“Where I’m Coming From”
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. 6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. – 1 Cor 2:1-9
Good morning. Today is day 15 of my ministry at SECC. (AND – they said it wouldn’t last). SO - are we having yet or what? FOR – the 4th time I get to break open and share with words, that are: God breathed; living and active; sharper than a double edged sword and can judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
AND SINCE – I plan on standing up here at least a few hundred more times… I thought it would be a good idea to tell you a little bit about the guy standing up here by this music stand.
• I was born on Feb 4, 1960 in Baltimore, Md
• Graduated High School in 1978
• Served in the USN on Submarines from 1978-1987.
• Graduated from FCC in 1992
• Served in East Tampa for about 6 years
• Was the pastor at CCC in Atlanta, Ga. for 8 years.
• Spent the last 1 ½ at RRCC as the pastor of Spiritual Formation.
• I married with 8 children (Chelsea is 23 and lives in Ind, John is 21 and is a Jr at UCF, Leila is 16 a Jr at Timber Creek, Mei-Leigh is 4, Jin Tao is 2 and we hope to travel before the end of the year to China to bring him home. I have 3 unofficial adopted sons – Jake 24 who lives in Ga.; Anthony who is 23 and is doing graduate work at Rutgers; Bo who is 20 and attends Valencia.
OKAY – that’s a very brief sketch of ‘who I am?’ BUT - I want to spend the rest of our time this morning… talking about ‘where I’m coming from’ using the passage from the pen of Paul that we just read. UNDERSTAND – I do not take lightly the responsibility of opening up the word of God. It’s a big deal to me because it’s a big deal to God. It’s through sharing the Word that people grow and are saved.
SO I THOUGHT - it would be good for me to let you know where I’m coming from, again as I said using to the text in 1 Corinthians 2.
The Apostle Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey, after he had left Athens, having presented there his well known sermon on Mars Hill. It was in Corinth that Paul met up with Aquilla and Pricilla and it was here that Paul worked for a time making tents. Paul stayed in Corinth for about 18 months, establishing and working with the church.
BUT REMEMBER – Paul was a man literally on a mission from God to take the Gospel to the Nations – so eventually had to leave and move on to other un-reached places to share the Good News with those who had yet to heard.
WELL - not that long after he left Corinth, Paul received a letter from the church, AND – when he opened it up, he found that the church had some issues:
• there were disagreements over doctrine
• division between people
• problems with sin
AND – not only that but the letter also talked about how after Paul left some guys came into the church and started to diss, put down, criticize and bad mouth Paul. THEIR – intent was to discredit both Paul and his message.
So in response to this letter from the Corinthian church Paul wrote the letter we know as 1st Corinthians, somewhere around 56 AD. AND – what Paul is doing in the verses that we are studying today is reminding his brothers and sisters back in Corinth what his ministry was like when he was with him. Basically Paul is telling the church – “Hey don’t let those guys fool you – you know what I was about and where I was coming from, when I was sharing the word of God with you…”
In these verses we can see what had been Paul’s: approach, attitude and aim when he stood before the body in Corinth to share God’s word. AND LISTEN – I want you to know that as I assume the responsibility of opening up the word of God each week that it is my desire to follow Paul’s example…
My Approach – Preach Christ
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Now before we talk about what the proper approach is I think it would be helpful for us to talk about the improper approach in sharing God’s word. And the improper approach is to preach just fancy words and - fluffy stuff
I’m sure most of us here have encountered a slick talking, smooth speaking, silver tongued, soap peddling, spell binding salesman. You know the type, somewhere between the "I’m not interested" and "I’ll take two" something happened and we’re not really sure what.
But when all is said and done we find that we have a new: vacuum cleaner, extended warranty, set of encyclopedia’s, insurance policy, phone service or discount tickets to the beauty parlor or a Time Share at Daytona Beach.
LISTEN - many salesman (note I’m not talking about honest hardworking salesman) but many sales man are trained to speak in such a way that they can convince people to buy things that they don’t need, don’t want, can’t really afford to impress people they don’t really like.
QUESTION – Has that ever happened to you? I heard about a salesman who sold a milking machine to a farmer who only had one cow. And then he took that one cow as a down payment…
WELL – things were not that different in Paul’s day. They too had silver tongued politicians and slick talking salesman knocking at their door (especially in Corinth, which was the commercial center of the Roman Empire).
And not too long after Paul left Corinth some of these people - made their way into the church – attempting to sway people from the truth with their smooth talk - and with their criticism of Paul.
SO - Paul’s reminds them that his approach was entirely different, I like how the Message Bible words those 2 verses;
"You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s Master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did - Jesus crucified." (Msg)
What Paul is saying is this, "when I came and preached to you brothers and sisters, I did not come using the common method of the today - flowery words, polished speeches and slick marketing strategies based on human wisdom."
NOW UNDERSTAND – that the philosophers of the day had no other recourse but to use such talk. WHY? Because they had run out of ideas, they no longer had any answers. Therefore they used high sounding words to conceal the fact that they really had no message, that they had nothing to say. Their words had become a cheap substitute for the truth… A LOT – a lot of fluff, but no meat. A LOT - of image but no substance. (hollow Easter Bunnies).
But LISTEN - Paul didn’t have to sink to that level (EVEN THOUGH HE WAS NO DOUBT HIGHLY SKILLED IN PUBLIC SPEAKING..) WHY? Because Paul’s message was not empty, it was not meaningless -- his message was the truth. His message was Jesus (plain and simple). JESUS - who He is and JESUS - what He did…Jesus crucified.
UNDERSTAND – my approach in my ministry at SE will be to preach Jesus. I WILL - AND – to put more time and energy into Him and His word then on fluff… AND IT - would be crazy and self-defeating for me to do anything else.
ONE – of my favorite time of the year is The Fall. I especially love it up north when the leaves are changing colors… IMAGINE – that you and I were riding through The Smokies in October taking in all the awesome scenery before us… color after color flooding our eyes. NOW IMAGINE – me stopping the car and tying ribbons on the tree… “Now doesn’t that look better?” IT – would be crazy to tie ribbons on the tree limbs to make them look better. That would be ridiculous, it would cover up their natural beauty.
Listen - The message Paul had/the message we have is beautiful in and of itself. THAT IS WHY – I am not going to allow myself to fall into the trap of focusing and forgetting about the message. It’s an AWESOME message…
It’s the message:
• Of the Christ
• Of the Cross
• Of amazing grace
• Of God’s (radical, unquenchable, unbounded) love for sinful people like you and me…
It’s the message of:
• Freedom & redemption
• Rescue and restoration
• Glory and transformation
It’s the message of:
• Food for the hungry
• Drink for the thirsty
• Love for the lonely
• Release for the prisoner
• Hope for the hurting
•
It’s the message… OF - the Kingdom advancing in and through the hearts of men/women; young/old – changing the world one life at a time. It’s a message that can stand on it’s own without fluff and ribbons.
Now - the word "crucified" Paul used in verse 2 "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" - is in a tense in Greek that is used to describe a past action that has continuing results. LISTEN – though Christ death on the cross happened in the past it’s results are continuous - reaching up from that blood stain hill called Calvary to this very day October 21 2007.
Paul simply preached Christ and Him crucified…
BUT - this is not to say that Paul did not think through and carefully use his words. RATHER - it is to say that he did not use fancy words to cover up the fact that he really didn’t have anything to say. PAUL - had plenty to say: and he had the cross of Christ and the word of God available to him. Therefore Paul determined that when he shared the word of God in Corinth that he would not obscure the cross of Christ with his words - rather that he would use his words to lift up Christ for all to see.
THERE WAS A CHURCH THAT HAD A BEAUTIFUL STAINED GLASS WINDOW JUST BEHIND THE PULPIT. IT HAD JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS. ONE SUNDAY THERE WAS A GUEST SPEAKER WHO WAS SMALLER THEN THE REGULAR PREACHER. A LITTLE GIRL LISTENED FOR A TIME, THEN TURNED TO HER MOTHER AND ASKED, "WHERE IS THE MAN WHO USUALLY STANDS THERE SO WE CAN’T SEE JESUS?"
(sad but many times true)
LISTEN – I want you to know that my approach as I share the word here at 2413 South Goldenrod will not be to preach myself – pop psychology or positive thinking... And though I will carefully choose and hone my words I do not want my words, or myself to obscure the Christ.
Jesus will be at the center of my preaching & teaching...
• Jesus who is the son of God…
• Jesus who is the wonderful counselor, mighty God Everlasting father, prince of peace...
• Jesus who loves us like no other can or would…
• Jesus Who gave his life that we may live…
• Jesus the one who can keep us from falling, guard what has been entrusted to Him
• Jesus whose blood cancels our past and guarantees our future.
• Jesus who is with us always to the very end of the age,
It is my hope that my messages - will cause you to say “what a great Christ...What an awesome Savior!” Like the wild locust eating man in the wilderness I only want to be a voice pointing to him – Jesus is everything and I am nothing. It is my desire to decrease so that He can increase!
Preaching Christ was Paul’s approach and it is mine as well. “I resolve to know nothing while I am with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
My Attitude – Dependence on Christ
Again, I’d like to read a couple of verses from the message bible. Paul is talking about how he felt as he began his ministry in Corinth.
"I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate -I was scared to death, if you want to know the truth of it - and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it." (2:3,4)
QUESTION – How did Paul feel? Totally inadequate and scared to death.
Paul had just enter a city of 700,000 people and most were unbelievers and very immoral... How would you feel in his sandals? – I tell you how I would feel – scared to death and totally inadequate…
IN - Acts 18 Luke writes about when Paul first came to Corinth.
9One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." 11So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. – Acts 18:9-11
Do you see the picture here? PAUL - was locked up in his hotel room. He was afraid to go out the door. He ordered his meals in; hung a please do not disturb sign on the door; made his own bed; unplugged the phone; wouldn’t even risk looking through the peep hole… Why? Because he was afraid that if he went out into the city someone would hurt him.
The task just seemed to be too big - the job too hard, the obstacles too many.. IT - was so overwhelming to Paul that it appears from the text that he was about to give up - that he was about to throw in the towel and stop sharing God’s word - if he hadn’t done so already.
YOU KNOW – it is not too hard for me to picture Paul in desperation by his bed praying to God, "Lord I know you brought me here (at least I think it was you), but it must have been a mistake, maybe I misunderstood you, I can’t do this. I don’t even know where to begin. There is no way, this can’t be done."
I believe that Paul because of his physical weakness and because of the magnitude of the task before him – lost both his focus and perspective – and began to believe that it depended on him. And LISTEN - a task that great even made the apostle Paul tremble with fear.
UNDERSTAND - the apostle Paul did not come riding into Corinth like superman - he came in weakness and with fear and much trembling... But that is not how he stayed. Do you know why? Because Jesus came to Paul in Corinth, he came to Paul in the middle of his fear and inadequacy.
THIS is one of the few times in the book of Acts that we see Jesus appearing to his people. Jesus told Paul not be afraid... to keep on preaching; why? because "I am with you..." It literally reads in the Greek “with you I am”
(and church - that’s a mighty big I)..
IN – his fear and in adequacy Paul depended on Jesus. AND – Jesus got him through and kept him going.
7-12If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. 2 Cor 4:7-11
And another reason Paul didn’t have to fear is because he was not alone (it did not rest solely on your shoulders) Jesus told Paul "I have many in this city." “Hey Paul you’re not alone – I have plenty of people there who will stand beside you..”
SO –Paul got out of bed took the do not disturb sign off the door and said, “okay, I’m ready let’s do this…” And he went on to preach 1 1/2 years in Corinth... And He learned many, priceless lessons… The most important perhaps, was about dependence on God:
"We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead..." (2 Cor 1:8,9)
Let me get a little personal here...
Being a preacher & leader of God’s church at times scares me to death. WHEN - I think that 100+ people are looking to me for spiritual guidance and knowledge every week… WHEN - I think that I am God’s spokesman (Almighty God, you know the one who set this whole thing in motion) sometimes I feel inadequate and sacred to death…
WHEN – I think about God calling me to being the leader & vision caster of His church, about how for the most part that the church I lead will not be any more spiritual than me – I am tempted to look behind and say to God, “are you talking to me…” and I feel like those words of Paul in 2 Corinthians,
"I am under great pressure, far beyond my ability to endure… in my heart I feel the sentence of death. I am not sure if I can do this, I’m going to die But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead..."
LET ME – share a little of what I wrote in my journal, 6 days after I was voted in your Pastor…
ONE - of my goals as the Pastor of SECC is to depend on Christ more… UNDERSTAND - one of the things I really want to get a hold of is to really rely (I mean really rely) on the one who raises the dead… I want to radically to increase my dependence on Christ.
WHY? Because I know that Just like Gabriel told a teenage girl 2,000 years ago - “nothing is impossible with God…” (Lk 1:37)
I am here to tell you today that I am not even close to superman... I like Paul when I consider that magnitude of the task - the great things God wants to do here – to huge needs in our community and your confidence in me to help SE move forward-- I feel totally inadequate and scared to death… HOWEVER - I will not remain this way, for God is with me..
NO I am not superman, BUT I know I Am, I know God…. I serve a Super God, an Almighty God, a powerful God, A God who is with me and in me, A God who wants to work through me – to bring about HIS plan and purpose in this place!!!
A God who able to do great things through wooden staffs, donkeys, slings & smooth stones, torches and clay pots, AND - through ordinary men & women… like you and me. UNDERSTAND - the words of God spoken through Zechariah to Zerubbabel (the guy rebuilding the Temple) are sooo true…
6 Then he told me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ’You will not succeed by your own strength or by your own power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD All-Powerful. 7 "Who are you, big mountain? In front of Zerubbabel you will become flat land, and he will bring out the topmost stone, shouting, ’It’s beautiful! It’s beautiful!’ " Zech 4:6-8
Almighty God is in this thing! AND – not only that I like Paul know that I am not alone, I know that there are many people in this place who will stand beside me and help us build SE up to the glory of God!
• PEOPLE – who see what I see, feel what I feel, believe what I believe
• PEOPLE – who are ready to go all in – to put it all on the line
SO THAT – His name will be made famous in this place!
I want you to know where I am coming from –
My approach – preach Christ
My attitude – depend of Christ
My Aim – Bring You To Christ
(not to a church, a building or a religion)
4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
UNDERSTAND - Paul knew exactly what he was aiming at in his ministry in Corinth, His aim was to bring the people there to a: true, deep, radical, extreme and lasting faith in Christ… IN FACT – this was Paul’s aim/his goal not only in Corinth but everywhere he preached. CHECK OUT - what Paul wrote in Colossians 1:28,29;
"We proclaim Him admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone complete, mature in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy which so powerfully works in me.."
And the reason that this was Paul’s aim was because he knew 2 things; #1 - that Jesus is what the Corinthians needed, and #2 - that Jesus is all they needed.. You see, Paul knew that if they had Jesus, if they really had Jesus then everything else in life would ‘eventually’ work out for the good.
Paul preached in such a way, that those who heard were: driven, compelled, moved, motivated, persuaded, inspired, convinced to develop faith in Christ. Their fortress, their deliverer, their Rock, their hope, their life. YES - Paul’s aim was simple & clear, to take people to Christ!
LISTEN – I want there to no doubt whatsoever as to what my aim will be as I share God’s word with you each week…
My Aim: Is To Take You To Christ!!!
• I want you get to know Christ better.
• I want Jesus to become more real to you.
• I want to help improve your personal relationship with Him.
• I want the KING of kings and LORD of lords to come down from the flannel boards and out of the box of our current understanding.
• I want you to: feel the passion, see the power and hear the roar of the Lion of Judah
• I want Jesus to come off the pages of your bible and reign in your hearts
• I want Jesus to come out of the songs that you sing – and come into your life….
• I don’t just want you to study about Christ – I want you to walk with him
• I don’t just want you to sing about Jesus – I want you to live for him…
• I want to take you to the center of His will (the most awesome, the most beautiful, the most satisfying, the most fulfilling… AND - the most dangerous place to live!)
• I want knowing Christ to be your #1 pursuit in life… THE – most important thing
• I want to take you to Jesus.... So that YOU will:
See as He saw
Think as He thought
Love as He loved
Serve as He served
Give as He gave
Reach out as He reached out
Live as He lived
Shine as he shined
Bring glory and He brought glory
• I want to take you to Jesus.... So that HE will:
Drive you crazy
So that when the world looks at you, they just don’t get you and they think you are: nuts, crazy, certifable
Why do you? TURN the other cheek, GO – the second mile, GIVE UP – the spare coat, LIVE – without anger, FORGIVE – those who hurt you, PUT – the needs of others before your own, PRAY – for those who persecute you, GIVE – so much time and money to His church, SEE – the beauty and potential in the worst of sinners,
My Approach – Preach Christ
My Attitude – Depend on Christ (with Him I can do all things)
My Aim – Take you to Christ…
YES – I want to take you to Christ and I want to go there to!
Jesus-Jesus-Jesus-Jesus
He is what we need
He CAN…
I want to take us to Christ… BECAUSE:
It’s ALL about Him
It’s ALL for Him
He is everything
