santiago the brother of Jesus. When all the arguments were presented, the Council concluded that the Gentiles did not have to submit to the Jewish laws.
• So that was a hurdle down.
• Paul faced many other problems. Approximately six years after the Council, Paul wrote the letter to the churches in the southern part of Galatia called the Galatians to defend the council’s decision and address the issue of his own commission by Jesus.
& #8226; Some would try to say that Paul was a false apostle since he was not one of the 12!
• Paul suffering from hunger, being shipwrecked,…