August 7, 2023
“After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:5-6 NLT). Paul wrote
August 7, 2022
WHO GETS THE CREDIT? Paul was concerned with the church at Corinth because of reports that there were divisions among them concerning which teacher they followed. Some were claiming to be followers of Paul and others, followers of Apollos. This was heartbreaking news to Paul, for he knew the foundation he had laid when he
August 7, 2021
UNDERSTANDING OUR PLACE IN WITNESSING Paul wrote to correct the Corinthian church for its disunity and favoritism. For some were claiming to be followers of Paul and others followers of a preacher named Apollos. Paul told them that “neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives
August 7, 2019
STOP BOASTING ABOUT YOUR CHURCH AND START BOASTING ABOUT CHRIST Have you been boasting about your pastor or church to someone? Is it a member of another local church? Stop. If both are gospel preaching, gospel believing churches, then both already belong to you. For both belong to Christ. Everything already belongs to you because
August 7, 2018
CALLED TO MAKE JESUS FAMOUS, NOT OURSELVES
Paul was concerned with the church at Corinth because of reports that there were divisions among them concerning which teacher they followed. Some were claiming to be followers of Paul and others, followers of Apollos. This was heartbreaking news to Paul, for he knew the foundation he had laid when he planted the church in Corinth. And that foundation was Christ Jesus. He had not led them to follow him, but to follow Christ.
Someone has once said that wherever you hear the name of the preacher lifted up more than the name of Christ, one should listen for the sound of the serpent’s hiss in the background. For Satan is pleased when he has tempted man to take the glory belonging to Jesus.
It’s good to honor and to submit to the spiritual leaders that God has given. Yet, the glory belongs to Christ. We are not called to make a man, a doctrine, nor a church famous. We are called to make Christ Jesus famous, and if need be, ourselves a fool.
August 6, 2016
After contrasting the difference between the “natural man” and the “spiritual man” in chapter two, Paul addresses a troubling third spiritual category, the “carnal man” (“fleshly”). This person has received Christ as Savior (note Paul’s use of “brothers”), yet doesn’t yield to Him as Lord. Their behavior is not unlike that of the unbeliever. They do not desire to dig into the Word of God to be fed with meat, but want someone to bottle feed them with milk. They are divisive, jealous and hypocritical. Paul warns them of the coming Day which will expose their works. This is a miserable place to be spiritually, knowing the Lord, yet not fully surrendered to Him. They must stop being spiritual babies and grow up to maturity in the Lord.
August 7, 2015
Paul compared witnessing with planting. The one who sows and waters is the witness and the seed is the gospel. Yet, the seed comes from God and only He can make it grow. This removes both the pressure of success and the temptation to take credit. As the late Bill Bright used to say, “Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share the message of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God.”
August 7, 2014
The Church is the people, not the steeple. And the One who holds them together and makes them one is the Holy Spirit of God. Remembering this, we work to build up people rather than places or programs. God’s strategy for the Kingdom is making disciples.
August 7, 2014
Paul uses a farming analogy to compare witnessing with planting. The one who sows and waters is the witness and the seed is the gospel. Yet, the seed comes from God and only He can make it grow. This removes both the pressure of success and the temptation to take credit. As the late Bill Bright used to say, “Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.”