Blueprints
Build Your Church • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 Corinthians 3:10-17
Give text early
Church, we are in week 5 of our series build your church, and Pastor Tom kicked this series off for us last month by reminding us that we are God’s handiwork. From there we took that discussion to that of a hospital. Remember that? That we are here to reach the lost and the hurting…… we then talked about how everyone has a place in the body. We are all a unique puzzle piece in the mosaic that is the Kingdom of God, and then wow, Pastor Tom challenged us last week that we are God’s plan of offense against the gates of hell. This week we’re going to talk about the blueprints for construction in the building of the church and were going to start with a little conversation on the building we are siting in right now, that all of us refer to as the church.
Intro Material: Conversations about moving stuff around in our building? here or as intro material with 360 look around room, used to be 80%, last week it was 48% etc. training for growth. If we are going to ever build or give new space to the next generation, we all are going to have to become more friendly. So many of you here that I would call “regulars” “members” some might like the title OG’s, You have paved the way.
But growth in almost any organization means having less control of the situation, especially in an organization where we know who is really in control.
But for those of you who have paved the way. sit middle, sit in the seat others might not want to find if they come in late. sit close to each other. sit close to people you you’re close to so people you aren’t close to don’t have to sit close to you. DO THAT AGAIN. Youth growth, awana,
winter jam, seat next to me, limo 18, didn’t care, tavern 62 can i go get a pic,
Thanks for letting me have that coaching moment with you, and understand adjusting a little thing like how and where you sit in church can really help us as we grow forward. Let’s look at our text
1 Corinthians 3:10–17 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”
In various areas of life we might hear a phrase like, let’s start with the end in mind. This might be if we are writing a paper, preparing a sermon, training for the big game, going on a trip, or perhaps working towards a certain career. It’s a reminder that we don’t lose sight of the goal in the midst of the journey. With that in mind I’m going to work backwards through this text today, starting with the purpose for which we were designed and work our way back to the foundation on which we were built. Remember this morning that though we started with a discussion on the physical church in which we sit, that a reference to God’s church within the scriptures will always be about people. Collectively as we make up the body of Christ, and individually as we call to mind the purpose for which we were designed to play a part in His kingdom.
Let’s take a look back at verses 16 and 17 from our text and start with the design… You and I were made to worship, to bring glory to him. To reflect the Holiness of God. Verse 16 poses the question……
The Design - Holiness and Glory
1 Corinthians 3:16–17 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Let’s start with that question before we see Paul’s continued comments from verse 17. Do you not know that YOU, each one of you is the temple of God? And that it His spirit that dwells in you? Since Paul poses this as a question, let me pose it as a question to you. Do you know that? Do you KNOW that YOUR body is a temple of God, and the Holy Spirit God dwells in YOU? This is supposing that you are believer. You have given your life to Jesus, you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, therefore you are the housing for this Spirit of God.
God’s literal design for us was to show forth the works of His Spirit living in us. He gave us the capacity to show or not show love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, and self-control. To some He gave gifts to help others understand that it is indeed His Spirit that is living us.
We cannot take lightly that we are a divine design and were divinely purposed to bring glory back to God.
Verse 17 says then If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”
You are Holy . Right? He says you are the TEMPLE of God, You house the SPIRIT of God, and then says the temple of God is holy, and that is what YOU ARE.
That’s alot to take in.
The question we have to answer from here is, “Are we truly a living representation of the design for which God intended?” REPEAT I alluded to it earlier that Pastor Tom did a great job at kicking off the series reminding you that you..are..God’s..handiwork. So if you are His handiwork, and He designed you for purpose, if you’re not fulfilling the purpose which you are designed, what’s the hang up? I’m so glad you asked. Leads us to our second thought.
Team, if you could go ahead and pull verse 12 and 13 of 1st Corinthians chapter 3 for me that would be great.
There’s a story in the Bible about two men who built their house on different foundations and what happened when they faced adversary, you know what I’m talking about? Well that’s not the illustration we’re going to use for this next point. Instead we are going to really go deep here, and go back to a story from when you were about 5 years olds. The story of Fifer, Fiddler, and Practical Pig. Alright fine, most of you know them as the three little pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. Fifer built his out of straw, big bad wolf came knocking, little pig little pig let me in. Not by the hair on my chiny chiny chin. huff puff, down goes the house. Diddo for Fiddler and his stick house, but practical pig wins the days with the brick house and the pigs enjoy rotisserie wolf for dinner. Put a pin and that and let’s look again at verse 12 and 13.
Construction Materials - Eternal Matters
1 Corinthians 3:12–13 “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.”
MAKE SURE SLIDE GOES BACK UP HERE - We may have the right design but the materials matter.
With our three little pigs they all could build with the same design but straw, sticks, and bricks all hold up different.
I remember my Dad telling me a story, most of you know he was a pastor, some of you may not know he was a building inspector. I remember I asked him one time the kind of things he looked for when he inspected a house. And I remember he gave me an example of how a large building group might skimp on a nail length by an 1/8 of an inch, maybe only saving a 1/2 cent a nail, but with using millions of nails in houses all across Columbus, it could save thousands and thousands of dollar. The goal was to use quality materials called for in the blueprints that would stand the test of time. But they tried to get by with a little less than, making sure the outside looked good, even if the guts were a little less than quality…Something to catch there Christian.
Too many of us are trying to build houses with less than quality materials. You and you and you x10… were designed for holiness to reflect the glory of God. Is that what you’re living for? Man I’ll tell you what church if you can allow yourself to get sideways on how chairs in a church might be set up, your focus might be on something less than eternal matters.
But I’m not talking about chairs this morning, I’m saying Christ is our foundation and Paul laid this foundation for others to build on it, and he said no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is already laid which is Jesus Christ.
How are you building on that foundation today? Paul gives examples of how what we are building with, be it gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, one day it will clearly become evident. Because only certain things are going to hold up in eternity. As we go through life and see so many examples of deterioration in basic ideas like our bodies or the environment we can know that so many things that we invest our time, our money, our thought life, and our energy on just really aren’t going to matter one day. But what if when that day comes, and you pass through proverbial fire, you have done things that remain? You’ve invested in eternal matters? Our passage today says those will receive a reward.
So how do we know the difference between eternal and non eternal matters?
Jesus said take no thought about what you eat drink or wear… But what does no thought mean? I’m glad you all ate something this week, but not if you argued over dinner, I’m REALLY glad you got dressed today, but I hope you didn’t change outfits five times until you were satisfied with your appearance. I hope you provide for your family, but not to the point that they don’t have a relationship with you. I hope you enjoy your hobby, but I hope it’s not just used as a distraction from a life of no significance.
In all the things that we commit our time, money, and energy to, what if we asked the question, how will this commitment of my time, money, or energy effect eternity? I’m sure none of it are going to get it perfect this side of heaven, but what if you took inventory this morning and said i could be investing a little more in spiritual gold than physical wood, hay, and straw? What if I thought of others first, and made love the first priority in any area where conflict arises? What if we cared more about introducing people to an eternal God, more than we continued in endless conversations about entertainment, politics, and other people’s sins?
Because at the end of the day, only those things which have an eternal impact will truly stand on that original foundation. Let’s talk about that foundation here for a minute, looking back at verse 11.
The Foundation - Christ the Solid Rock
1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
We’ve been talking to construction and design companies about the future of the church, and they’ve wanted to see any original plans or blue prints that we had. Why does that really matter? I’m sure there are plenty of experts in here that watch hgtv, but the answer is pretty simple, they want to know about the origin of the building, the foundation, and the intent for which it was designed.
So when it came the the original plan for the church we look back to the foundation, and we see Jesus. The foundation will always be Jesus Christ, and the plan will always be His church.REPEAT And His church will always be made up of people like you and me who understand that we are filled with the Spirit and to abuse or ignore that fact is to stray from the original design.
Earlier I started to reference a story from Matthew chapter 7 where Jesus said that those who hear and act on my words have built on the rock solid foundation, but those hear and do not act, have built on a foundation that is no foundation at all. Church, there is perhaps nothing we are more guilty of in America than the vast amount of instruction we have from the word of God that we choose not to obey or act upon. Returning to the foundation, means continually returning to the Word of God, then asking Him to give us the strength and courage to build upon that foundation in ways that will matter in eternity.
Response: I’m going to invite the team… and challenge us to respond to our points this morning. SONG Firm foundation?
Have you strayed from the original design? When it comes to a house, no one wants to stop with just a foundation. It’s crucial to the outcome but they want the finished product. In the same way Christ created us to reflect His glory and draw others to Him. When you search to buy a new house online, you know a firm foundation is needed, but the completed product is what draws buyers in. We were designed to draw others in to discover Christ. For some of you it may be time to demo the house and build again from the ground up of the foundation of Jesus.
now listen to me church some of you have failed you have used your body for sin, devil tells you that you have no worth, old friend today verse new mercies, God seems to be attracted to weakness Dathese hoyr he’s closest
Are you striving to build things that have no eternal value?
Can we bring up Philippians 3:7-11 and look at this together for a minute. The same guy who wrote our text today to the church at Corinth wrote the following verses to the church in Philippi. He said……
Philippians 3:7–11 “But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (HOW MUCH OF THIS DO I USE)
What if you asked yourself the question, will the things I’m pursuing in life right now matter when I’m 30? 40? 50? 60? 70? 80? How about when you’re gone? No matter how old or young you are today, we can all point to time spent on things that have no eternal matter. But no matter how old or young you are, it’s always the right time to start moving your passion, energy, resources to a place where they are more focused on eternal matters. What efforts are you making in life that could be re-directed to bring greater glory to Him?
Finally this morning…
Will you return to the firm foundation?
I know that my dad’s title of building inspector wasn’t one that a foreman on a job got excited about, but the inspector should not be feared, when the foundation is firm, the materials are quality, and the plans have been carried out. If you are building your life on something other than Jesus this morning, today is the day to reset, or perhaps come to know Him for the first time this morning.
There is no other viable foundation to build your life on but Jesus. There is nothing we can do or work towards that will last if it’s not focused on Him, and we must remember that we were designed to reflect His glory and Holiness so others will continue to be attracted to His church and we can move forward together.
Let’s stand
Parking Lot/Closing
Kid powe last week boys 232 girls 319, 552 total, giving statements, mid-term meal, prayer service, fasting never wrong, youth