The Latest from A Jesus Moment
1 Corinthians Chapter 12
This Preaching in Shorts Bible study is on 1 Corinthians. Each chapter is read verse by verse with the major points highlighted and discussed.
You can listen to the study by clicking here
1 Corinthians 12:1-31 (NIV)
1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
As we continue on in our study of Corinthians it should be pretty clear that as awesome as the early church was, there were a lot of issues to deal with. The qualities that are most important for the church were in full evidence, truth, love and transformed lives, but the church still had a lot of maturing to do. And it still does. We are still at work trying to maintain the dynamic balance of truth, love and transformed lives while we continue on the gradual process of maturity.
1 Corinthians 12-14 are going to tackle the issue of what real spirituality looks like in the body of Christ. Maybe paraphrasing the chapter from today will help shed some light on what is going on.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, you can’t view spirituality from your pre-Christian perspective. God is at work in each one of through His Spirit. But what the Spirit is doing in each of is different. He is the one who gives us different spiritual gifts which are to be used to help others. How He chooses to work in each one of us is completely up to Him. You see, as we are together in Christ, we are His body. We are many different part united in One. Just like the parts of the human body, we each have our own function. Like a hand, or foot, or eye, or ear we are all necessary to help the body function properly. Each part is important, and as a part of His body, you are an important part. Sometimes, people want to try and figure out what the Most Important part is, or what the most important gift is, but that is not what is really important. What is really important when it comes to being truly spiritual, is love. Spiritual maturity is evidenced by love not by gifts.
Let’s talk about a few key verses together in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 12:7
Each one of us who is in Christ is gifted spiritually for the common good. The gifts are a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. The gifts are given as the Holy Spirit determines. Each and every Christian has had the Holy Spirit work in and through them in a divine capacity to move into the lives of others.
1 Corinthians 12:10
The gift of prophecy is brought up often in 1 Corinthians 12-14. I just want to make a quick note on prophecy and the ministry of prophets in the OT and NT. The emphasis on prophecy is not about predicting the future, but on making clear what God has said. Prophecy should always be linked to scripture, either as a way of making the Word more easily understood, or as a message that has to be validated by the Word.
1 Corinthians 12:31
Paul finishes the chapter by saying that he will now talk about the most excellent way, which is love, and 1 Corinthians 13 will cover the topic of love wonderfully.
The Corinthians had made the mistake based on their pre-Christian views on what spirituality looked like. That people exhibiting the gift of tongues were somehow closer to God. Paul says that the way to measure a person’s closeness to God is how well they love.
True spirituality is completely unrelated to the gifts a person may have from the Spirit. Love is the indication of a person’s true spirituality.
Let me close by saying that Paul did not attack the gift of tongues, or reject it. What he does is give a detailed explanation of how the Spirit does work in our lives, and in our churches.
Category: Preaching in Shorts
Developing a Disciple’s Heart – Introduction
This Preaching in Shorts sermon series is called “Developing a Disciples Heart”.
Listen to this message by clicking here
Scripture Reading
Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was. He could have come up with a very complex detailed answer, but He didn’t. His answer was simple and perfect. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. This was Jesus answer to being asked the big question, “what is the most important thing in life?” Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
If that is the most important thing then it just makes sense for us to make it a priority. Loving God and loving others is what comes out of a disciple’s heart. So, developing a disciple’s heart is where our journey must take us.
1. Developing a Disciple’s Heart
What does that look like in a practical way? For me, it looks like this.
a. being thankful
I remember to love God by being thankful for at least five things every day.
b. encouraging others
Then, I try and encourage at least two people every day. This is how I love my neighbor. And as far as loving myself goes, I try to live each day by doing the next right thing.
c. doing the next right thing
These three things really help me to stay focused and experience and enjoy Jesus moments each and every day. But life being what it is, it is very easy to get distracted and then get off course. Maybe you can relate to the disciples in point number 2.
2. The spirit is willing
Matthew 26:40-41 (NIV)
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane, praying and crying out to God about the cross. He has brought all the disciples to the garden, but He has left most of them in one spot, and taken Peter, James and John to be with Him as He prays through this situation. He wanted His friends to be with Him. He separates Himself a little to wrestle through the anguish and sorrow He is feeling and then He comes back to His friends and they are asleep.
Could you not give me an hour?
It is interesting that the question is directed to Peter. Just before they had come to Gethsemane, Peter had said that He would never forsake the Lord. I believe that expresses Peter’s heart for the Lord, he means it when he says it. Yet here in the time of Jesus greatest need, Peter couldn’t even pray and hang out with Him for an hour without falling asleep. Jesus encourages Peter and the disciples to watch and pray and He also acknowledges the weakness of the human flesh.
And that is the issue for all of us. My deepest desire is to be with Jesus. To be His disciple, to follow and serve Him. But sometimes, my flesh, my selfishness, my issues get in the way.
So, in developing a disciple’s heart there is a need to get even more practical. Being thankful, encouraging and doing the next right thing are what I am shooting at in being a disciple, but I need something to help me stay on track, to stay focused. So I started thinking about developing…
A method – already taken, thanks a lot Methodists
A plan – could become an end in itself
A structure – sounds too rigid, might become legalistic
A strategy – too heady
A strategery – too Saturday Night Live
A guide – too mappy
I was dwelling on this when I believe I had a flash of spiritual insight. The heart is like a pump, and in order to make a pump run properly you have to keep it primed, so what I should develop is a primer …the
3. Disciple’s Heart Primer
Sounded good, felt right. I wanted to check out exactly what a primer was, so I looked it up:
Primer – provides instruction in the rudiments or basic skills of a branch of knowledge
Primer – a fuse containing an explosive (I like this, because the word for the power of the Holy Spirit is dynamis where we get our word dynamite from – See Acts 1:8 and I could run down a serious bunny trail with this, and I might at another time, but I am thinking more about priming our disciple’s heart so we can live as Jesus disciples.)
There is a song by the Kingston Trio called “Desert Pete”. The song talks about a water pump in the middle of the desert. In order for the pump to work it had to be primed with water. Left under a rock nearby was a note from Desert Pete and enough water in a jar to prime the pump so that you could get all the water you needed. Even though you were thirsty, you would have to pour out the water you had into the pump to get more water. The chorus goes like this:
“You’ve got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe”
“You’ve got to give of yourself ‘fore you’re worthy to receive”
“Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet”
“Leave the bottle full for others, Thank You kindly, Desert Pete”
The song goes on to describe the actions of the thirsty desert traveler who has found the pump, the note, and the small jar of water:
Well I found that jar and I tell ya nothin’ was ever prettier to my eye
And I was tempted strong to drink it, cuz that pump looked mighty dry
But the note went on “have faith my friend, there’s water down below”
“You got to give until you get-I’m the one who ought to know”
So I poured in the jar and I started pumpin’ and I heard a beautiful sound
Of water bubblin’ and splashin’ up outta that hole in the ground
I took off my shoes and I drunk my fill of that cool refreshing treat
I thank the Lord and thank the pump and I thank old Desert Pete
Over the next weeks we will be working through what the Disciple’s heart primer is all about. We will be revisiting some things we have talked about over the past few years, adding some new things, giving you some tools to use, so that we can all be the kind of disciples He has chosen and called us to be.
The Disciple’s Heart primer is broken into seven sections with each section having its own Bible verses. The seven sections are as follows:
a. Get Focused – Hebrews 10:19-25
b. Get Thankful – Philippians 4:4-8
c. Get Connected – Matthew 6:9-13
d. Get Dressed – Ephesians 6:12-18
e. Get Encouraging – 1 Corinthians 13-4-8a
f. Git r done – Matthew 6:33 and Matthew 7:12
g. Git r done? (End of Day review) – Hebrews 12:1-3
I read and reflect on these passages of scripture every day. They are so helpful to staying connected to Jesus and doing the things that He did. They are critical in helping me try to love like He loved, think like He thought, see like He saw, and serve like He served, allowing a disciples heart to grow and flourish within me. It keeps me focused on being thankful, encouraging, and living by trying to do the next right thing. Even when the flesh is weak, ….
“You’ve got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe”
“You’ve got to give of yourself ‘fore you’re worthy to receive”
“Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet”
“Leave the bottle full for others, Thank You kindly, Desert Pete”
Category: Preaching in Shorts
Doing Part 7
This Preaching in Shorts sermon series is called “Doing” and looks at what disciples DO.
Listen to this message by clicking here
We are in a series called “Doing”. It is about doing what Jesus did. About following Him. About what it means to be a disciple. Doing is what should spring forth from a life of being in relationship with God and others. We will be using the Gospel of Matthew as the foundation for this series.
Over the last few weeks, we talked about developing the heart of a disciple and about developing a private relationship with God, which includes giving, praying, forgiving, and fasting. We have talked about not being judgmental, treating people the way we want to be treated and the importance of having compassion for the people all around us. Today, we are going to look at an amazing promise that comes from being a disciple, the promise of soul rest.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
28 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. 29 Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30 Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Here is the same passage in the NIV:
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
1. There is nothing like a good yoke
Matthew 11:29a (NIV)
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
Jesus is giving us a great word picture. The yoke was a frame that fit like a collar on the neck and shoulders of two animals. When the two animals were yoked together, the tasks were easier to perform. And, if one of the animals was younger, it could learn from the older, wiser, more experienced animal.
Jesus is saying that we are to be yoked to Him. Teamed up with Him as we go through life. As we do, we can learn from Him. Because He is who He is, He will take the fullest share of all our burdens. Linked to Him, our burdens are truly made light. This doesn’t mean we never have to go through difficulties in our life. I have said often times that in this fallen world and broken planet we will have hard things to deal with. Jesus even said,
John 16:33 (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
It means that we can experience rest and peace in the midst of difficulties because He is gentle and humble and He is with us and for us.
So..
2. Is the yoke on you?
Matthew 11:29 (NIV)
9 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
One of ways of knowing if you are in the yoke with Jesus and experiencing His rest for your soul, is that you will tend to be a joyful and more gentle person. You will be more eternally focused than temporally focused. More other centered than self centered.
Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
But, I have to tell you that being joyful and gentle is way easier when it is convenient.
Let me tell you about the gym the other day….
I was kind of stressing over a few different issues so I was kind of releasing some steam in my workout. I had my headphones on and they were cranked up to some Chris Tomlin and I was just kind of totally self absorbed. At one point, I dropped the weights a little heavily on the machine. I like the noise. I like to grunt a little. But this is a coed gym, not everyone likes grunting and the sound of weights crashing back into place. Some people like to sit quietly on the bike machines while they watch TV. They might actually dislike the grunting and weight dropping enough that they stop what they are doing, enter your space and ask you to be quieter.
This nice lady asked me to please be quieter. I said, “Oh, I’m sorry”.
Now, the miracle here is that those were the words that came out of my mouth, because that is not what I was thinking.
Who do you think you are?
Do you know who I am?
Get yourself an Ipod and wear headphones.
I will show you, I will go buy you a set of headphones. I will heap some coals on your head with kindness.
This a gym, there should be grunting and crashing of weights.
I am going to crash the weights again just to show you.
The whole time, this verse is going through my head
Philippians 2:3 (NIV)
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
If Jesus yoke is not on you, you are pulling your own yoke and you end up with a pain in the neck. Most times, it is not the other people that are the pain in the neck, it is our self focus making us feel like we are being bothered.
One of our favorite old sayings around here is, “If people are not on my heart, they are on my nerves”. If people aren’t on your heart, you probably are not …
3. Getting the yoke
Matthew 11:30 (NIV)
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
If you are stressed, bothered, worried, fearful, anxious, and life seems like a giant pain in the neck, you are probably not getting the yoke. So what do you do?
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Pray. Stop pulling your own yoke. Get hooked into His. Change the focus from you to Him. Get thankful. Lord, my life is yours, my time is yours, everything I have was a gift from you, down to the next breath that I take. And as you do, this amazing thing happens, the peace of God which transcends all understanding, doesn’t make sense, enters in and guards your heart and mind. Rest for your soul. That is what disciples get to experience. Soul rest, the peace of God, in a broken and fallen world that needs to know there is hope.
His rest for our souls, allows us to move into His harvest field with compassion, without being critical and judgmental, loving others well and treating people the way we want to be treated. His rest for our souls allows us to seek first His kingdom instead of being consumed with trying to fix the broken things in our life in our power. His rest for our souls allows us to live without fear and worry. Make sure that the yoke is on you today, because that is where real life is found.
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Category: Preaching in Shorts
