Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss this past Sunday's sermon from 1 Corinthians 15:1-7.
Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss this past Sunday's sermon from 1 Corinthians 15:1-7.
Bobby: Welcome to the Midweek Checkup. My name is Bobby Gilles and I’m joined by Lindsey Blair. This past Sunday Pastor Jonah preached First Corinthians Fifteen. He said that three announcements have the power to transform you and your relationships: Your sins are forgiven. The peace of Christ is yours. The resurrection of Christ is yours.
This was Jonah’s final sermon before his sabbatical, and it was a humdinger. We’ll miss him but he’ll be back before you know it. And we’ve got some good things planned this summer in his absence.
Lindsey, what stood out to you about this sermon?
Lindsey: I wonder if we can begin to imagine how our lives might look if we truly believed those three announcements? Jonah said some of us might go from being stuck to struggling forward, and others will go from struggling forward to thriving. It’s not about how well we do or don’t do, it’s about progress, growth and transformation.
Now, for anyone who missed the sermon or needs help remembering, let’s do a quick recap.
Bobby: Jonah began by asking you what about you feels so familiar, so persistent, that you’ve begun to think it will always be that way? And then, what have you argued with Christians about in the last two years? Some things are worth arguing about. Men and women are both made in God’s image, for instance. But often we fight about secondary issues.
That’s a symptom that something else has crept into the center of our hearts. When that happens, Jesus becomes an idea for us, not a transforming relationship. Then lives become wildly inconsistent.
Lindsey: Now go back to that place where you feel stuck. What have you done to try and get out of it? Have you made destructive, painful decisions in pursuit of some relief? We all have. Paul reminds a struggling church, one that has a confession of faith more than a possession of faith, one that KNOWS the truth better than it LIVES the truth … he reminds them of what’s most important.
Jesus and his gospel. His death for our sins, his burial, and his resurrection.
If you want to be free, you have to keep the liberating gospel of Jesus at the center, and you must stop being content to merely confess, but you must wrestle and strive until you possess.
Bobby: It was this way with James, the brother of Jesus. What would it take for you to quit your job, move, and pursue a life of homelessness, imprisonment, and persecution because you were convinced your brother was God? James was not a disciple during the earthly ministry of Jesus. At times he thought Jesus was crazy. But then, he saw his brother after his brother had died. Paul references this appearance to James by in 1 Corinthians, to show us what’s possible. A brother can become an adoring worshiper, a fervent disciple. And if that can happen to James…what could happen to you?
Lindsey: How can this happen to us? Three announcements have the power to transform you and your relationships. First, your sins are forgiven. This means you don’t have to fear being wrong or spend your life in image management. Second, the peace of Christ is yours. This means you can cultivate a non-anxious presence. “Cultivate” is important because we’re planting a vineyard, not making popcorn. This takes time. Soul work is slow work. So, going into a meeting? Tough conversation? Hard decision to make? Pause. Take a deep breath. Hear the voice of God say to you, “you are my beloved child. My peace I give to you.”
Bobby: Third, the resurrection of Christ is yours. This means you can hold your life loosely. The cross of Christ has dealt with your past. The peace of Christ holds your present. The resurrection of Christ secures your future. All of us are on a journey, and we can hold that journey loosely knowing our future is secure. We can be more dedicated to the process than the results. So take a moment and try to imagine…wherever it is you are stuck…what could an experience like James’ look like for you? What might it look like for you to become a calm, patient person, knowing that this has been made possible because your past is forgiven, your present is provided for, and your future is secure?
Lindsey: Think and pray about it. This Sunday we’ll conclude our Eastertide series, learning to see Christ in all of Scripture. And in Bible Fellowship we’ll talk about Acts Sixteen together, where Paul travels to Macedonia and we meet a woman named Lydia, who becomes the first European convert.
Join us, and bring a friend.