Renovating our 'house' (reworked from 3/10 for Broadwell Christian Church)
If I were to say the word renovate, what would you think of? Expensive? Lots of work? A pain? Worth it, not worth it? New cabinets, fresh paint, new carpet, new bathroom…remodel…I know what I think of. Two years ago when my mother-in-law did some renovations on her house, I was involved in the process. She had to have a new roof put on and some work done in a back room of the house. It then reminded me of some years back when I was a kid and my parents wanted to renovate the basement into a good living space. We started with the game room, did the frames for the walls, but that was about all the further we went. It stayed that way for a while; well, it depends on what you consider a “while” to be…in this case a “while” was about 11 or 12 years. Yeah. But once it got done, WOW!! It looked really good. It was definitely worth all of the hard work and wait.
Renovating houses are a huge undertaking. It seems as if it were a onetime thing or even a once every so often. But really we tend to do it more often than that. A big project every 5-10 yrs or so.
Well, if you haven’t figured it out, we are going to talk about renovations today. The title of the sermon is Renovating our ‘house’ as in our spiritual house, not our physical house…although I am working on that one (pat belly).
Renovating our spiritual house however, well…that isn’t just a onetime thing. It is something that happens over the course of our entire life. It literally takes an entire lifetime to accomplish.
Our Scripture for today is going to be 1 Corinthians 3:5-15. While you are finding the page, I am going to give a little background on this. The church in Corinth was having issues with division in the church, immorality, legal issues, inappropriate practices especially with The Lord’s Supper, and false teachings about the resurrection. We pick it up as Paul is continuing to address divisions in the church. Read with me, 1 Corinthians 3:5-15.
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
In verse 5 Paul is addressing the fact that he and Apollos are nothing more than servants of God. You see, in the church in Corinth, they were having problems of one group following Paul’s teachings, and another group following Apollos’ teachings. Paul is saying that what is important is the fact that by one of them they came to believe in the One and Only…the Almighty Lord God of all, who is above all of them and the most important factor.
It’s like saying some are following George Smith’s teaching and still others are following Harry Jones’ teaching. The important thing is that we are following God and we came to believe…not what teacher we follow.
Paul goes on to say that no matter what, the servant who plants the seed or the servant who waters it are nothing in the grand scheme, just servants. It is God who makes all of the fruit grow. We will be rewarded for the work we do, but it is God’s grace that saves us through Jesus, not the worker who did the work.
Paul states a little here what he goes on to state in verses 16-17; the famous you are the temple of the Holy Spirit verses. Briefly here in verse 9 Paul says that we are “God’s building.”
Building on this fact, Paul says that he has laid the foundation as an “expert builder” in verse 10, and that someone else is building on that foundation. Not necessarily Apollos, but someone else is. The main point being this next section here.
Paul cautions us to be careful how we build upon the foundation that has been laid before us in Jesus. Paul uses six things here in verse 12…gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw. These six things have one thing in common…they are worldly things of strength and power. He’s relating this to us as though building something. If we build upon the perfect rock of Jesus with worldly things, Paul is telling us that God can weed through it to see directly to our hearts. Let’s move on for now, but we’ll come back to this in a minute.
Paul says that if we build upon Jesus with good spiritual quality things, it will stand the test of God and we will be rewarded because of it. If not, what we have done will be a loss and we will narrowly escape with our salvation.
So, let’s start applying this to our lives here and now. It is obvious that Paul and Apollos were called to their own separate tasks. Each man’s work was vital to the Kingdom of God. They went around planting the seeds and watering them so that God could use them and grow their faith.
Someone, obviously not Paul or Apollos in person, but someone laid the foundation with you. I want you to take a second and think back to who that was. Who was it that first led you to Jesus and a quality relationship with him? For me, it was my best friend Dean, then my Youth Minister Bob, and to finish off the job it was my wife Sherri. All three of them combined, started laying the foundation I needed in order to for God to manifest belief inside of me. It took my wife to bring me back to that relationship. I grew up in the Catholic church, but it took a Christian to challenge me to grow a relationship with Jesus. Do you remember who it was for you?
Now, I want you to think about something. If someone took the time to lay the foundation with us, it is now our turn, moreover our responsibility to help ‘build’ the next generation; whatever that means.
Having said that, we need to be careful how be build upon the foundation of Jesus. You see, if we build too hastily, our work will become sloppy and God will be able to weed through it. It’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. God can see right through the façade we put up directly into our hearts at what we’ve built. Have we built a lasting relationship with him or have we built up our relationship with him in a worldly mess? Things like material things, gossiping, immoral behavior…stagnation of the mind and soul.
Earlier I was talking about my mother-in-law’s renovation of her house. Well, one part of that I left out. We were working in the back room of the house and this room’s ceiling was coming down. It was one of those old 70’s houses where the heat was in the ceiling passed through wires. You know the kind I’m talking about? Plaster, heating cords and then more plasterish mix. Well, the ceiling was being held up in place by the wires, even though the plaster had cracked and broken apart. So, we were trying to drop the ceiling without dropping it right on us…well, my buddy cut a 4x4 hole in the ceiling and stood in it to try and take it down in pieces. He called me over to where he was after yanking on it once and the whole ceiling shook. I more than willingly went over and stood with him. He put his hands on the ceiling and the whole thing let go. Instantly we are covered in a mess, dust and very blessed to be alive. By the grace of God alone did we both come out safely. The ceiling was only being held together by the wires…nothing else.
All of this to say that renovating a house can be messy. Dirty, disgusting, hard, back-breaking labor. And then it gets harder. So, how much more so is it when we renovate our spiritual house? If we are to be cautious on how we build, how do we do it? What tools do we use to build if not worldly things?
Well, taking the example of renovating a house, it is going to be dirty, disgusting, hard, back-breaking labor…and it’s gonna get harder! There is a book out called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. It is a great read.
Through this book, Richard takes us through the spiritual ‘tools’ that we will need to accomplish this correct building that Paul talks about here in 1 Corinthians. Richard goes through three categories of disciplines. Inward which are: meditation, prayer, fasting, and study. Outward which are: simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. Finally, corporate which are: confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.
Naturally, this is a sermon series in and of itself, which is worth taking a look at. Keep in mind we will not be good and gifted at all of these, but practicing these disciplines enable us to build on the foundation of Jesus.
Ultimately, we are called to sound teaching as Paul says in his 2nd letter to Timothy 4:3-4, which says, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
My friends, renovating our spiritual houses take a lifetime to do. There isn’t one minute we aren’t doing it. Use sound doctrine, build up yourselves and lay the foundation for the next generation. It isn’t enough just to attend church; be actively involved in discipleship everywhere you go, in and out of church.
Renovating houses are a huge undertaking. It seems as if it were a onetime thing or even a once every so often. But really we tend to do it more often than that. A big project every 5-10 yrs or so.
Well, if you haven’t figured it out, we are going to talk about renovations today. The title of the sermon is Renovating our ‘house’ as in our spiritual house, not our physical house…although I am working on that one (pat belly).
Renovating our spiritual house however, well…that isn’t just a onetime thing. It is something that happens over the course of our entire life. It literally takes an entire lifetime to accomplish.
Our Scripture for today is going to be 1 Corinthians 3:5-15. While you are finding the page, I am going to give a little background on this. The church in Corinth was having issues with division in the church, immorality, legal issues, inappropriate practices especially with The Lord’s Supper, and false teachings about the resurrection. We pick it up as Paul is continuing to address divisions in the church. Read with me, 1 Corinthians 3:5-15.
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
In verse 5 Paul is addressing the fact that he and Apollos are nothing more than servants of God. You see, in the church in Corinth, they were having problems of one group following Paul’s teachings, and another group following Apollos’ teachings. Paul is saying that what is important is the fact that by one of them they came to believe in the One and Only…the Almighty Lord God of all, who is above all of them and the most important factor.
It’s like saying some are following George Smith’s teaching and still others are following Harry Jones’ teaching. The important thing is that we are following God and we came to believe…not what teacher we follow.
Paul goes on to say that no matter what, the servant who plants the seed or the servant who waters it are nothing in the grand scheme, just servants. It is God who makes all of the fruit grow. We will be rewarded for the work we do, but it is God’s grace that saves us through Jesus, not the worker who did the work.
Paul states a little here what he goes on to state in verses 16-17; the famous you are the temple of the Holy Spirit verses. Briefly here in verse 9 Paul says that we are “God’s building.”
Building on this fact, Paul says that he has laid the foundation as an “expert builder” in verse 10, and that someone else is building on that foundation. Not necessarily Apollos, but someone else is. The main point being this next section here.
Paul cautions us to be careful how we build upon the foundation that has been laid before us in Jesus. Paul uses six things here in verse 12…gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw. These six things have one thing in common…they are worldly things of strength and power. He’s relating this to us as though building something. If we build upon the perfect rock of Jesus with worldly things, Paul is telling us that God can weed through it to see directly to our hearts. Let’s move on for now, but we’ll come back to this in a minute.
Paul says that if we build upon Jesus with good spiritual quality things, it will stand the test of God and we will be rewarded because of it. If not, what we have done will be a loss and we will narrowly escape with our salvation.
So, let’s start applying this to our lives here and now. It is obvious that Paul and Apollos were called to their own separate tasks. Each man’s work was vital to the Kingdom of God. They went around planting the seeds and watering them so that God could use them and grow their faith.
Someone, obviously not Paul or Apollos in person, but someone laid the foundation with you. I want you to take a second and think back to who that was. Who was it that first led you to Jesus and a quality relationship with him? For me, it was my best friend Dean, then my Youth Minister Bob, and to finish off the job it was my wife Sherri. All three of them combined, started laying the foundation I needed in order to for God to manifest belief inside of me. It took my wife to bring me back to that relationship. I grew up in the Catholic church, but it took a Christian to challenge me to grow a relationship with Jesus. Do you remember who it was for you?
Now, I want you to think about something. If someone took the time to lay the foundation with us, it is now our turn, moreover our responsibility to help ‘build’ the next generation; whatever that means.
Having said that, we need to be careful how be build upon the foundation of Jesus. You see, if we build too hastily, our work will become sloppy and God will be able to weed through it. It’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. God can see right through the façade we put up directly into our hearts at what we’ve built. Have we built a lasting relationship with him or have we built up our relationship with him in a worldly mess? Things like material things, gossiping, immoral behavior…stagnation of the mind and soul.
Earlier I was talking about my mother-in-law’s renovation of her house. Well, one part of that I left out. We were working in the back room of the house and this room’s ceiling was coming down. It was one of those old 70’s houses where the heat was in the ceiling passed through wires. You know the kind I’m talking about? Plaster, heating cords and then more plasterish mix. Well, the ceiling was being held up in place by the wires, even though the plaster had cracked and broken apart. So, we were trying to drop the ceiling without dropping it right on us…well, my buddy cut a 4x4 hole in the ceiling and stood in it to try and take it down in pieces. He called me over to where he was after yanking on it once and the whole ceiling shook. I more than willingly went over and stood with him. He put his hands on the ceiling and the whole thing let go. Instantly we are covered in a mess, dust and very blessed to be alive. By the grace of God alone did we both come out safely. The ceiling was only being held together by the wires…nothing else.
All of this to say that renovating a house can be messy. Dirty, disgusting, hard, back-breaking labor. And then it gets harder. So, how much more so is it when we renovate our spiritual house? If we are to be cautious on how we build, how do we do it? What tools do we use to build if not worldly things?
Well, taking the example of renovating a house, it is going to be dirty, disgusting, hard, back-breaking labor…and it’s gonna get harder! There is a book out called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. It is a great read.
Through this book, Richard takes us through the spiritual ‘tools’ that we will need to accomplish this correct building that Paul talks about here in 1 Corinthians. Richard goes through three categories of disciplines. Inward which are: meditation, prayer, fasting, and study. Outward which are: simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. Finally, corporate which are: confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.
Naturally, this is a sermon series in and of itself, which is worth taking a look at. Keep in mind we will not be good and gifted at all of these, but practicing these disciplines enable us to build on the foundation of Jesus.
Ultimately, we are called to sound teaching as Paul says in his 2nd letter to Timothy 4:3-4, which says, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
My friends, renovating our spiritual houses take a lifetime to do. There isn’t one minute we aren’t doing it. Use sound doctrine, build up yourselves and lay the foundation for the next generation. It isn’t enough just to attend church; be actively involved in discipleship everywhere you go, in and out of church.
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