1

The Message for Nov 12, 2017Thankful for the Church1 Corinthians 1:1-9Rob Miller, Pastor

We continue our series on a living faith (image). Living the faith means we live thankful lives. This week our topic is Thankful for the Church.

Three couples were having coffee together after worship one Sunday. They were frustrated. They didn’t think things were going very well at their church. The pastor wasn’t doing what they wanted.

There were some people in the church who were obviously sinners and trouble makers. There were some people who wouldn’t speak to each other let alone forgive each other. Apparently there were money issues too.

Then a fourth couple joined them, a couple who had recently joined the congregation. They said to the others,

“You must be proud and thankful to be part of this church. We think it’s great how people help each other out and care for one another. The preaching is helpful and understandable. It’s great to have a number of different worship styles to connect with God and learn from his word. We really like it here.” They changed the whole tone of the conversation.

Question: How do you view our church?

More specifically -- When you have conversations with others do you focus on the negatives and the problems?

Or

Do you focus on how God is at work through our congregation changing lives for good?

Our reading today is from 1 Corinthians 1:1-9. (Read Text)

Paul wrote these words to a church that he planted in Corinth. But he did not see it as his church. He saw it as God’s church.

We often talk about this church being our church, which it is. We are part of it. We help to make this church what it is. But it is not just our

2

church. It’s God’s church and God has gifted us to share our gifts making this church the best that it can be.

Taking that approach to church reminds us that what happens here matters. Church matters. What we do here and say here should be what God wants us to do and say.

Unfortunately, that was not the case with the church in Corinth. At that time Corinth was a major trading area. Today it’s a small village where the past is preserved.

When Paul wrote this letter, Corinth was a thriving port city with a very diverse community. It was hustling and bustling with life.

Making money was a high priority for most people. People then like people today worshipped money in Corinth. At the same time there were two other major things people worshipped.

There was

1. Athena’s temple… where people worshipped the goddess of intellect and knowledge.

2. Aphrodite’s temple… where people worshipped the goddess of beauty and sexual desires.

Striving for money, striving for knowledge, and striving for beauty and sexual pleasure were the three things most Corinthians lived for.

The rest of the region around Corinth looked at the Corinthians as selfish, irresponsible, and drunkards. If anyone acted in those ways he or she was called a Corinthian - a derogatory term.

These behaviors were affecting the church in Corinth, within that church…

There was fighting.

There was lack of respect for each other especially the church leaders.

People wanted the church to do what they wanted, rather than what God wanted.

People were focused on money.

3

Some people in the church were openly sinning.

Others were happy to let them go on sinning so as not to offend anyone or cause any more drama in the church.

The church in Corinth was in a sorry state of affairs.

So Paul responded to the situation with a letter. Listen to these verses again. (Read Text again)

Paul reminds them that he and they are to be about God’s will. That they had been sanctified and made holy.

Sanctified means “to be set apart, consecrated, free from sin, purified.”

Holy means “to be set aside for a special purpose.”

Sosthenes was the chief ruler of the synagogue in Corinth.

Paul reminds the church in Corinth that they had a special relationship with local synagogue and with other churches and all because of Jesus or more specifically because Jesus was their Lord.

That’s what makes us one with other churches. We call Jesus our Lord and we strive to do his will. His will involves grace and peace.

Paul thanks the church for being a church because of God’s grace and peace at work in them and through them. Paul is saying in so many words that the church is to be the vehicle to carry God’s grace and peace out into the world.

Paul reminds them that church is not about money, or knowledge, or beauty and pleasure. The church is about fellowship with others who call Jesus their Lord. It’s about people living the faith together wherever their faith journey takes them.

Let me show you what I mean. Check out this Welcome to Church video… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICWwKMv-KTM

So we put Paul’s words together with this video and this is what we get…

I thank God for you, First Lutheran Church, because we are ordinary people who are on an amazing journey together following Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Our guide is the Bible that will

4

never take us in the wrong direction. We are in this together to equip you and encourage you through life’s ups and downs. We care about the Lafayette community and we want to make it a better place. Whoever you are and wherever you are on your journey of faith you are welcome here.

Oh… if this could be our way of life, because this is who we are called to be and this is what we are called to be about.

There was a church in Thessalonica that Paul planted too. He called that church a model church. The letter he wrote to them started like this.

Read 1 Thessalonians 1:6-9

My question is this - Why did Paul consider them a model church? Here is what we discover in these verses…

1. They imitated Jesus.

2. They welcomed the message with joy in spite of their circumstance.

3. They become a model of the faith to other churches.

4. They shared the Lord’s message with others.

5. Their faith became known everywhere.

6. They turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.

7. They were waiting for Jesus to come again.

That is quite a list. And it’s all doable I might add.

So… if I invited you to write a letter of thanks to this congregation what would you write? In other words, how would you finish this statement?

I thank God for you, First Lutheran Church, because…

Now that’s a letter I’ll be waiting to read from each one of you.

Amen