 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
The Main Thing 05.07.06 (1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16) ILL: The story is told of the man who receives a free ticket to the Super Bowl from his company. Unfortunately, when he arrives at the stadium he realizes the seat is in the last row in the corner of the stadium-he is closer to the Goodyear Blimp than the field. About halfway through the first quarter he notices an empty seat 10 rows off the field right on the 50 yard line. He decides to take a chance and makes his way through the stadium and around the security guards to the empty seat. As he sits down, he asks the gentleman sitting next to him, "Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" The man says “No.” Now, very excited to be in such a great seat for the game, he again inquires of the man next to him, "This is incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the Super Bowl and not use it?" The man replies, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we haven’t been together at since we got married in 1967." "Well, that’s terribly sad. But still, couldn’t you find someone to take the seat? A relative or close friend?" "No," the man replied, "they’re all at the funeral." ~~~~~~~ The main event today is a Holy and all-powerful God coming to meet with frail humans who humbly turn their hearts to Him in worship. ~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~ 1Corinthians 1:18-2:16 MSG The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hell-bent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. 19 It's written, I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots. 20 So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? 21 Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb--preaching, of all things!--to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation. 22 While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, 23 we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle--and Greeks pass it off as absurd. 24 But to us who are personally called by God himself--both Jews and Greeks--Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. 25 Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's "weakness." 26 Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. 27 Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, 28 chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? 29 That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. 30 Everything that we have--right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start--comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. 31 That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God." 2:1 You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. 2 I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did--Jesus crucified. 3 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate--I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it-- 4 and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, 5 which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else. 6 We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. 7 God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest--what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. 8 The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. 9 That's why we have this Scripture text: No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it-- What God has arranged for those who love him. 10 But you've seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. 11 Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God--except that he not only knows what he's thinking, 12 but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. 13 We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and opinions. We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we're passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way. 14 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit--God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. 15 Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. 16 Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit. ~~~~~~~ I’ve just been reading from The Message rendering of 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16. How exactly the Spirit’s power was demonstrated, we don’t know; we can assume that lives were miraculously changed. I want our church to experience the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. I realized a long time ago that ministry is not about my competence as a pastor, preacher and teacher; The Holy Spirit reveals to people the amazing good news of the Gospel. In fact no one really understood it, not even the disciples themselves. It was not until AFTER the Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit that the disciples were finally able to finally understand God’s plan of salvation which had been hidden since the time of creation. But now – Paul says – what had been hidden has been revealed to us BY HIS SPIRIT. Have you ever wished you could read someone’s mind? (Somehow women seem to be able to do this…but for men it can be a lot more difficult!) 1Corinthians 2:10-14 ESV What does this mean? This means that by God’s Spirit: This does not mean: Because as wonderful as it is to know that “we have the mind of Christ,” (verse 16) we’ll always be given a choice whether we will follow the “mind of Christ” or the “mind of ourselves.” If we want the power of the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives, it takes our choosing to follow His leading, and actively seeking His guidance in our life. ~~~~~~~ PRAYER Lord, thank You that by Your Spirit we can know Your mind; think Your thoughts; discern life with Your wisdom. Fill us and fill our ministries with the clear evidence of Your Holy Spirit. Forgive us for ignoring the guidance You’ve wanted to give us and for going our own way. Teach us to seek the wisdom You alone offer, and to follow the promptings of the Spirit. May we live in the truth that as Your children who have been saved by the blood of Jesus, we have the mind of Christ, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Help us to be fully devoted and radically obedient to the mind of Christ in us. In Jesus’ name. Amen. adapted from SC ~ Don Jacques Home | About Us | Staff | Ministries | Sermons | From Pastor ©Copyright
2004, Hood River Church of the Nazarene. All Rights Reserved |
