Podcasts about Letter B

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Introduction: What Happens to Me When I Die? 2 Corinthians 5:8 - ...we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. When Do these Resurrections Take Place? Acts 24:15 - ...there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. What is the Resurrection Body Like (1 Corinthians 15:35-49)? Your body now is like a "SEED" , your resurrected body is like a "PLANT". (1 Cor 15:36b-38) Your resurrected body will be SIMILAR but DIFFERENT but BETTER . (1 Cor 15:39-42a) Your resurrected body will never have EARTHLY WEAKNESSES . (1 Cor 15:42b-44) 4 Contrasts Between Your Earthly Body and Your Resurrected Body: PERISHABLE vs. IMPERISHABLE DISHONOR vs. GLORY WEAKNESS vs. POWER NATURAL vs. SPIRITUAL Your resurrected body is just like JESUS' glorified body. (1 Cor 15:45-49) Philippians 3:21 - who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body... Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: We Will Be Raised in a New Body Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:05Open up those Bibles with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.00:11If you don't have a Bible, you're welcome to take the one in the seat back in front of you.00:17I know that's got like microscopic font. I think there's bigger print ones in the shelf in the very back.00:23Oh, Jane Hour got it. Alright. So if you want a bigger print Bible, you've got to wrestle Jane Hour for it.00:30Oh, okay, there's more back there. Okay, you don't have to, you don't want to do that anyways.00:34So, but please consider it our gift to you if you don't have one. So, speaking of, I'd like you to just stop for a moment and pray for me to communicate God's Word as I should accurately and clearly. And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord tells us in His Word.01:04in this portion we're looking at today. So let's pray. Father in heaven, as we turn to this portion of your word, there's such great encouragement for what you have promised. There's also challenging conviction. Your word says that when we have this hope, we purify ourselves as you are pure. So I pray, Father, that this Yes, would be informational in the sense of correcting wrong thinking that we have carried. But at the same time, Father, use this to motivate us to use the short time we have here on the earth to make an impact for your kingdom. We thank you ahead of time for whatever it is you're going to do here, Father. We pray in Jesus' name. When all of God's people said, Excuse me. Amen. 1 Corinthians 15, are you there? Back in 2009, Heidi Montag, who is one of the stars of the TV show The Hills, she was 23 at the time, 2009. She had 10 plastic surgeries.02:35in one day.02:39Ten plastic surgeries in one day.02:45You got questions?02:47I got questions.02:49Like, ten?02:52What all did she have done?02:53Well, she had her brow lifted.02:57She had Botox.02:59She had her nose done.03:01She had fat injected into her cheeks.03:04and lips. She had her chin done. She had her neck done. Liposuction. Isn't that when they take the fat out? But then it was put into her cheeks. So just like one hose. All right. I don't know. Look, I've never had plastic surgery, but you probably knew that.03:34You're like, I sure hope you didn't pay for that look. Anyways, she had her ears pinned back like a Doberman. She had her waist, her hips, and her thighs done and some other things. Ten surgeries in one day. You got questions? I got questions. How much does something like that cost? Well, I had to Google that. I have no idea. I don't know what the going rate is now, let alone what it was in 2009.04:04It cost her, they say, about $30,000.04:12How long does that take?04:16How long does all that stuff, it was 10 hours of surgery.04:22You know what my question was?04:26Did anybody recognize her when she got home?04:29Could you imagine?04:30and she leaves in the morning and she's like, I'm going to have some surgery. Then she comes back, a completely different person. Like, hey, I'm home. And they're like, ah, who are you? Like, it's me. It's me, Heidi. You know, groundhog, we didn't recognize you. I mean, we do all kinds of things to try to keep this young and from wearing out. And look, maybe plastic surgery is not.05:00your thing. Maybe it's exercise. I was going to ask for a show of hands, but I think to save all of us from embarrassment, myself included, we won't do any hand raising here. Okay, at least for this part. But do you have an exercise equipment graveyard in your basement? Do you remember things like the ab circle? Do you remember the ab circle? The bow flex, the toe flex, The Total Gym. How about the Thighmaster? You old enough to remember the Thighmaster? Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze your way to firmer thighs. Well, maybe it was just the exercise method, right? Because we've got Pilates, we've got yoga and Zumba, P90X, Insanity.06:00T25. You ever done this program? I've done Insanity and T25. And let me tell you, that is for the birds. For the birds. And I was like really into it for a while. And my wife was like, are you doing that exercise thing where you dance around the living room like a ninny? I'm like, well, I guess not anymore.06:31Okay, like, you can get the body you've always wanted. Get the body you've always wanted. The problem is you're not going to keep it forever. 1 Corinthians 15 is all about the resurrection. Jesus and ours. The Bible says because Jesus rose from the dead, Listen, I think so many people sitting in churches miss this truth. You, too, are going to rise from the dead in a new body. Now, if I told you, hey, next week, you're going to get a new car. But here's the deal. This car, this is the only car you're allowed to drive for the next 40 years.07:30car it is? Wouldn't you want to know what it's like? You mean I'm stuck with this car for four decades? Yeah. What kind of car is it? Tell me about it. I want to know all about it, right? Right? Well, the Bible says you're going to get a new body that you are going to have for all of eternity. Would you like to know what this body is like?08:00of eternity. So, we've got a lot of information here. Again, in this chapter, Paul packs so much information. And we're going to be going through it very quickly. So, you might want to listen to this again when it's on our website or podcast or whatever. You might want to pass this on to someone else. So, I encourage you to jot some notes down. First question, we're just going to take a step back here and kind of this whole thing. The first question is, what happens to me when I die? What happens to me when I die? And the reason we're starting here is like, look, okay, we got resurrection. Okay, but like, it's obviously not immediate. So, what happens to me when I die? Well, the Bible never talks about limbo or purgatory or soul sleep. The Bible never talks about that stuff. The Bible is very clear. If you're a believer in Christ, when you die, you are immediately in the presence of the Lord, right?09:002 Corinthians 5 verse 8 says we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Paul says something very similar to this in Philippians 123.09:14He said to depart is to be with Christ.09:20Right? So if you're a believer when you die you are in the presence of the Lord.09:23Your spirit is. And if you have not received Christ you go to a place of torment called Hades, where you are awaiting the final judgment. All right? But the Bible promises that eventually, eventually, everybody, everybody will get a resurrected body. Everybody gets one. Like, well, when do these resurrections take place?09:57Here's the next question on your outline. Understand again, the Bible is crystal clear and consistent. It teaches many times there are two resurrections. Okay, there are two. Acts 24, 15. There will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. Right? We talked about that before. Daniel 12, 2. Jesus said it in John 5, 28 and 29. There are two resurrections. Okay.10:27First, I want to talk to those who have trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, those who are born again. The Bible says you will get your resurrected body at the rapture. Now, we're not going to get too deep into this now because next week the whole passage is about the rapture. But at the rapture, when Jesus returns to remove His people from the earth, believers up to that point, dead or alive, will get a new resurrected body.10:57about that next week. Those are for believers. For those who have rejected God's gift in Jesus Christ. For those who are like, I'm living life on my terms. I don't want Jesus. I don't want anything to do with God. It's truth. Worship, I don't want anything to do with that. There's a resurrection for unbelievers too. Again, timeline in your Bible. There's a seven-year tribulation coming, talked about in the book of Revelation. At the end of that, Jesus comes back, strikes down all who rejected Him, and He sets a thousand year kingdom on the earth. Jesus will reign on the earth for a thousand years. Revelation chapter 20 says, at the end of the thousand years is the second resurrection. Again, you can read that later. Revelation chapter 20. After the thousand year reign, all unbelievers, all unbelievers of all time are called out of Hades. They're called before the great white throne.11:57of Jesus Christ where they will be sentenced to the lake of fire. So, believers will get an eternal body to enjoy in heaven and unbelievers will get an eternal body that will suffer in hell, the lake of fire. Alright? So, the real question of the day that's addressed in this text, and we kind of did an on-ramp here to get to this point, But the question that is addressed today is, what is the resurrection body like? I'm going to be driving it for eternity? What's it like? What's it like? Well, we talked about this before. In the Corinthian church, there were a lot of resurrection deniers. A lot of the Greeks denied that there was such a thing. So, Paul anticipates the mocking questions that come. That's where he picks up in verse He says, but someone will ask, how are the dead raised?13:05With what kind of body do they come?13:08Again, those are mocking questions.13:13Paul's not anticipating as much the sincere can you please give us information as much as the people that are sort of making fun.13:21Like, how in the world are dead people raised?13:25Like, oh, you believe in resurrection?13:27What kind of body do they have? They're kind of making fun. Our day, like Paul's day, I found that some of the greatest theologians and Bible experts are people that have never opened the Bible. Have you noticed that? That was sarcasm. Because Paul gives them a hard rebuke, verse 36. He says, you foolish person.13:56Oh, you think you're so smart with your little questions. Oh, you're really stumped me. He goes, you're foolish. You're not even thinking. Look, I don't think there's anybody here today that's like that, that's like mocking. I don't think so. I'm sure there's somebody that's going to be listening to this online. I don't imagine there's anybody in the room right now that is scornfully asking questions like this.14:26But at the same time, when it comes to the topic, I do think there's a lot of confusion in the church about this whole resurrected body. Because I get asked these questions all the time. Pastor Taylor, you probably do too, right? People ask these questions. Will my new body look like my old body? Because that's important. Because what if I get to heaven and nobody recognizes me? But am I going to be able to recognize other people?14:57How old am I going to look? I mean, what if I live to be like 107? Am I going to look 107 for all of eternity? What about like, unfortunately, an infant who passes away? Is that person going to be an infant for all of eternity? Like, what does it look like? And then what about people that like aren't buried? You know, we're going to be talking about coming up out of the grave. What about people that aren't in the grave? Like, what about people that, I don't know, they fell overboard on a cruise and were eaten by a shark and they weren't buried.15:30What about those people?15:33Or what about people that maybe were incinerated in a fire and...15:41Well, Paul does such an amazing job in such a few words describing the difference between this vehicle we're driving today and the vehicle that we'll be driving someday.15:56So number one, what's the resurrection body like? What is the resurrection body like? Number one, he says your body now is like a seed and your resurrected body is like a plant. All right, look at verse 36. He says, What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. What you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He has chosen.16:51its own body.16:57Your body now is like a seed.16:58Your resurrected body is like a plant.17:00Now if you have a seed in your hand, like, you know, it is the season, right?17:04I think of a watermelon seed.17:05Just imagine a watermelon seed.17:09You know, we've all seen those.17:10We've all spit those out.17:11Those little hard, brown, flat seeds, right?17:20When you put that in the ground, when you bury a watermelon seed, it rises up as something completely different, doesn't it? That's what Paul's talking about here. I mean, I'm not a farmer. You might want to fact check with Jesse on this. I'm not a farmer. I'm barely a gardener, as they say in Minnesota. I'm not. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you are going to plant something, you don't take a whole plant and bury it in the ground to get another whole plant.17:54The seed goes in the ground and dies and comes up as something different.18:01The seed that you bury is different than the plant that comes.18:08And we all get that, right?18:09You don't plant a watermelon seed, a little brown, flat, hard seed, and outgrows a big, a flat brown seed. That's just like it, only bigger. That's not how it works. It's completely different. But not completely because there's, in a sense, there's continuity between the seed and the plant, right? There's continuity. You know what I mean by that? I mean, if you plant a watermelon seed, you're not going to grow an apple tree.18:45Like, why not? Because God determined. Watermelon seeds only make watermelons. If you want an apple tree, you need to plant an apple seed, right? God determines. God has chosen the kind of body that everything gets. And you know what He has chosen for you? A glorified body. So that's Paul's first analogy here. He says, just look at your body.19:15And really all this is, is it's a seed that's going to be planted. And something that comes out is going to be different. You're like, how different? Well, number two, your resurrected body will be similar but different but better. Similar but different but better.19:44Let's pick up in verse 39. He says, For not all flesh is the same. There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, the stars. For star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. Another illustration. Paul's like, look at the animal kingdom. Look at the animal kingdom. We have humans and animals and birds and fish, right? You've been to the zoo.20:44Notice how all animals have flesh, right? All animals have flesh. So that's like the same, right? But it's really not the same because the flesh of a fish is different from like the flesh of a groundhog or an eagle or a human. Why is that?21:16It's all perfectly suited for their respective environments. That's why. Why does a fish have the flesh that it has? For the water. That flesh wouldn't do any good on a bird. A bird has the flesh that it has so it can do the things that the birds do. It's all similar but it's different.21:45suited for the environment, right? Then he talks, he's like, let's get off the earth for a second. Let's talk about the sun, moon, and stars. All heavenly bodies, right? Now from earth, when we look up at the sky, what do we see? All these round, bright things. Some are bigger, some are brighter, but the sky is full of them. But did you know, like, even with the stars, each one is completely unique.22:14There aren't even two stars in the universe that are exactly the same. He says they're all different, but every one of these things in the sky does the thing that it's supposed to do, right? The sun to give us light and warmth, the moon for the tides, and the stars for whatever purpose God has for the stars. Same but different.22:45Perfectly suited for their purpose. And then Paul hits us in verse 42. He says, so it is with your glorified, resurrected body. How does it compare to this one that we have here? It's going to be the same, but it's going to be different. And it's going to be way better. Because this body, was made for the earth. But the new body is going to be made for heaven. Similar, but different, but better. Number three, your resurrected body will never have earthly weaknesses. Earthly weaknesses. Pick up in verse 42. He says, what is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory.23:44It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Stop there. Your resurrected body will never have earthly weaknesses. Do you notice over and over and over again? Sown, sown, sown, sown. He's keeping this seed metaphor going because it's so appropriate.24:15You go in the ground. Your body is a seed. You go in the ground as one thing. And you come up out of the ground as something different. Something better. Something glorious. And here he talks about the earthly weaknesses that we will not have. So he gives four contrasts here. Again, it's all straight from the text. Your Bible says the same thing.24:44These are four contrasts between this body, this vehicle we're driving now, and the resurrected body that we're going to get someday. Letter A, perishable versus imperishable. Perishable versus imperishable. On your outline beside that, write the word decay. That's what he's talking about. Perishable. This body decays. This body is wearing out.25:16Dying you will die. Look, all of us, we're wearing out, we're decaying. I mean, you should have seen me when I was 20. I was well-built, good-looking, and you're like, what happened? Dying you will die. I'm decaying, and so are you. Versus imperishable.25:44The resurrected body, imperishable. You know what that means? It means all physical and mental health issues that we experience living in a fallen body are gone forever. That's what that means. No sickness. Your resurrected body will have no sickness, no cancer, no cerebral palsy, no multiple sclerosis, no muscular dystrophy, no diabetes, no asthma, no Alzheimer's.26:15No osteoporosis.26:18No arthritis.26:21No organ failure.26:22Nothing.26:24Your body will be imperishable.26:26It will not.26:27Wasn't it about this time in the first service?26:29People were just like coughing like crazy.26:32So we took a coughing break in the first service.26:36So go ahead.26:36If you get a cough, let her out.26:38Go ahead.26:43Go ahead.26:45I mean, get it out of your system. Because here's the thing, coughing is something you only enjoy on earth. Because at the resurrection, you're not going to cough. So live it up. There's no sickness. Your body is imperishable. No sickness. No pain. No pain. Imagine that. No pain. Can you think, like, what's the worst pain?27:14that you've ever been in in your life. I just want you to think about that for a second. What is the worst pain that you've ever experienced in your life? Men, have you ever had a cold? Because if you have, you know The peak of human suffering.27:51But pain's going to be a memory someday.27:54Think about that.27:54In eternity future, in our resurrected bodies, we'll be like, Taylor, bro, do you remember back when we had pain?28:02He's like, I barely remember pain.28:04What was that?28:07It's going to be history.28:09You'll never wear out.28:10You'll never grow old.28:11You'll never be sick.28:12Death itself is going to be history. Perishable versus imperishable. Letter B, dishonor versus glory. Dishonor versus glory. On your outline beside this, write sin. This is in regards to sin. The fall of man has saturated this earth with the corruption of sin. And our current bodies are are thoroughly affected by sin. Thoroughly. What did Paul say in Romans 7? I know that no good thing dwells in me, that is my flesh. That's what he's talking about. He says this, here, my spirit is renewed. I'm born again. God's Holy Spirit lives in here. But God's Holy Spirit lives in a body that still hungers for sin.29:13Hungers for rebellion against God. Everything we, listen, everything we do is tainted with some degree of corruption. You know, if we're being honest, even when I set out to do something good, There's always a little something in there that's just kind of selfish, like this is the right thing to do, this is a righteous thing, but there's something in me some shade of a is there a selfish motive here more spotlight for me little glory for me here selfish motive here you're that way too we all are There's nothing that we can do that is 100% free from the taint of sin. And that's what he's talking about here. The day's going to come when we're in this body, we have this new body, and there won't be any bent towards sin in this glorified body.30:43Weakness versus power. Beside that, just write the word strength. This speaks to strength. We are so weak. We are so weak. You're like, speak for yourself. I'm a strapping young lad. I'm not weak. Yes, you are. We're all weak.31:11We are all so weak. Not convinced? Strapping young lad? How is it that a virus that's so small that we can't even see it, it can knock you down for days? You think about that next time you're feeling strong. We're weak. And you know, you don't even need to be, you don't even need to be sick.31:41to feel worn out.31:46I can keep strange hours and I've had people ask me, like, do you ever, they're like, don't you ever get tired?31:53I'm like, do I get tired?31:56No, I do not get tired.32:01I stay tired.32:03You see, for me to say I get tired would imply that I'm starting from a platform of being well-rested and strong. I've never started from that platform. I just stay in this place of tired. I'm not proud of it, but there's many days that when I wake up, one of my first thoughts is, am I going to have an opportunity for a nap today? Anybody else? Okay, thank you. Just the people on this tired side.32:40of the room. These people don't get tired over here. Did you notice that? It's all over here.32:51Listen, your new body, he says, right, is powerful. No weakness, no weariness.33:00And letter D, natural versus spiritual. Natural versus spiritual.33:06We talked about this before. This is speaking to environmental suitability.33:11Your new body is going to be perfect for the environment that it is going to be in. Your new body will be visible. Yes. It'll be tangible. Yes. But it's not going to be subject to the laws of nature as we know it now. Like, what do I mean? Well, I mean, this body we have now, God designed, perfectly for the earth environment.33:47But, you could say we're a little restricted.33:50We're sort of hemmed in as a part of creation.33:56We're restricted in these bodies by pesky little things like gravity and time and air.34:07Those things kind of limit us in a sense. But our new bodies, our resurrected bodies are going to rise above the current laws of nature and time and space. And you're thinking right now, like what? And that's not the right question to ask. The right question isn't like what? The right question is like who? And that leads us to the last one, number four.34:38This to me is one of the most mind-blowing things in Scripture, by the way. He says, your resurrected body is just like Jesus' glorified body. Your resurrected body is just like Jesus' glorified body. See, Paul had this, he was using these metaphors with the seeds and the plants and the planets and the animals.35:06He's moving from metaphorical to literal now. He's going to be talking about our actual body. Look at verse 45. He says, thus, it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.35:35The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. Right now, Paul says, right now, we bear the image of the man of dust. That's Adam. That's us. We are people of dust. That's... I don't mean this as an insult. I just mean this as literal truth. Your body right now consists of a handful, of dust and a lot of water. That's all any of us are consisting of. I'm sure you're beautiful on the inside, but I just mean your physical body, your dust and water. That's what he's talking about. We bear the image of the man of dust. He says someday you will bear the image of the man of heaven. That's Jesus Christ. Here's what he's saying very clearly.37:05is just like Adam's. Our glorified body will be just like the resurrected body of Jesus Christ. The Bible is so clear about this over and over. Like here's another reference to that, Philippians chapter 3, verse 21. He says, Jesus, look at this, will transform our lowly body to be like His, Glorious Body.37:38And I just want to encourage you to go back in your Bibles this week.37:43Read Luke 24. Read John chapter 20. Read Acts chapter 1.37:47If you want to know like kind of what is our glorified body going to be able to do, look at the things that Jesus did in His glorified body.38:01Like for example, in Jesus' glorified body, He was recognized by sight and by voice and by His wounds.38:11And Jesus in His glorified body ate.38:16Will we eat in heaven?38:17Yeah, we will actually.38:19Not because we have to, but because we'll enjoy it.38:26That is according to Revelation 22 too.38:30But you notice, Jesus in His resurrected body wasn't bound by the laws of nature. He did things like disappear. He did things like move from place to place suddenly. The Bible says Jesus could walk right through the wall. Did you ever go through a wall? I have, but not like Jesus. But someday, we'll be able to just, transcend these kinds of rules that we know now, right? Oh, you know the big one. Acts chapter 1. What did Jesus do in His glorified body? He ascended. He ascended. And you're like, well, are you saying, Pastor Jeff, that you really believe that we're going to be able to fly? Yeah. That wasn't my idea. The Bible is very clear.39:29that our body is going to be just like the glorified body of Jesus himself. So your resurrected body will be just like his. Our worship team would make their way back to the platform here. You know, the Bible is clear, my friends, that you are You are. Everyone is. There is no question as to whether or not you will get an eternal, indestructible body. Excuse me, you will get one. The Bible is clear about that. There's only one real question. With your eternal, indestructible body, will you be living forever?40:28in heaven? Or will you be dying forever in hell? Because you see, for those who have received Christ, yes, we will have this body to be in the presence of the Lord, to fellowship with each other, and most importantly, to worship God eternally in a body that doesn't get tired? That's going to be so awesome. But on the other hand, If you have not received the gift of grace that God has given us in Jesus Christ, you're going to get an eternal body. But it's going to be to suffer forever. You know, hell is described as fire. And I can't imagine anything more horrific than being on fire in a body that can't be consumed. Eternally suffering. And if you haven't received God's gift of eternal life in Christ, I don't know what you're waiting for. Today can be the day. And I want you to hear me. God wants you.41:58saved. God wants you with Him for eternity.42:08How do I know that?42:10Because the Bible says things like, it is God's will that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance.42:15That's what God wants.42:17The Bible says things like, God does not delight in the death of the wicked.42:22God wants you in eternity with Him.42:25God wants you as His adopted child.42:28Do you know how I know? Because of what God did to make that possible. That He sent His Son to die on the cross on your behalf. To take the penalty for all of the sins that you committed and that I committed. God spared not His Son but delivered Him up for us all. How do I know God wants you in heaven with Him for eternity? Because of what He spent to make that happen.42:59I'd like you to bow your heads please. And if you haven't made that decision, if you haven't received the gift, let today be the day. Let today be the day that you come to grips with the fact of who you are and who God is, what you've done and what God has done.43:28And pray something like this. Pray, God, I know that I have lived my life apart from you and I have only ever wanted my way.43:41God, you have sent your son to buy me back.43:45To save me from the destructive path of my own self-centered will.43:53To save me from eternally being separated from you.43:57You did that through the death and the resurrection of Your Son. If you pray something like that today, or if you want to stick around and pray with one of our pastors or elders, let today be the day that we're done playing games, we're done pretending, we're done being church attenders, warming a seat, going through the motions. We want to be sincere. We sincerely believe.44:28We sincerely belong to Jesus Christ. Father, I pray, I pray, Father, that you would not give a minute's rest to anyone here who doesn't know you. That today would be the day that through the power of your Spirit, through the wisdom and encouragement and conviction that comes from your Word, today would be the day, Father.44:59They go to bed tonight unable to sleep. Until they do business with you. But for those of us, Father, who do know you, we thank you for these glorious promises. And I suppose that if I was going to try to make up what I thought could be the best promise ever, it would be nothing compared to how awesome your actual promises really are. Anything that I can imagine being great about eternity or heaven or a new body, it would pale in comparison to the reality of what you have actually promised. Father, we thank you. Let this be an encouragement for us to plod along for the next 15 minutes of life on earth in anticipation of our own resurrection. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 15:35-49What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Describe the 4 contrasts between your earthly body and your resurrected body from 1 Cor 15:42-44.What was Jesus' glorified body like that you are excited to think about your glorified body being like?Read 1 John 3:2-3. How does the knowledge of our future resurrected bodies motivate us to purify ourselves today?BreakoutPray for one another.

Introduction: Why the Resurrection Means Everything (1 Corinthians 15:12-34): The resurrection SHAPES my FAITH. (1 Cor 15:12-28) IF There Is No Resurrection: PREACHING the Gospel: Meaningless. (1 Cor 15:12-14a) FAITH in Christ: Meaningless. (1 Cor 15:14b) Your BIBLE : Blasphemous. (1 Cor 15:15) Your SIN : Not forgiven. (1 Cor 15:16-17) Believers who have DIED : Gone forever. (1 Cor 15:18) CHRISTIANS : The worst. (1 Cor 15:19) The resurrection STOPS my FEAR. (1 Cor 15:29-32) The resurrection SELECTS my FRIENDS. (1 Cor 15:33-34) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: The Resurrection Means Everything Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:05Open up your Bibles with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. While we're turning there, just ask that you would please take a moment to pray for me, to be faithful to communicate God's Word accurately and clearly, and I will pray for you that your heart would be open to receive what it is that God has said in His Word. Deal? All right. Thank you both.00:34Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We're asking now that You would eliminate any distractions in our minds and our hearts, that we would focus solely on what it is You've communicated to us. Father, lay on our hearts the importance of this Word because of who said it.01:04that we're not here to talk about my opinion or some old preacher's opinion. We're here to talk about what you have said in your word. So I pray that that would drive the attentiveness that we give to what it is you've said here, Father. We thank you in advance for what you're going to do. We pray in Jesus' name that all of God's people Amen. Amen. Alright. Who here is a golfer? Raise your hand if you're a golfer. Some of you are shy about it. I'm sorry, is it a secret? I see some of you. Yes, it's a secret. Come on, raise them high. Raise them proud. Who's a golfer? Even if you play golf. You don't have to be on the PGA.02:06Do you know? I've never played golf a day in my life. I'm not against golf. I've just never played it. When I was in high school, I was going over to my friend's house, and he was in his, it was actually his grandparents' house, and he was in the backyard hitting golf balls into the woods, just whoosh, whoosh. So I show up. He's like, hey, I'm almost done. I'll be with you in a minute.02:34So I don't golf. I'm just like do-do-do-do-do-do. And I look, and in the tree, like where the branches split, there was a wiffle ball in the tree. I'm like, I wonder how that got there. So I pulled this wiffle ball out, and I was shocked at how heavy it was for its size. Very intriguing. I can tell you're intrigued by it. I certainly was. So he's hitting the golf balls, and I said, hey, check out how heavy this ball is. And I tossed it to him. And he was like, ha-ha. And he took a swing. Let me tell you what I think he thought was going to happen. I think he thought he was going to hit that wiffle ball like into the woods, launch it in midair like baseball style, right? So I'm like, hey, check out how heavy this ball is. I threw it. And he's like, whew. And he swings and the ball hits the middle of the golf club, like the shaft.03:34and it explodes.03:37And he's standing there holding the handle.03:39And his eyes were like as big as silver dollars.03:42He's like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.03:45I'm like, what's the matter?03:47He's like, this was my grandfather's brand new driver.03:55And I found out later it was very expensive.03:58I don't know.03:58I don't play golf.03:59I told you that.04:00But he's like, I'm like, what's the problem? He's like, this was his brand new driver. And I'm like, his driver? I said, is that important? And he's like, is that important? It's the most important club. And he got in all kind of trouble and we all laughed. Well, he didn't, but we all did. Like, why did I tell you this? That story.04:31Because here's the thing, in golf world, I was completely oblivious to the most important thing. I didn't know. I didn't know. The driver, it is important, right? It's important. Okay, all right. It is important. I was clueless. And you know, fast forward a few decades, let's get out of golf world, let's get in church world, the principle still stands, I think.04:59There are so many people in church world that are ignorant of the most important thing. And the most important thing, biblically, is this idea of resurrection. And we talk about it in church, and there are people that are like, is that important? Like, it is the most important thing. Resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 is all about resurrection.05:29And the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this is by no means any kind of exaggeration, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in the history of the world. It's the central teaching of the church. And because Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, the Bible says his followers too will resurrect from the dead.05:59just a few minutes ago. Dead to self. Alive. Raised in Christ. Understand that when we talk about resurrection, it's not just like this metaphor or this poetic concept. It's real. This is literally your eternal state of being. You will resurrect. So you have to know what the Bible says.06:29says about this, and you have to believe this.06:34So on your outline today, I encourage you to take some notes, but why the resurrection means everything.06:41It means everything.06:45Number one, we're going to do some theology today.06:50Number one is the resurrection shapes my faith.06:54It shapes my faith.06:56Everything that we believe in this church is tied into this idea of resurrection.07:07It shapes my faith. We started this last week. Paul talked about the evidences that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.07:13He talked about the grace that we receive, the gift of God.07:18And now when we get to this section, Paul actually plays a what-if game concerning resurrection. Paul says hypothetically, hypothetically, what would result if there were no resurrection?07:35What would result if Jesus didn't rise from the dead?07:41What would that mean?07:42What would be the significance for us, church, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead?07:47I mean, imagine the scene.07:49Imagine the scene.07:51Jesus Christ, mocked, humiliated, crucified, dead, taken from the cross, put in the tomb. Three days later, the women show up and the stone is still there. The guards are still there. The guards are like, move along, move along ladies. And Jesus is in the tomb and He stayed in the tomb.08:21What if there was no resurrection of Jesus Christ? What if? That's what Paul gets into here. Look at verse 12, 1 Corinthians 15. He says, now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.08:51has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Stop there. On your outline, if there is no resurrection, the first thing Paul says, if there is no resurrection, preaching the gospel is meaningless. Think about that. Preaching the gospel is meaningless. You are totally wasting your time here this morning. You got up and got your church clothes on and you drove here for what?09:21studying this. That was a complete waste of time. I wasted much of my week. You wasted your Sunday morning coming here today. You're wasting your time right now just listening to me blather on and on and on about what? Every sermon, every Bible study, every small group, every Christian book, every Christian podcast, every Christian conference is a complete waste of time and money if there's no resurrection.09:52Why are you here? So preaching the gospel is meaningless. Letter B, faith in Christ is meaningless. Look what he says. Rest of verse 14, he says, and your faith is in vain. If there's no resurrection, your faith is in vain. Who's your faith in? My faith is in Jesus. Oh, okay. Well, if Jesus died and stayed dead, what's so special about him? He's just in a a long list of religious leaders that showed up, said some profound things, died, and is in his tomb. Just like everybody else. There's no resurrection. Oh, by the way, Jesus throughout his ministry clearly proclaimed that he would die, and he said he would rise from the dead. So, if there's no resurrection, Jesus Christ is either crazy or he's a liar. And that's your faith? Your faith is in that one?10:52Let us see your bible is blasphemous your bible is blasphemous look at verse 15 he says we are even found to be misrepresenting god because we testified about god that he raised christ whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised your bible is blasphemous all of the apostolic teaching your new testament It's blasphemous. If Jesus didn't raise from the dead. Because all of these apostles preach a message and they wrote about a message and we're reading their message today that God raised Christ. It's the central thing in the entire New Testament. And we're sitting here dissecting it. For what? If Jesus didn't raise from the dead. I mean, if Jesus didn't raise from the dead, we have to ask, well, okay, if they were wrong about that, What else are they wrong about? Maybe we should just throw out the whole New Testament. So your Bible is blasphemous. Letter D. If there is no resurrection, if there is no resurrection, your sin is not forgiven. Your sin is not forgiven. Look at verses 16 and 17. He says, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, Christ has not been raised. Your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Oh boy. You know, someday you're going to die and you're going to stand before the God who created everything and you're going to have to give an account of your life. You're going to have to give an account for all of the wrong things that you've done. Your wrong attitudes, your harsh, mean words, your actions, your thoughts. You're going to have to give an account to the creator of the universe.12:52And you don't have any excuse or any hope if there's no resurrection.12:59Because your sin is not forgiven.13:02Letter E.13:06This doesn't get more comfortable, by the way.13:11Believers who have died, I mean it will, but just not yet.13:15Believers who have died are gone forever.13:18Believers who have died are gone forever.13:20Look at verse 18. He says, Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.13:31Fallen asleep, he's talking about they died, right?13:35So what about those who have believed in Jesus Christ and they died?13:38Guess what?13:39They're gone forever.13:40You're never going to see them again.13:42I have done a lot of funerals over the last almost 30 years.13:46Can you imagine?13:47No resurrection?13:48That's what I do.13:48I stand by the casket.13:50Hope you enjoyed your time with them because you're never going to see them again. It is over. If there's no resurrection, they're gone. And letter F, Christians are the worst. The worst. Look at verse 18. He said, I'm sorry, verse 19, excuse me. He says, If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are, of all people most, to be pitied.14:38Like, if Jesus just gives us some sense of contentment and fulfillment in this life, but does nothing for us after we die, He's like, we should be pitied.14:47We are miserable, pathetic people. We devoted our lives to what? We planted this church for what? We send missionaries all over the world for what? A dead prophet. You are lame. Oh, but look at verse 20.15:19He says, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Verse 20 makes all the difference. Verse 20, it's the game-changing verse here. You see, He stops, enough of the hypothetical stuff at this point. He stops the what-if thing. He says, here's the reality. Jesus Christ, did rise from the dead. So, that means your outline here, since Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, you can state all of those points in the opposite and they would be true. This is reality. Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, preaching the gospel is not meaningless. No, no, no, no. Opposite. Preaching the gospel means everything.16:17This is literally a message of life and death. If Jesus rose from the dead. And he did. So this is the message of eternal life. Oh, and because Jesus rose from the dead, take the second one. Turn it opposite. Faith in Christ means everything. It doesn't matter what you do, who you know, how much you've accumulated in this life. In the end, in the end, there's only one thing that matters. Do you know Jesus Christ? Because faith in him means everything.16:49Letters see your Bible. Letters see your Bible. Let's not blasphemous because Jesus did raise from the dead. The message of the gospel is true. Your Bible is God's communication to you. Everything you need to know for life and godliness. God has given us all things through His Spirit, through His Word. We got it. Stating letter D in the opposite, your sin is forgiven. Jesus Christ takes your sin.17:17sin away. You are pronounced not guilty. There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Sin is no longer an issue because Jesus rose from the dead. Believers who have died believing in Christ, you're going to see them again someday. See, the opposite is true because Jesus rose. His people were alive. Think of that glorious reunion.17:47You know, there's a lot of people in heaven I can't wait to track down. Yes, I'm going to, Jesus first, right? Exaltation of the Son of God first, but I got to tell you, there's a lot of other people I'm so looking forward to seeing again someday. And then Christians, because Jesus rose, you're not the worst. And I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings when I said that earlier. But that's what He said. You're not to be pitied.18:17And I don't feel right saying, well, you're going to be envied, because that's not our posture either. But just objectively, we are people in good position because we have believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have eternal life. The resurrection is the foundation of all of our theology. It shapes everything we believe.18:47Look at verses 21 through 22.18:50Because he's going to get into...18:51This is like the most deep and succinct explanation of theology that I think might be in the whole Bible right here.19:02Look at verses 21 and 22.19:05He says, For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.19:17For as in Adam, that's Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, that Adam, for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. This is just Theology 101. Man, Adam brought death. When Adam sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, brought sin and death into the world. That's why the world is in the shape that it's in. That's why we are in the shape that we are in. We live in a world of sin and death. Adam brought that. The man Adam brought death, but the man, the last Adam, Jesus, brought life. He came to restore the life that we forfeited in the first Adam.20:17So we're talking about resurrection. You're like, okay, okay. So when does resurrection happen? Okay. Enough of the teaser here. When does it happen? Well, he tells us here. Look at verse 23. He says, but each in his own order, Christ, the first fruits, then at his coming, Those who belong to Christ, then comes the end. Stop there for a second. Own order. He says each in his own order. He's like, there's a sequence here. We're talking about resurrection. And he says Christ is the first fruits of resurrection. Then, he says then, resurrection is going to happen to, he says it in the text here, those who belong to Christ.21:17to Christ. People who have received Christ will resurrect. You're like, okay, when will that happen? He tells us right here. Did you see it? Did you see it? At His coming. At His coming, He's talking about the rapture. And next week's message is all about the rapture. So you definitely don't want to miss that. But He's saying at the rapture of Christ, those who belong to Him will resurrect. And He says, Then comes the end. Like, the end. What is the end? Well, again, he gives us a great paraphrase here. Pick up in verse 24. He says, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.22:19The last enemy to be destroyed is death.22:25For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.22:32But when it says all things are put in subjection it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him.22:43When all things are subjected to him then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all. See, this passage takes us into eternity. What's he talking about here? Just very simple, right? These are broad strokes. This is like an overview of the book of Revelation. Here's what he's saying. He says, after every enemy is defeated, the redeemed are gathered together, and the bride of Christ is complete. Then Jesus returns the bride and himself to the Father. So that God is all in all. And you're like, well, thank you for the theology lesson. But what does that have to do with me?23:47Everything. Everything. Everything. Yes, this explains the origin of sin and death. This explains the necessity of resurrection. This explains why believing in the resurrection is absolutely essential. This explains where everything is ultimately heading. But, It means something today. It means something today about who you are and how you act and what you think and what your attitude should be today. It means everything today. And you're like, well, can you be a little more specific about that? Absolutely. Follow the text. Resurrection means everything because, number two, the resurrection stops my fear.24:47The resurrection stops my fear. Look at verse 29. Paul says, otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? They're like, wait, what? You know, there's a lot of people They say this is the hardest verse in the New Testament. And you can do the homework. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of interpretations. Like what in the world is he talking about here? Well, I want to show you something in the language and then show you something in the context. And I believe that Maybe it's not as hard as we make it out to be. It says here, notice he says, baptized on behalf of the dead. Now your Bible, if you have a different translation, it might say baptized for the dead. Your Bible says something like that? Okay, well, the Greek word is identical to the English word for. Okay?26:17Now, let's talk about English for a second, because the Greeks used their "for" in the exact same way. And when we use, we use the word "for" for everything. But the meaning of it changes drastically. And it always depends on the context, always. Always depends on the context. That's a little word, but it changes everything.26:47If I said to you, I'm going to the store for bread, you know what I mean, right? I am going to the store in order to obtain bread, right? But if I said to you, I took an aspirin for my headache, see the word for no longer means in order to obtain. I did not take an aspirin in order to obtain a headache. That would be silly, right?27:18I took an aspirin as a result of having a headache. You see, for, it's the context. I didn't go to the store as a result of having bread. I went in order to obtain. I took the aspirin as a result of having, and the context always makes the difference. With that in mind, look at the next two verses to see what the context is. What's he talking about? How is he using the word for, baptized for?27:47the dead. Look at verses 30 and 32. He says, Why are we in danger every hour? Some translations have and at the beginning. And why are we in danger every hour?28:01I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die every day.28:09What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus?28:15If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. You see the context? The context is persecution. Because in the first century, in the first century, when you were baptized, you were marked for death. By publicly identifying with Jesus Christ, marked for death. Paul here is talking about people who were getting baptized because they came to Christ from the influence of someone killed for their faith. Meaning the living person was baptized for because of the dead. You're like, how can the death of a faithful person inspire How can that be? Do you remember Charlie Kirk? We just saw this. We just saw as a result of his faithfulness and death, we saw a spiritual awakening. And it's not up to me to determine how many of those people truly came to Christ and how many just became interested in spiritual things. God sorts that out. That's not my job.29:45how somebody being faithful and giving his life for his faith in Christ can inspire others to step up.29:55Here's Paul's point.29:58If there is no resurrection, why would anybody get baptized?30:04Why would you stand for Christ?30:06Why would you die for Christ if there is no resurrection?30:09Why would you do that?30:11And then he just simply illustrates that with his own life.30:13He says, look, I die every day. Every single day of my life, I'm living out my death. Why would you do that, Paul? Because I believe that I'm going to resurrect someday. So if there is no resurrection coming to Christ, then standing for Christ is idiotic because it brings persecution. You might as well live it up, eat and drink for tomorrow we die.30:45But, when I really believe Christ resurrected, when I really believe that someday I'm going to resurrect, it changes how I live.31:01Sharing the gospel, serving Him and His church, serving others in the name of Jesus, it all matters for eternity, so it doesn't matter what it costs me, even my life.31:16No fear.31:19That's what he's saying. The resurrection stops my fear.31:23No fear. Remember back in the day, some of you are way too young to remember this. Remember back in the day when if you had a pickup, you had a no fear decal on the windshield? How many people remember the no fear?31:35Remember that? Okay, some of you do.31:43It's a real easy sentiment when there's nothing to fear. Right? Because we say that in the church, right? No fear! I'll stand for Jesus no matter what! Yeah, well, you know, before 2020, it was so much easier to claim you have no fear, because you could sit in the church and you had nothing to fear. I was thinking a lot about that. Remember, again, some of you might be too young to remember, and I might be showing my age here, but do you remember COVID? Do you remember COVID? Do you remember COVID? Those glory days when the store would hang big pieces of plastic?32:37Between you and the cashier. And then the cashier would proceed to touch all the things you just touched and then hand them back to you after she touched them. Remember that? Fun times. COVID did so much damage. We watched churches close. We watched Christians buy into fear. Do you know how much venom was spewed at me from people who left our church? Because how How dare we? How dare we? We should close the church. I was rebuked. But you know, with all the damage that happened as a result of COVID, there have been a lot of amazing things that God has done as a result. And here's one good thing that happened with COVID. You know, when we stand here and say, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid. Well, it showed us who really meant it.33:40Do you really believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Do you really believe that? Then you'll serve God without fear. Without fear. What's the worst thing anybody can do to me? Kill me. You can't threaten me with heaven. Bring it. No fear. The resurrection stops my fear. Then finally, Number three, the resurrection selects my friends. He says, do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Do not be deceived. Paul's like, stop lying to yourself. Bad company ruins good morals. Understand this. Please hear me.34:37a whole nother big long word study. But when he talks about bad company, he's talking about people you are very, very closely associated with. Your BFFs. Okay? That's what he's talking about here. Bad company ruins good morals. Don't lie to yourself. Bad company ruins good morals. Alright? Alright? And you're like, wait, wait, wait. That seems like an awfully random proverb to just drop.35:07up in here, doesn't it? Paul's like, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection, Proverb! Like, wait, wait, wait, what? What happened? Where did that come from?35:17That's a random thing, isn't it? No, it's not. Here's why. Listen, Paul says that theology is caught, not just taught.35:34You are influenced by.35:39And you become like the people that you're closest to.35:44That's just the way it is.35:47I want you to think about the people that you are closest to in your life.35:52You're just like them.35:55Look around at your friends.35:57If your friends are all knuckleheads, guess what you are?36:05If your closest friends are not believers, you're going to start embracing their values and their ways of thinking and their ways of talking, and you're going to start living just like them if you're not already.36:19And that's contrary to the way of living God has called us to.36:25Bad company ruins good morals.36:27I don't have to give much of a sales pitch here because you know it's true. You know it's true. When you hang out with your unsafe friends, don't you find it so much easier to complain right along with them? You're a Pastor Taylor servant about complaining, but you're with them and they're all complaining and you just kind of get swept up in it. Now, yeah, everything stinks to you too. You're complaining. When you hang out with your unsafe friends, do you gossip with them? I don't normally like to talk about rumors that I heard, but boy, they're just unloading. I've got to share the stuff that I think I heard. Crude remarks and jokes, you know, when you're with the guys and all the perverted nonsense. We just go right along with it. Let me tell you some jokes that I've heard. Bad company ruins good morals. You're like, wait, wait, wait, but Pastor Jeff, shouldn't we evangelize? Yeah. Listen, we're to reach the lost, not get our theology from them.37:28or learn habits from them.37:32Look at verse 34.37:35He says, Wake up from your drunken stupor as is right and do not go on sinning.37:44For some have no knowledge of God.37:46I say this to your shame.37:51He's like, Wake up.37:52Stop sinning.37:54You're acting like people who don't know God.37:57Shame on you.37:59Those we are most closely associated with are going to have the biggest impact on us. Today, did you notice the tables when you came in? Did you notice all these tables? You know what those are for? It's small group sign-up day. And I am begging you to get in a small group. Surround yourself with people who are going to push you to Jesus.38:27Instead of dragging you away from them. Do you believe in the resurrection? If you do, you can't live like those who don't know God. You can't live like you did before you came to Christ. And Paul says you can't even keep the same closest unsaved friends.39:00The resurrection selects my friends.39:06We can have our worship team join us back up here on the platform.39:10I'd like you to bow your heads.39:16You know, we, in this service, we saw, we witnessed three brave young ladies Make a public confession. Make a public declaration. Now it's your turn. To make a declaration. Just keep your heads bowed. And in light of this passage, the first declaration you need to make is this. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Can you say that? Say that in your heart to God. Say that in your heart to God. And if you're not there, like God, please manifest the truth.39:54of your word in my heart by your spirit. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and I believe everything that that means.40:08In light of the text, the second thing I want you to say to the Lord today, this week, the rest of your walk, I have nothing to fear.40:21This life, this body, is temporary. Heaven is eternal. My resurrected body that we're going to be talking about over the next couple of weeks, my resurrected body is going to be eternal. I have nothing to fear here whatsoever.40:40Can you say that in your heart before the Lord because of you, because of your promise? I have nothing to fear.40:53Then finally, Can you confess this in your heart? Before the Lord. God, you have called me to identify with the church, not the lost. And yes, we are to witness, we are to evangelize, we are to invite people to come and see. But when we identify, with people who don't know you.41:29It's going to have an effect on us.41:32God, you've given us a huge warning right here in your word.41:35Bad company ruins good morals.41:41So can you confess that in your heart before the Lord?41:43God, I want to identify with the church, not the lost.41:54Father, we thank you.41:59And it's, I guess, easy to have the positive peer pressure in this room to say these things.42:06But I pray, Father, that these truths from your word would resound in our hearts and minds.42:13That our lives, our very lives revolve around the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.42:23that we don't live in fear of anything except for the fear of the Lord. Father, we would find our greatest friendships to be other people who have made the great confession of Jesus Christ. Glorify your name, Father, in your church. We pray in Jesus' name.42:49Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 15:12-34What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Explain 1 Cor 15:29. How do “the dead” influence people to be baptized?How can you keep friendships with nonbelievers without being influenced by them?BreakoutPray for one another.

Introduction: Daniel 12:2 - And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. John 5:29 - ...those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Romans 10:9 - because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 3 Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-8): The CHURCH . (1 Cor 15:1-2) SCRIPTURE . (1 Cor 15:3-4) Isaiah 53:10 - Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Psalm 16:10 (Acts 2) - For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. EYEWITNESSES . (1 Cor 15:5-8) 3 Evidences You Have Received God's Grace (1 Corinthians 15:9-11): You don't think you're WORTHY . (1 Cor 15:9) You DEFINE yourself by grace. (1 Cor 15:10a) You are motivated to WORK by grace. (1 Cor 15:10b-11) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: We Live in Grace Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:041 Corinthians chapter 15. My wife Erin was talking to a good friend of hers, Sharon. And Sharon told her this story that I've been thinking about all week. She said she took a bunch of youth to this youth conference. And they asked everybody to stand up. We're not going to do this here today. But she asked everybody to stand up.00:34I asked everybody to stand up and asked who had been saved for a year. And did they know at least one Bible verse? And if not, sit down. Right? And then who'd been saved for two years? You know two Bible verses. If not, you can sit down. And it went up. Who's been saved five years? Do you know five Bible verses? If not, sit down. And by the time the exercise was done, nobody was standing.01:04And I keep thinking about that. It's not a matter of learning Bible verses to be like ready for Bible bowl or just in case you're on Jeopardy and New Testament is one of the categories. That's not the purpose of learning the Word of God. What is the purpose of learning the Word of God?01:35What you really believe shapes how you live. That's just a reality. You live according to what you really believe is true. We just finished a section of 1 Corinthians with Q&A. And I think it's where this Bible knowledge intersects with the biggest question.02:04we really discover the biblical ignorance of a lot of people in church. And the biggest question is, what happens after we die? You know, thinking about all of those matters, you know, our death and rapture and return of Jesus and resurrection and heaven and hell, and what about all of that? Look, I've been doing this a long time, and I've been part, of so many funerals.02:40And it's always astounding to me, at a funeral, even people that say they've been following Christ for many, many years, it's astounding to me some of the crazy unbiblical things people say.02:56For example, I've heard this many times at a funeral.03:00They're like, well, you know what? God just needed another angel. And I'm like, there is so much wrong with that statement. First of all, God needs nothing, right? Second of all, we don't turn into angels when we die. Where did you get that concept? It's biblical ignorance. That's not really the place. That's not really the place to correct people, right? You don't want a shot block there. I guess that would help to have Miles there with me, I guess, at a funeral.03:30next time that happens.03:32Like, God needs another angel.03:33Miles would just be like, you don't turn into an angel when you die.03:38If you know, you know.03:43Another crazy thing I've heard people say is, well, you know, grandma's just watching over me.03:52You know, little Joey was supposed to have a t-ball game and they were calling for tornadoes and thunderstorms and hail and blizzards and all that.03:59And it didn't.04:00We had perfect weather. Thank you, Grandma. Grandma was watching over me. Well, your Grandma might have been wonderful, but she's not God. Okay? But that's one of the crazy things people believe is our departed loved ones are orchestrating things. You know, another crazy thing, and this might be the craziest, is regarding what happens when we die afterwards, all of these matters. Some people say, well, nobody really knows.04:30That could be the craziest thing because God wrote it all down for us. And when I talk about our Bible ignorance, I hope you don't take that as a guilt trip as much as over the next few weeks we are looking at a chapter in the Bible that answers so many of the questions that so many Christians get wrong.05:00I encourage you to tune in and take notes and look very closely at what God has said. So with that said, let's just bow our heads for a second. I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful, to clearly and accurately communicate the word of God. And I will pray for you to have your heart open to receive what it is that God said. All right. Let's just take a moment and pray.05:30before you today with Thanksgiving. I thank you for your word that clears up all of these questions that we wouldn't have answers to otherwise. I thank you for the noise of the children in this room right now. It's a sign of life. And I thank you for parents that want to come and worship you and hear your word and will bring their kids. I thank you for that. Father, I just pray that you eliminate any distractions in our hearts and minds so that we can laser focus on what it is you've said in your word today.06:00This is the most important message there is. And what a tragedy it would be to leave here and have missed it. What it is you've said here in this absolutely awe-inspiring portion of your word. God, we thank you. And we pray in Jesus' name. And all of God's people said, okay, some of God's people said it. The rest weren't ready.06:30We'll try again next week. Come back to Second Service. You can try then too. Okay, so what happens when we die? Well, among many other things the Bible teaches, the Bible is crystal clear on this. You will resurrect from the dead. You will. Everybody, not just believers actually, Everybody rises from the dead. The Bible says unbelievers get an eternal body that's suited for hell and judgment. And believers in Jesus Christ get an eternal body that they will use in glory in heaven forever. Right? Daniel chapter 12 verse 2. Old Testament talks about this. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some to everlasting life. And some to shame and everlasting contempt. Jesus taught this, John chapter 5. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. There are two resurrections, one for believers, one for non-believers, an eternal body that will live forever somewhere. And 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is all about resurrection.08:00The first stretch is, appropriately, about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then the back nine of 1 Corinthians 15 is about our resurrection. Look at chapter 15, verse 1. Paul says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand.08:31You see, we just spent a lot of time, 1 Corinthians 11, 12, 13, 14, they had all these corporate worship problems. And Paul's like, okay guys, we cleared up some of the details, but the most important thing is getting back to the basics of the gospel itself. And he's talking about resurrection in this chapter. As we said, it is not resurrection.09:00Resurrection is not a part of what we believe. Resurrection is the heart of the gospel. It is the core. It is the very, it's essential to being a Christian. It is absolutely a necessary doctrine that we got to embrace. Look at what Romans chapter 10 says. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that what? God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Do you see how a belief in resurrection is directly tied to your salvation? It's non-negotiable. But of course, there's always skeptics, right? You can study the ancient Greeks. Many of the Greeks who lived in Corinth, they didn't believe in a bodily resurrection at all.10:04And even Christians today, they're just not entirely sure what happens.10:14You know, I know there's, okay, so we die, but we're with Jesus, but there is a, okay, so resurrection happens somewhere, but somewhere there's a rapture, and then like Armageddon, and...10:29Well, all of this is clearly taught in 1 Corinthians 15. So he starts with a foundation, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That's the most important thing we have to embrace, right? So on your outline, three evidences of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first evidence is the church. The first evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, And just in case you're skeptical, you're like, I'm not really sure I believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead. Okay. Well, here's the first evidence of church. Look at chapter 15 again. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.11:28The church, he's talking to brothers and sisters here, believers. Notice he says, this message, you received it, you hold fast to it, and you stand in it. Notice here that a real Christian, a real follower of Christ is someone who not only receives the gospel, but also stands in the gospel. Meaning this, a real Christian, a real Born Again, Disciple of Jesus is someone who builds their very life on the gospel. They stand in it. That's so important, church. I think it's a plague in the American church that when we say, what is faith? Faith is just agreeing to a doctrinal statement, right? Faith is just, yeah, yeah, okay, all right, I'm on board with that. Yep, yep, sure, yeah. I don't disagree with any of that. I don't argue with any of that. And they think that's where faith ends.12:26But faith isn't just some intellectual agreement. Faith is, I build my life on this. I lead my family according to what God said. I serve in the church because of what God said. I raise my kids because of what God said. I handle money and stuff because of what God said. Every aspect of my life is built on the truth of God's word. That's what biblical faith is.12:56So Paul says the first proof that we have of the resurrection is that Jesus Christ is alive and he's transforming people in the church. So I am going to ask you to raise your hand if you're sitting here today and you can honestly say the resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Gospel of Jesus Christ transformed me and changed the way that I live. Raise your hand if that's true of you. Okay, so skeptics in the room, look around. You want evidence of the resurrection? Here it is. Here are people that say Jesus Christ is alive and he's changing me. There's your first proof. Right? Oh, there's more. Number two. Scripture. This is the second proof he lists, but it's actually biblically the Most Important. Look at verses 3 and 4. He says, For I delivered to you as of first importance, which I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.14:26Okay, stop there. Do you see that phrase? In accordance with the Scriptures. Paul says, here's our second proof that Jesus rose. Because the Scriptures say that He would. You're like, what Scriptures? Well, keep in mind, when He wrote this, the New Testament was being written. This is one of the earliest books, actually. So when He was referring to the Scriptures, He was talking about what we call the Old Testament. The Jewish Scriptures. The Law and the Proverbs.14:54So what is it in the Old Testament that specifically talks about resurrection? Well, there's a few, but here's a couple of them for sure. Isaiah 53, talking about the Messiah. It says, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt. Stop there. That's the crucifixion, right? On the cross, God the Father was crushing Jesus.15:24pouring his wrath on Jesus because Jesus was an offering for guilt. That's the crucifixion. Next is the resurrection, right? He shall see his offspring. The only way that's going to happen is if he raises from the dead, right? He shall prolong his days. How's that happen? Resurrection, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Another big scripture in the Old Testament talking about resurrection is Psalm 1610. This is big because chapter 2, when Peter was preaching at Pentecost, this was the scripture that he was preaching from. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, that's the grave, or let your Holy One see corruption. The promises the Messiah, literally here, will not rot. God, you're not going to leave your Messiah to rot in the grave. That's resurrection, right? So God, in His Word, promised the Messiah would die.16:24and resurrect long before it actually happened. That's why Paul here says in verse 3, this is first importance. This is first importance. And look, we can quibble about doctrine. I really don't want to, but people do. But here's some things that there's no arguing this. These are non-negotiable truths. The most important things you must believe, he lists them right here, that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised. You're like, wait, wait, wait. Why do I have to believe that Jesus was buried? Like, that seems like a weird thing that I have to believe. Well, the point is, he was actually dead. Because there's some people that think that he looked dead. He was beat with an inch of his life, but he didn't actually die. No, believing he's buried is saying, I believe that Jesus literally in the flesh was dead. And that he rose.17:24from the dead.17:27But look at the phrase again, verse 3, right there in the middle.17:32Christ died, look at this phrase.17:36For our sins.17:41Excuse me.17:42For our sins.17:44Why did Christ die?17:46For our sins.17:50Jesus did not die to make you healthy and wealthy like some prosperity preachers teach.17:54Jesus did not die as a victim of circumstances. As I've heard people say, oh, they got poor Jesus. Jesus didn't even just simply die as a martyr that stood up for a cause. And no, no, no, no, no. It's so much deeper than that. Jesus died for our sins. What does that mean? That means we are by birth and by nature rebellious towards God and His ways. Every one of us. We stand guilty and condemned before a holy God and we have no excuse. We have no means to make it up to God by good works. So Jesus, on the cross, gave His life. Why? For your sins. He experienced the wrath of God for your sins so you wouldn't have to.18:53So the guilt of your sin would be taken away. And Jesus was raised. To defeat death. How do we know? How do we know Jesus died? How do we know he was buried? How do we know he was raised? How do we know what all of that means? And what Paul says here, it's in accordance with the scriptures. This is the promise of God. All right, so the first witness, we got people right here that say Jesus Christ transformed you.19:23His resurrection changes the way you live. And then we have the proof of God's word, but there's other proof too, right? Look at verses 5 through 8. These are eyewitnesses. He says, and that He appeared to Cephas, that's Peter, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.19:55He's like, you can fact check me on that if you want.19:59Because a bunch of these people are still alive.20:02He says, then He appeared to James.20:05That's Jesus' half-brother.20:09Mary and Joseph had children after Jesus.20:12Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, but the Bible says Mary and Joseph had other kids.20:16They're listed by name.20:19James was one of them, early leader in the church.20:21All right?20:22Then he appeared to James. Then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. So this isn't an exhaustive list, okay? There's more people we see even in Scripture that saw the resurrected Christ, but Paul gives us, this is more than enough, right? We've got Peter, the disciples, more than 500. We've got James, Jesus' half-brother, all the apostles.20:51Paul says, then to me.20:57And that's pretty significant. Why?20:59Because some would say, well, you know all these people that say Jesus rose from the dead, they were all big fans of Jesus, and they all loved Jesus, and they all wanted to follow Jesus, and they were all so sad when he died, so they made it up.21:12They so badly wanted Jesus to be the Messiah that they just made it up.21:17They made up the resurrection.21:19Well, there's a big problem with that theory. And the big problem with that theory is Paul. Paul wasn't a believer. He didn't even want to believe to the point that he was persecuting the church. He had zero motivation to make it up. So did Jesus resurrect? Well, Paul says, we have way too many people affirming it.21:49to ever deny it. You know, almost as amazing as the resurrection is the means by which eternal life is granted. Look at verse 9. Paul says, Christ appeared to him in verse 8. He says, For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Paul's like, I'm so unworthy of anything from God because I persecuted the church.22:49Insert your favorite sin or the sin that defined you into this and say something like, you know, I'm unworthy of God because I've lived my life by lust. Or I'm unworthy of God because I've lived my life just full of bitterness and hatred and unforgiveness. That's just the person I was.23:19of God. Anything from God. You could say, I'm unworthy because I've just been a liar. I just lie.23:34My whole life has been about deceiving people.23:38Maybe somebody else would say, I'm unworthy of God because you know my whole life, it's just all been about me.23:46I just live a self-centered life. Whatever makes me happy, that's all I I care about. And I never cared about anyone else or anything else. And that's who I was. And God should have given me his wrath. But instead, he gave me his grace. Look at verse 10.24:18Verse 10, he says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. Let's talk about grace. You could go to a theology book and what is grace? Grace is unmerited favor. You don't deserve it. God has chosen to give you His blessing, but we've done not a thing to deserve anything from God. That's grace. The best definition I've ever heard of grace is this. Grace is God giving to you what He requires from you. You know what God requires from you? Perfection, holiness, righteousness. That's what God requires from you. You don't got it. I don't got it.25:18Grace is God giving to us the very thing that he requires from us. That's my favorite definition. And some of you know my favorite illustration of grace. When I try to think of what's the difference between like some of these biblical terms, this little story, I think of this often. It helps me. But just imagine you have a teenage son. Some of you do. Some of you did. Some of you will.25:48Teenage son. He's 16 and he goes to this party. But there's another teenage boy there. He just hates your son. No reason. Just hates him. And this other boy was waiting for your son to show up and he just kills him. Cold-blooded. Just kills your son. You see, if you track that boy down that killed your son, you track him down You kill him. That's called vengeance. But if you cooperate with the police and help find this kid who murdered your son and you get him arrested and through the legal system, that's called justice. But if this kid is in the legal system, you show up to court and somehow, somehow you convince the court.26:48to not punish the boy who murdered your son. Just let him go free. Don't punish him. That's called mercy. But if you go to the court and you convince them, not only don't punish the boy who murdered my son, not only let him free, but I want to raise him as my own son and love him and care for him.27:18I want to adopt him. That is grace. And I love that story because it's so accurate. We murdered God's son so that God could adopt us. He allowed, he ordained all of that to happen with Jesus Christ so that he could.27:50Adopt us. That's grace. But you know, we have a hard time with grace, don't we? We have a hard time because there's something in us that says, look, I have to do something to be right with God. I mean, I'm not buying for a second that I can be saved.28:18Just based on what God has done, and that I don't contribute some kind of work to it. But the Bible's clear, you can't earn it. You can't work for it. And you can't be good enough to get it. Because if you could, if there was some way that you could earn God's favor, then you have to explain why Jesus died on that cross.28:53It's grace. Like, well, is there something I have to do? Yeah, actually, there is one thing you have to do. It's the same thing you have to do with any gift that is being offered to you. You have to receive it.29:18The Bible says grace is a gift. So the question is, did you receive that gift? Did you receive that gift? Well, rest of your outline. Here's three evidences you've received God's grace. See, that's the real question. We can look.29:48at the word of God. And we can look at the testimony of others. But the question is, what about me? Have I actually received the grace of God? Or have I just been a church attender, a seat warmer, a pew sitter? Is that me? Or have I actually received God's grace? Well, the evidences to the resurrection that we just looked at, those were all, external, subjective, subjective, subjective, things, right? But when we're asking, have you received the grace of God? Have you received this gift? This is an internal thing. This is very subjective. Only you really can answer these questions. Have you received God's grace? Have you? Well, here's three evidences. The first one.30:50Letter A, you don't think you're worthy. Look at verse 9 again with me, please. He says, for I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Unworthy. Listen, you have to recognize that you're unworthy.31:20We've talked about this before. We have people get upset with us here at the church. We have people leave the church because we just want the sermons to be a little more uplifting. We just want... Can't you make us feel good? Listen, you have to recognize that you're unworthy because if you think that you're worthy, if you think you're worthy of something from God, then it's not grace.31:48If you think you're worthy of something from God, you get this idea in your head that God owes you something. And he doesn't. You see, Paul, Paul, of all people, Paul could have said, I see why God picked me. I mean, come on. Do you know how much scripture I know? Do you know the connections I have? I got a triple A membership.32:17I can see why God picked me. I have so much to offer the Almighty. Is that what he said? No. He goes, I am so unworthy. And that's the point that people miss. I say, well, you know, I'm a good person and I do good things.32:47God should let me into heaven. The problem with that is, yeah, you might be a good person and you might do good things, but you're still guilty of sin. And you're like a criminal in court saying, yes, your honor, I know I'm guilty, but from now on, I'm going to try to do better. And no judge is going to let the guy walk out. Because despite this criminal's best intentions, or despite this criminal maybe having a track record, of doing some good things with his life in the past. The reality is, he's still guilty. And you have to take an honest assessment and humble yourself before God. Like, look, I'm not worthy of God's grace. I'm not. Here's a beautiful thing, though. God's grace, though it says nothing about me, it says everything about him.33:47But this is true of everyone who has actually received God's grace. They're like, I know I'm not worthy. I'm not. God has been so good to me. And he has done everything for me. And he has saved me. And he has provided for me. And I don't deserve a thing. That's true of people who have received God's grace. Letter B, you define yourself by grace.34:17Evidence that you receive God's grace because you define yourself by that grace. Verse 10 again. He says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain. When you truly receive God's grace, you're defined by it. But you're like Paul, by God's grace, I am what I am.34:48I'm a child of God. How so? By His grace. I'm forgiven of all my sin. How can that be? God's grace. I am promised eternal life and glory. Like, how do you know? It's just God's grace. It's not me, it's Him. See, somebody could come along when you're like, you know, I'm, look, I'm, I'm a child of God. I am forgiven. And I am heaven bound. Somebody could come along and say, how can that be? You're trash. Like, yeah, I am trash. That's who I was. But you see, God's grace says, that's not what I am anymore. This is who I am now. Many years ago, we did a weekly Bible study.35:47in Butler County Prison. And occasionally there would be one little problem with that in that I grew up in Shakura. So occasionally at Butler County Prison, I would run into people that I went to high school with. Either working as a guard or wearing straight pajamas or whatever. But I would go in and they'd be like, hey, Jeff, what are you up to? And I'm like, well, you know, I came in here for Bible study. They're like, you're, They knew me from high school. I was not a good person. Okay? And they're like, so what are you doing now? And I'm like, I'm a pastor. And they're like, what? Like, you're a pastor. And they laugh. I have people like laughing in my face. Like, you're a pastor. Like, how can that be? They knew. They knew who I was. They knew some of the things that I did. They're like, how can that be that you're a pastor?36:47You know what my response is? It's by God's grace that I am what I am. How about you? Have you been known for doing things that you aren't very proud of? And somebody could rightly come along and get in your face and say, how could someone like you think you're going to serve God? How could someone like you think you're going to end up in heaven someday?37:19And you're like, it's God's grace.37:23It's not me.37:25It's God's grace.37:30See, this is a beautiful thing.37:33Church, grace redefines you.37:39Grace redefines you.37:40You're not living in the past.37:43You're not living in shame.37:48You're not oblivious. Okay, yeah, yeah. Okay, that's who I was. But that's not who God says I am now. God is constantly growing me and changing me and conforming me into the image of His Son. God says I am a child of His. That's who I am. Like, what gives you the right to say that? It's grace.38:16It's grace. My friend, something is going to define you. And it's either going to be your mistakes, or it's going to be God's grace. That though you didn't earn anything, you can humbly accept everything that He gives you.38:46It's grace. How do you know you got it? Well, you don't think you're worthy. You let grace define you. And the third thing we see in the text, letter C, you are motivated to work by grace. You are motivated to work by grace. Paul says his grace toward me was not in vain. Pick up from there. He says, On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. I love that. Paul says, look, okay, God gave me this gift, and God didn't waste His gift on me because I put it to use.39:44I put God's gift to use, but it wasn't really me that put the gift to use. It was sort of his grace working in me and through me. And you're like, how does that all work? Even Paul didn't know, right? If Paul didn't figure it out, what makes you think I'm going to figure it out? He's like, I work, but it's God that's working. But like all the above?40:16And see, here's the point. You don't need to figure out how all that works. Just get to work. Serve God out of love and appreciation in His power, meaning just do what He's called and equipped you to do. Just do it with everything you got. The bottom line here is this. The evidence that you receive God's grace is when you're motivated and empowered to serve Him.40:43We don't serve God out of obligation. I was saved in 1995. I didn't get into ministry to be like, okay, God, you did me a solid. Now I'm going to do you a solid. That's not it at all. We don't serve out of obligation. We don't serve begrudgingly. Okay, fine. No one else will do it. I'll do it. And we certainly don't do it, right, Pastor Taylor?41:13We don't do a complaining. What you mean? God's recruited you for his team and you're going to bellyache about that? The one that received grace will not do that. I'm just thankful to be called on the team. Let's get to work. That's what grace says. Motivated and empowered to serve him. The person who received grace says God gave me his grace and that.41:43That is what puts the fire in my belly to do everything he's called me to do with everything that I've got. And then I discover that it's the same grace that motivated me to serve. That's the same grace that empowers me to serve. How do I know I've received God's grace? Because I'm motivated to work by grace. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 15:1-11What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Define “grace”. How would you explain grace to a child? To a non-believing coworker?What did Paul say was of “first importance” (1 Cor 15:3-4)? Why is this the primary thing?How does grace redefine you (1 Cor 15:10a)? Why do you think many Christians still struggle with their past?How exactly does grace motivate you to serve God (1 Cor 15:10)?BreakoutPray for one another.

Back to letters this week listeners , It's the Letter B this time around  Expect tunes from Bon Jovi, Budgie, The Black Crowes, Big Country and Biffy Clyro We have the usual features of Shredder of the Week, Double Live, A Song of Epic Proportions and a Slice of NWOBHM.    The Show Playlist  Big City Nights - Scorpions Deep - Black Stone Cherry Bodies - Drowning Pool Be With You - Muse Brave New World - Iron Maiden All the Small Things - blink-182 To Heaven from Hell - Diamond Head Mountains - Biffy Clyro No Matter What - Badfinger Guts - Budgie Chance - Big Country  Who Will You Run to - Heart The Eagle Has Landed - Saxon Snowblind - Black Sabbath Back on the Streets - Gary Moore Big Neon Glitter - The Cult Blackbird - Alter Bridge By Your Side - The Black Crowes Blood Mary - Whitesnake Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden Hitch a Ride - Boston  Blood On Blood - Bon Jovi Hope you enjoy the Show. - remember to subscribe and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Matt and Brian 

This episode marks the long awaited return of Gimme Three A-Z. Each month, Bella, Nick, and one lucky listener will contribute a film that they adore for each letter of the alphabet. This month is we've got nothing but BANGERS for the Letter B. - We start with our audience selection: Charlie Kauffman and Spike Jonze collaborate in one of the more inventive and mind-expanding concepts to grace the silver screen with Being John Malkovich.- Bella's pick is the 2019 Scottish period piece that will make you cherish friendship and yearn for a night a music and fun. The film is called Beats. - Nick's pick is the critically acclaimed Korean drama by Lee Chang-dong. The Academy Award-nominated Burning.  ❗️SEND US A TEXT MESSAGE ❗️Support the showSign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcastYou can  keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on LetterboxdShout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

Introduction: Mark 1:8 - I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Since I'm a Member of the Body of Christ… (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) I shouldn't DOUBT the Part I Play (1 Cor 12:14-20) Because That DENIES My Purpose (1 Cor 12:14-17) Because That DISHONORS God's Design (1 Cor 12:18-20) I shouldn't DOWNPLAY the Roles of Others (1 Cor 12:21-26) By Acting Like I Don't Need ANYONE ELSE (1 Cor 12:21-24) By Exclusively Focusing on My NEEDS (1 Cor 12:25-26) By Shining the Spotlight onto ME (1 Cor 12:27-31) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Questions and Answers: How is the Church Like a Body? Taylor Brown Download Audio Transcript 00:36Please turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12-31. 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12-31. Isn't it frustrating to witness someone not do his or her job correctly? Maybe you have an employee or a direct report who constantly comes late, makes excuses, or has a suspicious number of grandparents that he has funerals he has to attend.01:06How many grandparents do you actually have? You hire a contractor to carry out a project in your house and he makes huge mistakes. And he acts very inconvenient when you come, when you ask him to come back and fix those mistakes. Your waitress has a horrible attitude and never checks on your table because she is constantly texting. You know what's even more frustrating than that? Witnessing or experiencing someone else.01:36not allow others to do their jobs correctly. You watch your favorite team lose yet again because one key player can't get his act together and he messes it up for everybody. You have a boss who is an expert in incompetence. He expects everyone to do their jobs as well as his job. You have a co-worker who makes your job so hard you can't finish this project at work because she has constantly dragging your feet and she is not communicating with you.02:10And instead of accepting that blame, taking it on herself, she points the finger of blame at you and says that it's your fault.02:19You know what's infinitely more frustrating than all the examples I've given already?02:24Witnessing a Christian refuse to do his or her job in the church.02:30or experiencing another Christian attempt to hinder you from carrying out your job in the church. Instead of contributing to the team, this person backs away, tries to go solo and do his or her own thing. Instead of building others up and encouraging them, they tear others down and diminish them. Wasted potential is a sorry sight to behold. Misused talents are squandered resources.03:02Missed opportunities for ministry are to be grieved. As you learned over the past eight months in 1 Corinthians, the church is commanded to be unified and purified. Unfortunately, this unity is undervalued, ignored, and tested by many who should know better. This purity is jeopardized, abused, and cast aside by many who claim to know and love Jesus Christ.03:30Excuses are made and commitments are unkept. Complaints are spoken instead of genuine praise. Zooming in on me and what I want is far more common than focusing on us and what we need. Am I describing you? Am I describing your contribution to the church?04:00Ask yourself, am I contributing to the unity and purity of Harvest Bible Chapel, or am I subtracting from it? Are you neglecting to do your job in the church? Are you standing in the way of others and making it hard for them to carry out their jobs in the church? Take a moment to go before the Lord and consider those questions.04:32Quiet your heart and ask God to convict you today. Ask God to challenge you today. Ask God to change you today. Go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we come before you as your people for the most important appointment of the week. May we not be distracted. Or may we truly dial in to what what you want to teach us this morning. Lord, may you show us who you've called us to be and what you've commanded us to do. I pray we'd all walk out of this room with a different vision of the church and a different idea of what we are called to do individually in the church. I ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We are in the Q&A section of 1 Corinthians. Paul is addressing questions that this congregation asked him in a previous And last week, Pastor Jeff showed us Paul's answer to the Corinthians' question about spiritual gifts. Every single believer is given at least one spiritual gift that is to be used to bless the church and advance the gospel. No one is skipped over. No one is forgotten. No one is left giftless. And these gifts are to unite, not divide.06:00And Paul continues to answer this question in chapter 12, verses 12 through 31, by providing a powerful illustration. He compares the unity of the church body to the unity of a physical human body. Check out what he has to say in verse 12 of chapter 12.06:30So it is with Christ. I'm going to ask you a very easy question, and I'm even going to let you cheat to get the right answer. So everyone, look down and give yourself a quick once-over. Come on, go do it. Are you ready for my question? How many bodies do you have? It's not your question. Just one, you got the answer right. Great job.07:01I'm asking you an easy follow-up question. You can look down again if you have to. How many body parts do you have? Do you have more than one body part? Yes, you have more than one. According to Dr. Google, which is never wrong, you have 78 organs, 206 bones, and 30 to 40 trillion cells. You have individual body parts, legs, feet, toes, toenails, arms, Arms, Hands, Hands, Fingers, Fingernails, Heart, Lungs, Kidney, Stomach, Pancreas, Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Nose, Nose, Hairs, Mouth, Teeth, Gums, Tongue, Uvula.07:41And on the list goes. Sorry, Pastor Jeff's uvula was swollen this week, and you're talking about it a lot, so I had to add that.07:50He was sick. That was the reason why.07:54But these individual parts do not operate or function independently from one another.08:00Instead, they work together as one body. They serve different roles. They carry out the same mission to keep you alive and kicking. And Paul is saying this truth about your physical body applies to the church body as well. Yes, we all have different roles. We all have different functions. But we do not operate independently from one another. We work together as one body.08:30same mission to lift high the name of Jesus Christ by making disciples.08:37And you may be thinking, hold on a minute.08:39This illustration seems to break down a bit because I've always had my physical body.08:44It's the only one I've got.08:46How did I become a part of the church body?08:48When did that happen?08:50It's a great question.08:52Thankfully, Paul answers it in verse 13.08:55He says, For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit. You realize at one point you didn't exist. There was no you. Then you popped into existence and you grew in your mother's womb. And at one point you were born into this world with your physical But if you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, if you have been saved and given new life in Him, you have experienced more than just one birth. According to God's Word, you've experienced a new birth. And on your spiritual birthday, you were brought into the body of Christ. You became a part of the body of Christ. And this second birth is a work of the Holy Spirit, who Paul That sounds really cool. What in the world does that mean? Baptized in the Holy Spirit. Well, 2,000 years ago, John the Baptist baptized men and women in water as a sign of their repentance. But John was up front. He was very clear that he was not the point. He was not the be-all and end-all. He came to point to someone greater than him. He says, He says, I baptize with water, but He will baptize with the Holy Spirit.10:37Who is this greater person?10:39Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit?10:42Jesus Christ Himself.10:46This has massive implications for my life, your life, and the life of this church body.10:52This means that I, Taylor Samuel Brown, wasn't just baptized in water on July 30, 2000 by Pastor Jesse Boggs at Northgate Church. Yes, that was an important day. That was an important baptism. But I experienced an even more important day, an even more important baptism years prior. Before that, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ. I was saved from my sins.11:25I was made into a new person.11:27I was brought into the body of Christ.11:32My water baptism was simply an outward symbol of the salvation I experienced.11:39Of this baptism in the Holy Spirit that I experienced.11:45And Paul even says that I drank of the Holy Spirit.11:50Again, sounds great, but what in the world does that mean? Well, think about it this way. When you drink something, you are filled with that liquid, aren't you? Whether it's water, coffee, wild cherry, Pepsi, or kombucha. When you drink a liquid, you are filled with that liquid. When you drink of the Holy Spirit, you are filled with the Holy Spirit. He lives within you. He takes up residence within you.12:20If you have trusted in Christ, you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. You have been filled with the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, Paul mentions different factors that would divide people back in his day. He mentions ethnicity and social status. In 2026, we live in a world where we are constantly being tried to be ripped apart because of our many differences. We have different backgrounds. We have different skin colors. We come from different financial situations. We have different careers. We have different personalities. We have different temperaments. We are different in so many ways. And as we'll discover soon, that is good news to celebrate. But we are the exact same in the most important ways. We have the same Heavenly Father. We have been redeemed by the same Savior.13:20been changed by the same Holy Spirit. We belong to the same body. Our differences may be great, but our unity in Christ and His Spirit is even greater. So after this long and theologically heavy introduction, you may be thinking, all right, this is all very interesting, but what's the point? I get it. I'm a member of the body of Christ.13:49Now, you need to be encouraged to do your job in the body of Christ. Now, you need to be encouraged to let other people do their jobs in the body of Christ. So on your outline, since I'm a member of the body of Christ, number one, I shouldn't doubt the part I play. I shouldn't doubt the part I play.14:19Some of you in this room and watching online struggle to truly believe that you have an important part to play in the life of this church. You may think to yourself, I mean, sure, this is my church and I'm involved, but if I left, nothing would change. No one would notice. I don't have an upfront role that matters. I don't play an instrument. I don't really matter here. And as one of your pastors, it deeply saddens me that some of you feel that way about you.14:51It deeply saddens me that you believe a lie about yourself instead of believing what God's word says about who you are. You do matter. You do have a part to play at Harvest. This church does need you and it wouldn't be the same without you. And I'm not just saying that to make you feel good. I'm saying that because that's what God's word says. Listen to what Paul says in verses 14 through 17.15:19For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?15:49I didn't doubt the part I play. Letter A on your outline, because that denies my purpose. Because that denies my purpose. You claiming that you have no part to play in the body of Christ because you don't have the gifting of another person is as ridiculous as your foot saying, I have no part to play in the body because I'm not a hand. I'll never be able to hammer a nail into the wall. I'll never be able to type on a keyboard, so I just give up.16:18I mean, sure, your hands can't do, your feet can't do what your hands can do. But your hands can't do what your feet can do as well, right? Walking is pretty important, right? Most of you don't agree with that. Walking is really important, right? Your hands can't do that. Okay, good. Man, you are sitting right now, but eventually you will have to get up and walk away.16:45You claiming that you have no part to play in the body of Christ is as insane as your ears saying, I have no part to play in the body because I'll never be able to look at the Grand Canyon. I'll never be able to stare up at a starry night. So I'm just going to tune out and call it a day. I mean, yeah, your eye is important, but your eyes can't do what your ears can do. Without your ears, you wouldn't be able to hear anything. Just imagine if your entire body was just just one feature. Eyes are beautiful, aren't they? I love my wife's eyes the most, and I could stare into her eyes for hours. But imagine if Kate was just a big eyeball and nothing else. There's a big eye bouncing around my house and sleeping in the bed next to me at night. That sounds like the premise of a horror movie. I mean, yeah, I'd still love her because I made a vow to her 12 years ago, but That'd be pretty rough. That'd be hard. A big eye has 20-20 vision, but it can't really do anything else. A big ear has great hearing, but it can't really do much else. Now imagine if every single person in this church had the same exact gifting and function. Would that be productive or disastrous? It would be a total and complete I have been in a room with thousands of preachers before.18:20Imagine if those thousands of preachers tried to carry out the same function in the same church.18:27There would be arguments about who does what.18:29The bills would never get paid.18:31The building would fall in disrepair and probably burn down.18:34Preaching is an essential function of the church, but is not the only function.18:41Some of you men in this room do have a preaching gift.18:44We are so thankful for you. You realize it's very different. It's very unique to have this many guys who can preach a message in a church. That doesn't happen everywhere. God has gifted this church. But others of you guys do not have a preaching gift. And that is not something to be upset about. That is not a bad thing. Not everybody has the gift of preaching. Not everyone has an upfront role.19:14If your part is behind the scenes, it matters. Maybe your part is in the AV booth. Without Mike back there, without all the AV team back there, no one would be able to hear the sermons. I'd just scream at the top of my lungs for you to hear me. Without Ben and Lincoln working on the sermons afterwards, people across the country and across the world wouldn't be able to hear it, which does happen.19:43Maybe your part is being on the prayer team. You show the rest of the body what it looks like to faithfully lift up the needs of the saints to the Lord. Maybe your part is security. You function as the antibodies of the church that keeps the rest of the body safe. Maybe your part is working at Harvest Academy or working as an adult leader in Arrow. You are training up the future generation in Jesus Christ.20:14is leading a small group. You are on the front lines of congregational care and discipleship. Maybe your part is on the relocation and building committee with Pastor Rich and the others. You help formulate the budget. You count on Sundays. I can keep going and going and going. Without a doubt, you do have a part to play. Stop believing that you do not matter. Stop being envious of others. Stop denying your purpose at harvest.20:45I shouldn't doubt the part I play because that denies my purpose. Letter B, I shouldn't doubt the part I play because that dishonors God's design. Because that dishonors God's design. Let's look at verses 18 through 20. But as it is, God arranges the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?21:18When you badmouth a team's starting lineup and strategies, who are you ultimately dishonoring? The coach who decides who starts and designs the place. If you pick apart every single detail of a restaurant and complain about it to everyone that you know, who are you dishonoring ultimately? The manager, the owner, who decides who to hire, who makes all the big decisions. If you complain about your gifting and part in the body, who are you ultimately dishonoring? God himself. He is the one who created you. He is the one who designed his church. Paul says that God arranges the members in the body, each of them as he chose. When you are discontent with your part in the church, you aren't just hurting yourself, and you are hurting yourself.22:13You aren't just shortchanging your fellow members. You aren't just making ministry hard for the pastors, elders, and other leaders. You are accusing God. You are saying something about Him that is not true. You are shouting this message to your Creator. God, you made a mistake with me. I deserve a do-over. You could have done better. Is that a great message to send to the most important and powerful person the universe. No, it is not. Because God doesn't need a do-over. Because he nails everything on the first try. God did not make a mistake with you. He designs you purposefully and puts you into his church with purpose and design. It's a complete waste of time, energy, and effort to resist the Lord. So cut it out. Get on board with his plans for the body. Lean into your God-given part instead of backing away from it. Do your job in the church because it was personally chosen for you. Since I'm a member of the body of Christ, I shouldn't doubt the part I play. Since I'm a member of the body of Christ, number two on your outline, I shouldn't downplay the roles of others. I shouldn't downplay the roles of others.23:44from sabotaging yourself to sabotaging others. It is foolish to stand in your own way, but it is wicked to stand in the way of other people. As we just talked about, many of you struggle with a low view of yourself and how God has gifted you. Others of you have the exact opposite problem. You have a low view of others and how God has gifted them.24:13In the next several verses, Paul warns you to not downplay the roles of others in the church. Listen to verses 21 through 24.24:43which are more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it. I shouldn't downplay the roles of others, letter A on your outline, by acting like I don't need anyone else. By acting like I don't need anyone else. So Paul turns the tables on the Corinthians as well as you and me in these verses. He flips the scenario.25:13First, he says it's dumb for a foot or an eye to say that they're not a part of the body. Now he says it's dumb for the eye or the head to tell other parts of the body that they don't matter. This kind of attitude is arrogant. This game of comparison misses the point. You know, naturally, we all create lists of importance and systems of ranking.25:43a to-do list that you want to complete, right? Where do you put the items that you think are the most important? Top of the list, right? Where do you put the items that you think are probably the least important? At the bottom of the list. Several months ago, many of you took part in the college basketball brackets, right? You decided which teams you thought were the best and which teams you thought were the worst. If I were to ask you your favorite movies, you could list them very quickly. If I were to ask you to list your least favorite movies, you could do it even quicker. We naturally evaluate everything. We're constantly grading other people's performances. We form our own personal rankings. And this was happening in the Corinthian church back in the first century. There were the spiritual elite at the top of the charts who looked down on those they thought were weaker, less honorable, and even unpresentable.26:45Paul says those brothers or sisters who seem weaker are actually indispensable. Those who seem to have a less than honorable role deserve greater honor. Those who seem unpresentable should be treated with the utmost respect. You may be thinking, oh, Pastor Taylor, I'm not spiritually elite. I don't look down at other people. I don't act like I don't need anyone else.27:16Are you sure about that? Are you sure? Do you make excuses for why you can't be in community with other believers? Do you refuse to join a small group or be involved in other ministries that we offer here like fishermen, live, laugh, lunch, precepts, mugs and moms? You say you don't have time or energy for these things, but inwardly you know that's not true.27:43By not joining a small group or participating in any of these ministries, you are communicating a loud and clear message, I'm doing just fine on my own. I don't need anyone else. I am self-sufficient. Maybe you are a part of a small group of one of the other ministries that I mentioned, but as soon as you walk in, you put up your defense shields. You don't share a detail of your life with anybody. No one knows anything about what you're struggling with or how they can pray for you because you don't.28:13tell them. You don't want to trust anybody else because they might let you down. You were hurt in the past and so you think, well, it's going to happen again, so I'm not even going to try. Are you someone who comes in late and leaves early because you are terrified of knowing others and being known? You're acting like you don't need anyone else. Are there people in this room or the other service that you actively avoid?28:45Is there a guy in your small group that you intentionally leave out of conversations and hangouts? Is there a woman down the aisle from you who you are blatantly rude to face to face and make fun of behind closed doors? All of these behaviors are childish. All of these behaviors are reflective of the Corinthians, not Christ. All of those behaviors hurt the body and do not help the body.29:14I shouldn't downplay the roles of others by acting like I don't need anyone else. Letter B, I shouldn't downplay the roles of others by exclusively focusing on my needs. By exclusively focusing on my needs. Let's read verses 25 through 26. That there may be no division in the body, that the members may have the same care for one another.29:44All suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together.29:53Have you ever been walking around your house minding your own business whenever you stub your pinky toe on the bed or a bench or a chair?30:01Let me ask you, in that moment, is it just your pinky toe that reacts?30:07Does the rest of your body think, man, sucks to be pinky, too bad for him.30:11I'm just gonna kinda do my own thing for a little while he calms down. No, when you stub your pinky toe, the pause button is pressed on life and nothing else matters. Your whole body reacts, your face grimaces, your mouth yells out some things that you hope nobody else hears. Your back arches, your hands reach down and grab your damaged foot and you pogo stick around on the undamaged foot and then your eyes inspect the damage. Your whole body reacts to the pain.30:43You ever had a bad back problem? Or a nagging tooth pain? Are you able to compartmentalize that and not think about it? Now when your back hurts, it's game over for your day. If your tooth is throbbing, you have one all-consuming thought, end the pain right now. Your whole body feels the pain of even its smallest member.31:12The same should be true of the body of Christ. If one person is in pain, all of us should be in pain. If there is a need, we should all rise up to meet that need. If someone in your small group has a big surgery or a major medical issue, start a meal train. Go visit them in the hospital. Take care of tasks around the house.31:41If there's someone on your serving team who loses a family member, show up at the funeral. Show up at the visitation. Your presence will speak far louder than any words you could possibly share. Care about the pain of other people. Meet the needs of others. Care about what other people need, even more than what you need. If one member suffers, all suffer together.32:11If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Here's a question that's been nagging at me all week. Do I love to celebrate the victories of other people? Very often the answer is no. What about you? Do you love to celebrate the victories of other people? Do you rejoice with other Christians?32:41When something good happens to another Christian in your life, do you think, praise the Lord, what a blessing? Or do you think, man, when's it going to be my turn? Nothing good ever happens to me like it does to that guy. When there's a couple in this church that has a solid marriage and really great godly children, do you think to yourself, man, what a great example that I want to follow? Or do you think to yourself, when will my family get it together? I'll never be like Mr. and Mrs. Perfect. I wish they'd stop rubbing it in my face.33:13You have to understand that other people's success is not your failure. According to Paul, their success is your success because you are a part of the same body. Let's share in the pain together. Let's share in the joy together. Let's thank the Lord in the good times together. And let's trust the Lord in the hard times together.33:41I shouldn't downplay the roles of others by acting like I don't need anyone else. I shouldn't downplay the roles of others by exclusively focusing on my needs. Finally, I shouldn't downplay the roles of others by shining the spotlight onto me. By shining the spotlight onto me. Let's wrap up with verses 27 through 31. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, These verses are jam-packed with a ton of stuff that we cannot get into. We don't have the time right now.34:41But it's really important to see that Paul mentions an office that no longer exists today. The office of apostle. Some churches have not got that memo yet. God is not posting apostleship jobs on Indeed. He is not hiring or looking to fill that position in 2026. Paul also talks about the sign gifts like speaking in tongues, miracles, and healing. Thankfully, I don't have to wade into that controversial topic because Pastor Jeff did it last week and he'll do an even deeper dive this summer.35:11Sometimes it pays to be the associate pastor.35:15But for now, catch the principle that Paul is communicating instead of getting bogged down in the details.35:21And the best way to do that is to answer the layup questions that Paul asks.35:25Let's go through the list.35:26And you have to participate.35:27You have to answer the question.35:29There's one obvious answer for all of them.35:31Are all apostles?35:33Good job.35:34Are all prophets?35:36Are all teachers?35:38Do all work miracles?35:39Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? What's Paul's point? God has given every single believer a spiritual gift or several spiritual gifts, but he has not given any believer all the spiritual gifts. That's not possible. You know, we have a lot of talented musicians and vocalists here at Harvest, don't we? Let's give them a round of applause and thank them for all they do for us.36:13You know, Jesse Hogan, he can sing, he can play the guitar, he can play the drums, he can play the piano. He can play three instruments and I can play none. I guess I shouldn't rank our abilities, right? I shouldn't compare. I'm sorry, I'm still learning that lesson myself. I shouldn't compare with Jesse. Jesse can play all those things, but he can't play every single instrument in the world of which there are over 1,500.36:39Also, Jesse can't play all those instruments at the same exact time. If Jesse tried to come up here and do a one-man band and try to run between the guitar, the piano, and run between the drums, he would make a total and complete fool of himself. Because prideful exaltation always leads to forced humility. Jesse needs the rest of the band around him.37:09He needs everybody else. He needs the vocalists who can't reach the notes that he cannot. He needs Chris or Jay on bass. Jesse needs everybody else working with him. You know, the Corinthians were experts in self-exaltation. Many in the church wanted to shine the spotlight onto themselves. Look again at verse 31. Paul says, On a first glance, it may look like Paul is commanding the Corinthians to seek after the biggest and best gifts, but that totally misses the point of what he's actually saying. If you pay attention to the context, he's saying the exact opposite. This word, earnestly, is most often used in the context of envy and jealousy. A better translation of this verse is, But you are jealous for the higher gifts Paul is not commending them He is not celebrating them He is correcting the Corinthians Because they desired the flashy and showy gifts Serving wasn't on their mind because they wanted to show off Paul is telling them You're not the point So stop trying to be You're not in competition with one another You are working together Be in sync with one another do your job and help other people do their job as well. And he concludes by saying, and I will show you a still more excellent way. What is that still more excellent way? It is the way of love, which Pastor Jeff will talk about next week. This whole topic of spiritual gifts and the unity of the body should be viewed the lens of love.39:05The love of Christ for us, our love for Christ, and our love for each other. Otherwise, we'll miss the point of why God even gifted us in the first place. If you have been saved by Christ, never forget that you belong to Christ. Never forget that you belong to Christ's beloved body. Since you're a member of the body of Christ, you shouldn't doubt the part that you Since you're a member of the body of Christ, you shouldn't downplay the roles of others. As this sermon concludes, some of you in this room may feel a bit left out because you're not a Christian. You are not a member of the body of Christ. As of now, you are a detached hand or foot that has no function in the church body. As of right now, you are a detached eye or ear that is not connected to anything greater than yourself. As of now, the life-giving blood of Christ does not flow in you and through you. I have to warn you, if you continue in this state of self-isolation, you will wither away and die in your sins. You will experience a life without purpose, and you will endure an eternity separated from the giver of life.40:35and the other recipients of his life. If that's you, I beg you to turn from your sin and turn to Jesus. Place the full weight of your faith upon him, what he has done through his life, death, and resurrection. And then, and only then, will you be forgiven and given new life. Then, you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit. You will be brought into the body of Christ.41:04you will be placed into the perfect role that you were made for. You will be given the high honor and responsibility of serving Christ and his body. We'd love for you to join us. Let's pray. Father, we come to you and we thank you for your word. We thank you for the encouragement and the conviction that we all experienced. Lord, if there is someone in this room who is currently not a member of the body of Christ, who is not saved. May today be the day where they finally say no to sin and yes to your son.41:43And for the rest of us, Lord, may we do our jobs.41:47May we let other people do their jobs.41:49May we work together and encourage each other.41:51Lord, we thank you for all that you're doing with this new building project.41:57Lord, none of that matters if we can't work together now.42:01May we be faithful now.42:03May we work together now. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 12:12-31What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Re-read 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 - What does it mean that we are baptized in the Spirit and drink of the Spirit? Why is this so important for church unity? Do you ever doubt the part you play in the body of Christ? How can you fight against this discouragement? How do you see professing Christians standing in the way of others and downplaying their roles in the church? How do you see this disturbing trend within yourself? What does it look like to prioritize the needs, hurts, and victories of other members in the church body over your own? BreakoutPray for one another.

Introduction: What About Spiritual Gifts? (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) Spiritual Gifts are FROM God and FOR Every Believer. (1 Cor 12:4-6) Spiritual Gifts Are to Be Used to BLESS the CHURCH. (1 Cor 12:7) Spiritual Gifts Come in Many FORMS. (1 Cor 12:8-10) 2 Corinthians 12:12 - The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. Hebrews 2:4 - while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Wisdom Knowledge Faith Healing Miracles Luke 9:1 – And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases Prophecy Distinguish between spirits Tongues Interpretation of tongues Spiritual Gifts Are Given at the HOLY SPIRIT'S DISCRETION. (1 Cor 12:11) SEEK God. Consider the INTERSECTION. Take an ASSESSMENT. Take the Spiritual Gifts Test! Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Questions and Answers: What About Spiritual Gifts? Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:38Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Corinthians 12.00:45While you're turning there, let's just pause for a second, and I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me00:53to be faithful to communicate God's Word accurately and clearly as I should.01:01And I will pray for you to be open to receive what it is that God said. All right, let's pray. Father, sometimes we come to your word and I guess some passages seem to hit some of us more than others. And we're about to enter into a section that according to your word literally is for every single one of us. So I pray.01:31That Your Spirit would be the power behind the wisdom of Your Word and that You would continue to conform us into the image of Your Son, not just individually, but as a church body. Father, glorify Your name as we immerse ourselves into Your Word now. We pray in Jesus' name and all of God's people,02:02Amen. Look at 1 Corinthians 12, verse 1. Paul says,02:07Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.02:18This section of 1 Corinthians has been a big Q&A section.02:25They had sent Paul questions and he was responding with answers.02:28And up to this point, we've mainly been dealing with earthly matters. We've been talking about liberty and marriage and gender. And now we're on to more, I guess you could say, spiritual matters. And he says, concerning spiritual gifts, look at that verse 1, I do not want you to be uninformed. I don't want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.02:58Spiritual Gifts. Wow, that's a phrase that really describes the church today. Right? Because as always, church, we will go to either side of the extreme. When we talk about spiritual gifts, immediately you're going to have some people on one end of the spectrum that just completely neglect or ignore them. And think, oh, that's just like,03:28Goofy, charismatic stuff, but we're like sober-minded people. You completely dismiss the role that the Holy Spirit has in the work of the church. They're just neglected. And we do church according to human intellect and creativity. And then you have people on the other end of the spectrum that don't neglect the gifts. You could say they misrepresent the gifts of the Holy Spirit.03:58And over on the other extreme, people are doing all kinds of goofy things in church saying that it's a work of the Holy Spirit. We're slain in the Spirit and we're hooping and hollering and barking and howling. It's a gift of the Spirit. Excuse me. Absolutely essential in your work for Christ. Absolutely essential04:28in the health of the church, in the health of this church, you have to understand what spiritual gifts are, and you have to use your spiritual gift in the church. All right, look at verse 2. He says, you know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols. However, you were led. What he's doing here is he's setting up a contrast.04:58by idols.05:00And we're going to see this as we go throughout this section,05:03but the Corinthians in their former pagan lifestyle05:07learned a lot of bad methods of worship.05:11Pagan methods of worship.05:13And they brought those into the church.05:15Like, I guess this is how we worship.05:17And Paul here is making the contrast.05:20Like, look, no, no, no.05:22You used to be led by idols.05:24Now, now you are led by the Holy Spirit of God.05:30The Holy Spirit. Somehow, despite how essential His role is in the church, He just doesn't seem to get the press that the other members of the Trinity get, right? I mean, we talk about Jesus a lot. His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. His resurrection from the dead.05:58We talk about God the Father a lot. But God the Holy Spirit, just is essential. The Bible says that every Christian, every born-again Christian receives the Holy Spirit. That's Romans 8 and 9, among other places. That's God's presence abiding in you. Why? Why does God's Spirit live in you? Well, there's two main reasons. One is for character, right?06:28The Holy Spirit manifests the character of Christ in you. That's the fruit of the Spirit. That's Galatians 5. That's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer manifesting those characteristics. So it's character. The other reason the Holy Spirit lives in believers is for service.06:58And that's what we're talking about in this passage today. Every believer is given a spiritual gift to be used in the church. And you're like, wow, you know, how do I know that I even have the Holy Spirit? Well, look at verse 3. Paul says, therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says,07:28Jesus is accursed. And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit. So how do you know you have the Holy Spirit? Here's a foundational test. How do you regard Jesus? And I don't just mean what do you say about Jesus here in church on Sunday morning or at small group. I mean in your heart, in your innermost being privately,07:58How do you regard Jesus Christ? In your heart, is Jesus Christ everything to you? Because your true heart disposition towards Jesus is manifest by the Spirit. If you're born again, Paul says, you cannot curse Jesus. And apparently some of that stuff was happening in the Corinthian church. That's a whole other study for another time.08:28Paul says, if you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you absolutely will regard Jesus Christ as your Lord. The Holy Spirit. He's not just for preachers and missionaries, by the way. The Christian life, every Christian's life, is a Holy Spirit-led and empowered life. So the question that Paul's getting into here, and Pastor Taylor's going to be talking about this more next week, here's the question on the table.08:58They asked. He's answering, so what about spiritual gifts? I mean, what are spiritual gifts? And how is it that the Holy Spirit uses spiritual gifts in the church? So on your outline, what about spiritual gifts? What about them? Paul's giving us a great foundational teaching on Holy Spirit gifts.09:28Number one, write this down. Spiritual gifts are from God and for every believer. Look at verses four through six. He says, now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities,09:58is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. He says there's many kinds of spiritual gifts, but notice he says they all come from God. And he really wants to make that point clear because you notice he mentioned every member of the Trinity as being the source of spiritual gifts. You notice that? He talks about the Holy Spirit in verse 4. He talks about Jesus Christ, the Lord, in verse 5. He talks about God, the Father,10:28in verse 6. Spiritual gifts are gifts that come from God. Now, understand that spiritual gifts are different than talents. Okay? Like a skill that you have to play an instrument or to paint a mural. Spiritual gifts are different, but listen. I can show you biblically, and that's a study for another time.10:58come from God. Absolutely.11:03But here we're talking about ministry gifts.11:06Church ministry must be Spirit-powered, not done in the flesh.11:15Why?11:19Because if we're just doing ministry in our power, in man's power,11:25we're going to get man's results.11:27But when ministry is done in God's power, we get God's results. So which do you want? At the end of the day, I want to see what God can do in this church, not what I can do. But you notice the end of verse 6, beginning of verse 7, to everyone, to each. Listen, because every Christian possesses the Holy Spirit, all Christians, all Christians are given a spiritual gift.11:59It's so fascinating because every gift is a characteristic of Jesus Christ Himself. You realize He had everything perfectly. Think about that. Jesus, God in the flesh, who embodied every characteristic perfectly. You see the Holy Spirit giving us a spiritual gift. What's going on here? Here's what's going on. The church is called the body of Christ.12:29And each member is given a gift so that collectively, we as the body of Christ become a sort of representation of Jesus Christ himself. It's absolutely mind-blowing. But God wants the church to be Christ-like, and this is how it happens. We each use our spiritual gift. We're collectively built up in all of the characteristics that Jesus Christ possessed perfectly in the Incarnation.12:57So, spiritual gifts from God for every believer. All right, number two, spiritual gifts are to be used to bless the church. Look at verse 7. He says, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For the common good.13:28It's kind of funny when you think about it. You're given a spiritual gift, right? But in a real sense, the spiritual gift given to you isn't even for you. Isn't that strange? God's given you a gift, but He goes, oh, that's not for you. That's for everybody else. You see, my spiritual gift is supposed to benefit you.13:57benefit me.14:01And that's why we believe in every member of ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel.14:05If you're attending here, if you consider this your church,14:09we're not shy about asking where do you want to serve.14:15Not because we're like, we need help.14:18We do need help.14:21But that's not the primary reason.14:24It's because if you're part of the church, God has gifted you to bless the church. Right? So I have to ask you, how is God using you in this church? How's God using you? If you've been given a gift that's for the common good, how is that working in your ministry?14:55Now look, I've got to tell you, we are so blessed at this church. We were talking about this not too long ago, but we have a crazy high percentage of people who are actively serving in this church in so many ways. We're not there yet, but that number needs to be 100%. And if you're attending this church and you're not serving, please hear me.15:26I just want to lovingly tell you that God hasn't called anyone to warm a seat. Nobody's spiritual gift is attendance. We need you to be using your spiritual gift for the common good. All right? So spiritual gifts are from God for every believer. Number two, spiritual gifts are to be used to bless the church.15:54And number three, spiritual gifts come in many forms. Here's where we need to spend some time. In this section here, Paul lists nine spiritual gifts. Now, this list is not exhaustive, okay? Actually, we're not going to look there today. We're going to stick in this passage as is our custom. But you can see also Romans chapter 12. You can see Ephesians chapter 4. There are other gifts than the ones that are listed.16:24here. This isn't exhaustive. This is more just representative. Spiritual gifts come in many forms. Let's look at verses 8-10. Paul says, for to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit.16:54To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit. To another, the working of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another, the ability to distinguish between spirits. To another, various kinds of tongues. To another, the interpretation.17:24of tongues.17:27Alright, so with spiritual gifts there are two categories.17:31There are speaking gifts and there are serving gifts.17:35But there are also two kinds of gifts.17:38There are permanent gifts.17:40There are gifts that were given that will be active in the church until our Lord returns.17:46And there are gifts that are temporary that were only for a time and purpose.17:51And this is where we get controversial.18:00Because this is where a lot of people have a lot of different opinions. But are you ready to go to Sunday school for a few minutes? Three of you? Okay. Thank you. Tristan always has my back. Always. And some of you are like, I don't know if I want to get out of here.18:23this road. Well, we're going through 1 Corinthians. This is next. And we receive God's Word as presented, right? So let's do it. But I want to talk about temporary gifts. And please hear me out before you storm out. That door's hard to slam, but it can be done. Before you storm out, before you throw anything at me, I would like you to please hear me out for a few minutes, all right?18:53Because this isn't my opinion. This is what the Bible says if you read it straightforwardly. Temporary gifts, sometimes they're called sign gifts. Those are the more miraculous type gifts. Please hear me because this is where I'm going to be misquoted, but not you. Listen, those gifts are not normative today.19:23Do I believe that they still happen? 100% I do. But they are not normative. Okay? So if somebody's like, well, what is Jeff's position on some of these sign gifts? I do not believe that they are normative today. I'm going to show you why. Can God do them? Yes. But, listen close. These sign gifts, are these spiritual gifts19:53that are possessed by people in the day of Paul and the apostles. And the answer is no. They're not possessed by people as they were in Paul's day. God still does them on occasion, not normative, but they're not possessed by people. I want to talk about miracles for a moment. Pastor Taylor and I were talking about this last week.20:23I think when we read the Bible, we get this idea that miracles were just like happening all the time, right? Like Moses woke up and like before his oatmeal, he like fired off five miracles. Boom. Not a man a meal, not oatmeal. But actually miracles in the Bible were actually very rare.20:53And apart from Moses' day, and apart from the day of Jesus in the apostles' ministry, miracles performed through men were actually very rare things. So why did we see so many miracles, especially in Moses' day, and especially in Jesus' and the apostles' day? Because this is why.21:21God performed miracles through people to verify or prove when new revelation was given. That's why it was normative in Moses' day. That's why it was normative for the apostles. Because God was giving new revelation, and that was the way He verified it. Any knucklehead can run around and say,21:51this is the new word of the Lord. And like, how can you prove that? Anybody can say that. God would verify what is actually revelation from him by backing it up with people who were giving not just this message, but performing these miracles. That's why you see that in Jesus. Why did Jesus perform so many miracles? Why did Jesus perform miracles? He's putting on a show, right?22:21He wanted to dazzle people, right? Hey, check this out. Check out what I can do. Anybody got two fishes, five loaves? Let me show you a trick. No! Jesus wasn't an entertainer. Why did Jesus do all the miracles? Actually, He referred to them as signs. Why? Because they were done to prove He is who He said He is. He's like, I'm God in the flesh. And of course, you're going to have people that were like, pfft.22:51I'm not buying that. But when you see this man raising the dead, healing the sick, feeding multitudes, you're like, there's something more to him. Right? Jesus' signs proved he is who he said he is. You're like, awesome, but what about spiritual gifts? Well, same principle here. Listen, to back the apostles'23:21while the New Testament was completed, was being completed, God authenticated the gospel with sign gifts. That's what the Bible says. You're like, where does the Bible say that? Many places. I'll give you a couple. Okay? Like 2 Corinthians 12. Look, the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works. You see?23:51the true apostles were performing miracles. It was to authenticate the gospel message. Same thing in Hebrews 2.4. It says, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. Same principle as God was giving us the New Testament. You see, in those days, they didn't have the New Testament completed yet.24:21was being worked on by the Holy Spirit. So when somebody got up and said, let me tell you this message from God, how do we know it was from God? He backed it up with miracles. That's why when you go through the book of Acts, you see miracles less and less and less and less as you go through the book of Acts. We spent like three years in Acts, and that's what you see. In 1 Corinthians here, the book that we're studying, it was one of the earliest24:51written. So sign gifts were still very much a thing when Paul wrote this, but they were on their way out and they were ending as normative spiritual gifts when the New Testament was completed. That's why in none of the other epistles you see any talk about the spiritual gifts of miracles or healings or tongues or interpretation of tongues. You don't see that in any other25:21book in the New Testament.25:25Because it was phasing out.25:28We have God's word complete in written form,25:31so we don't need to verify it with a miracle.25:35God wrote it all down for us.25:37All right?25:39So, with that backdrop, I'm going to go through these quickly.25:44Each one of these could be a sermon,25:45and that's not the intention.25:49Interestingly, Paul does not explain them. He just lists them. I want to give you a little definition for each, a little understanding. So look at your spiritual gifts here, starting in verse 8. The first one is wisdom. What is wisdom? That's just skill in applying the Word of God. Do you know who typically possesses this gift are people that are counselors, whether it's formally or informally, people that are able to say, I understand how to incorporate God's truth.26:19into my life.26:21I can help you incorporate God's truth into your life.26:23It's applying the Word of God.26:24That's wisdom.26:26Next is knowledge.26:30That's understanding the Word.26:34It's somebody that can see Bible facts and knows how they fit together.26:39You know what's amazing?26:40Did you ever see these Christian authors?26:43They take like one subject and they write a whole book about it.26:46That's always amazing to me.26:48Like, how do they do that? They wrote a whole book about one subject? Well, I think a lot of them have the gift of knowledge. Right? Next is faith. Gift of faith. Now, obviously, this is faith beyond believing to get saved, because every follower of Christ has that kind of faith. Right? But you ever notice that there are some Christians that you meet that just seem to have a deeper,27:20Confidence in the Sovereignty of God. You know what I'm talking about? There's some Christians you meet, they could be going through just the worst trials a human being can go through, and they're just like, you know what? God's in control. He's got this. And they're just completely unflappable. They have the gift of faith. Those people are typically the best prayers. Right? Next on the list.27:48is healing.27:51Now again, I believe that this is one of the gifts27:55for people that was phasing out at this point.28:01But what is healing?28:02Well, it's just supernaturally healing a physical illness.28:12I wish I had that gift.28:14I wish it was still a thing.28:17And you might say, well, Pastor Jeff, I think it is still a thing. Because I saw this guy on TV. He was slapping people on the head deaf and they were getting up with full hearing. Interesting about those people, they never go to the cancer ward or the children's hospital. I mean, if I had the gift to heal people, that's the first place I'd go. You're like, oh, so you don't believe in healing? Oh, yeah, yeah. Look, listen.28:47Let's be clear. God still heals. I believe that 100%. And I have seen in this church God miraculously heal people. I believe that God heals. I'm not convinced that Benny Hinn ever did. All right? So next is miracles. Miracles. Like, wait a minute. What's the difference between miracles and healing? I'm not going to bore you with the long systematic Thompson Chain reference.29:17But here's the thing. That word for miracles, when you trace it through the New Testament, was most often connected with casting out demons. That's the difference. That's the distinction. See, that's what Jesus was talking about. Look at Luke 9.1. We'll have it on the screen. It says, and he called the twelve together, look, and gave them power and authority, here it is, over all demons and to cure diseases. So miracles.29:47In the New Testament referred to casting out demons. Again, I believe that was an apostolic era. Do I believe God still does that 100%? Absolutely, yes, He does. Normative? That a person has the gift and is running around doing that? No. All right, next is prophecy. Prophecy. Now, when we think prophecy, when we hear that word, what's the first thing we think of? Like future stuff, right?30:17Tell us the future. Well, sometimes, actually rarely, that's part of it. But you realize that's not what prophecy literally means at all. Do you know what the word prophecy is? It literally breaks down to a compound word that means speak before. You're like, speak before what? Speak before an audience. That's what prophecy is. It's somebody that stands in front of a group of people and says things.30:47Before Them. That's prophecy. It's the public speaking of God's truth. That's what happens when I get up here, Taylor or Brian or Justin or whoever stands up here proclaiming the Word of God. That is prophecy. We are speaking before. Right? Next is distinguishing between spirits. If you're interested, we did a whole sermon series on this.31:17A couple years back, this is what we more commonly call discernment. It's the ability to evaluate if something is from God or not. And in that sermon series, I'm not going to preach it all now, but I'd just like to remind you that that is something that we are all called to do. We are all called to discern what is from God and what is not from God. And again, I'll remind you that we live in a day that it is more crucial than ever because we live in a day where we have access to more information.31:47than we've ever had. You open up your phone, you're going to have 10,00031:51preachers giving you contradictory31:54message about31:55thus saith the Lord. How do we know31:57what God actually said? Discernment32:00is the gift to be able to32:01tell, he's not saying what God32:03said, but this guy definitely is, right?32:05Right?32:10Some people have that gift.32:13Alright, next gift is tongues.32:18Next gift is tongues.32:21You're like, are tongues for today?32:26People ask that, are tongues for today?32:31Yeah, tongues are for today.32:32How would you eat your ice cream otherwise, right?32:38Listen, I'm not going to go too far into this.32:42Oh, you're scared? No, not at all.32:43We're actually going to be doing a very deep dive in this. We're spending four weeks on this subject. But what is tongues biblically? Tongues is the ability to speak in a foreign language unknown to the speaker. It's a known language, by the way. It's not gibberish. It's somebody speaking an already existing language that that person doesn't know. They're just speaking it. Like I said, we're going to spend so much more time on this. And then interpretation of tongues is just simply that.33:13a person that was gifted with the ability to translate what the tongues speaker says. Many forms. One spirit. Oh, speaking of the Holy Spirit, number four. Spiritual gifts are given at the Holy Spirit's discretion.33:47Look at verse 11.33:52He says,33:54All these are empowered by one in the same Spirit34:01who apportions to each one individually as He wills.34:09As He wills.34:11The Holy Spirit, in His sovereignty, determines who does what. That's the Holy Spirit's job. Understand, as your pastor, I did not get to choose your gift. Like, oh, you want to be a part of our church? All right. Prophecy. Okay, how about you? You want to join the church? All right. Healing. You're like, you totally didn't listen to that sermon, did you? I don't get to determine that gift.34:41get to determine that gift. You know what? Preaching looks like a lot of fun. I think I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit for the prophecy gift. He is the one who determines the gift. It is a gift. And the gift giver determines the gift that he wants to give you. The gift giver determines the gift35:12that he wants to give you.35:19And I know this is a hard sell in our day.35:23I mean, Murph, you get it. You go back. We get it.35:27The gift giver determines the gift he wants to give. We get it. The younger people don't get that.35:33Like, why not? Because you know what we do in our day?35:38You know what we do in our day? We have a big event.35:42We have a baby shower, a wedding, little Joey's birthday party. He's turning five. Going to have his party at the Chuck E. Cheese. Do you know what we do today? We tell people what gifts we want, don't we? We do that. Little Joey's turning five. He's registered at Target. Right? Right?36:10Or, yeah, I'm getting married. Yeah, I'm getting married. Yeah, I'm registered at Target. We tell people the gifts that we want. I'm getting married. I want this toaster. I want this knife set. I want this vacuum. And then, I mean, we've done it. Aaron and I will go and be like, okay, this is the vacuum they want.36:40and we buy it and we wrap it up. And then they act surprised when they open it. They open it up and they're like, oh, you got me exactly what I was asking for. Oh, you shouldn't have. But you go back a generation, the gift giver determined what gift you got. Don't try that with the Holy Spirit, okay? You're baptized.37:11I'm registered at Target.37:15Well, we don't get a say in it.37:17It's His gift, right?37:19It's His gift.37:19Do you think I would have signed up for this?37:25Oh no.37:26Oh no.37:30He'll make a better choice than we would anyways.37:33Alright.37:35That's all well and good.37:36But that's really not the question37:39that we're asking right now.37:40The question that we're asking right now is how do I know what my spiritual gift is right I mean it's clear he's given all of us each of us a gift to represent the body of Christ and we're to use it in the common good we saw the kinds and you're like awesome what is my spiritual gift how do I find out what my spiritual gift is all right I'm going to give you three things we're going to close with this three things how do I know what gift I've been given letter A seek God38:10You're like, that sounds like a cop-out. No, look. If you make your life about on-your-face praying and in the Word and just get serving in the church, the Spirit's going to do what the Spirit does. He's going to be at work through you. You're going to figure that out real quick. So just don't worry about seeking a gift. Seek the gift giver. He'll do what He does.38:40That's what he does. Seek God. All right? Letter B. Consider the intersection. Like, what's the intersection? I was studying for this this week. I came across something. I thought it was super helpful. It's one of those diagrams where everything intersects. What do they call that? A Venmo diagram?39:10Venn. Not Venmo.39:20What's a Venmo?39:23Oh, that's giving money.39:26Also a spiritual gift. Right!39:30So you could Venmo your...39:31Alright.39:33I just feel like I had like an inception moment here.39:37Alright.39:38Consider the intersection.39:39Yeah.39:40All right. So I came across this Venn diagram. And I thought it was helpful. I'm going to try to recreate it here. But there's three things here. First of all, this circle here, we're going to call that, we're going to call this one ability. We're going to call this one ability. What is it that you seem, not complicated,40:10You seem like you're able to do this. Right? Of all the gifts. You're like, you know what? That's something that I seem like I'm able to do. I mean, I'm not boasting or anything. It just seems like something that I'm able to do. Okay? And then, with this one, we're going to call this one affinity. That's an idea. Okay. That's affinity. Like, well, that's an idea. Like, what do40:40I enjoy doing.40:42If somebody was like, you can do whatever you want in the church, whatever you enjoy most,40:46what would be the line I get to the front of first?40:50What's my affinity?40:53And then the third thing here, my circles are getting less and less circle-y, but I think you get the idea.41:01This one we're going to call affirmation.41:12You know, you have people maybe in your small group or other people in the church that are, they say to you, you know what? You seem like you have a real gift for teaching. You really seem like you have a gift for praying with people. So the point is this. Consider the intersection right here.41:39This is very likely your spiritual gift. I would say extremely likely. What you're able to do, what you love doing, and what people affirm that it seems like God has equipped you to do, that is very likely your spiritual gift. All right? Then letter C, assessment. Seek God, consider the intersection or assessment. We have a QR code.42:10Go ahead, take your phone out and give that a scan. Pastor Rich sent this along. But this is an online assessment. And really, I think between seeking the Lord, considering the intersection, doing the online assessment, I think that's going to get you all on your way to giving you a deeper understanding of what your spiritual gift is. So go ahead. Go ahead, do the...42:41Either scan that or Venmo me some money. Since you have your phone out and I just learned what Venmo is. Do I have a Venmo? Never mind. Aaron says I don't have a Venmo. All right. Our worship team would make their way up. While they're coming, you know, when I was in high school, I played soccer.43:11In my junior high year of playing soccer, the coach didn't like me. Why? Because I was unlikable. So I sat on the bench most of the season. Now, I knew I had the ability.43:39senior year, we had a new coach, and I didn't sit for one minute that entire season. In fact, I was co-captain of the team. But I got to tell you, I think back to that junior year of playing soccer, and I just remember feeling incredibly frustrated because I felt incredibly useless. You know, you put your shin guards on, you put your cleats on, you put your44:09your soccer uniform on.44:12And you just, I just sat there and watched the whole season.44:16Just sat there.44:21So many times I thought, why am I even here?44:25Why am I even here?44:26What am I doing?44:29I want to tell you, you don't have to worry about that with God's team44:34because there are no bench warmers.44:39God doesn't tell any of His children, you know what? You're nice and all, but you go sit over there. We don't really need you. Or you just wait, and if we decide there's a place we can squeeze you in, we'll see if we can do that. No, no, no, no, no. God's Word has made it very clear that He has called and He has gifted every single one of you.45:08this church. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, so often we get a gift and we don't say thank you, but Father, we thank you not just for the gift of your Holy Spirit himself who lives within us, but the gift that he has given each of us to serve you and your church. For some people here, Father, this is probably brand new teaching.45:38Never really considered this. And for some people here, Father, maybe we've known this and have sort of strayed from it. But I'm asking today, Father, that your Spirit would grip every heart in this church and grip the church collectively so that we truly, as the body of Christ, might represent the person of Christ.46:08as these spirits are at work in us. So Father, I pray for the person here who maybe has been coming to this church but just hasn't stepped up. Remind them, Father, it's not just a matter of the elders and pastors and ministry team would value your input. Remind them, Father, that you have equipped them to serve your church.46:38We do so to your glory and honor. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 12:1-11What was your big take-away from this passage / message?What does it mean that spiritual gifts are for the common good (1 Cor 12:7)?Are sign gifts such as healing and miracles still possessed by people today? Why or why not?Why is it important to understand that the Holy Spirit is the One Who chooses what gifts believers receive (1 Cor 12:11)?How do you know if a ministry is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, or done in the flesh (that is, just by “human power”)?BreakoutPray for one another.

Does your name begin with the letter B?In this audio, Dr. Neeti Kaushik explains the emotional depth, intuitive nature, and graceful personality traits of individuals whose names start with B, based on numerology and symbolism.Discover your caring strengths, relationship patterns, emotional tendencies, and guidance to maintain balance and inner harmony.

Greg, Kate from down under (Oi) and E- bitty share their favorite books, movies , games, television shows, and more that start with the letter B. Feelings are shared, secrets exposed, and crust consumed on this very special episode of stuffed crust.

Download Counting The Beat A to Z - Letter BPlaylist:A.R. Baldwin & His Big Electric Bone Orchestra - Children, Affluence (Rational Records, 1987)Gray Bartlett - Secret Agent 009 (Impact, 1967)Badd Energy - How Do You Sleep, Underwater Pyramids (Flying Nun, 2012)Bad Sav - Pets, Bad Sav (Fishrider, 2018)Bailterspace - X, Vortura (Matador, 1994)The Bats - Boogey Man, One Night Only (Pinenut Records, 2021)Batrider - Snakey, Bag Wine Forever (No Label, 2009)Balance - Foundation, One Existence (Metric Sytem Records, 2023)The Bemsha Swing - Piano Wire Promises, Los Hories/Bemsha Swing Split (Cheese On Toast, 2009)Body Corporate - Low Song, Howlaround (Kingsland Vinyl Appreciation Society, 2008)Blam Blam Blam - Battleship Grey, Blam Blam Blam (Propellor, 1982)Builders - Accident, Beatin' Heart (Grapefruit, 2016)Sandra Bell - Car, Net (Drawing Room Records, 2017)

Introduction: Matters of Marriage: A Word for Each of You. (1 Corinthians 7:8-16) Singles: Enjoy the GIFT of SINGLENESS or GET MARRIED. (1 Cor 7:8-9) Single & Want to Get Married? 3 Don'ts: Don't SETTLE. Don't Look for the RIGHT PERSON. Don't Seek MARRIAGE – Seek LOVE. Married Christians: STAY MARRIED. (1 Cor 7:10-11) Married to a NonChristian (Who Wants to Stay Married): STAY MARRIED. (1 Cor 7:12-14) Married to a NonChristian (Who Wants to Leave): LET THEM GO. (1 Cor 7:15-16) Romans 7:2 – For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Matthew 19:8 – He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce...” Matthew 19:9 - “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! AUDIO TRANSCRIPT 00:36-00:39Open up those Bibles, 1 Corinthians chapter 7.00:41-00:42Chapter 7.00:44-00:47We're in the third section of 1 Corinthians.00:48-00:51Chapters 1 through 4 is about unity.00:52-00:54Like church, get it together.00:56-00:58Chapters 5 and 6 are about purity.01:01-01:08And then when we get to chapter 7 verse 1, you see that Paul is addressing some questions that they had.01:10-01:17And the first subject of this Q&A session is marriage.01:20-01:22So that's where we are.01:22-01:24We go where the text takes us.01:24-01:33I'm going to ask that you would please just quiet your heart before the Lord for a moment and pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word.01:33-01:44This is a passage that is going to get a reaction, and it's not about really my opinion or your opinion, it's what did God actually say?01:45-01:46That's what we're going after, right?01:48-01:52So pray for me to be faithful to clearly communicate what God said.01:52-01:57I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is that God said.01:57-01:59All right, let's just take a moment and pray.02:02-02:16Our Father in heaven, I know that many times in my life I've had strong opinions about things that have had to change because of what your Word says.02:22-02:26Because at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what any of us think, Father, It only matters what you think.02:27-02:42So I just pray that you would give us wisdom, that you would eliminate any distractions in our hearts and minds so we can just lock into what your Word has to say here.02:44-02:45It's for the glory of your name.02:46-03:00We pray in Jesus' name, and all of God's people said, "Amen." If you've been with us at all through our series in 1 Corinthians, we've seen that everything was a mess, right?03:00-03:06So now Paul's talking about marriage and no surprise, marriage was a mess.03:07-03:09We talked about this last week.03:09-03:16There were people strong on the single side and there were people strong on the marriage side.03:16-03:17Which one is good?03:17-03:21And the answer is both of them are good.03:23-03:28Marriage was a mess in Corinth, and if we're going to be honest, we're not doing so hot here today either.03:31-03:38As I was preparing this, I get an email that has just short news articles in it and updates and things like that.03:39-03:42And I just read this on Friday, I wanted to share part of this article with you.03:43-03:50This is the newest craze, I haven't heard of this one, maybe you have, but the newest craze is divorce rings.03:51-03:52Have you heard of divorce rings?03:53-03:54Raise your hand if you've heard of divorce rings.03:55-03:57Okay, a couple of you have, all right.03:58-04:04This is new as far as this article told us, but I just want to read part of it.04:04-04:18It says, "The diamond ring Alex Weinstein," that's a female, "wears every day is a reminder that once upon a time she said, "I do," these days she happily says she does not.04:20-04:45Weinstein got divorced last March and tossed her engagement ring in a drawer for a few months. Then the Tampa, Florida-based content creator decided to make herself a divorce ring. She reset a radiant three-carat stone from her ex- husband into gold, turning it east to west in a bezel." I should have looked up what that meant.04:45-04:46Anybody know what a bezel is?04:47-04:48Okay, nobody?04:49-04:50All right, I shouldn't have said anything, huh?04:51-04:53I was safe until I just said that.04:53-04:55All right, noted.04:55-04:56That helps me for the second service.04:58-05:07The shame and stigma, the article goes on, "The shame and stigma of divorce has been replaced for some women with empowerment and celebration.05:10-05:17While diamond rings have long been a cultural signifier of marriage, some women are also choosing to mark the end of their matrimonies with a little bling.05:21-05:26Weinstein says, "I'm not proud of getting divorced, but I am proud of putting myself first.05:28-05:34Why shouldn't I celebrate this chapter of my life?" Why am I sharing this article with you?05:36-05:49Because I think if anything sort of personifies how far we have drifted as a culture from God's ideal, I think this kind of nails it.05:50-05:53We are celebrating divorce.05:55-05:56We are celebrating it!06:00-06:04You know, we look at Corinth and we're like, "Man, those people were messed up." Us people are messed up.06:08-06:20Back to Corinth, though, some would say...some in Corinth had said, "Excuse me." Some said, "You know, being single is actually being more devoted to God." And they actually had married people get a divorce.06:21-06:36Like, "Hey, you'll be more devoted to God if you get the divorce." And then there were some that said, "Look, if you want to be devoted to God, you can't have intimate relations with a woman.06:36-06:48So if you want to stay married, just don't have any intimacy." Those were some of the thoughts they had in Corinth, and both of those are wrong.06:50-06:54In the previous passage, again, Paul said, "Staying single is good.06:54-06:56Marriage is good.06:56-06:59And intimacy in marriage should be a regular thing.07:03-07:05But what if I'm not in a biblical marriage?07:09-07:12What I mean is, what if I'm not married to a Christian?07:13-07:29I mean, you could go through the last couple of messages and say, "Oh, that's well and good for two people who love Jesus Christ, have the Word of God as their authority, and Oh yeah, like easy for them.07:31-07:33But what about me, Paul?07:34-07:38My spouse isn't a believer, so what am I supposed to do?07:40-07:41Should I just get a divorce?07:44-07:44What should I do?07:46-09:17Well, in this section we're looking at today, Paul clarifies matters of marriage addressing everyone in the church. Literally everyone in the church and everyone in this church. So this is kind of a good news/bad news thing. We're not having one sermon today. You're like, "All right, we are having four sermons today. All right, four sermons." Because each of these are very specifically addressed to a different group. So first up, matters of marriage, a word for each of you. You can take notes on the other ones if you like, but pay attention into the category you fall. Number one, singles. Singles, a word for you, here it is. Enjoy the gift of singleness or get married. Enjoy the gift of singleness or get married. All right, so if you're here and you're single, if you're streaming and you're single, if for you. All right? If you're single, enjoy that if it's a gift or get married. Look at verse 8. Paul says, "To the unmarried and the widows, I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am." Unmarried for any reason, right? Paul, once again, this is a We're going to go through this quickly.09:18-09:19We talked all about this last week.09:19-09:21Paul said being single is good.09:23-09:23Right?09:23-09:24Being single is good.09:24-09:26Why is he circling back to that?09:26-09:34Because there were Jews in Corinth that said, "You couldn't be holy unless you were married." That was a common Jewish mindset in that day.09:35-09:36You couldn't be holy unless you were married.09:36-09:41Paul's like, "That's not true." All right?09:41-09:43It's a gift for some people.09:45-09:47And Paul listed himself as one of those people.09:48-09:50Paul here very clearly says that he was single.09:51-09:52Like what happened to Paul?09:52-09:52Did he get a divorce?09:53-09:54Did his wife leave him?09:54-09:55Is he a widower?09:56-09:57We have no idea.09:59-10:03We don't know the details, but we know from this verse that he was single.10:06-10:07Okay, so single people, listen.10:10-10:27not denying that there are pressures to being single that married couples do not have. Things like loneliness, things like trying to manage a household yourself.10:28-10:34There are pressures that single people experience that married people don't.10:35-10:39But Paul is reminding the single people again, it is not wrong.10:40-10:44You don't have to feel like you're a second-rate Christian because you're not married.10:44-10:46It is not wrong.10:46-10:51And we're going to see later in this chapter, there are actually some advantages to being single.10:52-10:54All right, but look at verse 9.10:56-11:05He says, "But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry.11:06-11:16For it is better to marry than to burn with passion." So Paul's like, "Okay, you're single, but you have those urges.11:19-11:20You can't control yourself.11:20-11:23You like want to be with a person so badly.11:24-11:27Like you found that being single really isn't for you.11:27-11:28What should I do?11:28-11:29Paul's like, get married.11:30-11:31Get married.11:32-11:35He says it's better to marry than to burn.11:36-11:37Again, we talked about this last week.11:37-11:40If you have the gift of singleness, you aren't burning.11:42-11:47But if you have those desires, God gave the right context to use them.11:48-11:49That's why he says get married.11:50-11:50Get married.11:50-11:54You have the passion, you have the desire, get married.11:57-12:07I've got to say a couple of things about that, unless somebody runs out of here today, runs right across the street to Pantera Bread, and is like, "Look, Pastor Jeff said to get married.12:07-12:10Are you single?" No, okay, "Are you single?" "No, I'm going to find somebody.12:10-12:11Pastor Jeff said to get married.12:12-12:12It's right in the Bible.12:13-12:15I've got to find somebody today." Let's pump the brakes for a second.12:17-12:17All right?12:17-12:21If you're single and you want to get married, I'm going to give you three don'ts here, all right?12:23-12:27He says to get married, yes, but I want to caution you on a couple of things here.12:27-12:28Three don'ts.12:29-12:30Letter A, don't settle.12:32-12:33Don't settle.12:36-12:38I know being single can be hard.12:39-12:40Do you know what's harder than being single?12:42-12:44Being married to the wrong person.12:46-12:54Rushing into a marriage, not really knowing somebody, not understanding they don't really love you, they don't really love the Lord as they should.12:58-13:02It is absolutely heartbreaking how many times I've seen that.13:02-13:14Somebody wanting marriage so badly that the first single person that comes along that looks eligible and there's some kind of interest, we're rushing right into it, and oh, the regret that comes from that.13:15-13:16I've made a huge mistake.13:17-13:18What do I do now?13:20-13:30settle. Letter B, don't look for the right person. Don't look for the right person.13:34-14:46Like, wait a minute, you just said it was bad to be married to the wrong person, now you're telling me not to look for the right person? Yeah, don't look for the right person. You need to focus on trying to be the right person, all right? Try to to be the right person. In the early days of this church when we were really teeny tiny we had a single guy that came to me. He came up to me, he goes, "Pastor Jeff, I think I'm going to go to another church." I'm like, "Oh, why? What's the matter?" He goes, "I love this church so much, but I really want to meet somebody and I just really want to get married." Not a lot of single people in that tiny church. And I said, "That's a terrible way to pick a church. You know, who's got the best single scene? I said, "That's a terrible way to pick a church." I said, "You need to find a church where God is feeding you and where God is using you. You find a church where that's happening, you trust God to do the rest." He's like, "You're right." He goes, "You're right." And it wasn't long after that he did find a single lady, even in her teeny tiny church, and they're married. They since moved away and they have like, I I don't know, 20 or 25 kids, I don't know.14:47-15:03But the point was he was willing to trust God and seeking God first and seeking to be the person worth marrying, not just trying to find the right person for him.15:04-15:06So try to be the right person for somebody else.15:08-15:12Letter C, I read this great advice from a pastor this past week.15:12-15:19He said, "Don't seek marriage, seek love." Don't seek marriage, seek love.15:20-15:24Because ultimately, you're going to marry the person that you fall in love with.15:26-15:27All right?15:27-15:33So when Paul here says, "Look, if you have the desire," he goes, "Don't burn with passion." He goes, "Go get married.15:33-15:41Go get married." But again, let's temper that with, let's not rush into anything.15:43-15:44It's going to bring regret.15:45-15:52God has called you, God has called all of us to be content and thankful in every chapter of life we find ourselves.15:54-15:56So singles, this sermon's for you.15:56-15:58Enjoy the gift of singleness or get married.15:59-15:59All right?16:02-16:04All right, next sermon.16:04-16:06This is for married Christians.16:07-16:09Are you and your spouse both Christians?16:10-16:38a word for you. Stay married. Very simple. Very simple. Look at verse 10. Paul says, "To the married I give this charge, not I, but the Lord. The wife should not separate from her husband." Not separate, obviously, he's talking about divorce. So he's talking here specifically to Christian couples.16:40-16:46We know this because he talks about mixed couples in verse 12.16:46-16:49And by the way, let's get this out of the way.16:50-16:56When we talk about mixed couples, or we talk about intermarrying, that has nothing to do with race.16:58-17:00There's only one race, there's the human race.17:01-17:10So as long as you're marrying another human of the opposite sex, oh, the things I didn't think I'd have to say.17:14-17:15Race doesn't matter.17:15-17:16Okay?17:16-17:21So when we talk about mixed marriages, biblically there is no such thing except for mixed faith.17:22-17:26That's what the Bible forbids, mixed faith marriages.17:26-17:28He talks about them in a second, all right?17:28-17:29I felt like I had to say that.17:35-17:50So Christian couples, Paul says, "I get a word for you," he goes, "not I, but the Lord." Meaning Paul's like, "Look, what I'm about to tell you came straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ Himself." This is the Lord's charge, all right?17:52-17:57The Lord's charge is, Christian couples, no divorce.17:59-18:00Divorce isn't an option.18:00-18:02Divorce isn't a word that's said in your home.18:04-18:10Jesus talked about this so many times, Matthew 5, Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 16.18:11-18:15Jesus taught over and over that marriage is meant to be lifelong.18:16-18:16All right?18:18-18:45So we're going to try you out for a year or two, if it's not going to work, we have our exit strategy. That's not how marriage is designed according to our Lord. Marriage is meant to be lifelong. And remember, there were some Corinthians that thought, "Yeah, but if you really want to be devoted to God, you've got to get a divorce." And Paul here is just saying, "You know, God's not on board with that." I mean, just imagine for a second.18:48-19:08for a second if that sentiment was legitimate. Let's just pretend for a second that you could be more devoted to God, you could be more devoted to Jesus if you got a divorce. Do you see what would happen? Everyone that's looking for an out would just use that excuse.19:11-19:13They'd be like, "You know what, sweetheart?19:14-19:27I think we should get a divorce because I just want to love Jesus more." Right?19:27-19:28It'd start a new phrase.19:28-19:36It would be, "It's not you, it's Him." Right?19:36-19:37But that was the mindset they had.19:37-19:38And Paul's like, "No, no, no, no.19:40-19:42The words of our Lord are quite clear.19:43-19:52Don't get a divorce." But then you have the person that's like, "Oh, Paul, I wish you would have wrote this letter two weeks ago, because I did buy it.19:52-19:53You know what?19:53-20:00Yeah, we are both believers, but I bought into the idea that getting a divorce would benefit my walk.20:00-20:05So what do you do if you are both Christians and you did get a divorce?20:05-20:09What do you do about that?" Well, look at verse 11.20:09-20:18He says, "But if she does get a divorce, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.20:21-20:28And the husband should not divorce his wife." Okay, so if you're like, "You know what?20:28-20:33I did get the divorce, and now looking back, we are both believers.20:33-20:37I shouldn't have done that." Paul goes, "Okay, well now you have two choices.20:37-20:58You're either unmarried the rest of your life, or go back to your husband and get back on track." Like, "I'm not sure that's possible." Well, if you're both Christians, forgiveness and healing and reconciliation should not be foreign concepts to you.21:01-21:04So if you and your spouse are both Christians, stay married.21:06-21:07All right?21:07-21:11And as we saw last week, verse 3, married Christian couples, pay your debt.21:13-21:13All right?21:14-21:16I know that's the sermon that always gets applied.21:16-21:20I know the nursery is going to be restocked in about nine months.21:21-21:21I know.21:24-21:25So married Christians.21:26-21:26All right.21:27-21:33This is where things get even more difficult.21:35-21:39This is addressed to those of you who are married to a non-Christian.21:39-21:44And I know there are some people in this church that are married to a non-Christian.21:46-21:49But this non-Christian wants to stay married.21:49-22:02Okay, you're like, "Yeah, my husband's not a believer, or my wife's not a believer, and Like, she's okay with me being a believer, and she's okay with me going to church, and she wants to stay married, so what do I do?22:02-22:03What do I do here?22:06-22:11God says, "Stay married." Stay married.22:14-22:21You know, back in, look at the, back in chapter 6 verse 15, we talked about this a couple of weeks ago.22:21-22:32Paul says, talking about those who were being sexually immoral with the cult prostitutes, he says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?22:33-22:37Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?22:38-23:01Never." You see, there would have been some that heard this principle like, "Okay, so me physically being with a prostitute is like defiling for me, so what about me physically being with a non-Christian spouse?23:02-23:13Well, me being intimate, I mean, isn't it the same principle that I am defiling my body because I'm in this mixed marriage?23:14-23:16We have different faiths?23:18-23:20That's the question on the table.23:23-23:32Regarding mixed marriages, meaning one's a believer and one's not, you're like, "What do you do?" Well, first of all, it's forbidden, single people.23:34-23:42Second Corinthians 6.14, if you're single, listen, if you're single, you are not to get married to a non-Christian.23:45-23:46Corinthians 6.14.23:48-23:50You are not to get married to a non-Christian if you're single.23:52-23:54If you can prevent this, you should prevent this.23:55-24:03That people think, "Well, I'm going to get married to the person and I'll save them, and I'm going to be such a good influence on them," and it usually works the other way.24:07-24:12So if you're single, you are not to marry a non-Christian.24:13-24:23So all right, now with that out of the way, the question is, "Well, what if we were married as non-Christians and I got saved and he didn't get saved?" Or vice versa, man.24:23-24:26You're like, "Well, I got saved and my wife didn't get saved.24:26-24:29What do we do?" Well, look at verse 12.24:29-24:54He says, "To the rest I say, 'I, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her." By the way, when he says here, "I, not the Lord," you know what some people do with that, right?24:55-25:11They're like, "Oh, well, this is just Paul's opinion." So we can sort of disregard this section because Paul here, I mean, he's saying that this is just his opinion, and that's not what he's saying at all.25:13-25:29Back in verse 10, he was saying, "I'm quoting Jesus here." Now in verse 12, he's saying, "This is also from the Lord, but this isn't a direct quote from Jesus, do you see?" He's not saying this is uninspired.25:30-26:06He's just saying, "Before I was directly quoting from the ministry of Jesus, and now this is new revelation from God. That's all he's saying. So what if I'm married to a non-Christian and he wants to stay married? Paul says, "You don't get a divorce, you stay married. That's what you do." Like, really? Verse 13, "If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him." Oh yeah, that question, being with this non-Christian make me unholy?26:06-26:10Like isn't it the same principle as being with the prostitutes?26:11-26:13No, not at all.26:14-26:15Because look at verse 14.26:17-26:26For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband.26:29-26:47You see, when one of you is saved and your spouse is not, it's not that the Christian is made unholy in the eyes of God, it's the unsaved person is made holy.26:52-26:53I want to be clear here.26:54-27:01That does not mean that the unbelieving spouse is saved because they're spouses.27:01-27:03That is not what that means.27:03-27:06The Bible is crystal clear on salvation.27:06-27:09Salvation is an individual transaction.27:10-27:14You can't get saved because of somebody else.27:14-27:18Biblically, you have to make the choice to turn from your sin.27:19-27:20You have to make the choice to repent.27:21-27:27You have to make the choice that you are going to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.27:28-27:35It doesn't matter how good of a Christian your grandmama was, or your mama, or your spouse.27:35-27:36It doesn't matter.27:37-27:38You're not saved.27:38-27:40It's not like group raid here, all right?27:42-27:46You're saved by you making the choice.27:47-27:49You're like, all right, so what's he talking about here?27:50-27:57Well, it's a big fancy theological term that's known as matrimonial sanctification.27:58-28:01Impress your friends, drop that in conversation this week.28:02-28:03Do you have a water cooler at your workplace?28:03-28:04Drop that.28:05-28:08Yes, we were talking about matrimonial sanctification at church.28:10-28:12And they're like, "Oh, what is that?" And you'll tell them.28:13-28:18Well, in God's eyes, if one spouse is saved, there's blessing for everyone in the house.28:20-28:22I mean, think about it this way.28:25-28:26Think about it this way.28:26-28:36Imagine this married couple, you have this married couple, and the wife's parents die, and they leave her an inheritance.28:39-28:40They leave her a speedboat.28:42-28:44Now husbands, are you going to benefit from this inheritance?28:48-28:48No?28:49-28:50All right, let me try something else.28:52-28:55Her parents left her a Harley Davidson.28:56-28:58Husbands, are you going to benefit from this inheritance?29:00-29:02Yeah, some of you.29:02-29:03All right, let me try this again.29:06-29:08Her parents left her a monster truck.29:08-29:11Husbands, are you going to benefit from this inheritance?29:12-29:15Okay, this is really going to help for the second service.29:15-29:17Do you see the point?29:17-29:18You got the inheritance.29:19-29:26You know, you're driving grave digger down the road, but you had nothing to do with that, right?29:27-29:31You were blessed just because your wife received an inheritance.29:31-29:33It's the same principle at play here.29:34-29:35You're blessed by association.29:37-29:43In the same way, in marriage, two become one, and when God blesses one, the other gets blessed.29:43-29:48I mean, it's not salvation, but it's better than two pagans being married to each other.29:49-29:49Right?29:49-30:05Think of the blessing that comes to the non-Christian spouse when the Christian spouse is exhibiting the fruit of the Holy Spirit, when the Christian spouse is showing humility and love and service and selflessness.30:05-30:09And how could you not be blessed being in a house like that?30:13-30:14That's what he's talking about.30:16-30:23Oh, and regarding the salvation piece, look, nobody can deny the influence the believing spouse has.30:23-30:32I've heard the story so many times of people getting saved because of the witness that their Christian spouse has had.30:34-30:39So if you're in this situation, if your spouse is unsaved, God wants to reach them through you.30:41-30:43So let him see Christ in you.30:45-30:48And you're like, "Well, that's well and good, but what if we have kids, right?30:48-30:53I mean, I'm saved, he's not.30:53-30:59Does that make our kids like half pagan?" No, no, it really doesn't.30:59-31:01Look at the rest of verse 14.31:02-31:16Paul says, "Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." See, even if you have kids with a non-Christian, your kids are also made holy through that.31:16-31:16Same principle.31:17-31:23Your kids are also blessed through that because God sees your marriage as holy, so He's going to see your kids as holy.31:24-31:30So if you're married to a non-Christian who wants to stay married, God's going to bless the family.31:31-31:34Stay married if they want to stay.31:36-31:38All right, one more.31:39-31:42One more group we didn't cover, and that's the last one here.31:43-31:48Let's say someone is married to a non-Christian, and that non-Christian is like, "I want out.31:49-31:55Like look, I didn't sign up for all this Jesus stuff, all this Bible study stuff.31:55-31:57I didn't sign up for all this church stuff.31:58-31:58I'm not interested.31:59-32:00I'm not a religious person.32:01-32:05I want out." So what do you do when you're married to a non-Christian who wants to leave?32:05-32:07The answer is, let them go.32:09-32:10Let them go.32:14-32:15Look at verse 15.32:15-32:33He says, "But if the unbelieving partner separates," that's divorce, look what he says, "let it be so." If the non-Christian spouse initiates a divorce, Paul says they can go.32:37-32:38And I know the reaction.32:38-32:39You're like, "Wait, wait.32:39-32:40Well, that means I'm stuck.32:41-32:49You know, I wanted to save this marriage, and they divorced me, and now I can never get remarried again because they left me.32:49-32:53So I'm stuck, right?" Paul doesn't say that.32:56-32:57Paul doesn't say that.32:57-33:04Paul was clear on situations where you had to be remaining unmarried.33:04-33:05We saw that in verse 11.33:06-33:11He was clear in those situations, and he could have said that here, but he didn't.33:13-33:14You can remarry.33:14-33:22If you are married to a non-Christian that abandons you, initiates a divorce, and leaves you, you can remarry.33:23-33:24Look at the rest of verse 15.33:25-33:30He says, "In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved." God has called you to peace.33:31-33:32Not enslaved.33:33-33:34Like, not enslaved to what?33:35-33:37He's talking about free from being bound to the marriage.33:38-33:39That's what he's talking about.33:41-33:53See Romans 7, 2 says, "For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives." That's what he's talking about here in 1 Corinthians 7.33:53-33:55That's the bound to the marriage.33:55-33:57He goes, "You're not enslaved.33:57-33:58You're not bound anymore.34:01-34:19You're no longer bound to the marriage." Now look, I know some sermons are easier to preach than others, and divorce is a very touchy subjects.34:26-34:27It's always painful.34:28-34:29It always brings regret and hurt.34:30-34:30I know that.34:33-34:40So I want to take a moment and I want to be clear on my best understanding on the subject biblically.34:42-34:43All right?34:44-34:46I don't want there to be any ambiguity.34:47-34:48I want to be clear.34:48-35:00I believe that there is only one cause for divorce biblically, and that is hardness of heart.35:04-35:05Like, why do I think that?35:05-35:08Well, Jesus was asked about divorce in Matthew 19, eight.35:09-35:09This is what he said.35:10-35:24He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce." Jesus said divorce was allowed through Moses, through the law, because of hardness of heart.35:25-35:27Again divorce is allowed, not commanded.35:30-35:30Right?35:31-35:32Allowed not commanded.35:34-35:38But the question is, how do you know when someone is hard hearted?35:40-35:43Towards their spouse or towards their marriage, right?35:45-35:46Kind of a hard thing to gauge, isn't it?35:47-35:52Well Jesus said, "I can divorce you if you're hard-hearted." Well you seem hard-hearted to me, I'm getting divorced.35:52-35:53How do you know?35:54-36:07Well biblically there are two ways that hard-heartedness manifests, and both begin with the letter A. It's affair and abandonment.36:11-36:12Jesus spoke on a fair.36:13-36:30Matthew 19, 9, Jesus says, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery." Now again, divorce is allowed, but not commanded.36:30-36:39Understand this, when this happens in a marriage, that doesn't mean you are required to get a divorce.36:39-36:43I can tell you so many stories of marriages where this did happen.36:43-36:51And there was much repentance and seeking the Lord, and marriages are on track better than they were on their honeymoon.36:55-37:05But when someone is committed to having relations with people outside the marriage, Jesus says that's evidence of hard-heartedness.37:06-37:08Moses allowed for divorce for that.37:08-37:17Here, Paul is addressing the other manifestation of hard-heartedness, and that's abandonment.37:18-37:22That if your non-Christian spouse divorces you, abandons you, you are free.37:24-37:27That's how you know your spouse is hard-hearted.37:29-37:35When they are willing to engage in relations with someone else, they're hard-hearted towards you.37:35-37:41Or when they're like, "I'm fine to just walk away from this marriage.37:41-37:43I'm fine to walk away from our vows.37:43-37:50I'm fine to walk away from that." Those are evidences of hard-heartedness.37:54-37:57And Jesus says abandonment is like adultery.37:57-37:59I'm sorry, Paul says abandonment here is like adultery.38:00-38:01You are called to peace.38:05-38:10You are not called to fighting a non-Christian to stay in a marriage that they are committed to getting out of.38:12-38:13One more verse.38:15-38:20Paul says, "For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?38:21-38:31Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?" You know, people are really divided on what this verse means.38:35-38:41Some people think this verse means, "Well, you don't know if you're going to save your spouse, so let them go.38:41-38:43I mean, you have no guarantees, just let them go.38:44-38:56There's no promises are going to come to Christ, if they say let them go." That's what some people think, but other people think this means, "No, no, no, you might be the one that God uses to save them, so you should try to save your marriage at any cost.38:59-39:00I lean towards the latter.39:04-39:05There's no guarantees either way.39:05-39:06You don't know.39:08-39:10You don't know what God's doing.39:13-39:18So you better be sure that you did all you could to save the marriage.39:20-39:23I personally believe that this verse pumps the brakes.39:26-39:38This verse, as one person I read this past week said, this verse tempers any tendency that just easily give up on the marriage.39:41-39:45Because some people are just so quick to run to divorce as like option one.39:47-39:56Again, if things are hard now, how do you know that God isn't using you to reach your spouse?39:58-40:00Our worship team would make their way back up front.40:07-40:16Paul continues, and I think he's doubling down on some of these things because some of it's hard to accept and some of it's hard to hear.40:17-40:20But again, Paul reminds us that singleness is God's gift for some.40:23-40:25Marriage is God's gift for the rest.40:28-40:30One of these four sermons applies to you.40:32-40:37So whichever it is, go after it with the reverence and with the sacredness that God has called you to.40:38-40:39Let's pray.40:41-40:52Father in heaven, we're asking today, Father, that your Holy Spirit be at work in our hearts.40:54-41:03When we talk about singleness and divorce and all these things, it's such an emotional subject because there are people here that have been deeply wounded by these things.41:06-41:12And we by no means, Father, wanna kick someone when they're down or rub salt on the wound.41:12-41:15We just, we wanna take an honest look at what your word has to say.41:17-41:19Father, we thank you for your grace.41:19-41:21We thank you that you are the God of miracles.41:21-41:35We thank you, God, that no matter how badly things might have gotten in marriage, whether it was able to be saved or not, God, there's always hope with you.41:35-41:37There's always healing with you.41:39-41:40That's why we come to you.41:40-41:51Father, I pray for all of us that we would take a hard look at the place you have us right now, because there's something in here for each one of us.41:55-41:59And that we would go after it, trusting you to always do what you promised.42:00-42:02We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 7:8-16What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Explain 1 Cor 7:14. How is the nonChristian spouse made holy because of a Christian spouse? What does that mean?If you are married to a nonChristian who wants out of the marriage (1 Cor 7:15), how do you know when to grant their divorce (when to stop trying to save the marriage, asking for counseling, etc)?Why should you allow a nonChristian to divorce and leave a Christian (v15)? Is the believing spouse free to remarry? Why or why not? BreakoutPray for one another.

Blind Abilities – The Musical: O&M and the Scarlet Letter B explores the deeply personal moment when a white cane shifts from symbol to tool, from stigma to freedom. Through music, storytelling, and candid conversation, the episode traces the emotional arc of orientation and mobility—hesitation, acceptance, learning, and momentum. The songs frame lived experiences many blind and visually impaired people know well: the fear of being seen, the relief of being understood, and the confidence that comes from trusting your skills. "The cane chose me" becomes more than a lyric—it's a turning point where independence replaces resistance. The discussion that follows grounds the music in real-world experiences, from early reluctance and public missteps to training breakthroughs and hard-earned pride. Together, the musical and conversation celebrate movement, adaptability, and self-direction, reminding listeners that independence isn't about perfection—it's about learning to read the world differently and continuing forward, one step at a time.   Full Transcript Thanks for listening!

Introduction: Get Purified: When There's Sin in the Church... (1 Corinthians 5:1-13) RECOGNIZE sin. (1 Cor 5:1-2) Ephesians 5:3 - But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. REMOVE the sinner. (1 Cor 5:3-5) Proverbs 22:10 - Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. Titus 3:10 - As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him... What do we hope to accomplish by throwing him out? In His heart: We hope He's ASHAMED. 2 Thessalonians 3:14 - If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. In His head: We hope He LEARNS. 1 Timothy 1:20 - Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. In His body: We hope He SUFFERS. In His Spirit: We hope He REPENTS. REMEMBER the purpose. (1 Cor 5:6-8) RESTRICT discipline to believers. (1 Cor 5:9-13) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 5What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Why do you think people have a hard time with a church removing an unrepentant sinner, when the Bible clearly commands it?What is the motivation behind removing someone from church? What does it do for the church?Explain 1 Cor 5:5 in your own words.How would you coach someone on “How exactly do I confront a brother in Christ who is clearly in unrepentant sin?”BreakoutPray for one another. AUDIO TRANSCRIPT Open up those Bibles.The book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 5.1 Corinthians chapter 5.Imagine a scenario with me.You go to the doctor because you have a suspicious looking spot on your skin and the doctorgives you the news you don't want to hear.You have skin cancer.So for the good of the body, for the health of the body, what needs to happen with thatspot?You have to remove it, right?Right?You have to remove it.Or if you go to a doctor and they find out that you have cancer in your kidney, for thehealth of the body, what do you have to do?You have to remove it, right?If it's on your skin, for the health of the body, you remove it.If it's on your kidney, for the health of the body, you remove it.And what if there's cancer in the church?All of a sudden the brakes got pumped a little bit, didn't they?In principle, for the health of the body, it has to be removed.We're getting back into 1 Corinthians.Remember the first four chapters, one message really, it was get unified.Paul pointed out that Corinthians had a lot of problems with pride and boasting and factions.Get unified, knock it off.All right, next subject takes us to our next section here, get purified.There is another problem in the church.There was someone who claimed to be a Christian but was living in flagrant, unrepentant sin.What do you do with that guy?Let's just pause for a moment.I'm going to ask you please pray for me.To be faithful to communicate what God's Word says, I will pray for you to have a heartopen to receive it.All right, let's pray.Father, be glorified.Be glorified as we spend this time in Your Word.Be glorified in the hearts of every one of us that we would be very quick to disregardour opinions and have a heart to embrace Your truth.We thank You ahead of time, Father, for what You're going to do.Whatever that looks like to us, I guess doesn't really matter.Do what You do, Father.We pray in Jesus' name.All of God's people said, "Amen."So what do you do?What do you do when there's someone in the church who claims to be a believer but they'reliving in obvious flagrant, unrepentant sin?What do you do with that person?We're going to get right into it on your outline.Get purified.When there's sin in the church, what do you do?What do you do?First of all, number one, write this down, "Recognize sin."How about we start there?Look at verse 1 and chapter 5.Paul says, "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you."Stop right there for a second.What is sexual immorality?What is that?I know what the words mean.I don't need a definition, but in our day, can somebody give me an example of what issexual immorality?Because it seems like we live in a day that anything goes.So how can we say anything's immoral if everything's okay?What even is that?Well, he goes on, look at the rest of verse 1.He says, "It's reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that isnot tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife."Okay, now, I'm not going to bore you with the homework, but according to the Greek text,here's what's going on.There was a man who married, had a kid, and his wife dies.And he remarries, probably a much younger woman, and his son has the hots for his stepmother.And they start a relationship.And the man ends up divorcing the wife, the stepmom, because the Bible doesn't say theycommitted adultery, it says they committed fornication.So the man divorced his second wife, but his son continued an ongoing sexual relationshipwith his stepmother.Pretty shocking sin, isn't it?But not as shocking as the church's reaction.Paul's like, "What are you doing?What are you doing?Even pagans would look at this and be like, "You're sick, bro!What are you doing?You're sleeping with your stepmother?"Paul's like, "Pagans are gagging at this thought."And church, you're just...What are you doing?You're just allowing this to happen?So the church today is just like Corinth.We church, we live right in the middle of Sodom.And sin in general, and sexual sin specifically, we have - I don't need to sell anybody onthis - we have very quickly moved from tolerating it, which is bad enough, to applauding sexualsin.What do you think about that, Paul?Look at verse 2.He says, "And you are arrogant.Aught you not rather to mourn?Let him who has done this be removed from among you."Paul's like, "What are you doing?This should grieve you as a church.Having one of your members be in sexual sin,you should be sad about this."He goes, "You're so arrogant.You're so fully yourselves."That's what he was talking about in chapters 1-4.Constantly spraining their arms, patting themselves on the back.See, so sick.In Corinth, they made a - we saw this in the first four chapters - they made a big dealout of who the best preacher was, and then they make a very little deal out of flagrant,unrepentant sexual sin.Not much has changed there.The church has graded that, aren't we?We're graded that.We will make a big deal out of nonsense.Oh no, we'll fight about little points of doctrine that we'll never get figured out.We'll fight about that.But one of our members can be living a destructive sinful lifestyle when we're like, "Oh, well,what can you do?"And we'll ignore that.Just like Corinth, Paul tells them and us how to deal with the sinner.But I think first we've got to make sure that we recognize what sin is, because I thinkin the landscape of the church today we've forgotten that such a thing even exists.Do we recognize sin?See, in Corinth we're going to talk more about this here in a couple of weeks, but the Greekssaw sex as a merely biological function.That's all it was.Sex was just a biological function.It's like this.You're hungry, you eat, right?That's just natural.When you're thirsty, you drink.That's just natural.And you have those urges.You just do it, because it's just natural to do that.You know what the problem was in Corinth and in our church today?Same problem.We have lost the idea that marriage and sexuality are sacred things.We've lost that.We have completely lost that concept.There is no idea around this is a holy and sacred and precious thing that needs to beprotected.We become a bunch of dogs.You study God's Word.Do you know how sacred marriage and sexuality is?This is God's picture.God says, "I have this."And then this is all the way from creation.God says, "I have this design.I'm going to take a man and a woman, and these two are going to enter a lifelong covenantwith each other."They're going to make this lifelong commitment as covenant.They're going to have a relationship with each other that's unlike the relationship theyhave with anybody else on the earth.And two will become one.And the physical manifestation of two becoming one is the act of intimacy.They're going to know each other in a way that no one else knows either of them.They know each other that way.This is a sacred thing.Thank God we find out in the New Testament that it's a picture of the gospel.It's God enters a covenant with His people and has an intimate relationship with Hispeople.It's a picture.It's sacred.The church, when we abandon God's design, we disregard the sacredness and we've abandonedall purity.And it is the church's job, yes, it is still the church's job to promote and pursue purity.To the extent, quick call back.Dr. Taylor just read Ephesians 5, but again, verse 3, "But sexual immorality and all impurityor covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints."We church have to deal with people that are insane.And that requires recognizing when people are in unrepentant sin.Can we recognize that?What do you do?What do you do with the guy?Well, look at verse 2 again, last part."Let him who has done this be removed from among you."You see that?God says when someone who claims to be a believer is living in unrepentance and remove him,get him out of the church.You're like, is that really what it says?Or is that just kind of like your interpretation?No, that's what it says.Actually, you're going to see this six times in the passage.In verse 2, verse 5, verse 7, verse 9, and twice in verse 11.In this case, you remove them.Paul says you grab them by the scruff of the neck and the seat of the pants and you finda stained glass window and you throw him out.Remove him.Not, we're going to ask you to step down from your position of leadership.Not, you can still come here, but I need you to sit in the back.But, all right, listen, you can come to church here, but I'm going to ask that you're notsaying anything, just keep your mouth shut.No.Out.You're not welcome here.You're going to recognize sin.That leaves us to number 2.Paul touches on it and I'm sure maybe the Corinthians were as shocked as some of you are now.So he elaborates.Number 2, write this down, remove the sinner.What do we do?We're going to recognize sin.God give us vision for that.And when we do, we're going to remove the sinner.Look at verse 3.Paul elaborates, "For though absent in body, I am president spirit, and as if present,I've already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing."Paul's like, "Guys, I'm not even there.And I know what needs to happen."Like, how are you not seeing this?Verse 4, he says, "When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and my spiritis present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for thedestruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."He says, verse 4, "This is according to the authority of Jesus in His name, and this mustbe done in the power of Jesus."What do we do with them, Paul?He says, "Deliver this man to Satan."He says, "Throw him out into the world."Like, oh, you want to live like the world.Is that it?You want to live like the world?Okay.You want to go live like the world.You're not doing that in here.Because in here, we don't pattern our behavior after the world.So if you are, then you can go into the world and do that.Get him out.Get him out.And somebody's like, "Yeah, but you know, a guy like that, he needs church."That's true.The church doesn't need him.The Bible is clear on this.The Bible is so clear on this.Proverbs 22, look at what Proverbs 22 says, verse 10, "Drive out a scoffer, and strifewill go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease."Again, Titus 3:10, "As for a person who stirs up division."Again, this isn't just about sexual sin.We're going to see that here in 1 Corinthians 5.It's other unrepentant sin too."But as for a person who stirs up division after warning him once and then twice, havenothing more to do with him."Like, look, we've talked about this, and we've talked about this, and you're still causingproblems.I'm ignoring you.We're all ignoring you.We're having nothing to do with you.Go.Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.You're like, time out.Why?Like, what good is it to throw the guy out of church?Like, don't we love people here?Absolutely we do.Well, then, if we really love people, why when somebody is stuck in sin, what good wouldit be to have them go out of church?Well, there's four things.Write this down on your outline.What do we hope to accomplish by throwing him out?Look, this is an act of love.You have to understand that.The most loving thing we can do is show them the door.What do you hope to accomplish?Well, there's four things you hope to accomplish, and you're going to see here, you're goingto hit them everywhere.One of the things you hope to accomplish, first of all, letter A in his heart, we hopehe's ashamed.That's one of the things you hope to accomplish.We hope he's ashamed.Second Thessalonians 3:14, Paul says, "If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter,take note of that person.Here it is again, and have nothing to do with him."Why would we do that, Paul?Look, that he may be ashamed.You're trying to shame someone?Yeah, we are, actually.Shame for that person to be out in the world, maybe with friends and family, like, "Hey,don't you go to that church?"Like, "Ah, yeah, they kind of threw me out."You got thrown out of church?That's embarrassing.Yeah, that's real embarrassing.My conduct is so bad, the church doesn't want me there.What are we driving at?We want the person to stop and be like, "What am I doing?"Right?We hope he's ashamed.Letter B, okay, that's going to the heart.Now we're going to the head.Letter B in his head.We hope he learns.We hope he learns.See, Paul told 1 Timothy 120, "Imaneus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan."Same terminology here in 1 Corinthians 5, right?"Who I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme."You see that?In his head, we hope he learns.Like talking to him didn't register.So go.Go think about your choices.Again, same principle.We want the person out of the church going, "What am I doing?What am I doing that these people who love and care for me consider my behavior so badthat I have to be kicked out in the hall like an unruly fourth grader?What am I doing?"So we're hitting them in the heart.We're hitting them in the head.Letter C in his body.We hope he suffers.We hope he suffers.Verse 5 in back in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul says, "Deliver him to Satan."Whoa, why?He says, "For the destruction of the flesh."You know, Satan can touch your body, but he can't touch your soul.He can touch your body, but he can't touch your soul.And sin always eventually leads to suffering every time.You continue an unrepentant, flagrant disobedience sin.Eventually you are going to suffer.Disease.Depression.Addiction.Throw him out.Why?You've got to let him reap the consequences of his sin.You want to live like that?Let me know how that works out for you.Spoiler alert, it's going to wreck him eventually.We want the person to get out there living in his sin, if that's what he chooses to do,to get to the point where he's suffering in one of these ways, and he's like, "Whatam I doing?I wasn't suffering like this while I was actively seeking the Lord.What am I doing?"And you're like, "Wow, seriously, seriously, Pastor Jeff, you're saying you're hoping,when they're throwing out, you're hoping they're ashamed, they learn a lesson and they suffer.Is that what you're hoping for?"100%.Why?I'll look back at 1 Corinthians 5.Look at verse 5 again.He says, "Deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.Here's the end goal so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."So that's letter D.In his spirit, we hope he repents.Listen, this is the hard reality.This is the tough love.But when somebody is in flagrant sin, refuses to repent, and they are shown the door, we'renot trying to punish them.Like, "I hate you.I hope you suffer."No, no, no.It's, "I love you, and I hope that this suffering brings you back."You know who the poster boy is for this?Is the prodigal son, Luke 15.Jesus told the story.Now, you know, maybe you're familiar with the story, but this, you know, "Dad, giveme my share of the inheritance."The kid takes it and he goes and he spends it all.And he's broke.And now he's feeding the pigs and he's so hungry, he wishes he could eat the garbagethat he's feeding the pigs.Now, remember the story?He had to get to the place where he was so broken.He says, "What am I doing?"So let me ask you, what would have happened, I know it's a made up story, but let's getin it.What would have happened if Dad would have run in to rescue him?What would have happened?Kids like him out of money and Dad picks him up."All right, son, come on home."Would the kid have learned anything?Would he?No!He wouldn't have learned a thing and he'd do it again.No dad, hard as it was, had to let him suffer the consequences of his own stupid choices.And that's what Paul's saying here.When someone continues to thumb their nose at God, despite your appeals, despite yourtears, despite your pleading with them, despite your praying with them, and they still persistin sin, Paul's like the most loving thing you can do is show them the door.Because that's always the objection.Anytime you talk about something like this, it is so unloving.It is so unloving to kick somebody out of church.No, it is not.Unloving is allowing someone to dishonor the Lord.Unloving is allowing someone to think that sin has no consequences.Unloving is keeping someone from the joy of repenting and walking with the Lord.And he's never going to repent from his sin if the church just accepts it.So what good is it to throw him out?Well, the hope is eventually it benefits him by leading to repentance.Did you know that's only one of the benefits?Actually, that's kind of secondary, believe it or not.Number three, write this down.When they're sinning in the church and you've got to remove the sinner, number three, rememberthe purpose.Yes, it's about ultimately restoring him, but there's a bigger purpose in mind than evenrestoring the sinner.I want you to see this in your Bibles.Look at verses 6-8.Paul says, "Your boasting is not good."Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of maliceand evil, but with the leavened bread of sincerity and truth.Paul gives an illustration here, and it's an illustration from Passover, Exodus chapter12.And it's an illustration also about bread.When you made bread, there would be a giant lump of unleavened dough, and you would haveto take old leaven from a previous loaf, and you would have to put it in the new doughso that that leaven would permeate the whole loaf.Okay, now dial in here, because this is such a beautiful and genius and multi-layered illustration.It's so profound.But see, leaven in this illustration, it's a picture of sin.Right?Verse 8, he says, "It's malice and evil."Paul here is saying the reason that you removed the sinner from church is the same reasonyou wouldn't put leaven in an unleavened loaf, because when you allow it in, it affects everything.You see that?It's about permeation.That's what Paul is saying here.Remember the purpose.Throw him out.Why?Because if he's here, if he's in the church, that his sin, like the leaven in the lump,his sin is going to ultimately affect everyone.You're like, "Well, what's the deal with Passover?What's the illustration there?"Again, it's just crazy brilliant.But in the Passover, remember the last plague, death of the firstborn?Israel was to put the blood of a spotless lamb in their doorposts.And when they did that, that was the defining moment.That was its separation time.We are out of Egypt now, separating from Egypt.We are called, not to separate from Egypt, we are called to separate from the world andthe ways of the world.And that's why Paul says in verse 7 that the death of Christ is our moment of separation.Just for the Jews, blood on the door meant separation from Egypt.For us, the blood of Jesus means separation from the ways of the world.You see that?And with the Passover and the leaven and the bread, here's how it all comes together.When they left Egypt, they were to take no leaven with them.Why?It was a picture of you're leaving that behind, you're not taking Egypt with you.You're separating now.So here's what Paul's saying."Church, Christ died to make you holy.Separate yourselves from the world.The ways of the world don't allow leaven.The old stuff, the sin, back in."Why?Because the purity of the church is at stake.That's why.Because like leaven, sin spreads.Sins infectious.So verse 7, here it is again, "Cleanse out the old leaven."What's he saying?Get the unrepetent sinner out.Because he's going to affect everyone.Because as people, you are more tempted to excuse and ignore your own sin.If you're in a community where we excuse and ignore sin, you are more tempted to excuseand ignore your own sin if you're in a community that excuses and ignores other people's sin.Don't believe me?If you teach in Harvest Academy, what happens if you have one kid?In the class, one kid.Just had too much espresso that morning or something.Put a little too much saccharine on the old Count Chocula.And he comes in and he is kicking people.And he is jumping up and down on the table.And he is screaming.And you don't address it at all.What eventually happens?None of you worked with kids?Oh come on.What eventually happens?Oh, you have worked with kids, right?All of a sudden, little Joey is jumping on the table.What's little Billy doing?Apparently this is what we're doing, right?Little Joey is screaming.Now all of a sudden, little Betsy looks like we're screaming.And if you don't address it, what are you going to have in about two minutes?We're going to have an entire room full of kids all acting like little Joey.And little Joey's number needs to be up on that little screen right there.That says, come get little Joey.Why?He needs to be removed.Why?Not because we hate little Joey.Because little Joey is affecting the whole class.You see?You know that same principle is true for adults, isn't it?If we tolerate or condone God help us applaud sin, what we do church is we create a culturewhere people are comfortable to sin.And it's not long before rainbow flags are hanging on the church.We're called to be different, aren't we?Aren't we called to be different than the ways of the world?Aren't we called to pursue the ways of God?Aren't we called to represent the kingdom of Jesus Christ here on earth?And you're like, oh, so what are you saying, Pastor Jeff?You have to be perfect to come here?Oh, no, no, no, no, not at all.No, no, we're not saying that at all.At least as to Paul's last point here, write this one down.Number four, resist.I'm sorry, restrict.Excuse me, restrict.Restrict discipline to believers.Restrict discipline to believers.Look at verse 9.He says, "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people."You're like, what letter?Well, there was another letter, alright?He wrote them a letter before 1 Corinthians.And we don't have that letter.Do you think if God wanted us to have it, we would have it?For sure.For some reason, God didn't want us to have it.But we have some clues, right, about what was going on there.What part of that letter was, he told to Corinthians, "You need to avoid immoral people."And now he's saying, look, that's what I told you before.It's true, but I need to clarify some things here, right?Because apparently you're not getting it.Verse 10, "Not at all," meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlersor idolaters, "Since then, you would need to go out of the world."He says, look, when we say avoid sinners.He goes, I'm not talking about avoiding non-Christians.He goes, that's impossible.That is impossible.As long as you're living on this earth, you are going to interact with non-Christians.So this whole remove, separate yourself.He says, I'm not talking about non-Christians at all.Yes, we should be loving and reaching out and sharing the gospel and inviting the churchto non-Christians.Absolutely.Paul's like, I am so not talking about that.What are you talking about, Paul?Look at verse 11, here it is.But now I'm writing to you, "Not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother."Did you see that?If he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or as an idolater, revalor, drunkard, or swindler,not even to eat with such a wand.Paul's making it very clear here.He's not saying we just avoid, we avoid sinners, we avoid non-Christians.No, no, no, no.He says, I'm talking about people who claim to be born again believers but are unrepentant.Flagrantly, proudly living in sin.By the way, not just limited to sexual sin.I think you saw that.Sometimes that's the only sin the church wants to pick on because they sin differently thanus.It's not the only sin.But you have to see the difference.You have a Christian in sin, this happens all the time.All the time.You have a Christian in sin that's like, look, I am struggling.I need help.What I'm doing is wrong.I need help.And you have a different guy that is like, look, nobody tells me what to do.Who are you to judge me?What I'm doing is not wrong.Who do you think you are telling me?I can't be with this person or do this.You don't tell me what to do.Nobody tells me what to do.You see the difference?There's a huge difference in attitude and there is a huge difference in our response.Please hear me.If you call yourself a Christian and you come to me or one of our pastors, one of our eldersand you come to us and you say, Pastor Jeff, I'm stuck in sin.Please help me.I realize this is wrong and I want to honor Christ.I will do whatever it takes to get you on track and you walk with the Lord.I will work with you.I will spend as much time as we need.I will get whoever needs to be involved to get you on track in seeking the Lord the wayyou should.I will do anything in the world for you.You have to know that and there are some people in this room that know that firsthand.On the other hand, someone who calls himself a Christian but they're in sin and they'relovingly confronted, hey, what you're doing isn't right.This is honoring the Lord and they refuse to repent.Who do you think you are?You don't tell me what to do.He's out.He's out.And listen, this is an austere passage for sure.And I sure hope to heaven that none of you think that anybody is reveling in the thoughtof evicting somebody from church.This is a horribly sad and painful thing.No one is happy when this has to happen.And this isn't meant to be harsh.You see, it's confronting people in a spirit of love.It's a plea to repent because of the gospel, because of the kingdom, because of our testimony,because purity matters.That's the point.If there's flagrant, obvious sin and there's an absolute refusal to repent, then they'reout.And we can sit here today, church, and we can look at the text on the page and we can agreewith the concepts.But I'm going to tell you for a fact, it gets real hard when it actually happens to oneof us.I mean, we can agree to the concept, but when there's a face and a name, then it gets realhard.This happened a handful of times over my ministry.I could tell you stories.I could tell you stories of a man who was sneaking off and having a relationship withone of the girls in a youth group.This was at a previous church.Confronted, chip on his shoulder.You don't understand.And the man's 38, she was like 14.Confronted, he's like, you don't understand.She's very mature.We have a special relationship.The law was involved, by the way.And he went to where he needed to go.But in that conversation with him, I said, you are not welcome here.He says, where am I supposed to go?And I said, that's not my problem, but not here.Closing time, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.We had another situation with a man who asked for help in saving his marriage.And he seemed real repentant until somebody from church caught him on a date with anotherwoman out of the restaurant holding hands with her at a table.He was confronted with that.There's the door.And look, I could tell you several more, I'm not going to.But I can't tell you this.Every single time in my ministry that's happened, those have been some of the most painful seasonsof ministry that I've experienced.It's not fun.It's not fun to sit down with a brother or sister and say, you are dishonoring the Lordin your conduct, and we are begging you to turn this around.The hope, when someone is removed, the hope is always that they repent and we will joyfullyrestore them and then we all move on.It's in the rear of your mirror.We're done, you're repented.Okay, we're not going to talk about it.We're not going to bring it up.We're done.Great.That's the hope.But do you know what usually happens in our culture?Somebody's confronted with their sin.They get upset.Then what do they do?Off to Orchard Hill.I don't need to sit here and listen to this.It's a north way.Off to anywhere but here.Hope.They don't throw me out for sinning.And I'm like, I kind of hope they do.Yeah, that's typically what happens.People are disciplined and they just pack up their Bible and they go to another church.And you're like, well, so discipline didn't do them any good.Well, maybe not.But it did the church good.Tolerating sin will destroy the church.Look at verse 12.Paul says, "For what have I to do with judging outsiders?Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?"Now Paul's like, outsiders, not my business.Members, my business.Talks about judging here.I'd encourage you to underline that verse in your Bible.Next time somebody says, "Don't judge me."Listen, we've talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount.We are forbidden to judge motives.But look here, we are commanded to judge actions.We are commanded to judge the actions of those in church, those who call themselves believers.We are commanded.We have a responsibility to the person.We have a responsibility to the church and we have a responsibility to God.You're like, well, okay, what about the sin of the outsiders?What about them?What about their sin?What about the sin of the unbelievers?Well, verse 13, God judges those outside.Heard the evil person from among you.Yeah, you know the non-believers in sin, don't worry about them.God will take care of them.You love them.You share the gospel with them.You help them to know and receive and believe in Jesus Christ.But as far as their sin goes, God will take care of that.That's His job.Your job, last phrase, purge the evil person from among you.Maybe your Bible has that in quotes because that's not a new concept.That's an old testament quote.You're like from where?From Deuteronomy 13, Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 19, Deuteronomy 21, Deuteronomy 22, Deuteronomy24, there was a principle for ancient Israel that is for the church.Get them out.Get them out.At this point you're like, what am I supposed to do?What am I supposed to do with this information, Pastor Jeff?And I can tell you it is my sincere hope that you never have to do anything with this information.But if you see a brother or sister in sin, you have a responsibility to encourage themto repent.Matthew 18 gives principles for the process.And I know Matthew 18 is if somebody sins against you directly, I think the principlestill stands.Go by yourself.Get the whole story.Sit down with them.It's what I think I'm seeing, actually what I'm seeing.And if they refuse to repent, get some people from your small group.Like, hey, it looks like you're making some really bad choices right now.We love you and we care about you and we want you to get on track.And if they refuse to listen to that, then you need to come and talk to me and we'lltake care of it from there.The church, we are not headhunting.We are not looking for reasons to eject people.We are not making a federal case out of something minor, okay?I saw Billy smoking a cigar at a wedding.Church discipline, no.Slow down there, deputy dog.And we are certainly not assuming or judging character.The only thing we can judge is action.This is what I see you doing.And this is where God says, "That is wrong."We're talking about flagrant, obvious, verified, unrepentant sin.And we won't be a pure church if we refuse to deal with sinners.Let's pray.Father in heaven, it's a lot easier to preach Psalm 23.But we are committed to preaching the whole counsel of God.And Father, as uncomfortable as this might be and as offensive as this might be, Father,give us the wisdom and give us the understanding that this is actually the most loving thingwe can do is to allow someone to be shown the door if they refuse to repent.Father, you know our hearts in every case.It's our hope that there is repentance and restoration.Father, you care so much about the purity of this church.And I'm asking, Father, that you would give us compassion and love, and at the same time,boldness and obedience to handle things in a way that glorify and honor you.We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Gracie and I got together to talk about New Year's resolutions, Wicked, our favorite swear words, and how we've grown. From lessons on not comparing yourself to others to realizing setbacks can actually be an opportunity for growth, listen to us as we come up with the most creative curse words we can think of.     G is for the grumbling that I do.  R is for the resolutions, toodle-oo.  A is very, very asshole-a-ary. C is cunnnnn-tinuing another year to go.  I is insomnia that gives no rest.  E is existential dread all year…    Key Takeaways:    [1:10] Letter A [1:58] Letter B [2:36] Letter C [4:09] Letter D [18:02] Letter E [4:46] Letter F [5:32] Letter G [6:23] Letter H [7:20] Letter I [8:00] Letter J [8:38] Letter K [9:20] Letter L [10:00] Letter M [11:21] Letter N [11:58] Letter O [12:56] Letter P [13:45] Letter Q [14:27] Letter R [15:14] Letter S [16:09] Letter T [17:26] Letter U [18:34] Letter V [19:56] Letter W [21:06] Letter X [22:02] Letter Y [22:19] Letter Z [22:44] Gracie's year has been filled with lots of setbacks and growth [26:10] Gracie's resolutions for the new year  [26:46] I feel like I'm in the middle of everything  [30:03] You can't compare yourself to everybody else      Connect with Barb:   Website   Facebook    Instagram   Be a guest on the podcast    YouTube   The Molly B Foundation  

Hello there everyone and welcome to another episode of "The A to Z of Rock with Matt and Brian" . We are back to our virtual bag of Letters and it's the return of Letter B !!! Expect tunes from : Dan Byrne, Bad Company,The Black Crowes, Black Label Society and many more We have our usual features of "Double Live", "Shredder of the Week"  and "Song of Epic Proportions" as well as a slice of NWOBHM too.  Hope you enjoy The Show Playlist Saviour - Dan Byrne Stand and Fight - Burnt Out Wreck Bad Seamstress Blues - Cinderella Broken and Blind - Black Label Society Run with the Pack - Blackberry Smoke / Paul Rodgers Wiser Time - The Black Crowes Bad Boys - Whitesnake Blue Jen Denim Jumpsuit - Danko Jones Blitzkrieg - Blitzkrieg Hot as a Docker's Armpit - Budgie Bomber - Motörhead Everybody Knows - Bywater Call Swallowed - Bush The Shining - Black Sabbath Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf Blue And Evil - Joe Bonamassa Big Life - Night Ranger  Riot - Blue Murder Big Generator - Yes   Rock On !!!! Matt and Brian. 

In this episode, we explore essential 'B' words and phrases that will elevate your English fluency. Join me as we dive into powerful vocabulary, versatile phrasal verbs, practical sentence patterns, and fascinating American cultural insights - all focused on the letter B. You'll learn natural expressions that native speakers use daily but aren't typically covered in traditional English classes.You'll learn: • Sophisticated vocabulary including "belligerent," "benevolent," "bureaucratic," and other B-words to express yourself precisely • Essential phrasal verbs like "back up," "break down," and "bring up" that native speakers use constantly • The valuable "Before [doing something]" sentence pattern to structure your thoughts clearly • Cultural insights about baseball as "America's Pastime" and how its metaphors permeate American speech • How to use expressions like "beat around the bush," "bite the bullet," and "back to square one" in real conversationsPlus, I'll share an engaging story about a business conference that demonstrates how mastering these expressions can help you navigate professional settings with confidence. Take your English to the next level with these practical expressions that will help you communicate more naturally with native speakers.Resource Available: FluencyPanion Notebook: https://shop.speakenglishwithtiffani.com/products/fluencypanion-your-english-fluency-notebook 365-Day English Study Plan: https://speakenglishwithtiffani.com/365planIf you want to sign up for the free English email newsletter, go to https://speakenglishwithtiffani.com/newsletter

Welcome to Letter B of the Design Your Strongest Year End Ever Podcast Series — The A-Z of how to design and organization that's built to grow (without you carrying all the weight!)If every big decision runs through you, your org can't grow past you.That's not leadership. That's a bottleneck.

Hello everyone, it's "The A to Z of Rock with Matt and Brian" and it's all about the Letter B this week and we kick off this week's show with a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne who passed away on the 22nd July 2025.  Expect tracks from : Blackfoot, Bon Jovi, Joe Bonamassa, Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters and Blue Nation.  We have our usual features of "Double Live" and "Shredder of the Week" as well as a song of "Epic Proportions" from Blue Murder.  Show Playlist Mama, I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osbourne Changes - Black Sabbath Living on the Run - FM Echoes - Blue NAtion Black Tongue - Mastadon Burden in My Hand - Soundgarden Burn - Deep Purple I Aint Got Nothing - Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters Hell of a Night - Fury METALI!! - Babymetal  Blame it on Rock n Roll - Kickin Valentina Beggars and Hangers On - Slash's Snakepit India/Mountain Time - Joe Bonamassa Blackout - Scorpions Homebound Train - Bon Jovi Train Train - Blackfoot Valley of the Kings - Blue Murder Before Tomorrow Comes - Alter Bridge Roar Like Thunder - Buckcherry Beating Around the Bush - AC/DC All Revved Up with No Place to Go - Meat Loaf Enjoy the Show  Rock On !! Matt and Brian  

Half marathon? Hard. Full marathon? Very Hard. Ultra Marathon? Insanely hard. Ultra marathon while breastfeeding a baby and still managing to win your division? WHAT IN THE F**K?!?! Let's talk about that, IOU a rimjob Willy Wonks candy bars, accidentally spilling 70,000 lbs of bees on the highway, Joe smashing his head into the ceiling in an airplane bathroom, and more on today's episode of Can You Don't?!*** Wanna become part of The Gaggle and access all the extra content on the end of each episode PLUS tons more?! Our Patreon page is LIVE! This is the biggest way you can support the show. It would mean the world to us: http://www.patreon.com/canyoudontpodcast ***New Episodes every Wednesday at 12pm PSTWatch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/f5-70tzYJP0Send in segment content: heyguys@canyoudontpodcast.comMerch: http://canyoudontpodcast.comMerch Inquires: store@canyoudontpodcast.comFB: http://facebook.com/canyoudontpodcastIG: http://instagram.com/canyoudontpodcastYouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3wyt5rtOfficial Website: http://canyoudontpodcast.comCustom Music Beds by Zach CohenFan Mail:Can You Don't?PO Box 1062Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816Hugs and Tugs.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tim and Frank continue their quest to rank all 252 DC Comics characters, tackling the "I" through "K" characters while enjoying some fine brews and delivering plenty of controversial takes. Apologies to Kilowog. Cheers! Beers of the Week Switchback Ale Leffe Belgian Blonde Ale

 In this week's episode we'll cover Kronologic: Paris 1920, our Game of the Week, talk to Dr. Jon Spike in The School of Gaming,  and wrap it up by revealing our High-Five Letter B Games!  We also Spotlight How Dare You? from Alion!00:00:00 - Introductions & Awesomeness00:09:41 - Spotlight - How Dare You?00:17:39 - Game of the Week - Kronologic: Paris 192000:37:34 - School of Gaming - Dr. Jon Spike and Doomscroll01:07:27 - High-Five - Games Starting With The Letter "B"

Welcome to the 30th Episode of "The A to Z of Rock with Matt and Brian"  It's all about about the Letter B this week  Expect tunes from Blackfoot, Black Stone Cherry, Bad Company, Breaking Benjamin, Bywater Call and many many other great bands  We continue with our new feature "Double Live" where we play two live tracks back to back as part of the show.   The Show Playlist Deal with the Preacher - Bad Company Black Light - Smith/Kotzen Blow Me Away - Breaking Benjamin Good Time - BuckCherry Bring Me to Life - Evanescence Breaking the Silence - H.E.A.T Secret of My Success - Night Ranger Headstone - Brothers Osborne Everybody Knows - Bywater Call Bad Choices - Brave Rival  Bad Reputation - Thin Lizzy Bring it on Home - Led Zeppelin Dry County - Blackfoot Burnin' - Blackfoot Driving towards the Daylight - Joe Bonamassa Blood Brother - The Mission Bark at the Moon - Ozzy Osbourne Ballad of Youth - Richie Sambora Something About You - Boston Veteran of the Psychic Wars - Blue Oyster Cult Karate - Babymetal Outta My Head - Bad Actress Breadfan - Budgie  Hope you enjoy the show !! Rock On Matt and Brian

Recorded on a Monday at the Palm Street Studio.  The state of Sandusky and how businesses are struggling, better hours might help but help is hard to find.  Wages suck this day and age compared to the past.  Junior arrives and his hand is fine, so we go over the podcast bracket challenge.  Kicking out and roasting JTK is set, let's hope it goes well.  Lord Filkins is not pleased with the bowling team thus far, maybe he can motivate them to be better.

Introduction: Congratulations to the Peacemakers! (Matthew 5:9) Who are the Peacemakers? Those who Love unity and actively seek to Promote and Defend it in all circumstances. Why are We Congratulating the Peacemakers? For they shall be called Sons of God. Galatians 2:11-14 - But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. How Can I Become a Peacemaker? By Resting in the peace that Christ purchased for me. Ephesians 2:13-14 - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Colossians 1:20-22 - And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. By valuing the good of others above my Feelings and Preferences . By having a healthy view of Conflict . I shouldn't Desire tt. I shouldn't Avoid tt. Romans 12:18 - If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Audio Transcript Maybe you have a hard time being happy for anyone else besides yourself.Maybe you're envious of the person you're supposed to be congratulating.You know, at times we all struggle with truly congratulating other people.But do you know whose congratulations are always 100% genuine, heartfelt, and passionate?Jesus Christ.Over the past two months, we have been digging into the beatitudes.These are Jesus' blessed statements from the Sermon on the Mount, where he congratulatesthose who we would never think to congratulate on our own.We've already seen him congratulate the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, thosewho hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, and the pure in heart.Jesus doesn't congratulate these people to make them feel good about themselves.He truly congratulates these individuals because he means it.He gives his most sincere congratulations to his followers who choose to go against thegrain and be different than the rest of this world because he knows that they will experienceeternal rewards that defy expectation and imagination.So this morning, we will zero in on Jesus' next round of heartfelt congratulations tothe peacemakers.So let's join our Lord and Savior in congratulating the peacemakers, okay?Great job, everybody.I'm very proud of you.In all seriousness, this is such a chaotic world, isn't it?Hatred, slander, betrayal, shattered relationships, broken families, murder, and war all aroundus and in our faces 24/7.Do you ever get tired of it?I know that I do.There is so much trouble in so little peace.There are so many trouble makers and so few peacemakers.I hope and pray the Lord will use His word this morning to recruit more peacemakers inthis room and watching online for the work of His kingdom.So let's go to the Lord in prayer.Please pray for me to faithfully communicate God's word and I will pray that you faithfullyreceive and submit to it.Father, we thank you for this most important appointment of the week.We come together as your people to worship you together and come under the preachingof your word.But maybe take this seriously.Maybe take what your word has to say to heart and live it out, not just today, not justthe rest of this week, but the rest of our lives.We thank you in advance for what you will do.We ask all this in Jesus' name.Amen.So as Pastor Jeff and Pastor Rich have said over the course of this series, the Beatitudesare not random and isolated statements to be read and understood on their own.The Beatitudes are like steps on a staircase and rungs on a ladder that work together tolead us towards a specific destination.This means that we cannot become peacemakers until we walk the previous steps and climbthe rungs that Jesus has already laid out before us since the beginning of February.With that in mind, let's read the entire Beatitudes and really keep track of what Jesus is tellingus here.Matthew chapter five verses one through 10."Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciplescame to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.Blessed are those who are persecutor for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdomof heaven."So let's follow the logical flow of what Jesus is preaching here.You cannot be a peacemaker if you do not recognize your spiritual bankruptcy beforea holy God.You cannot be a peacemaker if you do not mourn over your sin and seek after repentance.You cannot be a peacemaker if you are not meek and do not put aside your self-interestfor the ultimate interest of God's glory.You cannot be a peacemaker if you have no appetite for the things of God.You cannot be a peacemaker if you demand mercy for yourself but you refuse to show mercyto other people in your life.And finally, you cannot be a peacemaker if your heart is set on perversion rather thanpurity.At this point, you may be thinking, "Okay, Taylor, I get it.I need to exhibit all the rest of the Beatitudes to be a peacemaker."But what is a peacemaker?Who are the peacemakers?Well you must have read my mind or pay attention to the whole entire series and how it reallyrolled out before you.But that is the first question on our outline this morning.Who are the peacemakers?In the original Greek, the term "peacemakers" only used once in the entire New Testamentand it's found right here in the Beatitudes.Is a compound word of peace and to make or to do?Let's unpack each individual word so we can better understand the whole term.In Scripture, peace is such a beautiful concept that goes so far beyond our limited Americandefinition.To most people in this country, here is what peace looks like.Gas prices are down and there's no major wars right now.We can breathe easy for a minute.Or yay, no one's fighting in my family today.We have peace.The biblical definition of peace is so much greater than that.That is a worldly view of peace that is based on circumstances and what happens to you.It can easily be changed and stolen away.Biblical peace is way more than the absence of conflict in your life.Biblical peace is the presence of God in your life.The missing puzzle piece in your soul has been found and filled.You experience a sense of fullness and completeness that no one else can take away from you.It is an eternal reality that works its way outward into your life and other people aroundyou.And there is no true peace apart from the one true God.There is no true peace apart from submission to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.And the word make and peacemaker brings an important reality into focus.Peace isn't just something for you to experience on your own.It is meant to be shared with others.For this to happen, you must be active and not passive.Peace is what you need to be taken to bring this God-given peace to others.So here is the definition of peacemakers that I want you to write down and meditate uponfor the rest of this week.Who are the peacemakers?Those who love unity and actively seek to promote and defend it in all circumstances.When you put the words peace and make together, you don't get a picture of someone just sittingback in their lazy boy recliner saying, "Man, I love peace.I love them.People get along.That's my jam.Can't really do much about it."That's a peacemaker, not a peacemaker.Peacefakers talk of big games.But do nothing to back up their empty words.While peacemakers do something about their desire for harmony with the people who Godhas placed in their lives.Peacefakers pretend like nothing is wrong.But they seed with anger on the inside.While peacemakers refuse to sweep issue after issue onto the rug, they just rip the rugup to deal with all those issues.Peacefakers put the ball other people's courts when it comes to resolving disagreements.While peacemakers grab the ball and run with it.Peacefakers do nothing to contribute to the solution.While peacemakers find God's answer, the problem.Now, some people take a sinful step beyond peacemakers.Some people take a sinful step beyond peacemaking and become peacetakers.Where they realize that or not, peacetakers prefer dysfunction.And they actively seek the dismantle unity everywhere they go.Peacefakers, actually peacetakers stir the pot on purpose.They toss grenades in the people's laps.And then they act like they did nothing wrong.They act like they're totally innocent in the situation.While peacemakers seek to diffuse tough situations with the Word of God in a calm attitude.Peace takers look at conflict as a contest to win.While peacemakers look at conflict as an opportunity for relationships to be restored.Peace takers badmouth those they have conflicts with to make themselves look like the goodguys in the situation.While peacemakers refuse to speak poorly of anyone out of respect for people's publicreputations.I want to challenge you this morning to figure out which label best describes you.Are you a peacemaker who puts on a performance?Are you a peacetaker who makes matters worse?Or are you a peacemaker who brings people together?It's so easy to spot peace faking and peace taking tendencies in others.But it's so difficult to see it within yourself.You can ask your loved ones for their perspective in counsel.Talk to your spouse, your kids, a close friend, a pastor, an elder at harvest after service.Others can point out the blind spots that you cannot see on your own.But I beg you, please do not assume that you're doing just fine in this area of life.Evaluate yourself and allow others to evaluate you as well.So we figured out who the peacemakers are and who they are not.Now we need to answer the second question of the morning.Why are we congratulating the peacemakers?Why are they worthy of these big balloons that Pastor Jeff pointed out earlier?Why are they worthy of this big party?Well Jesus clearly tells us why in Matthew chapter 5 verse 9.He says, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God."So why are we congratulating the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God?I don't want to bore you with my seminary homework, but in the original Greek, "shallbe called" is a verb in the continual future, passive tense.And some of you who didn't do very well in English like, "What in the world does thatmean?"Let me make it really simple for you.Jesus is describing something that will be repeatedly declared about peacemakers in eternity.On this earth, peacemakers are often misunderstood.In this life, Christians are hit with the wildest of lies and accusations.Has that ever happened to you personally?A family member cuts ties and walks away even though you did nothing wrong.Someone at work causes others to think poorly of you because of a slight that has no basisin reality.A friend turns his or her back on you for seemingly no reason.In our culture, biblical peacemakers are called a lot of rude and untrue things.But if you are a genuine peacemaker, take heart in this astounding truth.One day, all of heaven will openly and eagerly acknowledge what is already true of you rightnow.You are a child of God.More specifically, you are a son of God.Ladies, you may be scratching your heads and thinking, "I'm a son, but I'm a woman.I don't want to be called a son of God."Trust me, you really do.2,000 years ago, sons were the ones who received the inheritance.They were heirs of so many blessings and privileges.In God's family, His daughters are treated like sons and heirs of His infinite riches.Both men and women enjoy the reward of sonship.We aren't equal footing with one another.Whether you're a man or a woman, you do not earn your sonship by being a peacemaker.You simply demonstrate your sonship by being a peacemaker.Let me encourage you.Those who label you with hateful names right now are showing themselves to be children ofthe enemy.Children of Satan who follow in His footsteps of slander and accusation.While you prove yourself to belong to your heavenly Father when you follow in His peacefulfootsteps and refuse to sink to the level of this world.Sometimes my kids don't act the way that I would like them to in public.They can really embarrass me at the store by yelling, "No!" or questioning me.To be honest, in those moments, I wish I could take a massive step away from them and justsay, "Whose child is this?There's a lost kid here.Excuse me, I need help.Can any other parents relate to me?"Okay, you know exactly what I'm talking about.Thank you, Jillian.One person was honest enough.Several years ago, my son, Sam, had a Christmas concert at school, and he was the only kidin the entire school who cried the whole time and didn't sing any of the songs.Kate and I just wanted to slide down in our seats and just fall through a trap door inthe floor.Unfortunately, there was no trap door underneath of us.But the next year, Sam had a complete turnaround.He did awesome.He sang every song.He did all the motions, and he even gave the crowd a big thumbs up after he was done.I'll never forget how I felt in that moment with tears in my eyes.I wanted to yell out, "That's my son.That's my boy."God feels the same exact way about you if you're a peacemaker who actively seeks to promoteand defend peace everywhere that you go.He wants everyone to know that you are one of his precious children.An eternity, the courts of heaven will ring out with God saying, "That's my child.He belongs to me.She is mine."Angels and other believers will wholeheartedly accept and agree with that truth.No one will ever misunderstand you ever again.You will be fully known by God and other believers forever.Does that sound worthy of congratulations?At this point, you may be thinking, "Okay, I get it.I know who the peacemakers are.I get what the reward is.I'm sold.How can I become a peacemaker?"Paul provides the answer to that question in Galatians chapter 2 verses 11 through 14,where he provides a personal example of peacemaking from his own life.Please turn there with me.Galatians chapter 2 verses 11 through 14.Galatians chapter 2 verses 11 through 14, "But when Cephas," that's the apostle Peter,"came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.For certain men came from James.For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles.But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him.So even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I saidto Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like aJew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"This passage may seem random to you.It may seem off-topic, maybe thinking the word peace isn't even mentioned in theseverses.It seems like Paul is picking a fight and causing trouble.But that's not true at all.I chose this passage because it demonstrates three important lessons about becoming a peacemaker.So how can I become a peacemaker?Number one, you're outlined by resting in the peace that Christ purchased for me.By resting in the peace that Christ purchased for me.You throughout biblical history, there was a tension between Jews and Gentiles.Jews held to restrict diet and schedule of worship while Gentiles did not.Gentiles did things that seemed very unacceptable to the Jews.And the Jews did things that seemed very strange to the Gentiles.These two groups didn't hang out and spend time together.They stayed as segregated as humanly possible.Their relationship was one of hostility, not peace.But that all changes with Jesus Christ.Christ came to bridge the massive gap between a holy God and sinful humanity in the processhe did the same for Jews in Gentiles.Listen to what Paul has to say about this in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 13 through 14.But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the bloodof Christ.For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His fleshthe dividing wall of hostility.There are many differences.Cannot compare to their greatest similarity, salvation in Jesus Christ.Before the cross, there was a wall that divided Jews and Gentiles from one another, but ithas been torn down by the death and resurrection of Christ.Both Jewish and Gentile believers belong to the same God, have been adopted into the samefamily and have experienced the same peace.But this doesn't mean that Jewish and Gentile believers always sing kumbaya around the campfire and enjoy perfect peace during the days of the early church.Peace must be actively promoted and defended or both parties are going to fall back intobad habits.And that's what happens in this passage.The apostle Peter becomes a part of the problem.He used to eat with the Gentiles and now he decides not to.Unity is broken.Peace is disturbed.Paul and Barnabas and the rest of the people they led astray are acting like peace takersand not peacemakers.They are trying to rebuild the wall that Christ has already demolished.They are making the gospel look very bad.And Paul is very concerned that they are making Christ look bad.And they are ruining the reputation of the church.So Paul knows he can't stand by and do nothing.Paul can recognize this issue because his spiritual antenna is always up to catch anythingthat threatens the unity of the church.Paul can seek after the right solution because he cares about the gospel more than anythingelse.Paul can be a peacemaker because he has personally rested in the peace that Christ purchasedfor him on the cross.As I said earlier, only Christians can enjoy the peace that God offers.You cannot share the peace of Christ if you have not personally experienced the peaceof Christ for yourself.So I have to ask the most important question of the entire message.If you're just totally tuned out, please tune back in.Are you at peace with God?Are you at peace with God?And I know that question may seem so dumb to some of you.And you may say, "Well, of course I'm at peace with God.I'm sitting here, aren't I?I'm a good person.I do the right thing.If I weren't on good terms with God, I wouldn't be sitting here."All of those answers are wrong and unbiblical.Your peace with God has nothing to do with you and your list of accomplishments.Your peace with God has everything to do with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished.Apart from faith in Jesus Christ, you hate God.No matter how much you say that you love Him, you are an enemy of God.You were at war with Him, not at peace with Him.But the great news this morning is that doesn't have to be true of you any longer.Colossians chapter 1 verses 20 through 22 tells us this, "That Christ came to reconcileto himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of Hiscross.And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, He is now reconciledin His body of flesh by His death in order to present you holy and blameless and abovereproach before Him."Christ purchased never-ending peace on the cross with His precious blood.But that peace can only be given to you if you ask for it and you accept it.You can be at peace with God right now if you turn from your sin and turn towards JesusChrist for forgiveness and eternal life.If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raisedfrom the dead, you will be saved.You will transform from an enemy of God into one of His beloved friends.So the first step to become a peacemaker, you must first bow the knee to the Prince of Peacewho freely offers what the world can never give.How can I become a peacemaker?Second step, by valuing the good of others above my feelings and preferences.By valuing the good of others above my feelings and preferences.Since Paul is so concerned with the integrity of the gospel and the unity of the church,he deeply cares about the ultimate good of his Christian brothers and sisters, Jewishand Gentile alike.But before we can talk about what Paul says and does, let's talk about what he doesn'tsay and do.First of all, he doesn't take Peter's side and ignore the Gentiles.But also notice from this text that Paul doesn't sidebar the Gentiles and say, "Man, I can'tbelieve what Peter and Barnabas are doing to you guys.They are such jerks.You should be so angry with them and ignore them right back."That wouldn't be good for the Jews or the Gentiles.That would be childish behavior that belongs in the school playground and not in the church.Kids are obsessed with their feelings and preferences.I don't want milk in the blue sippy cup.I want it in the orange sippy cup.Kids not naturally care about the good of others.Susie's so weird.I'm not going to sit with her at lunch.Billy was mean to me, so I'm never going to talk to him ever again.I'm not going to say sorry and you can't make me.You may smile at those examples, but you may not be much better.So many professing Christians are little kids wearing adult clothes.They look like grown-ups.They certainly do not act like grown-ups.I have to ask you this morning, is that you?Are you a little kid in the church wearing adult clothes?Do you keep a mental file with personal offenses?Do you give the silent treatment to those who offend you or offend a loved one?Do you ignore people who frustrate you?Do you completely write people off?Face those ungodly attitudes and behaviors with godly disciplines.If someone offends you in a small way, you don't have to dwell on it and hold on to it.You can let it go.Proverbs 1911 says, "It is your glory to overlook and offense."That should become the new life first for many of us in this room.If someone maybe in the aisle next to you constantly annoys you and frustrates you instead of writingthem off, write them notes of encouragement.And I promise you, your attitude towards this person will begin to change.If someone sins against you and refuses to apologize, pray for that person every singleday.I can tell you from personal experience, it is so hard to hold on to anger and bitternesstowards someone that you constantly lift up before the throne of grace.Harvest, it's time to put childish ways behind us.It's time to grow up and become peacemakers.It's time to put yourself last so others can come first.It's time to care more about the good of others than your petty preferences and flaky feelings.It's time to stop caring about what you want and to start caring about what other peopleneed.How do I become a peacemaker finally by having a healthy view of conflict?By having a healthy view of conflict?So we've covered what Paul does not say and do.Now let's talk about what he does say and do to promote and defend peace at Antioch.Galatians 2.11 says that Paul opposes Peter to his face.And according to verse 14, Paul did this in front of everyone.Peter sinned publicly so he must be rebuked publicly.In verse 14 also lays out exactly what Paul says.If you though a Jew live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentilesto live like Jews?In other words, you are acting so too faced right now.You used to eat with the Gentiles, but now you act like they're inferior and they haveto keep the Old Testament laws to be at the table with you.Cut it out right now.Paul isn't rude, but he is firm.Paul proves that peacemaking sometimes involves direct and uncomfortable conversations.A bone must be reset before it can be repaired.A wound has to be cleansed and disinfected before it can be healed.For a plant to thrive, the parts that are dying need to be cut off and primed.Biblical peace cannot be enjoyed in Antioch apart from this conflict between Peter andPaul.We often think that conflict gets in the way of peace, but sometimes it is the way towardspeace.Paul has a healthy view of conflict which makes him a productive peacemaker.Every single one of you in this room, and myself included, we need to imitate his exampleand view conflict the way that he did.So what is a healthy view of conflict?Well really quickly, letter A in your outline, I shouldn't desire it.I shouldn't desire it.Paul isn't a fake tough guy looking to get into fist fights and arguments.He isn't making big deal out of nothing.He isn't just blow up at people who rub him the wrong way.Paul doesn't desire conflict and neither should you.But maybe you do desire conflict.Maybe you like drama when it pops up and you add fuel to the fire with gossiping and complaining.But please, don't be hungry for the next controversy, debate, and dispute.Instead, work hard to be the calmest and most collected person in every single room.Endeavor to be the person that other people invite into conflict because you are knownfor your helpfulness, your humility, and your wisdom.For this to happen, you must be quick to listen.Slow to speak and slow to anger.Or what is a healthy view of conflict?Letter B, I shouldn't fear it.I shouldn't desire it, but I shouldn't fear it.Paul isn't afraid of conflict.He isn't pacing on Antioch wondering what's going to happen if he opposes Peter.Oh no, what's going to happen?Were people going to think about me?No, he is confident.He's confident not in himself, but in the word of God and the spirit of God who liveswithin him.If you want to become a peacemaker, you have to get over your obsession with being likedand appreciated by everyone.When you are convinced that God approves of you, the disapproval of mere human beingsloses its hold.And sometimes you need to hurt someone's feelings to tell them the truth.You can't make a peace on without breaking a few eggs.You can't rise above a painful situation without stepping on a few toes.You will fear conflict if you care more about the opinion of man than the commands of God.This may be hard for you to believe because I'm a pastor and I talk in front of peopleall the time, but I was painfully shy growing up.And I used to dread ordering food at a restaurant.And so I made my family do it for me.And my family who's not here right now, but they'll be happy to tell you more about thatlater on.So I used to tell them, "Okay, I'll give them my order."They would tell the waiter or they'd go to the cashier and tell them what I wanted.But there was just one particular Sunday after church growing up, my family was done.They were done with my avoidance tactics and they forced me to go up and order my own chocolatefrosty at Wendy's.I got to tell you, I was terrified.I'll never forget that moment, just shuffling up to the counter with my crumpled up $1 bill,getting to the cashier, putting my head down, putting my hand up and saying, "Smell frosty."Guess what?Everything worked out just fine.The cashier was nice and I was able to enjoy the blessing of eating a chocolate frostythey ordered myself.I'm so glad that my family forced the issue and I stopped avoiding this important task.Maybe you need to force the issue.Maybe you need to stop avoiding the important task of dealing with a specific conflict inyour life.If you need to confront someone or have a painfully honest conversation, do not procrastinate.Do not push it off any longer, rip off the bandit and do it today, not tomorrow, not nextweek and not some magical may have time when things slow down because guess what?Things are never ever going to slow down.You may be wondering, "Didn't Pastor Jeff already tell me this two weeks ago during his sermonon mercy?Jeff, didn't you say this already?"Yeah, he did say that.But did you listen?Did you follow through?Or did you decide not to listen and not to follow through?Now is your chance.Stop avoiding conflict because by doing so, you are delaying the blessing of true peace.And I know what some of you are thinking right now.Taylor, that's all well and good, but you don't know my spouse.He or she is so stubborn.You don't know my family.They are never going to change.Or you don't know that situation in my friend group that history is so long, it's so messy.My attempts to make peace will fall on deaf ears and not accomplish anything.Well, it seems like you have a very low view of what God is capable of.It seems like you've already decided that God cannot and will not change that personin situation.Is that mindset honoring to God?It's insulting to him.It's destructive to those you care about.It's harmful for your own soul.You have to take your eyes off of the results that you do or do not expect and choose tofocus on your God-given responsibilities.What is your God-given responsibilities?Well, Paul tells us in Romans 12, 18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceablywith all."You are responsible for the action of your peacemaking, not the response to your peacemaking.You cannot control other people's actions and reactions, but guess what?You can control your actions and your reactions.Do your small part of peacemaking and trust God with His big part that He will take careof the results.As the worship team comes forward, I have some final questions for you.Are you sick and tired of giving into the temptation to be a peacemaker or a peacetaker?Are you ready to make some big changes?Have you truly rested in the peace that Christ purchased on the cross?Are you willing to place your feelings and preferences aside so you can focus on thegood of others in the unity of this church?Are you willing to deal with conflict in the biblical and healthy way?If your answer to those questions is yes, then I want to offer you my heartfelt congratulations.Congratulations to the peacemakers.Congratulations to the peacemakers for you shall be called sons of God.Let's pray.Father, we come to you and we admit our faults.We admit our sins.Lord, there's not one person in this room who shouldn't be feeling the conviction ofyour word.All of us can be peacepakers or peacetakers in different ways and around different people.Lord, I pray that by your spirit we would stop.Lord, we would put off anger.We would put off bitterness.We would put off giving people the silent treatment.And we would put on unity and harmony and love.Lord, we thank you that you didn't turn your backs on us.We want nothing to do with you.But you pursued after us through your Son and you gave us your perfect peace.Lord, help us to pursue after others to share that peace that you have given to us.We ask all this in Jesus' name.Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead Matthew 5:9 & Galatians 2:11-14What was your big take-away from this passage / message?What is biblical peace and how do we share it with others?How do you see yourself being a peace-faker or a peace-taker right now? How is the Lord calling you to address these issues and move forward?Which do you struggle with more: desiring conflict or avoiding conflict? Why are both harmful? BreakoutPray for one another.

Hello and welcome to a brand new feature whereby we work our way through the alphabet picking things to do with Watford for each letter (yes we might've stolen this from elsewhere but who cares!?). This week it's the Letter B, what will the team come up with...? Hear from Ben, Cam, Caity, Joe & Mike as they all give their answers and find out who's won each week. Follow The Voices of the Vic Podcast: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheVoicesOfTheVic Twitter/X - https://x.com/voicesofthevic?s=21 Instagram - https://instagram.com/voicesofthevic?igshid=Nzd2YXZoamd1cDM1 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thevoicesofthevic?_t=8oPOlabBIRN&_r=1 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6LWkbl2NkQbl1nTbBSllOn?si=RQQPSoG2TPeeDSWQtIJlYg Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-voices-of-the-vic/id1518372507 Contact us: thevoicesofthevic@gmail.com Thanks for watching! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Send us a textLet's look at the letter B and where it takes us this week.  Join me in this bit of introspection! 

Welcome to the 14th Episode of "The A to Z of Rock with Matt and Brian" and it's our 1st show of 2025.  We start the year off with the Letter "B" and we will have songs, bands, artists and album associated with this letter.    The Show Playlist Slash's Snakepit - Been There Lately Dan Byrne - Death of Me Bad English - Best of What I Got Jimmy Barnes - Working Class Man Bulletboys - Smooth up in Ya Blaze Bayley - Circle of Stone  Budgie - Crash Course in Brain Surgery Metallica - Of Wolf And Man Bush - Comedown Five Finger Death Punch - Blue on Black Black Sabbath - Headless Cross British Lion - Land of the Perfect People Deep Purple - Might Just Take Your Life The Georgia Satellites - Battleship Chains Pat Benatar - All Fired Up Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye David Bowie - Starman Marc Bolan/T. Rex - I Love to Boogie Bring Me The Horizon - Throne Biffy Clyro - The Joke's On Us Kate Bush - Army Dreamers Buckcherry - Everything Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody Hope you enjoy the show !! Rock On Matt and Brian

It's week 2 of our journey through the Catholic ABC's! That means we are on the Letter B, and B is for BIBLE! +MONDAY: The Bible is not a book, it's a Library! +TUESDAY: The Church selected the books found in the Bible +WEDNESDAY: The Bible tells one story: God'a plan of love +THURSDAY: God is the author of the Bible +FRIDAY: Catholics and the Catholic Faith Depend on the Bible.   DOWNLOAD the entire set of ABC's of the Catholic Faith Coloring pages here: https://catholicsprouts.myflodesk.com/podcastabccoloring   Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/  Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com 

It's week 2 of our journey through the Catholic ABC's! That means we are on the Letter B, and B is for BIBLE! +MONDAY: The Bible is not a book, it's a Library! +TUESDAY: The Church selected the books found in the Bible +WEDNESDAY: The Bible tells one story: God'a plan of love +THURSDAY: God is the author of the Bible +FRIDAY: Catholics and the Catholic Faith Depend on the Bible.   DOWNLOAD the entire set of ABC's of the Catholic Faith Coloring pages here: https://catholicsprouts.myflodesk.com/podcastabccoloring   Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/  Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com 

It's week 2 of our journey through the Catholic ABC's! That means we are on the Letter B, and B is for BIBLE! +MONDAY: The Bible is not a book, it's a Library! +TUESDAY: The Church selected the books found in the Bible +WEDNESDAY: The Bible tells one story: God'a plan of love +THURSDAY: God is the author of the Bible +FRIDAY: Catholics and the Catholic Faith Depend on the Bible.   DOWNLOAD the entire set of ABC's of the Catholic Faith Coloring pages here: https://catholicsprouts.myflodesk.com/podcastabccoloring   Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/  Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com 

It's week 2 of our journey through the Catholic ABC's! That means we are on the Letter B, and B is for BIBLE! +MONDAY: The Bible is not a book, it's a Library! +TUESDAY: The Church selected the books found in the Bible +WEDNESDAY: The Bible tells one story: God'a plan of love +THURSDAY: God is the author of the Bible +FRIDAY: Catholics and the Catholic Faith Depend on the Bible.   DOWNLOAD the entire set of ABC's of the Catholic Faith Coloring pages here: https://catholicsprouts.myflodesk.com/podcastabccoloring   Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/  Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com 

It's week 2 of our journey through the Catholic ABC's! That means we are on the Letter B, and B is for BIBLE! +MONDAY: The Bible is not a book, it's a Library! +TUESDAY: The Church selected the books found in the Bible +WEDNESDAY: The Bible tells one story: God'a plan of love +THURSDAY: God is the author of the Bible +FRIDAY: Catholics and the Catholic Faith Depend on the Bible.   DOWNLOAD the entire set of ABC's of the Catholic Faith Coloring pages here: https://catholicsprouts.myflodesk.com/podcastabccoloring   Find fun, meaningful, faith-filled projects for your own family in the Catholic Family Resource Library. https://catholicsprouts.com/catholic-family-resource-library-signup/  Catholic Sprouts is a production of Spoke Street Media. For more great Catholic podcasts, check out spokestreet.com 

Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Joey Evans benevolently boast a beautiful beacon of balanced board games. Yes, it's a Top 10 list of games that start with the letter "B"

Hello wonderful families, Welcome to an exciting new episode of Toddler Tunes! This week, we're diving into the brilliant world of the letter B! Join me as we explore and sing our way through this bustling letter with a collection of delightful songs. Today's songs: Welcome Song Baa Baa Black Sheep Here is the Beehive The Bear Went Over the Mountain Butterfly Guest Goodbye Song We'll kick things off with our welcome song, where we'll wave our hands high and wide to say a big hello to each other. Then, we'll have fun with the classic "Baa Baa Black Sheep," followed by buzzing along with "Here is the Beehive." Next, we'll join a curious bear on an adventure in "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." Finally, we'll flutter like beautiful butterflies as we sing "Butterfly Guest." ⭐️⭐️⭐️ For the grown-ups listening, your support helps me, an independent and self-funded mum and musician, to keep this podcast advert-free and continue creating, producing, and sharing all the music you hear on Toddler Tunes with our young listeners worldwide. Whether you become a member, make a one-time contribution, leave a review, or simply share this podcast with other music-loving families, your support really means the world to me. ✨ Become a Toddler Tunes member here ✨

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Welcome to Off The Beat & Track Podcast with me Stu Whiffen.This episode is the 14th of a series of online live shows with our Patreons. On this episode i chat to them about artists beginning with the letter B, this is an unstructured and fun chat.Hope you enjoy this chat and if you do please feel free to support the podcast herehttps://supporter.acast.com/offthebeatandtrack orwww.patreon.com/offthebeatandtrackPlease also subscribe and follow the podcast on the social media links belowOff The Beat & Trackwww.offthebeatandtrackpodcast.comhttps://twitter.com/beatandtrackpodhttps://www.facebook.com/offthebeatandtrackpodcast/Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/offthebeatandtrack. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/offthebeatandtrack. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The guys continue their new 26-part series as they run down their favorite films that start with the very second letter of the English-language alphabet. Why? You tell us. Join our OSCAR PICKS group: https://oscarpicks.app/join-group/cinereelists/2568fb16/ Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/wHdJuprYXQY Follow Cinereelists: Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – TikTok Follow James: Letterboxd – Twitter Follow Zach: Letterboxd – Twitter Follow Kyle: Letterboxd Support the show on Patreon. Subscribe: iTunes / RSS Have a film suggestion you think we've never seen and want us to discuss on the show? Send your pick to heyguys@cinereelists.com and one of us WILL watch it and...

The ABC's of being a Positive Warrior- Today the letter "B".You ARE worthy.  You ARE powerful.  You CAN not just win this day, but dominate it.Today, we take a look at what fulfilled individuals to better than most, beginning with the letter "A".   Your life will 10x the moment you buy into these difference maker concepts packed into this four minute episode. GET READY TO SUCCEED!=====If you feel the show is worthy, please feel free to share with those you care about as it encourages others to be the their best selves.  We can all be 1% better today.The Positive Warrior Network limits acceptance of new clients to six each month.  All programs last six weeks and guarantee results or you do not pay in full.  If ready to increase impact, influence and income Lets Chat!Brad is an elite coach inside the most powerful Empowerment coaching program in the world and is currently accepting candidates, teams and organizations.  These are not the programs for you if you're looking for free, easy, short and quick.  These are for the individuals, teams and organizations ready to live abundantly and ready to put their foot on the gas in the departments of increased income, impact and influence.  Click here for a conversation.  Greater is coming for you!Brad is also an electric international keynote speaker.  Click here for a conversation to see if he is a great fit for your next event.The #1 Best Seller,  DNA Of A Winner:  8 Steps to Building The Soulprint Of A Winner is on the market.  Grab your copy on Amazon searching the title or at www.braddaltongroup.comSixty-six countries from six continents have hopped onboard the B.E.S.T Self Podcast.  We welcome back Santa Cruz, California as well as Toronto, Ontario to the show!=====I'd love to connect with you. You can find me, your host Brad Dalton, here:Instagram: @best_selfuLinkedIn: Brad DaltonTwitter: @bestselfuYouTube:  Best Self Podcast ChannelEmail:  brad@braddaltonspeaks.comLets Chat!

Hey out there in Mommyland! This is Mom Unfiltered. I am your host Jacqueline. Today we are having a chat from my sister, fellow neurodivergent mama, Dee Elmore. She is an amazing mother of two littles, her bought with life gave her a vision to write and make it plain, she's and organized maven and a fashion designer among other things. I'm pleased to share our conversation on gratitude. We talking about words that bring us gratitude that start with B. And now it's time for our program.

All these answers start with B!   Fact of the Day: A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water. THE FIRST TRIVIA QUESTION STARTS AT 01:28 SUPPORT THE SHOW MONTHLY, LISTEN AD-FREE FOR JUST $1 A MONTH: www.Patreon.com/TriviaWithBudds SUPPORT THE SHOW WITH SWAG ON ETSY:  Trivia books, shirts, & more! GET A CUSTOM EPISODE FOR YOUR LOVED ONES:  Email ryanbudds@gmail.com Theme song by www.soundcloud.com/Frawsty Bed Music:  Synthwave 1 by Frank Schroeter Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/9699-synthwave-1 License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license http://TriviaWithBudds.comhttp://Facebook.com/TriviaWithBudds http://Instagram.com/ryanbudds Book a party, corporate event, or fundraiser anytime by emailing ryanbudds@gmail.com or use the contact form here: https://www.triviawithbudds.com/contact SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL MY AMAZING PATREON SUBSCRIBERS INCLUDING:   Linda Elswick Carter A. Fourqurean Courtney Cassal Daniel Hoisington-McArthur Paula Wetterhahn Justin Cone Steven LongSue FirstKC Khoury Keith MartinTonya CharlesBen Katelyn Turner Ryan Ballantine Justly Maya Brandon Lavin Kathy McHale Selectronica Chuck Nealen Courtney French Nikki Long Jenny Santomauro Jon Handel Mark Zarate Keiva BranniganLaura PalmerLauren Glassman John Taylor Dean Bratton Mona B Pate Hogan Kristy Donald Fuller Erin Burgess Chris Arneson Trenton Sullivan Josh Gregovich Jen and NicJessica Allen Michele Lindemann Ben Stitzel Michael Redman Timothy HeavnerHarlie WestJeff Foust Sarah Snow-BrineRichard Lefdal Rebecca Meredith Leslie Gerhardt Myles Bagby Jenna Leatherman Vernon Heagy Albert Thomas Kimberly Brown Tracy Oldaker Sara Zimmerman Madeleine Garvey Jenni Yetter Alexandra Pepin Brendan JohnB Patrick Leahy Dillon Enderby John Mihaljevic James Brown Christy Shipley Pamela Yoshimura Cody Roslund Clayton Polizzi Alexander Calder Mark Haas Ricky Carney Paul McLaughlin Manny Cortez Casey OConnor Willy Powell Robert Casey Rich Hyjack Matthew Frost Joe Jermolowicz Brian Salyer Greg Bristow Megan Donnelly Jim Fields Mo Martinez Luke Mckay Simon Time Feana Nevel Brian WilliamsJordania of Zeilingrisk

On today's episode of the podcast, we continue the "Dream Dictionary," series, this time focusing on dreams and symbols that begin with the letter B. Ever wondered what seeing a baboon in your dream means? Or what about if you are playing a banjo in your dream? Listen along and find out. Enjoy! --- FOUR SIGMATIC Delicious and almost-magically easy products to help you achieve elevated wellness and feel your best. Products ranging from coffee to protein powder. Enjoy 10% off at ⁠⁠foursigmatic.com⁠⁠ Jupiter Organic CBD Get 10% off your order of Jupiter CBD by visiting ⁠GetJupiter.com⁠ and using code ASMR at checkout ⁠https://www.getjupiter.com/sleepandrelaxasmr⁠ --- DOWNLOAD: Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sleep-and-relax-asmr/id1133320064⁠ Anchor: ⁠https://anchor.fm/sleepandrelaxasmr⁠ Radio Public: ⁠https://radiopublic.com/sleep-and-relax-asmr-6pAPm8⁠ Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4VvI482AIUgKZGfOWqjuyw⁠ Stitcher: ⁠http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sleep-and-relax-asmr⁠ Castbox: ⁠https://castbox.fm/channel/id356618⁠ TuneIn Radio: ⁠http://tunein.com/radio/Sleep-and-Relax-ASMR-p899136/⁠ Pobean: ⁠https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/tvjti-4fcb7/Sleep-and-Relax-ASMR-Podcast⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sleepandrelaxasmr/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sleepandrelaxasmr/support

I can say this without any caveat - reading the Evergetinos is one of the most important things that we could do for ourselves in the spiritual life. I know that might sound extreme; especially given all of the writings of the Fathers that we have read over the course of the years, including the writings of the Philokalia.  Yet, there's something exceptional about the Evergetinos. We are not only given specific teachings but we are shown the lived experience of the fathers; how they came to understand things in the way that they did about the human person, the struggle with sin, and the action of God's grace. This became especially apparent in this evening's group. Our focus, in particular, was on the virtue of humility. After pondering the sayings of the Fathers - that the truly wise individual is the one who has control over his volition, who seeks in every way to make his will subject to God and understands that the will of God is advantageous to him in a manner surpassing all human understanding.  In and of itself this is beautiful and speaks to the heart. However, we segued into a story from the life of Saint Pachomius describing the birth and development of humility in the soul of one of his monks Simvanos. Suddenly all the truths we read about came to life. We move from the notional to the real very quickly. The human mind and our tendency towards rationalization easily draws us back to a worldly way of perceiving reality. Whereas the lives of the Saints reveal to us the heart of man and God; what it is to be created in the image and likeness of God, what it is to neglect that truth, and the beauty of the soul that emerges when the grace of God brings healing where once there was only sin. --- Text of chat during the group:   00:05:30 FrDavid Abernethy: page 377 Letter B   00:05:57 Jason: I do not have the text, but am looking to purchase soon   00:06:29 FrDavid Abernethy: Jason that's fine.  We read the text as we go along   00:06:48 Jason: Reacted to "Jason that's fine.  …" with ❤️   00:08:24 Jason: I am a catechumen in my local Orthodox Church, I do hope that I am still able to attend these   00:08:49 Ren Witter: Replying to "I am a catechumen in..."   Absolutely!   00:09:12 Ren Witter: Replying to "I am a catechumen in..."   You are not our only Orthodox/nearly Orthodox by any means

RHOC - S6, E13 “Girl Fight” You'd figure that Joel McHale is a man who, after hosting The Soup for 11 years, has probably seen it all when it comes to reality TV. But, you'd be wrong and that is only part of the reason he is fascinated with The Real Housewives.   Find out what part of this episode blew his mind. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'B'atter's up so it's time to answer 10 trivia questions on sports team names that start with the letter ‘B' trivia! Today's episode is sponsored by Trivia With Budds. Get more info here: www.TriviaWithBudds.com If you'd like to request a specific topic send a donation of your choice on Venmo to @NoChitChatTrivia and write the topic you'd like in the comments. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/NoChitChatTrivia Visit our sister site thetop10things.com for travel and entertainment information! Thank you to everyone who listens!

Why is "B" the coldest letter in the alphabet? Because it's surrounded by AC. On today's episode, we have 10 trivia questions on musicians that start with the letter ‘B!' Today's episode is sponsored by the new album, “Songs for the Cynical,” by singer/songwriter Spud Davenport. Find more information here: https://spuddavenport.store/ If you'd like to request a specific topic send a donation of your choice on Venmo to @NoChitChatTrivia and write the topic you'd like in the comments. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/NoChitChatTrivia Visit our sister site thetop10things.com for travel and entertainment information! Thank you to everyone who listens!

We're coming at you with another letter-themed episode, this time being 10 trivia questions on television shows whose names start with the letter ‘B!' If you'd like to request a specific topic send a donation of your choice on Venmo to @NoChitChatTrivia and write the topic you'd like in the comments. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/NoChitChatTrivia Visit our sister site thetop10things.com for travel and entertainment information! Thank you to everyone who listens!