The Foolishness of the Cross

Series: Letters to the Church

Speaker: Jason Williams

As we continue our journey through the Letters to the Church sermon series, Pastor Jason preached 1 Corinthians 1.  We observed Apostle Paul going after the division that was beginning to emerge in the Corinth church over loyalty to certain individuals over others.  We discussed how most church division stems from placing personal preferences over and above biblical conviction.  As Paul addressed the points of division in the Corinth church, he calls the church to unity.  He reminds the church of who they are in Christ and to stand on the Gospel.  He also reminds them that God didn’t save them because they were wise, noble or powerful.  God saves and uses the weak to advance his kingdom.  Therefore, no one has any room to exalt self or personal preferences above the good of the church.  The Gospel calls us to a unity in Christ (fellowship) that leaves no room for us to exalt our opinions or personal convictions above our loyalty to Jesus.

When we let go of our personal preferences for the sake of the church and hold on to the truth of the  Gospel, we stand united.  As long as our loyalty is to Christ, our personal opinions will never have more power than our unity towards one another.  This allows us to disagree on personal preferences and even personal convictions, while still remaining deeply united on what matters most.  The primary mark of the Christian church is its deep loyalty to Jesus and deep abiding relationships with one another.  Let us maintain the unity of the fellowship of Christ by submitting ourselves to Christ and his Word.  “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Have you ever allowed a frustration towards someone or offense from someone cause a division in your relationship with that person?  Are you willing to strive to keep your loyalty to Christ and Biblical principals as more important than your personal preferences or personal convictions?