Why Church? Message series

In light of Vision Sunday, in light of prayer and fasting this week just gone, in light of the world we live in, I am going to be preaching about: “WHY CHURCH?”

I say the world we live in, because to quote a disrupter in this space, Australians are not waking up Sunday mornings thinking “what’s a good church I could go to today?” Right? Perhaps they aren’t waking up Sunday morning at all – not because they’re dead, but because they are sleeping till noon. Aussies live for the weekends, and weekends are full of yard jobs, home renos, or recreation like camping trips, hikes, trips away, parties, football, etc.

You might be thinking…yeah, why am I in church?

And the answer for many Christians has always been, well, this is what we do. Except, even for Christians, it’s not so much. Everyone scrambled to have an online expression during lockdowns, and some did bare minimum, and some, for whom it is a cultural value to pursue better in everything, went hard to make it quality with what we had. And church in your pyjamas is GREAT! If you have open plan living, you can cook breakfast, sit down to eat, wash up and sweep the floor and comment on YouTube with some a fire emoji, praise hands and a love heart to let the pastors know that you were watching, and you thought it was lit, you love Jesus and you love them. Only problem is, that’s not church.

So, culture has told us why church? Comfort has told us why church? And COVID has brought us one more thing as it relates to why church: the cringe.

The meaning of cringe has morphed into something different from its origin. It used to be drawing back in fear or pain in servile manner; now it’s used in our house mainly, when I do something that is a bit embarrassing, and my daughters say, “oh mum, that’s so cringe”. Fortunately, my boy still says, “I’m embarrassed that you would think I would be embarrassed by that”. Solidarity son.

Cringe – it’s that notion of something not being what you feel like it should be, and causing you to drawback a little. I’m applying it more broadly this morning. When we say cringe in church, it’s usually because you invited your friend and then the worship leader starts crying, and telling the church that Jesus just wants to cuddle you and rock you, and stroke your nose – emo worship leaders am I right? And that’s just the boys! But I would say this cringe of “I feel like it’s not as it should be”. Maybe it’s too front driven. Maybe it’s too leaderish; like everything revolves around a leader. Maybe it’s too business-y. Maybe it’s too long. Maybe it’s not long enough. Maybe, through COVID, you realised you were depending on it too much, and you weren’t actually grabbing hold of the word and worship and making it your own and you were depending on this being your source, and now that you’ve realised that this was never meant to be the source, you aren’t sure of the purpose of this anymore. Maybe it’s too spooky. Maybe it’s not spooky enough. Maybe not enough people get to speak. Maybe you think more people should shut up. But it’s this ugh feeling of, I’m not sure that this is what it is meant to be, and it’s causing you to think “why church?”

Culture. Yeah mate, gonna grab a few tinnies head to dam, lay in the sun all weekend, yeah bra.

Comfort. Sunday mornings are amazing. Brunch at home is the best. Church is good in the background on the telly.

The Cringe. It doesn’t feel right.

So, why church. Here is our text for this morning:

Hebrews 10:

19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Pray.

V25:

CEV: Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.

NKJV: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.

AMP: not forsaking our meeting together as believers for worship and instruction, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more faithfully as you see the day of Christ’s return approaching.

Why Church? That’s why. Let’s close in prayer.

Looking at that scripture though, I don’t think we can get away with the word together. So, as The Script say, “no man is an island oh no man is an island”. We can’t “do church” on our own. Not even as a married couple. Not even as a family. We need to be gathering outside our family unit.

Why does the writer of Hebrews want us to meet together? The key is found in the preceding verse, but we must also consider that it is actually given in the context of a warning. Hebrews is full of passages that firstly show how great Jesus is, and secondly give a warning with regards to that picture of Jesus. It starts with showing that He is higher and better than the angels, and given that angels often carry God’s message, it says “you’d better pay more careful attention to what Jesus says, because He’s way above them”. Then it talks about him being greater than Moses, and given that the people’s problem with Moses was unbelief, there is a warning against unbelief as it relates to Jesus. Then it talks about Jesus being a better sabbath rest and place of rest – a sabbath was a day that God gave them to rest and restore, and the promised land was meant to be the place they lived and rested, but Jesus causes us to rest from our trying to work our way to be good enough for God! And says, hey, rest in Him. Then it talks about Jesus being better than any priest, and it says don’t reject him, because then you reject reconciliation with God. Then it talks about Him being better

than any sacrifice, and the call is to PERSEVERE.

Boom. That is why the writer wants us to meet together; because there is something in us gathering, worshiping, reading, learning, giving, sharing, remembering TOGETHER, that helps us to persevere. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Let’s STAND FIRM.

The writer is saying if you want to stand firm, keep meeting together.

So then, what does the gathering look like? Well, it has start with a pre-roll, to let everyone know that church is about to start. Then, preferably, an upbeat song, plenty of energy, then 2-3 songs that really get you in the feels…

Obviously, I’m joking. You might think…no, not that obvious.

The truth is that the gathering looks all sorts of ways all across our world. So today, I will point out what should be common, and to help you remember it, I have written a haiku. Church. Church is so great. Jesus helps us love, guys. That is really cool.

Not a Haiku. An acrostic.

C is for Christ. The church, He said, is His bride. Sounds like a strange thing to say, but you definitely can’t doubt His commitment. The church exists to glorify Jesus. Just as the book of Hebrews is to exalt Jesus above the angels, above the Moses, above the promised land, above any priest, above any sacrifice, the churches’ job is to glorify and exalt JESUS CHRIST. Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, no other way to the father except through him, the narrow path to choose, few finding it - HE IS THE ONE THE CHURCH EXISTS FOR. He is the ground of being, through Him and to Him and by Him all things exist, in Him we live and move and have our being, He is the most inclusive wonderful humble wounded God who is simultaneously the stumbling block and the rock of offense and many can’t quite get over Him.

The church does not exist for you to get help. “Let’s do get help”. Though you should find help, and you should give help. The church does not exist for you to find out 5 key points to live your best life now. The church exists to point people to Jesus, to glorify Him, to remind them that He is coming back, and you need to be in a church, a gathering of people who together, do that. If you can find a group of people to lift Jesus up with, then that is a good thing.

H is for Homothumadon. This is one of my very favourite Greek words in all the world. That and Whopa! Let me tell you the definition of homothumadon. The church was birthed in homothumadon. Homo means “same” thymos means passion, so homothumadon is have the same passion.

A unique Greek word, used 10 of its 12 New Testament occurrences in the Book of Acts, helps us understand the uniqueness of the Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning “to rush along” and “in unison”. The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonise in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ’s church.

What unites us and not what divides us. We don’t need to be the same, but we can be one. Same passion ahead of separate opinion.

eUcharist. The table of the Lord, communion. We can make anything a mindless tradition, but coming together to eat and drink is intended to cause us to pause, and intentionally be mindful together that Jesus paid the price for us, and is coming back for us. Ann Voskamp talks about this great act of remembrance and frames it in terms of re-membering. That not only do we look to Christ, but we look around the room, and remember that we are members of the same body.

Renewal. As Christ is our focus, and we lift Him high together, and we pursue Him together, and we celebrate Him together and re-member ourselves to each other, we continually reinforce that it’s not about us! Our desires, our wants, our flesh take a back seat to the renewal. Just as John the Baptist said, we recognise our need to decrease that He might increase. We die daily.

Cause. We look to Jesus, eyes on Him, we passionate pursue Him, we celebrate Him and the body of Christ we know it’s not about us, so we die to ourselves, and we activate the last command of Jesus, that as we go, we make disciples, baptising them into Him, and teaching them to obey all things. We are on mission for the cause of Christ.

Hold fast. Teaching them to obey all the things Jesus has commanded means that we must know what He commanded and be holding fast to them ourselves. Stand firm.

Part 2

Last week we talked about why church, from the perspective of why go to church. We looked at the fact that gathering together is useful for the purpose of persevering. Then we looked at some key components of church…after all, if we are meant to gather together, what should that look like? We saw 5 key components – that it needs to be Christ exalting, that there should be Homothumadon, the eUcharist should be remembered, that there should be an emphasis on Replacement, a commitment to Cause, and that we should Hold fast to the word.

Questions remain, one being…Why church? Like, why the church? Why would the church be a part of God’s plan? Why does He say “He’s coming back for His church?” Why is the church His bride?

So let’s go to Jesus’ heart for the people. He has just had a meal with the disciples, still trying to help them understand what’s happening, there are blank looks everywhere…he’s asked them to stay away because He’s about to go through the worst ordeal of His earthly life…they’re asleep on the ground…but he continues to pray. And one of the things that he prays for…is us.

17 After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. 2 For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. 4 I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

6 “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8 for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

9 “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10 All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. 11 Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12 During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.

13 “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

Pray for insight and understanding.

God is a relational God. History, his story, has always revealed his deep desire to be in relationship with his people. In Greek mythology, the gods interacted with humans to amuse themselves, or to avail themselves, to indulge their lusts etc. In various pagan worship, the gods were someone to appease, as you never knew when they would get cranky at you or bless you. You did everything you could to stay on the right side of them. I hear that in our society; friends say things like “I tried putting lots of positivity into the universe”, believing that the universe would reward them with good things back into their lives. But the story of the creator God, the God of the bible, is one who always wanted relationship with His people. If you think about image bearers, typically that is an idol. I went to India with a group from our church and in the foyer of a hotel that we stayed at were the venerated gods of the Hindus. Taxi drivers had cards that were like a flip open wallet, with all the pictures of gods on them. These cards, bearing the image of the gods that they worshipped. In the foyer was what was to me quite a grotesque image; a god with multiple arms and trunks and a big fat belly, and at 19 it was a little scary. My brother in law walked past it and saw me looking at it in a bit of horror, and said, “you’ve just got to rub his belly Bron”, and with all the offerings surrounding it, went, gave his belly a rub and kept going. Typically though, images, statues etc, of gods are found in temples right? Well God made humans in his image, and set them down in His creation. He called the world His place of worship, and His people His image bearers. He walked with them in the cool of the day in the garden; the humans messed that up though and the relationship was severed. He chose Abraham to found a nation, because He wanted to be the God of that nation to show them how good He is, and that other nations might see the blessing of God upon that nation and turn to him as well. He brought the nation of Israel into a covenantal relationship with Him, like a marriage contract, to declare His commitment, and to let them know what relationship with Him looked like, so that they weren’t out there guessing, or wondering if He was cranky with them. At that point, He arranged for a tent to be built for His presence, for Him to come and dwell with them, emblematic of the garden, dwelling with them. Later, He gave instructions for a temple, to give a permanent place for Him in a city dedicated to His worship, but one of the biggest caveats in the build was that it be a place for all nations, all tribes and tongues, to be able to come and pray to Him. Obviously, He sent His only son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but would have eternal life, in continued relationship with Him. When John talks about this occurrence, He refers to it as the word who always was becoming flesh, like human, and dwelling among us. That word dwelling is literally “tenting” among us. The presence of God, as a man, showing people then and people now how to live. He Himself is in relationship, as we just heard in Jesus’ prayer. This idea of being in relationship with creation has always been part of his plan, and as we heard last week, it will be the case until Jesus returns.

So my son Lach got het up the other day. Like troubled. He couldn’t make sense of the whole deal. He was like…I just don’t get it. I believe in God, I really do. I even love Him. But I don’t understand His plan. Why all these people? Like, if God wanted relationship, why didn’t He stop at a couple of hundred? Why billions? And where do I fit in the scope of all those billions? What is my life meant to mean? I was like, hmm…that’s a really great question Lach. And I said to him, Lach, I don’t actually know the answer, but this could be part of it? Like, I’m in community, and I’ll love whoever God puts in front of me, but I love our family, and I can’t be super close to everybody, as much as I’d love to, because I’d burn out, and I don’t need it for myself…so…but God is massive. His capacity is unfathomable. He is so much bigger and greater than we can get our heads around. He can love all these people, and have significant relationship with all of them. And Lach was like sure mum, that’s an answer. I could accept that, but you know, it doesn’t really resolve it for me. And the I read this verse the next day so I sent that to him, and he didn’t reply, so pray for him. Psalm 131

1 Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. 2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord— now and always.

So on the one hand I just want to acknowledge that to assume why on God’s plan is to think I understand Him. I don’t. I just love Him and I trust Him and I feel safe with Him because He is good. His way is higher than mine, and if He wants to use the church to reach the world, who am I to argue? I’ve read the 4 chapters at the end of Job when he did, and they’ve convinced me I don’t know what I’m talking about.

But I do want us today to search out the scriptures to consider why God would make the church His plan. We first have to define even the word church.

In the Old Testament, the description was the word qahal. Kaw-hawl. This word meant the gathering, or the assembling, the congregation, the convocation; whether for war, or for worship, for counsel, for teaching – the gathering for a common purpose. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and the New Testament is written in Greek. So church is used first in the New Testament by Jesus himself.

Matthew 16:

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

The debate is on. Who is this guy who heals? Who speaks with such authority? Who even the winds and the waves obey?

15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Maybe they all believed it, but Simon Peter, as the mouthpiece of the group, for better or worse (better in this case, worse in a few verses time) speaks out this MASSIVE CLAIM! Blasphemous claim! Jesus – you come from heaven, not as an angel or some other kind of heavenly messenger, but you are God himself. We as Jewish men have been quoting since our infancy “The Lord our God is one”. You are the son of God, but you are fully God. You are Yahweh, you are the one we’ve been learning about our whole lives.

17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’),

Now Andrew is here with me, and Andrew means strong, so it would like me saying now I say to you that you are strong. And Mikey’s here with me and Michael means “like God” so it would be like me saying now I say to you that you are like God. But even better, because it’s the same word – petra and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Back to the Catholics for a moment. Catholics would say that Peter, Petra, Pedro, that Jesus was announcing him as the one that the church would be built upon. That means that Peter is the first pope of the Catholic church, and then the succession popes take the authority that he was given. They are the head of the worldwide church. The verses following talk about the keys of the kingdom being given, and so that is why they say that St Peter decides who comes into heaven or not.

Later in Matthew though, Jesus gives all of the disciples authority, so this was not to be an authoritarian positional statement. Classic us, as humans, to decide how to build a structure and a hierarchy. So it was Peter’s recognition of who Jesus is and revelation that singled him out as a stone that the church would build upon. Yes, with Peter as a foundation.

“So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.”

Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT

Peter was part of the foundation, and everyone since those early days that has put their faith in Jesus is becoming a part of this temple. And the temple is where the presence of the Lord dwells. Peter himself wrote in 1 Peter 2: 4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour.

He is simultaneously called the cornerstone, which if you google what a cornerstone is, it will say: The cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure; He is the cornerstone, and the stumbling block, the rock of offense. Some people won’t like that foundation, that it’s Christ alone, and so the church if it doesn’t hold to that is not really being the church at all. Maybe you aren’t following Jesus today, and it’s that that pulls you up. What do you mean, it has to be Jesus? Yeah…people even then rejected him, it is a big leap to follow Him, to make Him your authority, to put your trust in Him and what He’s done, and it’s meant to be. But when you do, then you can find yourself as part of the build, that Jesus is building, and you can find freedom and love there.

1 Corinthians 3 16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

The church, which is us, the people, are the temple. And where before, here is the temple, and everyone from everywhere had to come in to where the Spirit of God lived, now, we are the temple, and we are to go out, because the Spirit of God lives in us. Our gatherings are great and wonderful, and a celebration together, and the opportunity to show others the love we have for God, and for each other. You might say “there! The church is just the people so we don’t need this!” well, from Jesus’ initial use, it’s used right through the new testament, to refer to congregations like this one, to the believers as a whole. The church gathers. It’s what it always has done. That’s what we talked about last week.

So let’s bring all this back together. Jesus prayed that we might be one, united, knowing God and knowing each other. He prayed for such perfect unity, that people would see that we are so willing to put aside our differences to celebrate our commonality, that it would be heavenly to them.

God wants to reach all people. It’s always been His heart, and He knew that the best way to proliferate and propagate the good news about Jesus was to rather than get the world to come to one place, to give his presence and get people to share that out. He is love, to share His love with the world.

How are we going with that? What are we majoring on – our differences or our commonality. Do we, as the body of Christ, look to Him as our head, or do we look at the body part next to us and sniff at them because they’re a premillennial dispensationalist, and I believe in postmillennialism. I can’t possibly get on board with different eschatological worldviews. Or, um, why is she preaching without a head covering. I heard her pray. Or what is your position of the mark of the beast? Or can we be, yes, fun conversation, however, want to go and reach the world. Do you love Jesus? Me too, let’s go and share that love with the world around us. There’s supposed to be something about this that is letting people know how good God is! Now, we can stand there and point the finger, and declare churches and Christians weirdos, or think we’re better than everyone else, but are we contributing to the problem and perpetuating it or doing literally the only thing we can do, and just keep loving people?

Let’s dumb it back down for ourselves, love God, love people, slap some mortar on and shimmy up to the stone next to you, letting their rough edges smooth yours down a bit. Then, then, Jesus can build His church, because we are putting him first rather than our own preferences and needs and He says that the gates of hell won’t prevail against it. Gates of hades actually, which was the Hadace, the world of the dead. And Jesus was saying, you’ll die, and the church will keep going. Generations of people will die, and the church will keep going. He said it at the birthplace in Caeserea so named for the proud emperor Caeser who called himself God, and at the birthplace of the worship of the god pan, where there was syncretism everywhere, worship of everything, and on the declaration that Jesus Christ was the son of the living Jesus said, I will build my church. Nothing will stop it.

There have been churches that have risen up in pride and exploded, blood and guts everywhere, and there have been churches that have descended into apathy and imploded, but Jesus is still building his church. He is still drawing all people to Himself, and for those who declare Him Lord and saviour who repent and believe he gives His Holy Spirit, and He builds them into the temple of the Living God and he is united to her as a bride, and he the bridegroom, and he is committed and he will return because he is preparing a place for her.

Why the church? Because God is relational, and is still pursuing relationship with his people – how? Through relationship with his people.

Part 3: Why Church?

Cate’s nerds story.

Fortunately, Cate had a mama who could wrap her up in her arms, and tell her no Catie, God’s not like that, God loves you, He is pleased with you, He has a wonderful for you.

Imagine if we as the church could be like that. Everyone coming in with their preconceived ideas of who God is and what He’s like, and we could show them who He truly is!

In Gladiator, Russell Crowe said my name is maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the north, general of the Felix legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

That doesn’t have anything to do with the message.

He also said: Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?

Also not anything to do with the message, but a super cool part of the movie.

He also said: What we do in life echoes in eternity.

1 Corinthians 1

10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

3 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?

5 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. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.

12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Why church?

1. It helps us Portray the kingdom. Young, old, male, female, poor, rich, educated, uneducated. It’s meant to be a mix of people who aren’t like each other who come together for His name’s sake.

2. Prepare us for heaven. All the people you see now, you don’t get free of them once we hit the shining shore. It’s every tribe and tongue. You had better get used to it.

3. Teach us perseverance. And when perseverance works it works character. And when character works it works us into maturity. We can’t just leave every time it gets hard, we’ll just hit that lesson somewhere else in life. You bail, you fail.

4. Helps us learn patience. You won’t love everything, but you can love the work that it does IN you.