Rev. David Holwick H Lies Christians Believe
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 22, 2015
1 Corinthians 11:17-22
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I. Terrible churches.
A. The website for lousy church experiences.
"What Church experience prompted you to vow never to return?"
Some responses on the forum by different people:
I got beaten in church.
Some people behind me in youth group on a Wed. night decided
they didn't like me.
Kicked my chair throughout the service, then followed me out to
my car.
My youth pastor heard a rumor that I was struggling with
self-injury. (It was true)
He made a sermon about me and even pointed at me during it.
I have never been so hurt or embarrassed.
Everyone at school started to make fun of me and I lost a lot
of my friends.
That was the last Sunday I attended that church.
I live in the Bible Belt, so there are churches everywhere you
look, but very rarely can you find a good one that doesn't
have condescending, judgmental people.
Once I tried to go to a pre-service prayer meeting.
I knocked on the door, this [guy] opened the door and when he
saw me he said, "we don't want you here!" and slammed the
door in my face.
I was never very popular in high school but I wasn't so
insufferable and terrible that I deserved that.
Ironically, the only decent church I have ever been to was a
Baptist church.
God's Word was preached, people were respectful and kind,
visitations occurred, missionaries were funded, and the
church treasury was posted on a board every Sunday for
everyone to see.
The God complex.
Every preacher knows that they're closer to God than the
[regular members] are.
The preacher is the only possible path to God that the
congregation has; they're so sinful and ignorant.
If you don't praise the preacher just below Jesus himself,
you just don't belong there.
[1]
Maybe that last guy is on to something...
B. Our church is not like this. We have a perfect church.
1) So much is good here.
a) We stick to the Bible and give many opportunities to
study it - six outside study groups in all, plus
Sunday School.
b) Everyone gets along - we have great potlucks, and
lots of people help set up and clean up.
c) We are generous with hurting people in our community
even if they don't go to our church.
2) Maybe we are not completely perfect.
a) We can acknowledge faults in our church.
b) Some of our people have issues and may irritate us
from time to time...
c) The preaching is biblical but usually not very dramatic.
1> But you have had plenty of time to realize this
already.
3) Perhaps we should acknowledge more problems than we do.
a) Our satisfaction is often limited to superficial issues.
1> If it works for us, we are satisfied.
2> We don't tend to dig deeper than this.
b) Is this wrong of us?
II. Areas where churches have always struggled.
A. The Bible gives plenty of information on this.
1) It is a typical theme in the Bible to follow a story
about a great victory with one about a tragic defeat.
a) In the book of Joshua, the great victory over Jericho
is followed by the story of Achan, an Israelite
who selfishly kept loot for himself.
b) In the New Testament, Acts 4 talks about the generosity
of the first Christians.
1> They sold personal property to take care of the
poor among them.
2> Barnabas is given as an example.
c) Then in Acts 5 it describes a couple named Ananias
and Sapphira, who said they had sold property
to donate but actually lied about the amount.
1> God took them out and that got everyone's attention.
2) The New Testament shows tension within churches and
fighting between churches.
a) There were moral problems and personality problems and
religious problems.
b) They had favorites they idolized, and enemies they
attacked behind their backs.
c) They had people teaching weird things, and some who
even warped God's plan of salvation.
3) In other words, they weren't much different from us.
B. Consider problems in a specific church.
1) The church in Corinth, Greece, was young and vibrant.
a) They put a lot of emphasis on the Holy Spirit.
b) Their worship services must have been very lively -
Paul even warns them that visitors might get the
impression they were all insane.
2) What happened at communion services shows their dark side.
a) Communion back then was a full dinner, much like our
potlucks.
1> People brought food and the idea was to share it
with others.
2> They probably didn't have a strict starting time
since many members were slaves and got out of
their jobs late.
b) Other members didn't wait.
1> Instead, they hogged it all up.
2> Some even got drunk - can you imagine alcohol at
a potluck?
c) They were selfish, they were divided, they humiliated
those with less.
1> Paul says they are doing more harm than good.
2> Could we ever be guilty of the same thing?
III. Where Ledgewood can be like Corinth.
A. Selfishness.
1) It is not uncommon for people to be very concerned about
what they are interested in - specific people,
ministries, functions - and not care about others.
2) Everything you care about may be very legitimate, but
it probably is not the whole picture.
a) That is why Baptists like to put things to a vote.
b) It makes us focus on the wider perspective.
3) I can understand people wanting things their way since
we all have preferences and desires.
a) But we have to remember Paul's advice to put others
ahead of ourselves.
b) Don't get bent out of shape if something doesn't go
your way. It's not just about you.
B. Targeted loving.
1) Jesus noticed that all people like to love others.
a) Generally, they like to love their own.
b) He says even pagans know how to do this.
c) Christian love is when you love people who are not
like you, who may even be mean to you.
2) Who do you gravitate toward in church?
a) People with similar backgrounds to yours?
1> People who are good-looking and friendly?
b) What about some of the more difficult people in the
church? We have some.
1> People you may not have much in common with.
2> You may not even respect them.
3> Why not try to get to know them, and pray for them,
and encourage them?
4> You may be surprised by them and find a lot in them
you never saw before.
C. Superficial spirituality.
1) It is not secret that many nice people have a rather
shallow faith.
2) They have a sincere faith, but it is not very deep.
a) Maybe they are new Christians and haven't grown much.
b) Or they were brought up to go to church and it never
sank into their soul.
c) In verse 28, Paul challenges the people in Corinth
to examine themselves.
1> We do this at every communion service when we
have that time of quiet meditation.
2> Usually we are contemplating how we have behaved
that week.
d) Perhaps we need to contemplate on a deeper level.
1> In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells them:
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in
the faith; test yourselves.
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you
-- unless, of course, you fail the test?"
2> Are you a Christian? Are you genuinely saved?
A> Do you understand that you have no hope unless
Jesus washes away your sins?
B> Does anyone else notice a change in you?
IV. The real measure of a successful church.
A. Popularity has its place.
1) Even in the early church, numbers mattered.
a) The growth of the church encouraged believers and
dismayed its opponents.
b) After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, his enemies
whined, "Look how the whole world has gone after
him!" John 12:19
2) The dynamic messages and even more dramatic miracles
attracted loads of people.
a) Then again, so do demolition derbies.
B. The real measure of a church must go deeper.
1) As Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:19, the ultimate test of a church
is God's approval.
a) Are we teaching the whole will of God?
b) Are we showing it in the way we treat each other?
c) Does anyone outside our fellowship notice it about us?
2) We won't find out God's opinion of us until the Judgment
Day.
a) But we don't have to wait that long to do something
about it.
V. Making Ledgewood Baptist better.
A. Grow yourself.
1) Personally become more knowledgeable about the Bible.
2) Commit yourself to praying for another person or situation.
3) Get involved in some kind of ministry, even if it is
unofficial or invisible or seemingly insignificant.
a) God likes that kind.
b) (Someone told me this week that a church member fixed
her snowblower. It was much appreciated.)
B. Challenge someone.
1) A church can't be strong if you are growing by leaps and
bounds but no one else is.
2) Find out if people near you are taking God seriously.
a) Ask them about their faith, their fears, their hopes.
b) Encourage them to be a better Christian.
C. Go outside.
1) Churches like ours have a tendency to move inward.
a) We reach the same people with the same programs.
2) What are you doing to reach the world for Christ?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “What Church experience prompted you to vow never to return?”
<http://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/240nje/what_church_experience_pr
ompted_you_to_vow_never/>
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