Jeff Miller

October 4, 2026

Blessed Assurance

The Self-Deception Test

Jeff Miller

October 4, 2026

Blessed Assurance

Introduction:

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Matthew 7:13-14 - Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:21-23 - “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

2 Corinthians 13:5 - Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Lamentations 3:40 - Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

1 Corinthians 11:28 - Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Galatians 6:4 - But let each one test his own work

The Test of Self-Deception:

Circle whether the statements on assurance are True or False in your life today:

There is no way I can be self-deceived.

True False

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is DECEITFUL above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

I think I am a really good and important person.

True False

Galatians 6:3 - For if anyone thinks he is SOMETHING when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Sin has never really been an issue for me.

True False

1 John 1:8 - If we say we have no SIN we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

I go to church a lot, but that doesn’t really affect the way I live.

True False

James 1:22 - But be DOERS of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

The way I talk doesn’t really reflect my faith.

True False

James 1:26 - If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his TONGUE but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read 2 Corinthians 13:5

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Which of these test questions was most convicting to you?
A non-believing friend says to you, “Deep down, I am a good person.” How do you convince them they are self-deceived?

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another. Are there any areas of your life that you now see you have been deceiving yourself?

Jeff Miller

September 27, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Motivated By Love

Jeff Miller

September 27, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

Church: Be Unified and Purified (1 Corinthians 16:13-24)

Be PURIFIED . (1 Cor 16:13)
1. Be WATCHFUL !
2. Stand FIRM !
3. Act like MEN !
4. Be STRONG !
Be UNIFIED . (1 Cor 16:14-24)
1. Be SUBJECT to SERVANTS . (1 Cor 16:15-16)
2. Give RECOGNITION to REFRESHERS (1 Cor 16:17-18)
3. Show AFFINITY to one ANOTHER . (1 Cor 16:19-24)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00
Amen. Open your Bibles, please, if you haven't already, to the passage that Pastor Taylor just read. 1 Corinthians 16, picking up in verse 13. Just take a moment, please, while you're doing so, and just pray for me to be faithful, to communicate God's Word clearly and accurately as I should, and I will pray for you to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us in this passage. Let's just take a moment.
00:29
Thank you, Father, for this journey you've taken us through. And it's a lot. It's so challenging in parts, so contrary to human, natural, worldly thinking. Your wisdom always is, though. Father, give us the faith to truly believe what it is that you said.
00:59
not just say we believe it but to truly believe what it is that you say in your word may your name be glorified greatly father as we have one more passage here speak to us through your word father we ask in jesus name and all of god's people said amen amen about a month or so ago we get a call here on the church line and the the guy we get these calls from time But the guy went into this very long, confusing, convoluted story. Remember this, Pastor Taylor? It was something about he had a truckload of furniture and somebody was paying him to haul it, but he was running out of gas, so he was calling the church to see if we could help him with gas because he needed to get to, where was he going, Oklahoma City or something? It was just this long, convoluted, confusing story.
01:59
And then finally, I said, okay, stop, stop, stop, stop. I said, tell me in one sentence what it is that you want. And he said, well, I want to see if I can donate some of this furniture from the truck for gas money. I was born at night, but it wasn't last night. It was one of these scam things, right? So I said, we don't have any room for furniture. Have a great day. But what was the plan then?
02:29
Somebody was paying him to haul donated furniture. He was going to use that furniture to fund his... Anyway, too long, right? It's like those emails you get. Too long, didn't read. You get those emails? Too long, didn't read? It was like the phone call version of that. And as we get to the end of 1 Corinthians, it's a lot. I mean, we've been covering this since last October. Can you believe that?
02:59
Everything that Paul has said under inspiration of the Holy Spirit of 1 Corinthians, you're like, whoa, whoa, Paul, Paul, can you tell me in one sentence what it is you want me to know? Right? Can you sum it up? And yeah, actually, that's where we got the theme for the year. Be purified, church.
03:28
Being purified is about who you are. It's holiness. We've talked about that. You're like, yeah, yeah, but can you give it to me in one sentence? Sure. Look at verse 13. Here it is. Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. There it is. Like, yeah, Pastor Jeff, you could have saved a lot of time in the last year if you would have just led with that. Right? That sums it all up.
03:58
But that's be purified. We've also been looking at what God's Word says about being unified, church. Being purified is about who you are. Being unified is about how you love other people. You're like, yeah, we've talked a lot about unity. Can you tell me about unity in one sentence, Pastor Jeff? Can you tell me in one sentence? He does. Look at verse 14. Let all that you do.
04:28
be done in love. Wow, you could have saved some time. That's it. Be purified, be unified. Corinth had a lot of problems. Like how many problems did they have? Well, two books worth in the Bible. Right? A lot of problems. And we've spent the last year talking about them. Divisions and lusts and suing one another and insisting on their freedoms.
04:58
and self-exalting. And we've had, in 1 Corinthians, we've had 15 chapters of don't. And he closes with just a few verses of do. So what we see here is that we get to this home stretch here. What Paul does here in this passage is he puts a big bow on it. He gives us one more word on these two themes that we've been covering this past year.
05:27
So church be unified and purified. Number one, let's talk about the first command here. Be purified.
05:36
Church. Look at verse 13 again.
05:39
Not difficult.
05:41
It's clear. Be watchful.
05:44
Stand firm in the faith.
05:45
Act like men. Be strong.
05:48
Be purified.
05:49
Look, if we're going to be collectively pure as a church, you need to be individually holy.
06:00
You want a pure church? It means you have a part in that. Right? So let's just quickly, he just like blasts us with these four things. We're going to look at them quickly. Letter A, be watchful, he says. Be watchful. Literally, this phrase means be awake.
06:27
literally means be fully awake. You know the difference between being awake and being fully awake? You know the difference between the two? I think of many years ago, I was taking my Sunday afternoon nap. Delicious. And I was sleeping. I was out. The smoke alarm went off. So I get up. Back to bed. Erin runs in. She goes, Jeff, there's actually a I jump up here. We had a metal garbage can and my son found a lighter and put some papers on fire in the garbage can. No damage to the house. It was a metal can. Everything contained. But my point is this. There is a big difference between the first time I got up and the second time I got up. I was awake and then I was fully awake. And fully awake is what he's saying here when he says be watchful. Because honestly Christians, Many Christians today are in the sleepy stupor. They're in the stupor like the first time I woke up and that's just how they wander through life. Half awake, half asleep. And there's spiritual attacks all around and it's just like, oh, no problem. There's temptations to sin all around and you're just kind of staggering through, not really watching for them.
07:57
There's needs of others around you and you're just like, don't notice.
08:05
And that's what Paul, that's what he says here.
08:06
He goes, wake up.
08:07
Like, no, wake up.
08:09
See what's going on around you.
08:12
Be watchful.
08:14
Secondly, letter B says stand firm.
08:17
Church, you've got to know what you believe.
08:21
You've got to know why you believe what you believe.
08:23
And when you do, live it.
08:25
Do not waver.
08:26
And that's what we saw in 1 Corinthians. They were so sucked into worldly wisdom that some of them were denying that there was even a resurrection. That's why we have 1 Corinthians 15. Like, what? You're like, shame on them. Well, you know what? Shame on us because there are people that they hear some goofy nutjob preacher online teaching some wackadoo doctrine and they just latch on to that. Like, wow.
08:56
I never heard this before. Do you know why you never heard that before? Because it's wrong. How about that? People believing some bizarre things. How does that happen? Because they don't know what they really believe. People aren't studying God's Word for themselves. And that's why Paul says, hey, hey, Corinthians, stand firm in the faith. Let us see, he says, act like men.
09:27
Act like men. What's he saying? Be mature. Be mature. Obviously, he's talking to the men here, right? Do you know why he's talking to the men? Because men usually have the maturity problem. True or false? We can be honest here.
09:56
We have the maturity problem. True.
10:01
All the fighting. All the bragging.
10:04
All the self-seeking. We've seen Paul address this in 1 Corinthians.
10:07
Paul's like, you're acting like children.
10:10
You're acting like a bunch of toddlers back in Harvest Academy.
10:13
Fighting over the goldfish crackers.
10:15
Knock it off.
10:17
He says, grow up. He says, act like, how about acting like men for a change?
10:24
But we see that with men. Not acting like men. Acting like children. I'm mad. I didn't get my way. I'm never speaking to him again. I'm leaving the church because I don't prefer this. No. Act like men. Grow up. Be a man. Show the young men how a man acts. Act like men. And then he says be strong. Be strong. Literally.
10:54
Literally, it's be strengthened. There's a difference, right? Between being strong and being strengthened. The difference is the source. Being strong means I try to muster it up myself. I can't. That's not what he says. He says, be strengthened. I need someone to do that to me. And that's God. I need God's Spirit. I need the power of the Spirit. I need the wisdom of His Word.
11:23
I was looking through this list. I'm like, you know what? If I'm walking by the Spirit, I will be watchful. I will stand firm. I will act like a man. And as a result, I'll be strong if I do that. Right? It's the result. All of these things obviously are acts of intention, right? They're all resolute postures. All of these things give you that, Like, yes, I am God's soldier. I'm going to stand on the Word of God. I will not waver, right? Right? I'm purified by Him. I'm purified for Him. Here's the only problem with that is if we just commit to going after that, we're going to be crusty.
12:24
We need to be motivated by love. Right? It's both truth and grace. That's why, number two, you can't just be purified. Church, you also have to be unified. Look at verse 14 again. Verse 14, he says, let all that you do be done in love.
12:53
Everything that you do. Let it be motivated by love. This is what the Corinthians desperately needed. This is what Harvest Bible Chapel desperately needs. This is what every single church that belongs to Jesus Christ truly needs. That we are motivated. Everything that we do is done because we love one another.
13:20
Love is action. We talked about that, right? 1 Corinthians 13. Love is action. Like, what does that look like? Well, what you see here when we get to the end of the letter, it's a very easy formula. Paul here gives us three groups of people and then gives us three commands on how to respond to each of these.
13:53
This is a two-way street.
13:54
You must respond by doing this.
13:57
That's the formula.
13:58
And do you know what that tells me?
14:03
It's a reminder that love is a two-way street.
14:07
Right?
14:08
Love is meant to be a two-way street.
14:15
If you've ever been involved in a relationship where love was just a one-way street, you know how frustrating that can be. And Paul reminds us here, look, these people did things. You respond in this way. Love is a two-way street. You have to be actively loving each other. Be unified. So what does that look like? Well, letter A, he says, be subject to servants. Be subject to servants. Look at verse 15. He says, now I urge you, you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia.
14:57
And that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints.
15:07
Devoted themselves. I love that phrase. They devoted themselves.
15:12
Themselves. Do you know what that means? That means they weren't coerced.
15:18
They weren't begged to serve. They were self-motivated. They're like, we're doing this because we want to. They devoted themselves. But even more interesting to me than that, that word devoted, that word has the same root from where we get the word addicted. They were addicted.
15:48
to serving people.
15:50
And if you've ever known someone that was an addict to a substance, to a chemical, to drugs or alcohol, you know the drive of, I just can't stop doing this.
16:05
I need more and more and more to satisfy.
16:11
And this is that attitude, but used in a positive, He says you should be addicted to serving people in Christ. Like, I can't help it. Like, hey, stop doing ministry. I need you to take a couple weeks off. I can't help it. I cannot help it. I want to serve. How can I serve people? Like, you really need to quit. No, I need to do it more. I just can't get enough of it. They were addicted to ministry. And that's just how it is when you find your calling from God.
16:47
You're addicted. You're addicted. You can't help yourself. If somebody says you're absolutely forbidden in this church to serve the Lord in this way, you'll find someplace where you can serve Him because you're addicted. Have you found your ministry addiction? Well, what do we do in response to these ministry addicts? Look at verse 16. He says, be subject to such as these.
17:15
and every fellow worker and laborer. Be subject. Paul says, when someone like Stephanas so faithfully serves the Lord, you be subject to them. Be subject to them. You say, look, this is who God is using. This is healthy ministry. I want to do everything I can to support them. And as I was reading and studying this this week, do you know who I was thinking of from our church like this? I was thinking of Joe and Janie Berger.
17:46
You know, they started a ministry for people in their 20s.
17:52
They weren't asked to do that. That was on their heart. They said, the Lord put that on us.
17:56
We want to serve in this way. We want to help disciple young adults, people in their 20s.
18:02
They were completely self-motivated to do that, and they continue. How can we make improvements to that room?
18:08
What can we do to make this? They take up a whole other level this year than they did last year.
18:15
How can we better serve the young adults? They're like addicts. That's exactly what he's talking about here. And you should be looking at people like Joe and Janie Berger and saying, how can I help them along? What can I do to support them? He says, be subject to such as these. Let her be. Be unified. Love is this two-way street, right? Here's the next two-way street.
18:45
He says, give recognition to refreshers. Give recognition to refreshers. Look at verse 17. He said, I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortinatus and Achaicus because they have made up for your absence. But they apparently didn't have nicknames.
19:15
I mean, can we do that real quick? Stephanas, we'll call him, what, Stevie? Does that work? Okay. What about, this next one's going to be a little harder. Fortunatus, what do we call him, Fortnite? Did you play that game? Fortnite? 40. 40. And when he turns 40, whoa, that's a All right? What about Achaicus? You guys are really bad at nicknaming people. How about Achy Breaky Heart? Anyways. All right. So these are Stevie and Forty and Achy. What have they done? Paul says they made up for your absence. Literally the Greek there, he says they filled up my lack of you.
20:17
They filled up my lack of you. You know, as we've gone through 1 Corinthians, we could say in all sincerity that Corinth sounded like the kind of church that you would absolutely love to avoid. Right? Like, hey, if you like cliques, gluttony, and chaos, have we got a church for you? Like, I'm busy.
20:45
every Sunday.
20:47
And that's why reading 1 Corinthians and getting to the end here, it's astounding to me that Paul was actually longing to see them.
20:58
Do you see that?
21:02
He says, I miss all of you.
21:06
But Stevie and Forty and Achy, they really scratched that itch.
21:12
Look at verse 18.
21:14
He says, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours.
21:19
Here's the command.
21:20
Here's the response.
21:21
Give recognition to such men.
21:26
These men refreshed Paul's spirit.
21:31
And we should come to church.
21:34
We should come to small group wanting to refresh people.
21:39
Being positive, thankful, uplifting.
21:42
We all know people that do the opposite. I think back to my days. I worked at Walmart and Butler in the mid-90s and there was an employee there. I'm not going to say her name. She's surely dead by an hour. She'd be 130. But like there was an employee there that like it was like this running gag. They're like if you see her just say hi.
22:12
Because, you know, sometimes we're like, hey, how are you? The problem with her is if you ask, how are you? She'll tell you. Not the short version either. And there have been times that I'll pass her in the aisle, and I'd say, hey, how are you? And as soon as it came out of my mouth, I'm like, oh, I did it. I'm like, hey, how are you? She'll be like, oh, you know what? My bad knee's acting up.
22:41
Now, my good knee's been hurt, and my daughter, you know, my daughter's gone through this divorce, and she has the gout, and her ex-husband has the gout, and they had this landlord who has this uncle who knew this guy, and he has the gout, and my finances are a wreck, and it would just drain the life out of you. You know people like that? Don't point. You know people like that? Some people drain the life out of you, but some people, They seem to do the opposite. They seem to fuel you.
23:16
Fill up your tank.
23:19
It's like, you know what refreshing feels like?
23:20
Here's a real life example of what refreshing feels like.
23:24
Something that we can all relate to.
23:26
As if we've ever been at a whether it's small group breakout time or a prayer service where people are going around giving their prayer requests.
23:34
You know, sometimes it's just like health issue after tragedy, after financial issue and we should be praying for those things. I'm not criticizing that at all.
23:44
But you know what's refreshing? Is when you get to the guy that's like, you know what?
23:49
I have a praise. Can I share a praise? And it's like, yes!
23:52
Thank you! Please share the praise. And that person's like, I just want to thank God for the way that I've seen Him at work in this church.
24:00
And it's so refreshing.
24:03
Like, yes! That's what Paul's talking about here.
24:07
These guys.
24:10
They refresh you. You recognize or honor them.
24:21
Some people deserve to be honored. That's just all there is to it.
24:24
They deserve to be honored. Not because they have money. Not because they're influential. Not because they have cool names.
24:33
They deserve to be recognized because their attitudes and their words refresh people.
24:41
You're like, man, I've really had a hard week.
24:45
And man, it was so good.
24:47
I ran into so-and-so and it was so good to see him.
24:51
Man, he just, running into him just made my day.
24:56
You know what I'm talking about?
25:01
Paul listed some people here.
25:02
And again, I was thinking about people here at Harvest. And there were so many names and faces that came to mind. So many. But Paul listed three. I'm like, I've got to just do three right off the top of my head. Of people that when I encounter them, I always feel good after walking away from a conversation with them. And here's who I wrote down. Chris Richards. Always. Do you know our worship team today was like, Literally 50% Richards.
25:37
But every time I talk to Chris, I just walk away feeling better.
25:41
He's refreshing. You know who else I thought of?
25:43
And you might not know all these people. It's okay. You need to meet them.
25:46
Jillian gave you a chance and you blew it.
25:48
But you know, somebody else that does that for me is Sally Cousins.
25:54
If you know Sally Cousins from our church, I always feel like a million bucks after talking to her.
25:58
She's refreshing.
25:59
You know who else I wrote down here?
26:01
Like I said, there's so many.
26:02
Don't feel excluded. I could be up here till Thanksgiving listing people. I wrote down Russ House. Russ, you all, man, you always make me feel better after talking to you. You're such an encourager. And that's what Paul's talking about here. He says, when you have people like that, give recognition to them. And then finally, letter C, show affinity to one another.
26:34
Show affinity to one another. Look at verses 19 and 20. He says, The churches of Asia send you their greetings.
26:48
Akilah and Prissa together with the church in their house send you hearty greetings in the Lord.
26:55
All the brothers send you greetings.
26:59
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
27:02
So here Paul's like, Achille and Priscilla and the churches and the brothers. You know, we're like, tell everybody I said hi. That's what he's doing here. Everybody says hi to you, Corinth. He says, look, hey Corinth, everyone is showing affinity, showing affection to you. And then you notice, he says, now you do it. He says, greet one another with a holy kiss. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Now, wait a minute.
27:34
This phrase comes up several times in the New Testament. It's in Romans, 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Peter. But I want you to understand something. In their culture, men kissed men and women kissed women. In our culture, that's the equivalent of the handshake or the hug. Right? But we can't get so caught up on the method that we missed the big picture because Corinth needed this and Harvest Bible Chapel needs this. We should be expressing affection towards one another. We should be expressing that. People come to church here, they come in during the third song and then they slip out during the last song and then they're like, I just didn't feel very loved at that church.
28:32
You stared at the back of somebody's head? Really? You didn't feel loved? I can understand why. How about this? How about stick around and talk to people and shake some hands and give some hugs? Then you'll feel loved. That's exactly what Paul's saying here. Don't slip in and out. Stick around. Love each other. Show affinity. People need to know that they are loved and they are valued. You're not a customer here.
29:02
You are a brother or sister in the Lord. So, who wants a holy kiss? Just Aaron. That's appropriate. Wish granted. I'm going to owe you that. But we'll move on. I'm glad nobody did rush the stage for that actually.
29:32
Aaron would have knocked you out. But moving on. He says, I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. You know, often Paul would dictate, somebody would write. But Paul's like, I'm signing off on this. And I know we can sort of laugh some of these names and holy kisses and things like that.
30:02
But this next verse to me is one of the most convicting verses in the entire Bible. Look at verse 22. Paul says, if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord come. So convicting. Look at the verse again. You should have this underlined in your Bible. He says, if anyone has no love for the Lord.
30:32
And I just need to ask you, based on what God's Word says here, I need to ask you, do you love the Lord? Do you love Him? We're not saying, hey, hey, hey, you're not anti-Jesus, are you?
31:02
We're not saying, do you like going to church?
31:07
And we're not saying, are you okay with having a little religion in your life?
31:13
You think it's good for the kids, right?
31:14
You're okay with a little religion.
31:16
We're not saying any of that.
31:17
Look at what your Bible says.
31:19
Do you love the Lord?
31:26
Do you love the Lord?
31:26
Because listen, it does not matter if you merely acknowledge that Jesus is right.
31:35
It doesn't matter if you respect Jesus.
31:42
It doesn't even matter if you sort of idealize Jesus.
31:47
The question is, do you love Him?
31:51
Do you love Him?
31:54
Well, how do I know?
32:00
Come on.
32:01
You know if you love someone. You just know if you love someone. You have a relationship with them. You enjoy talking to them. You long to be with them. It's the same with Jesus. Do you love Him? Do you have a relationship with Him? I mean, do you spend time talking with Jesus?
32:32
Do you have this desire? Like, I just, more than anything, I want to be with Jesus. Do you have that longing? You know, sometimes we talk to people about heaven, and they're like, oh, I can't wait to go to heaven because my Uncle Fred's going to be there. Like, who cares about Uncle Fred? Do you know who's going to be there? Jesus! Where's the longing to be with Him? Do you love Him?
33:01
Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Do you love Jesus Christ? Look, here's the thing. Jesus' love for you is not in question. The Bible says he demonstrated his love when he died on the cross. So if you ever get that idea in your head, well, God doesn't love me, that's not in question.
33:31
Jesus died on the cross in your place to pay the penalty for your sin. And He commands you to respond to that love. Jesus' love for you is not in question. What is in question is this, do you love Jesus? And finally, last two verses. He says, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all.
34:01
in Christ Jesus. Amen. Do you know what Paul's saying there? Saying, you are loved. We didn't make that up, by the way. We stole that also from the Bible. But that's exactly what Paul's saying. So I understand when we get up here, whether it's me or Pastor Taylor, whoever gets up here and says, you are loved, you know what we're saying is, look, God loves you with an eternal love in Jesus Christ.
34:31
You are loved by God. And you are loved by us at the church. That's exactly what Paul's saying here. That's what we say when we say you are loved. And I think it was especially important for the Corinthians to hear this after 16 chapters of being taken to the woodshed. Paul's like, look, none of this was meant to beat you down. It's because that I love you, that I want God's best for you. Our worship team would make their way up in our communion servers. I think it's only appropriate that we close this message, we close this series around the Lord's table. Why did Jesus die for us?
35:30
Jesus died for us so that we would be holy. We could be made righteous so that we would be purified. That's why He died. So that God would look at you, see you in Christ, and say, you are not guilty of sin. You are as righteous as I am. God gave us His righteousness. God did this so that we would be Purified.
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So why do we, as a church, take the Lord's Supper together?
36:08
So that we are unified.
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When we do this together, we are saying collectively, I believe that Jesus is the Christ.
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I believe that He died for me.
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I believe He rose from the dead.
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I believe He's coming back.
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And we, together as a church, are the body of Christ.
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This is a great act of unity.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 16:13-24

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What did Paul mean by “act like men” (1 Cor 16:13)? What are some ways men aren't acting like men in the church today? What does it look like to “act like a man”?
Who is someone who “refreshes your spirit” (1 Cor 16:18)? How do they do that? How are you doing at being a “refresher”?
Though we don't kiss each other in our culture (1 Cor 16:20), what are ways we can show affinity towards one another? Why is it important for us to do so?
How would you respond to someone who asks “How do I know if I truly LOVE the Lord?” (1 Cor 16:22)?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

September 20, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Scheduling Ministry

Taylor Brown

September 20, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

The Faithful Worker... (1 Corinthians 16:5-12)

Prepares for MINISTRY . (1 Cor 16:5-9)

James 4:13-15 - Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."
1. By EXPECTING the UNEXPECTED (1 Cor 16:5-7)
2. By viewing OPPOSITION as an OPPORTUNITY (1 Cor 16:8-9)
Plays well with OTHER BELIEVERS . (1 Cor 16:1-12)
1. By supporting their EFFORTS . (1 Cor 16:10-11)
2. By respecting their CONVICTIONS . (1 Cor 16:12)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00
Well, as Kelly just read, please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verses 5 through 12. 1 Corinthians 16, verses 5 through 12. And as you turn there, I want you to consider a question that I have been considering all week. I have my own answer. I'd like to hear your answer. Are there more lazy slackers in the world, or are there more faithful workers?
00:30
Are there more lazy slackers? Or are there more faithful workers? What do you think? Slackers seems to win the day. Yes, there are a lot of hard workers out there, but they seem to be outnumbered by the amount of lazy slackers that exist. There are a lot of people who don't want to do much besides relax and take it easy. And my wife encountered a lot of these lazy slackers at her old job when she was in human resources at a clothing company that is now bankrupt and no longer exists.
01:06
But she would come home with the craziest stories of people who worked hard to not work hard.
01:13
But there was one lazy slacker who stood above the rest.
01:18
There was a woman who was fired and denied unemployment because she was found dead asleep in a dressing room, RESTING ON A BASKET OF CURLY FRIES AS A PILLOW.
01:32
I mean, you can't make that up, right?
01:35
But this woman claimed it was made up. It was false. Her boss just howled it out for her. It wasn't true.
01:42
Unfortunately for her, there was photographic evidence of the curly fry nap incident.
01:47
There was unavoidable proof that this woman was a lazy slacker.
01:52
She slept on the job.
01:54
She was not a faithful worker. As I look out across the landscape of the American church, I see a lot of lazy slackers. I see an abundance of people who want to take and take and take, but are not willing to give much back. I see a large number of church consumers and not many ministry producers.
02:24
I see many unfaithful workers. But let's not spend too much time talking about people who are not here. Let's instead focus on you. Are you a faithful worker? Don't worry about the person who's not here. Don't worry about the person next to you. Answer for yourself. Are you a faithful worker? Men, are you a faithful worker?
02:54
at home.
02:55
Are you faithfully loving your wife?
02:58
Are you faithfully discipling your children with the word of God?
03:03
Or are you being passive rather than active in these roles?
03:08
Ladies, are you faithfully respecting your husbands and training your children in the ways of the Lord?
03:17
Or are you unfaithfully disrespecting your husbands and allowing the culture to raise your children?
03:25
Are you a faithful worker in your community? Are you faithfully shine the light of Jesus Christ and faithfully sharing the good news of Jesus with unsafe family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors?
03:40
Or are you slacking because your schedule is packed with good activities that crowd out what matters the most?
03:49
Are you a faithful worker at harvest?
03:53
Are you faithfully serving in ministry and participating in the life of the church? Or are you stiff-arming your church family and your church responsibilities? And I know exactly what some of you are thinking right now. Here we go. It's time for a lecture. Fine, Pastor Taylor. Tell me how much I stink. Tell me how much I am failing at everything. Go on, give it to me. I have no interest in doing that. I have no interest in giving you a lecture because that will not help. That will not change you at all. I'm not going to lecture you because I need to hear this word as well. I can be a lazy slacker. I can fail to be a faithful worker. I'm not someone who stands above you as someone who has figured it all out. I am with you in this struggle. This morning we will continue through the final chapter of 1 Corinthians and discuss some final business items from the Apostle Paul. In chapter 16, verses 5 through 12, we receive the ministry schedules of three faithful workers, Paul himself, Timothy, and Apollos. We get a sneak peek of their personal calendars, and we see how they ordered their lives around serving the Lord and serving others. To be honest, this is the part of the book that seems unimportant, but it isn't.
05:22
This is the part of the book you are tempted to skip over, but you shouldn't. In these eight verses, Paul clearly shows you what it looks like to avoid being a lazy slacker and to embrace being a faithful worker in every single area of your life. So before we continue, let's go to the Lord and ask for his help. Please pray for me that I will faithfully proclaim God's word, and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive God's word.
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Father, we come before you as your people to acknowledge our many failures.
05:59
We thank you that we stand in the victory of the only one who has perfectly obeyed you.
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The only one who has perfectly been a faithful worker.
06:09
We thank you for your son and all that he has done for us.
06:12
Help us to hear this message, to hear this passage in light of what your son has accomplished on our behalf.
06:19
Lord may we not be motivated by guilt. May instead we be motivated by love for you and love for others. We ask all these things in Jesus name. Amen. So on your outline we're talking about the faithful worker. First up the faithful worker prepares for ministry. The faithful worker prepares for ministry. In verses 5 through 7 Paul opens up his day planner and he tells the Corinthians as well as you and me that he has a lot scheduled in the future and again this may seem boring at a first glance but these verses are absolutely life-changing once you understand how paul arranged his life how paul arranged his schedule let's read verses five through seven i will visit you after passing through macedonia for i intend to pass through macedonia and perhaps i will stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord permits. In these verses, Paul is booking his ticket to Corinth. He wants to visit them. He wants not only to visit them, he wants to help this church and be helped by this church. Isn't it amazing that Paul wants to be with the Corinthians?
07:50
and I've given him a spiritual headache. If I were him, I would have written, you know what guys, I intend to pass through Macedonia and go far out of my way to skip Corinth. Good luck with all those problems I've been writing to you about. See you never. Have a nice life. But that is not what Paul writes. That is not Paul's heart. That is not Paul's plan. Paul has a plan to visit Corinth. Paul has a to-do list that he wants to check off. He has destinations.
08:19
that he wants to reach. Paul wakes up every single morning with a purpose. With a goal in mind. Paul plans ahead for ministry. This isn't just something that Paul did in the first century. This is something that you should do as well. Right now in 2026. You should plan ahead for ministry. We all know the saying, if you Fail to plan, you what? You plan to fail. This is especially true when it comes to the task that God has entrusted to you. If you never plan ministry ahead of time, you will never do ministry. If you are not planning to do ministry, you will never do ministry. Thankfully, I know that there are many people watching online and in this room who have plans to do ministry.
09:18
Your schedule is packed out with ways that you are serving the Lord. You plan to serve at church next week. You plan to serve at church the week after that in the AV booth. Back in Harvest Academy on hospitality. You plan to lead or co-lead a small group. You plan to disciple your children tonight by going through family devotions after dinner or before bed. You plan to work with local organizations like Like urban impact. Like life choices. Or life wise. You plan to go on a missions trip next year. It's already blocked off in your calendar. You're going with Vision Appalachia. Think missions. The list goes on and on. You know there are girls in this church from Harvest Academy who plan every single month to raise money for missions. They plan to head to do that. Many of you are faithful workers because you're Prepare and plan ahead for ministry like the Apostle Paul. But sadly, there are others in this room who are not faithful workers because you do not prepare for ministry. You do not plan ahead for ministry. You have no plans to lead your family in devotions tonight or any other night this week. You have no plans to serve this church.
10:48
You have no plans to disciple anyone. You have no plans to share the gospel with anyone in your life. You have no plans to serve your community or spread the gospel in other parts of the world. Your schedule may be full, but it is missing your most important appointments. If you were to place your calendar next to the calendar of a non-Christian, would you see any difference?
11:18
Or would they look exactly the same? Remember, if you do not plan ahead for ministry, you are planning to not do ministry. And maybe you're skeptical right now. Maybe you're thinking, I don't know about all this, Pastor Taylor. This seems way too rigid. This doesn't seem very spiritual. Shouldn't I just wake up and see what happens? Shouldn't I just follow the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit?
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Depending on the Holy Spirit is always an in the spur of the moment kind of experience. You have to wait till the very last moment and then he'll show up. I would contend that the Holy Spirit works both ahead of time and in the moment. For example, I spent a lot of time working on this message. I read the text dozens of times. I read several commentaries. I made a lot of notes. I created an outline. I wrote out what I wanted to see.
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I planned ahead of time. I prepared.
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Should I not have done that? Was that wrong? Was that unspiritual of me? Was that me not trusting in the Holy Spirit?
12:30
Should I have just gotten up here and winged it and see what happens?
12:35
Listen, you may not like this prepared sermon very much, but I guarantee you that you would like the unprepared version a lot less.
12:44
I truly believe that the Holy Spirit met me in that time of study. He helped me to prepare ahead of time so I could be faithful and clear in the moment. I am convinced that spirit-led preparation brings about spirit-led presentation. At the same time, I don't just read my manuscript word for word like an emotionless robot. I pray and ask God to bring to my mind the things I studied earlier this week.
13:14
I also pray, God, bring to mind things I never even considered earlier this week. There are parts of my messages and Pastor Jeff's messages as well that bless people. They're the parts that we never even considered ahead of time. The Holy Spirit gave us that in the moment. But there are other times that people are blessed by what we thought of ahead of time. And again, the Holy Spirit gave us those things as well. The Holy Spirit helps you in the preparation for ministry.
13:44
and he helps you in the execution of ministry. This is a both and experience. There is a tension that exists in ministry. Sometimes your plans are executed down to the very last detail and other times the Holy Spirit totally blows up your plans and you just have to go with it. But the main purpose of preparation is that you intend to be faithful. You intend to be used by the Lord. You intend to be productive.
14:14
you intend to work hard. And this kind of preparation includes you acknowledging your lack of control over the future. This preparation includes you acknowledging your vision for your life is so tiny while God's vision is massive. This kind of preparation includes you expecting the unexpected. That's actually the next part of our outline. The faithful worker prepares for ministry.
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letter A, by expecting the unexpected. By expecting the unexpected.
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I'm going to read verses 5 through 7 again, and this time around, I want you to feel the tension of how Paul prepares for ministry, both with confidence and with flexibility.
15:07
How Paul lays out his personal plans, but he also leaves room for the Lord's plans, which may not line up with his own. Paul says, I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia. And perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so you may help me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now to some passing. I hope to spend some time with you if the Lord permits.
15:37
Do you feel the tension here? Do you see the both and nature of Paul's ministry? On the one hand, he says, I will visit you. On the other hand, he says, perhaps I will stay with you. I hope to spend some time with you. If what? If the Lord permits. Paul isn't presumptuous. He isn't saying, here are my plans that are definite and nothing and no one will change that. No, instead he says, this is the plan I hope will happen, but I do trust that God will make his plan happen. Paul makes his plan with an asterisk. And next that asterisk is the words, if the Lord permits. If the Lord permits. And we see this same exact message, we see this same exact asterisk in James 4, 13 through 15.
16:37
to town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, if the Lord permits, we will live and do this or that. Here's a hard pill to swallow. You cannot control tomorrow. You do not know what is going to happen tomorrow.
17:07
You don't even know if you're going to get a tomorrow.
17:13
No one thinks they know more about marriage than an engaged couple that is not yet married.
17:19
You're all laughing because I'm assuming you know that.
17:20
I remember before I got married to Kate, oh, we're always going to go to bed the same exact time.
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That's really, really important.
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Guess what?
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That almost never happens.
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All that went right out the window as soon as we got married.
17:33
No one knows more about parenting than a couple expecting their first child. Oh, we'll never do this with our kids. Guess what you end up doing? Exactly that thing you said you would never, ever do. The child arrives, whoa, the parenting books didn't prepare me for this. None of the videos told me about this. So often, you and I can be like those know-it-all parents. Those know-it-all engaged couples. We think we know exactly what we're talking about with tomorrow.
18:03
But then tomorrow arrives, and we realize how little we actually know. You have such little control over your life. Well, God has absolute control of your life. You have no idea what to expect for tomorrow. But it's not unexpected to God. You may be clueless, but He is not. So instead of being a control freak, let go of your Tight grip on the control that you think that you have. Let go of your preferences. Let go of your timetables. Trust the Lord. Be a faithful worker. Faithful workers are flexible. Faithful workers expect the unexpected. What does this look like in action? Well, last year there was a team of guys from our church, including Russ and Ross Howes, James Murphy, who went to Nepal for ministry. They had a plan.
19:03
They had an itinerary. And as soon as they got there, God totally upended that with His own plans. They were targeted by the government, brought in for questioning, and unable to carry out a lot of the plan that they had ahead of time. Those guys didn't pout. They didn't whine about it. Instead, they praised the Lord, and they trusted the Lord. And why is that? Because they knew that God was in control, that His plan was even greater than their own, even if they couldn't fully understand.
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that. Would you say that trip was a failure? No. Would you say those men were unfaithful workers? No, they were faithful workers who planned for ministry ahead of time, but they also planned ahead by expecting the unexpected. And you should do the same as well. The faithful worker prepares for ministry by expecting the unexpected. Next up in the text, the faithful worker prepares for ministry, letter B, by viewing opposite as an opportunity.
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Check out verses 8-9.
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Paul says, But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
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Paul has his ticket book for Corinth, but in the meantime, he is going to stay in Ephesus.
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And why is that?
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because there is a wide door open to him for effective work, for effective ministry.
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And who opened that door? Was it Paul? You say no to that. Was it Paul? Was it the Ephesians? Very good. Was it God? Yes. God opened that door for effective work and Paul willingly stepped through it.
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God wanted Paul to stay in Ephesus, so Paul wanted to stay in Ephesus.
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Have you ever experienced a wide open door for effective ministry? Has God ever put an opportunity right before you that you couldn't say no to? That's happened to me many times in my life. While I studied for ministry at Geneva College and then down in Louisville, Kentucky in seminary, I must have uttered this stupid statement at least a thousand times. I will never be a youth pastor.
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Side note, be very careful what you say you'll never do, because you'll end up doing that thing, most likely. In late 2014, Kate and I planned to move back to Pittsburgh from Louisville, Kentucky, so I applied to various church positions, and I thought I was applying to a discipleship pastor job in Wexford, but ended up being a youth pastor job. And as soon as I found out, I told Kate, I'm just going to pull my name from consideration. I don't want to do that. And Kate was emphatic. She said, no, don't do that. See what the Lord does. See if the Lord keeps that door open. And guess what? As usual, my wife was right. The Lord opened that door for effective work and he kept that door open throughout the entire process. I kept passing every round of interviews. Pastor Jeff told me to take that job. My family told me to take that job. My friends told me to take that job. My wife told me to take that job. The wide open door for ministry was right in front of me and I willingly walked through it.
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I worked as a full-time youth pastor at this other church for seven and a half years, and I've helped lead the youth group for two years in this church. It shames me to say that I used to say I will never be a youth pastor because now I love being a youth pastor. I'm so glad I walked through that open door instead of trying to open the closed doors that God didn't want me to walk through. At this point, you may be thinking, well, I'm so glad that worked out for you, Pastor Taylor, but how can I tell if there's is a wide open door of ministry for me. What are the signs of a wide open door? Well, thankfully, Paul gives you a sign in verse 9. It may not be the sign you expect, though. He says, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. Paul is saying that it's obvious that this work in Ephesus is from the Lord because there are many opponents in Ephesus. There are many who will stand against in Ephesus. The presence of enemies signals the presence of God's power.
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God-given ministries are so easy to spot because God-given ministry opportunities never look easy.
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They always look hard. They always look challenging. They always look intimidating.
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Isn't that the exact opposite of how we usually think?
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We often believe that the sign of a wide open door for ministry is the total absence of any struggle, any strife. We want the easy way out, but that is not the way our God rolls. Because there is no other way to become like Jesus and serve like Jesus. God the Father opened a wide door for effective ministry that His Son willingly walked through 2,000 years ago.
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And this wide open door led to rejection, led to suffering, pain, and death upon a cross. Jesus willingly walked through that door even though it led to a hard way because it was the only way for you and I to be forgiven of our sins, for you and I to be saved from eternal punishment in hell. Jesus endured opposition in this life so that you could be accepted in his presence forever.
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Who am I to say we are exempt from experiencing the opposition that our Lord and Savior experienced? Jesus shows us that faithful workers are also faithful sufferers. Suffering led to your salvation. Suffering will lead to your sanctification. When I took that youth pastor job many years ago, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I knew there were going to be challenges. I knew there was going to be opportunities.
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The guy before me bailed after eight months.
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And the fill-in youth worker was fired for inappropriate behavior.
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There was a member of that church who killed two of her children.
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And many in the church were reeling from that trauma.
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Trust was in very short supply from parents and from students.
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Within two weeks, I received an email from a volunteer accusing me of things I didn't do, accusing me of lying.
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For the first year and a half, every single Sunday night when I locked the doors, I'd walk into the parking lot and just look up in the sky and say, God, I can't do this anymore. I don't want to do this anymore. Every single time I said that, I felt the conviction I couldn't quit. I couldn't leave. God had called me here. And this opposition, this struggle, which is another sign of that? As one pastor says, if you have no opposition, in the place you serve, you're serving in the wrong place. If you have no opposition in the place you serve, you're serving in the wrong place. Is there a wide open door for effective ministry in front of you right now? Do you see on the other side people who will stand against you? Situations that will frustrate you. That's fantastic. That is a sign that you should walk through that door, not a sign that you should back away.
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Walk through that door willingly without being afraid. Trust the Lord and He will sustain you. View that opposition as an opportunity, not an obstacle. I challenge you to come up with even one major accomplishment in your life that didn't require blood, sweat, and tears. I bet you can't even think of one because they don't exist. Don't take the easy way out because the easy way out leads nowhere good.
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Maybe you've already walked through that wide open door for ministry. It was months ago, years ago, maybe even decades ago. And ever since then, you've been soul slammed with trial after trial after trial. That's great news. That means the forces of darkness are gunning for you because you are doing something worthwhile for the Lord. That means that God is fighting for you and He is forming you more and more into the image of His Son.
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There is no other way. Do you want to be like Jesus? There is no other way but through opposition. It's impossible. So don't retreat. Don't surrender. Be a faithful worker and keep going even when you feel you can't go even one more step. The faithful worker prepares for ministry by expecting the unexpected. The faithful worker prepares for ministry by viewing opposition as an opportunity.
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Up until this point, we've been focusing on your plans, your preparations for ministry. We're going to end by quickly focusing on how you should help other faithful workers with their plans and with their preparations for ministry. This is so important because the faithful worker isn't a solo act. The faithful worker is a team player. Next on your outline, the faithful worker plays well with other believers. The faithful worker plays well with other believers.
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So Paul moves on from his own personal schedule to the ministry plans of his protege Timothy. Verses 10 through 11. When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. Simply put, Paul is instructing the Corinthians to not be a jerk to Timothy.
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Don't treat him the way you've treated me. He's going to come back and tell me how you treated him so he better give me a good report. He is a faithful worker. Respect him. Don't think little of him. Help him. You see Paul's fatherly nature pop out here. We've seen other parts of the New Testament that Timothy is like a son to Paul. You know, you can make fun of me and mistreat me if you want. Please don't do that. But if you do it, I can take it. I'm a big boy.
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But if you mistreat or mock my son, we're going to have a big problem.
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That's what Paul was saying here. Don't make fun of my son. Don't mistreat my son. Don't drag him through the mud.
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Paul is saying faithful workers do not hurt other faithful workers. Faithful workers help other faithful workers.
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How are you dealing with that?
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Are you faithfully helping other Christians?
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Or are you unfaithfully hurting other Christians? Are you supporting them? Or are you undermining them? That's the next part of your outline. The faithful worker plays well to other believers by supporting their efforts. The faithful worker plays well to other believers by supporting their efforts. So again, I have to ask you, are you faithfully supporting other men and women?
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in this room.
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Are you faithfully praying for other men and women in this room?
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Are you faithfully encouraging other men and women in this room?
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How often do you pray for members of your small group?
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How often do you reach out to encourage one of your elders or one of your pastors?
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How often do you reach out to encourage other people in this room?
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Are you showing genuine love and support for other believers?
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It's so simple. You should reach out to someone else and say, Marina, thank you so much for serving my children faithfully at Harvest Academy. You are making such a big difference in their lives. Thank you. Bob, thank you for leading a small group. Thank you for being faithful and being there for me when I was going through a hard season. Jay, thank you so much for faithfully playing bass every single week for the past 15 years.
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The Lord has used you in great and mighty ways. Andrew, thank you for faithfully leading our finance team. Thank you. Thank you for faithfully stewarding what the Lord is doing here. Wouldn't you love to hear that kind of support from the mouths of other people about your ministry efforts? Then faithfully share your love and support for their ministry efforts. Let Harvest not be a place of competition. Let Harvest be a place of unifying The faithful worker plays well to other believers by supporting their efforts. Finally, the faithful worker plays well to other believers by respecting their convictions. By respecting their convictions. Now to my favorite part of the entire passage. Verse 12. Paul lays out the ministry plans of his friend Apollos.
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to visit you with the other brothers. But it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. I love that. It was not at all his will to come now. Another translation puts it, he was quite unwilling to come now. Wouldn't you love to be able to pull an Apollos and people invite you to something that you do not want to go to? You get a Google invite to a meeting at work and you send back, I am quite unwilling to go to that. Thank you, but no thanks. Your friends invite you out for something you do not want to do and you say, it is not at all my will to do that. Have fun, but I will not have fun with you.
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This seems like a rude response, right? This seems unfaithful. But this is the response of a faithful worker. At first, Paul tries to convince Apollos to head to Corinth right away, but Apollos is convinced that there's a wide open door for ministry where he is, and he will come to Corinth once that door is closed. And notice that Apollos doesn't keep badgering Apollos.
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He doesn't drag him down. He doesn't make fun of him. He doesn't get mad at him for disagreeing. Why is that? Because faithful workers respect the convictions of other faithful workers. Paul doesn't know the specific plans and timetables that God has in store for Apollos. Paul doesn't even know what tomorrow holds for himself. So how could he possibly know what tomorrow holds for Apollos?
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to learn the lesson that I can't make anyone do anything.
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When I started in ministry, I thought I could be clever enough.
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I could be smart enough to make people change and make people do something.
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I can't do that.
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I cannot want something for someone else that they don't want for themselves.
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Other Christians are going to serve the Lord in different ways than you are.
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And guess what?
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That's okay.
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That's a good thing.
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Other Christians are going to serve the Lord in different places than you do.
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And guess what?
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That is a great thing.
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That's okay. On the day of judgment, you will give an account for yourself and your ministry, and others will give an account for themselves and their ministries. In the meantime, instead of forcing your will and your agenda on others, pray that their will and their agenda would be submitted to God's will and God's agenda. Faithful workers do not need to look just like you.
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to look just like Jesus. To respect their convictions. Respect where God is calling them. As we close, I want to return to the question I asked at the beginning of this sermon. Are you a faithful worker? Are you a faithful worker? You've had a lot of time to think about your answer. What have you come up with? What is your answer? Maybe your answer is a Yes, I think I am a faithful worker, but I have so much room for improvement. If that's you, well done. Good work. Keep serving the Lord faithfully. Don't let up. Keep the pedal to the metal. Do not take a break. Keep being a faithful worker. Keep going in the right direction. Maybe your answer to the question of, am I a faithful worker, is no. And your answer is no, because you know that you are not a follower of Jesus Christ. You can't be a faithful worker in His kingdom because you haven't truly believed in Him. All that can change today. Stop trusting yourself. Start trusting Jesus. Throw yourself at His mercy and His grace. Believe in Him for salvation. The job of a faithful worker is being held out to you today if you simply apply.
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by faith.
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Maybe your answer is no to the question of are you a faithful worker?
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Because you know that you're a Christian.
36:58
You know you're a follower of Christ.
36:59
But you have been anything but faithful lately.
37:03
Again, it's not too late.
37:05
You can start being faithful today.
37:09
You can wake up from your spiritual nap and stop being lazy right now.
37:14
God has so much joy.
37:16
God has so much blessing in store for you if you simply get to work. I hope and pray that you will. Pray with me. Father, we come before you and we thank you so much for the privilege of working with you, of partnering with you, of doing ministry with you. Lord, we're so sorry for the times where your plans for us don't seem exciting. Where the things you've called us to don't seem worthwhile. Lord, capture us afresh with the the amazing responsibilities you gifted to us. Lord, we get to work with the God of the universe. We get to work alongside our Heavenly Father. We get to work and see men and women come to a saving knowledge of Christ. We get to see destinies changed, family legacies transformed. What an awesome calling you've given to us, Lord. May we be faithful workers at home. May we be faithful workers in our community. May we be faithful in this world. May we be faithful workers right here at Harvest.
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We thank you that you never leave us or forsake us.
38:32
You promise to be with us to the end.
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For may we be faithful to the end as your son was.
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We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 16:5-12

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why is it so important to prepare/plan ahead for ministry? What happens if you don’t?
What would it look like for you to be a faithful worker at home, in the church, and in your community?
How can you go out of your way to support and encourage other believers this week?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

September 13, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

Giving an Offering

Jeff Miller

September 13, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

Introduction:

To Support the Church, Each of You Give Something (1 Corinthians 16:1-4)

To SUPPORT THE CHURCH , each of you give something. (1 Cor 16:1-4)
To support the church, EACH OF YOU give something . (1 Cor 16:2)
To support the church, each of you GIVE SOMETHING . (1 Cor 16:2)

Give Something. You Have to Consider:
1. Am I giving INTENTIONALLY ?
2. Am I giving PROPORTIONALLY ?
3. Am I giving EXPECTANTLY ?
Luke 6:38 - give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:05
Let's open up your Bibles to the passage that Max just read. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. While you're turning there, let's just pause for a moment and I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to communicate God's Word clearly and accurately as I should. And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord is teaching us in our passage today. Let's pray.
00:34
Our Father in Heaven, as Bob said just a few moments ago, this is Your book. We believe that You wrote this book. And I pray that we would give it the attention and the obedience and just the high regard that it deserves because it is Your communication to us.
01:04
We believe that, Father, and we believe that it is through Your Word and Your Spirit working together in our hearts that transformation happens. I pray, God, that today would be a day of transformation. To Your glory and honor, we pray all of this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and all of God's people said, Amen.
01:35
1 Corinthians chapter 16.
01:36
Are you there?
01:39
Last week when I was preaching, I had a suit jacket on.
01:47
And right in the middle of the sermon, the top button just broke off.
01:54
Nothing makes you feel more like a fatty McButter pants than your button bursting right in the middle of just talking.
02:04
No jacket today.
02:08
You know, I was sharing this with Pastor Taylor, and he seemed genuinely surprised when I told him that I was able to sew the button back on.
02:18
I'll probably have to use reinforced thread or something stretchy.
02:23
But I think he was genuinely surprised that I was able to sew the button back on.
02:28
It's not complicated, right?
02:31
It's not complicated.
02:34
At our house, we have a hyperbaric chamber.
02:39
It's one of the portable deals.
02:40
Just imagine like a seven-foot-long, like indestructible balloon.
02:45
It's a pressurized chamber that you get inside.
02:49
And the whole deal works because it has these valves, right?
02:53
And the valves know when to kick on to regulate the pressure.
02:57
Well, years ago, one of the valves broke. And I called the company and I said, I need to get new valves. And they took my order and they said they're going to send them out. And I said, well, I don't know how to put the valves on. And the guy on the phone talked to me like I was an idiot. He goes, you just take the old ones off and you put the new ones on. And I'm like, Look, I'm a pastor. I went to Bible college because it was just one book that you needed to buy. I am not a hyperbaric chamber repair technician. They did not cover that in Bible college. I don't know how to do this. I'm like stressing. I told the guy, I'm like, I don't know how to do this. Like, what kind of tools I need. I mean, my parents were both bankers. I didn't come from a long line of, hyperbaric chamber repair people. Like, I don't know how to do this. And he goes, you just take the old ones off. You put the new ones on. He goes, we'll send them out. And if you need help, just give us a call. And I got to tell you, I was so stressed about this. Like, I don't know how to do this. Do you know how to do this? Like, who do I even call? Who do I call? Who do I call? I didn't know Krauss at the time. I mean, does he have experience? Who do I call? I was so stressing about this. And I got the valves in the and I grabbed a bunch of tools and I went down and when I took the valves out of the box they were just threaded at the end. And I said no it can't be. And I took the old ones and unscrewed it off and I screwed the new one. It was almost, almost, almost as hard as changing a light bulb.
04:57
It wasn't complicated.
05:00
The button on my jacket.
05:02
The valve.
05:04
Important stuff.
05:05
Not denying.
05:05
Important stuff.
05:06
It's not complicated.
05:08
It's not complicated.
05:10
And today, we're going to talk about how to give in the church.
05:18
And I've got to tell you, I spent a lot of time studying this passage this week.
05:24
And here's the conclusion I think we'll all come up with after we study it together.
05:29
When it comes to giving, it's not complicated.
05:34
Now, this message, it's about giving.
05:37
Okay, this isn't a guilt trip.
05:39
We're not in crisis as a church.
05:41
Pastor Rich is going to give us an update later.
05:45
Why are we talking about giving?
05:46
Because we go straight through the text.
05:48
We go where the text goes, right?
05:50
That's what we do.
05:51
And that is the subject of this passage.
05:53
We get to the end of 1 Corinthians. We've been going through this. We had the resurrection chapter, chapter 15. And now when we get to the home stretch here, chapter 16, over the next few weeks, Pastor Taylor and I are going to be looking at, it's just some business items. Paul's closing up the letter because we have a few items of business we've got to discuss. All right? First up, look at verse 1. He says, Now concerning. That's a key phrase in 1 Corinthians. I don't know if you noticed that. Chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 12. Paul keeps using that phrase, and it seems like when he uses that phrase, he's addressing their questions. Right? Like, you ask me some questions, and I'm answering them.
06:48
Okay, now concerning this. Okay, now concerning this. And apparently, they had asked about giving. And he's like, all right, here's how to give. And if you were with us last week, the last few weeks, you might think, wow, giving? Like, that's kind of a hard left turn from talking about the resurrection, right? I mean, there was no smooth transition there.
07:18
That's a really hard turn from talking about something as lofty as resurrection. And I would say, not really. Because if you understand eternity and all the promises that God has for you, that should motivate how we give now. And I have to say this. He's talking about this collection and how he instructed the churches of Galatia.
07:47
In Paul's day, poverty was a real issue. Okay? It's not an issue for us here today. In this country, in this area, there is not a poor person among you. All right? But Paul was collecting from the churches over a year.
08:17
to take to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. There were people in Jerusalem that were destitute. Some Christians that were poor. So Paul was taking this collection for them, and that's what he's talking about here. This is how to give. This is how to give, and it's not complicated. All right? So on the top of your outline, here's your heading. To support the church, Each of you give something. To support the church, each of you give something. Okay? Point number one, jot this down. To support the church, each of you give something. Look again at verse one. It's not complicated. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatians, so you also are to do. All right? For the saints. Giving is for the Now listen, be clear. We're not saying you never give outside of the church. We're not saying that. We're not saying that you don't give to a person you see in need, like the story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told. We're not saying that. The point is just simply this. The church should fund its own needs. That's all. The church should be taking care of its own people.
09:45
The people of God give to the work of God. You're like, for what? Well, we talked about this back in 1 Corinthians 9, paying the ministers to support those who are in need in our church, to pay bills here. Everything from Bibles to snacks for the littles back there to the AV equipment to all of it. The people of God give to the work of God.
10:15
The money that's given should support the church. And Paul says, this is what I directed to churches in Galatia. This isn't just a Corinth thing. It's actually been a practice since the very beginning. Read the book of Acts. Read Acts chapters 2, 3, 4, 5. You see it's the pattern. The people of God give to the work of God. Like, alright, it's not complicated. What's it look like? Well, look at verse 2. He says, On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up as he may prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come. First day of every week. What's he saying? He's saying when you come to church on Sunday to worship, part of worship is giving.
11:14
That's just part of worship. We sing, we pray, we fellowship, we're in the Word. Part of worship is giving. He says, so there's no collecting when I come. I think that's kind of funny. Paul knew the Corinthians. They didn't exactly have their act together, right? Have you been with us on this study? So there'd be no collecting when I come. Paul was already like ahead of it, right? That he was already anticipating the possibility that like he was going to show up. He goes, okay, do you have that collection? Like, was that today? Like, let's hurry up and scramble and gather stuff up. And he goes, no, no, no, no, no. You should already be doing this. All right? You should already be doing this. But why give every week? Why should we give every week? Why not just once a year? Why not just once every quarter? Why do Why does Paul instruct very clearly on the first day of the week? Why do we do it weekly? It's about being consistent. It's an act of faith that should be done regularly. As God gives to me, I thank God by giving back to Him. And right now some of you might be like, well actually Pastor Jeff, I get paid monthly.
12:43
I only get paid every two weeks. Look, we're not being legalistic here, okay? We're not being legalistic. It's not complicated. Give as God gives to you. Giving should be a constant practice. Like, why? Why should it be a constant practice? Why should it be on the regular? Because that's the very nature of faith itself. It's an act of faith. It's an act of And the nature of faith is constant practice and expression. Here's what I mean. The gospel of Jesus Christ is, you know, we're all born sinners, rebellious against God. And we deserve His judgment, but God sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins, to raise from the dead so that we could have eternal life.
13:43
and believe and receive his gift of grace in Jesus Christ.
13:50
That's the gospel.
13:52
And if I were talking to you and you said, I put my faith in Jesus Christ, and I said, when did you do that?
14:00
You say, 1995.
14:05
I'm like, hey, me too.
14:06
That's when I received Christ, 95.
14:10
But then my follow-up question is, okay.
14:13
Your faith in Jesus, you put your faith in Jesus in 95. Was that just a one-time thing? Was that 31 years ago? Was that a one-time thing you put your faith in Jesus? What about today? Did you put your faith in Jesus today? What about next week? Are you going to put your faith in Jesus next week? You're like, well, I guess when I put I'm always putting my faith in Jesus. 95 was just the beginning of that, you see? And the point is, it's the same with giving. It's the same with giving. If you're like, I thank God with what He gave me by giving back to Him. And I'm like, when do you do that? And you're like, well, I did it in 1995. I'm like, oh? Well, Did you just do it once back then and that's it? You're done giving? What about today? Are you thankful today? What about next week? Do you anticipate that you were going to be thankful for God's provision next week? You're like, well, I imagine I'm going to be thankful for God's provision always. Yeah, and that's why giving is a constant practice. We are constantly expressing thanks and trust by giving.
15:42
And part of that faith in giving is trusting the leaders. Look at verses 3 and 4. Paul says, When I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. Keep in mind they didn't, like, wire the money back then, all right? They had to have people, like, carry the money. Paul says, I'll send them.
16:11
Or, verse 4, he says, if it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. We give to the church to support the church and the leaders distribute the money. That's the way it works. Why? Why do we give to the church and ask the leaders to distribute the money? Because the just objective truth is this. The leaders are better equipped to know what the needs are. That's it.
16:43
Do you know what all the needs are of the church? Do you know what our budget looks like? Do you know when it comes to missions and staffing and supplies for the kids? Are you in the know on all that where our leaders are? That's why when you bring the offering, the leaders distribute that. Oh, so if you're one of the leaders here, this is a good place to remind you you better be trustworthy because you have people here that are giving money to God, but they're trusting you.
17:11
to be faithful to use it appropriately.
17:16
So, it's not complicated.
17:20
To support the church, each of you give something.
17:26
Alright?
17:28
Point number two.
17:29
Write this down.
17:31
To support the church, each of you give something.
17:39
Look again at verse two.
17:42
I want you to see this. He says, on the first day of every week, what's the next phrase? Say it loud. Come on, say it.
17:52
Each of you. Is that in your Bible?
17:55
That's in my Bible. I think your Bible says the same thing that my Bible says.
17:59
On the first day of the week, each of you.
18:03
Each of you.
18:05
You know what that means in the Greek?
18:08
It means every Every one of us, Andrew. Every one of us. That's what that means. Every one of us can give something. Every one of us can. Now look, I want to remind you, I don't know who gives what in this church. I don't know. I get a bottom line of the numbers. I don't know who gives what. Why? Why don't I know that? It's a conviction.
18:39
to help me avoid favoritism. So I don't cater to the people who are financially supporting the church. I don't know who gives what. But if you are one of those faithful givers of our church, and there are many of you here, if you are faithfully supporting this ministry, the missions we support, if that is one of you, you know, if that's you, I just want to sincerely say thank you for your generosity. But giving, is for people who call Harvest Bible Chapel their home. Okay, if you're a guest here today, you're not obligated to give. We're not expecting you to give. If you want to, whatever, that's between you and the Lord. You're not expected if you're a guest, but if you're a member, if this is your home, you are expected. You are commanded. Who's commanded? Each of you. Each of you.
19:39
But you know I hear it all the time. Because we can say, it's not complicated. Each of you, put something aside. But people are so quick to excuse themselves. And I've heard this so many times. People say, well, Pastor Jeff, if I had more, I'd give more. Have you ever heard that? Oh, if I had more, I'd give more. And I would lovingly respond to that.
20:09
No, you wouldn't.
20:13
If you had more, you would not give more.
20:19
Get this idea out of your head that having more means I'm going to be faithful because did you know the opposite is actually true?
20:29
The opposite is true.
20:30
I can prove that very easily.
20:33
Let's just, we're going to talk about tithing in a minute.
20:35
Let's just talk about a 10% tithe.
20:41
If you had a dollar, let's say that's all you have to your name.
20:44
You have one dollar. Would you give God a dime?
20:49
Would you give God a dime?
20:51
And some of you are like, I think I'd give God a dime if I had a dollar.
20:56
If you had $100, would you give God $10?
21:03
$10.
21:06
Yeah. Yeah. Harder than a dime though, isn't it? Let me ask you this. If you had $10,000, would you give God $1,000? Like, whoa, whoa, $1,000? Give God $1,000? It's the same. It's 10%. It's exact same. But do you see how the higher you get in dollar amount, it gets harder? Listen to me very closely.
21:35
Having more money will not suddenly make you a generous person because generosity is a hard thing. Faithfulness is never about dollar amount. It's about character. And here's what I mean. If you really believe God's Word commands you to give and He rewards you when you do, if you really believe that, you're going to give no matter what you have. You're going to give. Because that's who you are. And if you don't really believe, then you won't give. If you have a little, or if you have a lot, you won't give because that's who you are. And I want to encourage the parents here, Train your children now. Parents, you need to train your children now.
22:44
Because a child, a little child who gives to God a portion of his allowance is going to become a teenager who's going to give to God a portion of his part-time job earnings.
22:57
and he is going to become an adult who gives to God because he's been discipled to faithfully obey God's word when it comes to giving. It has to start now. You have to teach your kids now. Everything's God's. Everything that you have, it was God's. And you're just giving back to him as a way of saying, thank you and I trust you for the rest. Teach your kids that now. So to support the church, each of you, Give something.
23:30
It's not complicated.
23:33
And our last point.
23:35
Number three.
23:36
Write this down.
23:37
To support the church.
23:40
Each of you.
23:41
Give something.
23:44
This is where it gets complicated.
23:48
Give.
23:49
Something.
23:53
But it gets complicated.
23:54
Because you say.
23:54
Alright.
23:55
Give something.
23:56
So is that a tithe? Is that 10%? Do I give 10%? Is that a tithe? And when I give 10%, do I tithe on my gross income? Or do I just tithe on the net income? Or do I just tithe on that? What if tithe is 10%. Literally, that's what the word is. But today, we use the word generically. It's a term incorrectly slapped on all giving no matter the amount. Some people give like 1%. They're like, I tithe. No, that's mathematically not a tithe. That's what a tithe of a tithe, right? This idea of tithing comes from the Old Testament law, but Many people don't understand how it really worked for Israel. Did you know in Israel there were three tithes? Did you know that? There were three tithes. Numbers 18 says the first tithe was for the Levites. It was to pay the priests. The second tithe, Deuteronomy 14, was for the annual festivals. And then every three years, according to Deuteronomy 26, every three years there was another tithe, a third tithe taken.
25:26
that was to support the poor. So that means annually Israel was tithing 23 and a third percent. And I want you to understand this. Listen very closely. Israel, Old Testament Israel, was obligated to tithe. It was required giving in order to support their government. So you have to see the Old Testament Israel tithe.
25:56
It was the equivalent of us today paying our taxes. It's what kept the government going. That was how God designed it. But Old Testament giving went beyond the tithe. There was free will giving on top of the tithe. That's 1 Chronicles 29. That's Deuteronomy 16. That's Exodus 35. So free will giving had nothing to do with the tithe because they had to pay that just like you were supposed to pay your taxes.
26:27
And you're like, whatever. The question is, is tithing for today? And I would answer it this way. The Bible says the Old Testament law is the tutor. The Old Testament law is to teach us the ways of God. And tithing is the tutor for the subject of giving. There is value in the principles of tithing. Here's what I mean. We're so quick to dismiss Old Testament things that we don't think about the value that the Lord is teaching us through that. Like, for example, the Sabbath. As New Testament Christians, are we obligated, required to keep the Sabbath? No. But is it a good idea to set a day aside to rest? Isn't that still a good idea?
27:25
Well, yeah. And tithing is sort of the same thing. Even though we're not obligated to tithe as they were in the Old Testament, isn't it still a good idea to put a percentage aside to give back to God? Okay, this is where it gets complicated because you're like, all right, all right, all right, whatever. Just tell me, Pastor Jeff, just tell me, How much should I give? Is there a dollar amount? Is there a percentage? How much should I give? It's right here in the text. You ready? Look at it again. Each of you is to, what's your Bible say? I'm going to give you another run at that, verse 2. I'll even start at the beginning, and then I want everybody to say it together.
28:24
is to say it.
28:29
I'm just going to tell you.
28:32
How much should I give?
28:35
Give something.
28:41
Put something aside.
28:44
So here's the answer.
28:45
Are you ready for this?
28:46
Are you ready for this?
28:47
Because the TV preacher ain't going to tell you this.
28:50
But this is biblical.
28:52
Are you ready?
28:53
Give whatever you want to give. You give whatever you want to give. But give something. Maybe this isn't so complicated. Something. Something. So, I know, we need a little direction here. That's a little broad.
29:22
That's a little vague, right? I don't think so. Give something. But I do want to give you some things you have to consider. Right? Give whatever you want. That's what the Bible says, right? Give something. Whatever you want. But consider some things. Consider some things when you give. Letter A, am I giving intentionally? The first thing you have to consider is, am I, You have to ask yourself, am I giving intentionally? He says put something aside. Emphasis now on the word put. That's intentional. Put something aside. That's intentional giving. That makes us think of another beautiful Old Testament concept when it comes to giving. It's the concept of first fruits. Study your Old Testament. It's all through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. It's all through Proverbs.
30:22
This idea, first fruits, when I get from God, when I get anything from God, the first thing I do is I give back to God the first and the best. That's the first thing I do. Thank you, God. I'm worshiping you with this, and I'm trusting that you're going to keep providing. Everything is yours, God. Everything is from you, so I'm going to give you the first and the best. So I would encourage you, when you get paid, You should give to God first. First fruits. God, I'm giving you first and best. Before you're paying your cell phone bill or your electric bill or whatever, your Netflix bill, whatever, the first thing you should do is give back to God. God, you've given me so much. Thank you for this. I'm giving back to you first. First fruits. First fruits tells us that giving, shouldn't be an afterthought, which it is for a lot of Christians. We pay all our bills, we buy all our toys, and then we're like, oh, do we have anything left over to give to God? That is so not first fruits. You have to be intentional, church. You have to be intentional. Last week we talked about time. This week we're talking about money. Do you know what time and money have in common?
31:52
If you're not deliberate in how you spend them, they're going to be gone, and you're going to wonder where it went.
32:01
True or false?
32:06
Am I giving intentionally?
32:07
Letter B, am I giving proportionately?
32:10
Look again.
32:14
He says, put something aside and store it up.
32:18
Talking about the church collecting.
32:20
But look at this next phrase.
32:21
as he may prosper. Am I giving proportionately? Give from what God has given you. Give from what God has given you. It's not complicated. God is not expecting you to give in proportion to what someone else makes. God isn't expecting me to give on the level like a professional athlete would be able to give. He's not expecting that from me because I don't make that kind of a salary.
32:54
And that's why I think tithing is a principle that gives you a great start. Gives you a great start. 10% of whatever it is that we make, that's a great start. You know why that's a great start? Because there's really only one way that you can't give 10% of what God's given you. There's only one way that it's impossible for you to give 10%. Do you know what that is? If you make zero.
33:21
Anybody make a zero paycheck? You're like, no, they direct deposit that into my account. Every two weeks, zero. Listen, if that's you, if you're making zero on your paycheck, please, I'm begging you to come and see me after service. We will get you help. But if you make anything north of zero, that means you have something to give. And what does God say? Give something.
33:53
Right? Give proportionately. Give according to how God's given you. And then number C. This is getting complicated. Letter C. Am I giving expectantly? Am I giving expectantly? You know there's promises attached to giving. I thought it was so interesting that in this passage, Paul doesn't mention the promise And I'm wondering if the Corinthians were still sort of getting all wiggy about this giving thing because Paul did talk about the blessings attached to giving in the sequel to 1 Corinthians, right?
34:39
2 Corinthians.
34:41
He talks about it in 2 Corinthians 9.6 that there is a glorious promise attached to giving.
34:48
And it's the same promise that comes with sowing and reaping.
34:52
The more seed you sow, the bigger your harvest. That's how it is. Out in your field farmer, that's how it is in your garden. The more seed you sow, the bigger your harvest. And the Bible says, listen, the Bible says that's true with money. The more money you give God, the more money God gives you. That's just what the Bible says.
35:21
God sees that you're giving and you're faithful. And God's like, wow, look at her. She's giving it away. I'm going to make sure that she gets more because she's obviously got a heart to be generous. So I'm going to make sure she is well-funded. That's how God works. You're like, really? Yeah, really. Jesus talked about this. Look at Luke 6, verse 38. Jesus said, give and it will be given to you. Good measure. Press down. Shaken together.
35:50
running over will be put into your lap.
35:56
For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
36:03
So if you're sitting here today and you're like, how much should I give? How much should I give?
36:09
How much do you want to return on?
36:12
If you're like, well, how generous should I be with God?
36:18
How generous do you want God to be with you?
36:20
because he said he's going to match you. Generosity for generosity. Give expectantly. You will never outgive God. To support the church, each of you, give something. Our worship team would make their way up. So, Follower of Christ. Member of the Harvest Bible Chapel family. What does the Bible say about giving? All of this was the introduction. Here's the sermon. You ready for it? Who said that? Who was that? Okay. Talking to you. Here's the sermon.
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You ready? To support the church. Each of you. Give something. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we just thank you for the, just how clear your word is. It's baffling to me that people say that your word is so hard to understand. It's really not. You've communicated so clearly, and when we don't understand, It's a spiritual issue, not an intellectual one. Father, You've told us that we are, as a family, we are to support this ministry and the missions that are supported by this ministry. You've called us all to be a part of this. You've called us all to give something. And Father, You have so lavishly blessed every single one of us in this room and the people that will be at the next service and the people that watch the stream or listen to the podcast.
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We are so abundantly blessed. Father, let us reflect a heart of gratitude and worship by giving to you as you move our hearts, Father. Let our worship not just be in song, not just be in service. You have called us to worship with what you give us. And you didn't have to promise us a return on anything. It's all yours.
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You could demand that we give everything back and get nothing in return, but You have graciously, graciously given us the promise that You will match our generosity by giving back to us. Thank You, Father, for that grace, and give us the faith to believe that. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 16:1-4

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why is giving to be done every week? Why not just save up and give once a year?
What would you say to someone who says “I just don't have any money to give to the church.”?
Is tithing a New Testament command? Why or why not? What does New Testament giving look like?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

September 6, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

We Labor in Victory

Jeff Miller

September 6, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

Introduction:

Why Jesus' Victory is the Greatest Victory (1 Corinthians 15:50-58):

He won the greatest PRIZE . (1 Cor 15:50-53)

1 Thessalonians 4:16 - For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
He defeated the greatest ENEMY . (1 Cor 15:54-57)
He gives us the greatest PURPOSE . (1 Cor 15:58)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:05
Open up your Bibles with me please to the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 15.
00:12
While you're turning there, just take a moment please and pray for me to communicate God's Word clearly and accurately as I should and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us in His Word today. Do we have a deal?
00:30
One of you?
00:32
Alright, let's pray.
00:35
Father in Heaven, this church was built on the belief that Your Word does Your work. Your Son made it clear that when Your Word is sown and it falls on good soil, it reproduces. And I'm praying today, Father, that our hearts our good soil.
01:06
And that we would allow your word to take deep root and change us from the inside out.
01:18
Father, we thank you for your goodness.
01:21
We thank you for your promises.
01:24
Be glorified now through your word.
01:26
We pray in Jesus' name.
01:29
And all of God's people said, Amen.
01:33
Amen.
01:34
Sports fans, don't you just love the thrill of a really tight game? I know I do. But you know what I love even better than a really tight game? An absolute blowout. I mean, just a good old-fashioned curb stomping, rubbing your nose in it. Like, I love when it's your team that's doing The dominating. I love that. I like that even way better than a close game. But even better than that is when you're actually playing the game where you're doing the stomping. That is delicious. I've had that experience a few times in my life. One, many, many years ago, I used to be decent at tennis. I mean, I wasn't like, Andre Agassi or anything. But I was decent. And I could keep up. But I remember meeting this guy through a friend of a friend kind of thing. And he found out I played tennis. He goes, oh, I play tennis. I'd like to play you sometime. I'm like, great, let's play. But then he started all the smack talking. He's like, well, you know, I'm going to destroy you. I'm like, okay. He goes, yeah, I'm really going to, he goes, I'm really going to beat you.
03:04
I'm like, aren't we adults? Like, why are you talking like this? But he just like kept us smacked. Okay, so now he's like in my head a little bit. Like, okay, so I'm going to show up and play this guy, and he's going to embarrass me. And I'm like, so I was trying to get in that headspace. Like, how do you walk into that, right? Well, the day came for our big match. And I don't know.
03:33
I don't know how else to say it. He was horrible. I mean, the word is pathetic. It was at the point that I'm not sure he knew which end of the racket to hold. In fact, if he would have been swinging at it with just a handle, I think he might have done a better. He was horrible. Like, how bad was he? He was so bad that I started playing as if I would play against like a five-year-old.
04:03
Just like he would get it over the net and I would like rejoice that he even got it over the net and I would just well in that when you're playing it like 10% obviously you're going to make mistakes because that's not how you're supposed to play and I'd like hit it into the net by accident. He started the smack talk up again like yeah what's up now I'm like oh okay like all right. That's when I proceeded to completely the court with him. Unmercifully never saw him again. I think he moved to Nepal or something. But it was so just exhilarating being on the side of a complete, dominating, crushing, one-sided victory. Oh, and speaking of, today we are going to talk about the greatest, one-sided, overwhelming victory, that's ever happened.
05:05
And that was Jesus Christ defeating death.
05:09
And he did it by resurrecting.
05:14
And that's what 1 Corinthians 15 is all about.
05:18
This whole chapter is about resurrection.
05:24
And we talked about this through this series.
05:26
The whole idea of resurrecting from the dead was crazy.
05:32
to the Corinthians, the Greeks, and Corinth. They didn't believe in a bodily resurrection, so Paul was setting them straight. He goes, no, this is what God said, okay? And there's even people in churches today really don't think about the idea of resurrection, right? Even people in churches today are like, okay, I get like salvation, and I get like heaven, but like this idea that I'm going to bodily resurrect, Yes! According to the Bible, you are literally going to get a new, eternal, indestructible, glorified, resurrected body. You're going to get a brand new body. Some of you should be shouting Amen. I know I am. You know, this is a rental, and I've beat it up pretty bad. So, last week the question we examined was this one.
06:32
What's the resurrected body like? What's it like? And you can go back and listen to that message, or if you weren't here, it's on our website or the YouTubes. But today, we're going to answer this question. This is where the text takes us. When do I get this resurrected body? When does that happen? And the answer is when Jesus returns.
07:03
The dead receive theirs first, then the living receive theirs, and that is going to be the day, according to this passage we look at today, that's going to be the day that we celebrate the greatest one-sided victory of all time. All right, some of you might not be convinced, so if you have an outline, why Jesus' victory is the greatest victory. Why Jesus' victory?
07:32
He just claimed it was the greatest one-sided overwhelming victory of all time. Why? Why is it? Well, number one, He won the greatest prize. He won the greatest prize. Look at verse 50. He says, I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
08:02
designs special bodies that are suited for eternity, suited for heaven. We talked about that a little bit last week, right? This body that he gave us that we're living in now, this body is suited for earth, right? The way this body functions, it works perfectly in the earth environment, right? This is suited for here. But this body is not going to work in heaven.
08:31
There, we're going to need a new body. So we're going to have to be changed. We saw last week, the Bible says that this body is like a seed. And when we die, we are buried in the ground. And like the seed, our resurrection, we are raised up as something new.
09:01
All right, so here's the question. On the table. Okay, you're saying the people who die are put in the ground, raises something new. What about people that, like, aren't dead when Jesus returns? Like, what about those people? If you have to be buried to come up as a new body, like, what if you're one of the people alive, and it very well could be us, who are alive when Jesus returns? Does that mean that we have to die so that we can be buried so that we can get our resurrected body. Is that what has to happen? And the answer is no. If you're alive when Jesus returns, you do not die. What does happen? Well, he tells us, look at verse 51. He says, behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
10:01
Now when he says mystery here he's not talking like you know Alfred Hitchcock or anything like that. He's the word mystery in the Bible just means something that God never said in past time but now he's revealing it for the first time. It's all through the Bible.
10:18
He says we will not all sleep. That's a nice way of saying die. We will not all die but he says we will all be changed.
10:28
So when Christ returns believers who are alive Christ comes, will not die, but are going to be transformed.
10:38
And do you know how long it's going to take?
10:41
If you're alive when Christ returns, do you know how long it's going to take for this body to be changed into the new body?
10:50
Do you know how long that takes?
10:52
He tells us, this is astounding.
10:55
Look at verses 52 and 53.
10:57
He says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable. And this mortal body must put on immortality. It's going to be, your change is going to be instant.
11:31
Your body is going to change faster than you can even recognize that it was changing. This is so interesting to me. When he says in a moment, you see that in the text, in a moment, verse 52, that word for moment in the Greek refers to something that is so small that it can't be divided. What I mean is this, if your body transforms in two minutes, that's a period of time that can be divided, right? You can divide two minutes into two one-minute periods or four 30-second periods or whatever. He's saying the amount of time it's going to take your body to change, that amount of time is so small that you can't even divide it. It is that small. Like, well, what does that mean? He just means instantly. When Christ returns, if you're alive, instantly, boom, new body.
12:31
Awesome. He also talked about the trumpet. The last trumpet. Study your Bibles. Trumpets were used all through the Old Testament for what purpose? To call God's people to come and meet God. The day is going to come that God is going to blow that trumpet one more time. He just said, all my people gather together to meet your God. This is exactly what Paul was talking about in 1 Thessalonians.
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4. I encourage you to go home and read this whole chapter because it really complements what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 here.
13:09
But he says, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And here it is again, the dead in Christ will rise first. This event that he talks about in 1 Corinthians 4.
13:30
And this event that he talks about in 1 Corinthians 15, you read it in John chapter 14 as well, is called the rapture. What is the rapture? What is this event that happens where we get our resurrected bodies, where the dead come out of the grave and get their resurrected bodies? What is this event? It's when Jesus Christ descends from heaven to gather his people, those who died and those who are living to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air to receive the glorified bodies. Then it's off to heaven. Like, well, when does the rapture take place? Well, I know, you know, when you follow church trends and doctrinal changes and things like that, it's not cool in our day to believe in the rapture, but it's biblical.
14:30
And I'd be more concerned about being biblical than what's trending. So I believe biblically that this rapture takes place before the seven-year tribulation period as described in Revelation. Okay? I believe that Jesus comes to take His church out of the earth before the seven-year tribulation. Why do I believe that? I'm going to give you three reasons why I believe that.
15:01
Why do I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? Why do I believe Jesus is going to take the church out before the judgment events of Revelation? Why do I believe that? Jot these three things down. The first reason I believe that is it's the most straightforward understanding of the biblical language. Read Revelation 3.10. Read 1 Thessalonians 5.9. Jesus promises to keep His church out of the future time of testing the on all unbelievers. That's just the most straightforward understanding of the language. Jesus says, I'm going to keep you from the hour of trial that's coming on the whole world. I'm going to keep you from that.
15:45
Study that out.
15:47
That's just the most straightforward language.
15:52
Number two, why do I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture?
15:55
The second reason is, speaking of revelation, You know you never see the church during the tribulation in the book of Revelation? I always found that so interesting. People that believe the church is going to be there. Have you read Revelation? Have you read this? Our youth group just went through that recently. Where was that last year? Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The church, the church, the church, the church, the church. And then after chapter 3 when the events of judgment are described, the 70 tribulation, The church isn't mentioned one time. Not one time. The church, interestingly, is mentioned 19 times in Revelation 1-3. Not mentioned at all during the tribulation. And then after chapter 3, the church's next mention in the book of Revelation is chapter 22. Why? I believe because the church isn't there. Here. The church isn't here during those events.
16:58
The third reason, I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, because people push back on this, and they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, why do you think the church is exempt from suffering? And I would say, well, open your eyes, I don't think the church is exempt from suffering. But, when it comes to judgment, number three, write this down, God has a track record of removing His people before He judges the wicked. Have you ever noticed that? I mean, God has this incredible track record. Study this out. When God judges wicked, rebellious sinners, when God's going to bring His judgment on wicked, rebellious sinners, the first thing that He does is remove His people. He always does that, right? Like, remember Genesis chapter 6? God was going to send a flood. What was the first thing He did?
17:58
provided a way to separate and protect his people. Go to Sodom and Gomorrah. When God was going to burn them from the map, what was the first thing he did? Lot, get out of there, right? What about Israel and Egypt during the plagues? God separating his people from his judgment. What about the Israelites from Korah and the other rebels in the wilderness? You see it over and over. God's going to judge people who are rejecting him.
18:28
The first thing he does is say, I've got to get my people out of there so they're not receiving any of the judgment I'm pouring on the earth. On the sinners, rather. So with the rapture, God will again separate his people from the judgment on sinners by removing the church before the tribulation so that the church will not be the object of his wrath. So when that trumpet blows, understand you're going to finally receive the fulfillment of everything Jesus Christ Forgiveness of sin, eternal life, the promise of heaven, and that glorified body, the things that Jesus Christ has promised and will ultimately deliver to those who love Him. Can you think of a greater prize? Jesus' victory is the greatest victory because He won the greatest prize. And secondly, He defeated the greatest enemy.
19:30
He defeated the greatest enemy.
19:36
You're like, what enemy?
19:39
Well, we studied this earlier, right?
19:41
Verse 26 says death is the enemy.
19:46
You get that, right?
19:48
You felt that, haven't you?
19:50
Death is the enemy.
19:55
By nature of my job, I've been to a lot of funerals. You don't have to sell me on what a monster death is. When you're standing beside the casket with friends and family who are just distraught, gone, life on earth will never be the same. This person is gone. Death is such a monster. It takes people from us.
20:25
a monster that we can't do a thing to stop, right? I mean, as much as we hate death, as much as we hate watching people die, there's nothing we can do to stop it. Realizing also that it's going to happen to me. It's going to happen to me. I'm going to die someday. And you're like, sorry about your luck. You're going to die someday.
20:56
Have you ever thought about how? Are you going to be advanced in years? Are you going to die over time? Are you going to die suddenly? You're going to die someday. Like when? Is it going to be soon? Is it going to be decades from now? Unless the rapture happens before, you're going to die. But you see, that's what we see in this passage when Jesus does come. And when the resurrection occurs, death, death itself is finally completely conquered for God's people.
21:55
Jesus defeats the greatest enemy. We can't gloss over that. Look at verses 54 and 55. Jesus wins the victory. You're like, well, to what degree did Jesus win? Well, Paul tells us that Isaiah tells us. He says, when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to the saying that is written. And here he quotes Isaiah 25. He says, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? I love this because death isn't just beaten. Death isn't just slapped around a bit. Do you see this? Your Bible says that death is consumed.
22:55
It's swallowed. Meaning gone. He says, death, where is your sting? Where is your sting? You know that word sting, that was a word they used in the Greek for the same purpose that we often use the word sting. It referred to bees. The sting of a bee. You know, death has a sting.
23:26
And when Jesus Christ comes back for us, that sting is going to be gone. In other words, using this word picture, he says death is sort of like the bee, right? Have you ever been stung by a bee? Have you ever been stung by 30 yellow jackets at one time? I have. Not fun. Because of Jesus' victory, Paul's saying, death is the bee. And when Jesus died on the cross, what Jesus did was remove the stinger from the bee. So yeah, death is still buzzing around, but it doesn't have a sting anymore. And then when Jesus returns, that whole bee itself is going to be swallowed. Like this thing is over and done. Do you see the word picture?
24:26
what all these things mean. Well, he does. Look at verse 56. He says, the sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law.
24:41
Okay, so death is like a bee. Sin is the stinger. Right? Sin is the thing that causes the damage.
24:52
And I'm here to tell you today, if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have not received salvation in Him, death is something that you should be afraid of. You absolutely should be afraid to die and stand before a holy God with unforgiven sin on your record. Because if you do, death is eternally deadly.
25:22
He says the power of sin is the law. Like what does that mean? Just very simply what Paul said in Romans 7. The law defines sin. The law shows us that we're sinners. We can have some vague idea that maybe I don't always do the things that I should. But you see the law of God lays it out for us. You know what your problem is? Your problem is you have a sinful heart that results in doing these things. That's what the law has accomplished. Showing us that we're sinners.
25:52
This is the victory that he's talking about here. That the wages of sin is death and Jesus Christ paid that wage with his death. It should have been me. But Jesus stepped in and died on your behalf. He said, I'll pay. You owe and can't pay. I don't owe, but I will pay on your behalf.
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You see when Jesus did that he satisfied the demands of the law. So when you receive Jesus Christ death to you is the bee without the stinger. Oh it's still around. And it's annoying. And we still might be a little afraid of it but we realize you know what?
26:52
can't do any damage because it doesn't have a stinger. Look at verse 57. He says, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You should underline that in your Bible. God gives us the victory.
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He won the victory. What did He do with it? He goes, here, I'm going to give this to you. Now you are the winner. He defeated death by rising from the dead and gave the victory to us. And every time I read and think about this verse, I always think of the same thing. Jane Hour knows exactly what I'm going to say. I always think of the same thing. 1990, Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan put up 69 points in one game.
27:52
69 points in one game. It's astounding, right? But on Jordan's team, there was a rookie teammate. And his name is Stacy King. Well, they left this rookie in late in the game. And he made one free throw. He made one free throw. Well, in the post-game press conference, obviously, the reporters were all like wanting to talk to Michael Jordan and they were all swarming him, wanting to hear from the goat, right? Let's hear from Michael Jordan. But Stacey King was able to get in a comment. One of my all-time favorite sports quotes, Stacey King said, I will always remember this as the night that Michael Jordan and I combined to score 70 points.
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And you realize, in a very real sense, that's exactly what Jesus has done for us. You see, Jesus won the victory. Jesus put up all the points. And He gives the victory to us, so we stand here on Sunday, and we're like, Jesus, we won! Jesus, the enemy is defeated! And it really had nothing to do with us.
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But we get to celebrate the victory. That's why we can come to church and say, you know, I'm always going to remember Calvary as the day that Jesus and I gained victory over death. He defeated the greatest enemy. Jesus' victory is the greatest victory. Number three, because He gives us the greatest purpose.
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us the greatest purpose. Last verse. He says, therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Therefore, because of everything that we've studied in 1 Corinthians 15, therefore, because we know Jesus was Therefore, because it motivates our conduct. Therefore, because of the promise that we will be resurrected. Therefore, because of what our resurrected bodies are going to be like. Therefore, because Jesus defeated death. He says, therefore, be steadfast. Steadfast, that word literally means sitting. It means sitting.
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And people are like, you know, sitting is the new smoking. Have you heard that? Sitting is the new smoking. Sitting is my favorite thing. Okay? Don't ruin it for me. But that's what it means. It's being settled. It's not being distracted. Just like, look, I believe in Jesus. He died for me. He rose for me. He gave me these promises. I'm resting in that. I'm settled. I'm not chasing after.
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anything else. I'm settled in Christ. He says, be immovable. You know what that word means in the Greek? Not moving. Bless you. It means being rooted. He's saying, hey, because of all of these glorious promises, hold your position. Don't waver. Keep God's promises on the forefronts of your mind as a motivator.
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He says, always abounding in the work of the Lord, always abounding. Yes, yes, it's going to be difficult at times. Yes, hard times are going to come. Yes, our schedules are going to fill up. But Jesus gave us the greatest purpose in church. Listen, we've got limited time to do it. He says, knowing, knowing, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.
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And church, this is a promise from God that we need to constantly be reminding ourselves of. Listen, everything that is done for the Lord, in the name of the Lord, empowered by the Lord, everything that is done for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, it all matters. It all matters. It says, your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I was thinking about that this week. That so much of life, is spending time doing things that end up being in vain, right? You know what I mean? We spend so much time on things that we're like, wow, that was a complete waste of time. Like, have you ever washed your car? And then, what happens? It rains, right? You're like, well, that was a waste of time. Or, have you ever, like, got this new recipe? You spend, like, all this time making this, making, oh, this is going to be fantastic, and then you, You put it in the oven and you get distracted with something else. You forget about it and you burn it. Have you ever done that? You're like, well, that was a waste. That was a waste. I spent all that time and it's in vain. You ever spend all day at work on a project and when you're just at the finish line, your boss says, oh, you know what? There have been some changes. I'm going to need you to all that and start over.
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Has that ever happened to you?
34:00
It's in vain, right?
34:02
You're like, all that work meant nothing.
34:09
So much time is wasted because of extenuating circumstances, but the thing that really convicts me is when I think about how much time we choose to waste.
34:25
How much time do we choose to waste?
34:32
And I've got to tell you, church, it always astounds me when I talk to people who are like, well, I don't have time to serve in the church.
34:40
It doesn't matter that there's rotating teams for all the ministries, and usually service might be like once or twice a month.
34:46
I don't have time to serve.
34:48
I don't have time to help out in Harvest Academy.
34:50
I don't have time to join a small group. I don't have time to come to a prayer service. And then the thing that astounds me is in the same breath, you can like change the subject and talk about something else and find out that the person had plenty of time to doom scroll or to watch or attend sports all week or they'll say, oh yeah, you know, I love that show Stranger Things. You know, I binge watched that twice last week. And like, really?
35:20
to a prayer service had how many hours to sit and watch and re-watch a TV show? And you're like, hey man, I didn't come here for a guilt trip. Listen, please hear me. I'm not trying to give you a guilt trip. I just want to ask you and I want to ask myself, the stuff that we spend our time on, Can we really step back and say, yeah, yeah, that was worth it. That was worth it. I'm glad I spent all that time. Can we really, church, can we really be content to say, oh, I don't have time, Jesus. I don't have time for small group of prayer services. I don't have time, Jesus. And then fill up our calendars with these other things. Are we okay with that?
36:22
I was wondering, you know, would you be embarrassed if Jesus looked at your Google calendar? If Jesus showed up and he's like, hey, notice you were on a prayer service. Like, oh, I don't have time. Let me see your calendar. Let's see what you did have time for. And you thought your time this week was better spent doing this than assembling with the people of God and crying out.
36:50
out for me. Would you be embarrassed? I mean, church, at the end of the day, when you lie down, you put your head in the pillow, can you look back on your day and say, yeah, you know what? I invested my day in things that matter for eternity. Again, I'm not trying to beat anybody up. I'm just saying, when we say I don't have time to serve the Lord. I think we need to be really careful that the real truth of the matter isn't actually I just choose to spend my time doing other things. Because he says here in the Lord, Your labor's not in vain. Whatever's done for Jesus, it matters. It all matters. And some would say, well, wait, wait, wait, wait. You know, once upon a time, you know what? I did this thing for the Lord. It was a complete waste of time. You know, people didn't respond the way I think they should. Actually, nobody showed up. And it was a complete waste of time. I didn't see any results. Well, it doesn't really matter what you see, does it?
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God has said it matters.
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God says it matters.
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So, so, we disciple our children.
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Why?
38:31
Because it all matters.
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We go to small groups to sharpen each other because it all matters.
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We gather here to serve the Lord by serving people because it matters.
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It all matters.
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We witness at work because it all matters.
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We get involved in LifeWise and Urban Impact and Vision Appalachia. Why do we do that? Because God says it all matters. Because we have the greatest purpose. If our worship team would make their way back up front, you know, we have the greatest prize. It's eternal life.
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We have the greatest victory because the greatest enemy has been defeated. Death? Where's your sting, death? We have the greatest enemy defeated. We also have the greatest purpose. Because God promised that everything we do for the kingdom is from a position of victory. We've already won. In church, the trumpet is about to blow.
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Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready for that glorified body? Are you ready to be in the presence of your Lord forever? When that trumpet blows, may it be while we are laboring Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for Your glorious promises.
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You have promised us a body like the body of the resurrected Christ.
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You have promised us that someday death is going to be history.
40:44
And Father, today, today, you have promised that our labor in the Lord is never in vain. That Father, everything we do in the name of Jesus for the advancement of his kingdom, it all matters. So Father, I pray that you would reinvigorate all of us, each of us, collectively, individually, Father. Every home, you would just revive us to this idea that it all matters in your eyes.
41:14
So it should matter in ours. Father, we thank you that we're not scraping by hoping that someday you're going to win. Father, we are operating from a position of victory because Jesus Christ has already won. And his victory is so sure that we operate from the position of already having Having gotten the W. Father, thank you. Father, by your spirit and by your word, move us, motivate us to glorify your name. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
The believer's resurrection happens at the Rapture (1 Cor 15:52). What reasons do we have to believe the Rapture will happen before the 7 Year Tribulation?
Explain 1 Cor 15:56 in your own words.
Where is the biggest temptation for you to waste time? Are you doing anything to redeem any time being wasted?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

The Self-Deception Test

Introduction:

The Test of Self-Deception:

Motivated By Love

Introduction:

Church: Be Unified and Purified (1 Corinthians 16:13-24)

Scheduling Ministry

Introduction:

The Faithful Worker... (1 Corinthians 16:5-12)

Giving an Offering

Introduction:

To Support the Church, Each of You Give Something (1 Corinthians 16:1-4)

Give Something. You Have to Consider:

We Labor in Victory

Introduction:

Why Jesus' Victory is the Greatest Victory (1 Corinthians 15:50-58):

Upcoming Small Group Questions CLICK HERE

How much of the Bible have we covered since 2011?

Introduction:

The Test of Self-Deception:

Introduction:

Church: Be Unified and Purified (1 Corinthians 16:13-24)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

The Faithful Worker... (1 Corinthians 16:5-12)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

To Support the Church, Each of You Give Something (1 Corinthians 16:1-4)

Give Something. You Have to Consider:

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Why Jesus' Victory is the Greatest Victory (1 Corinthians 15:50-58):

Audio Transcript