My first ever sermon!
I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:23-27 (NASB)
So most of you probably didn't know this, but I was in a preaching class the last few months offered by my church, Christian Fellowship Center, up here in Potsdam. I really enjoyed it and I think I learned a lot from it. For our final task we had to come up with a 10 minute sermon. So here it is! Tell me what you guys think...
.
..
...
...
....
.....
....
...
..
.
Brothers and sisters, I want us to challenge ourselves today, by asking ourselves the question "Why do I really try to live a God pleasing life if I'm saved by grace?"
We already know we are supposed to live a Godly life, this is without question. Titus 2:11-14 states...
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
But why? We are saved by grace, so what’s the real point of being zealous of good works?
Why get up in the morning pray?
Why fast?
Why put up with people that don’t like or respect you?
Why waste your time evangelizing to dozens of people who have no respect for God, just to see only one or two of them saved?
Why strive for holiness when both you and God know that you won’t achieve it?
Why not just live however you want? You only live life once.
Why not just do all of the sinful things your friends are doing now?
After all, you are saved by grace, God’s going to forgive you anyway, right?
Church, why should we be zealous of good works? Why should we live for the gospel?
The scripture we will be studying today is 1 Corinthians 9:23-27...
I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Imagine an Olympic sprinter. When training for a race, an athlete attends as many practices as possible, attend all the workout sessions they possibly can, get all the information you can about the event, learn all the rules and so on and so forth. Why? Out of a love for himself, out of a love for his own personal success, that sprinter treats himself in the best way he can because he wants to get the best possible output. They want to WIN!
As Christians, we are called to do this very same thing for God and others. The love that the sprinter shows for himself by training as hard as he can, the love that we show for ourselves, we to show that and even more for God, as explained by Luke 10:25-27
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Why do we do all for the sake of the gospel? Because we love God!
This is why we put up with those who have no love for us
This is why we pray, why we fast
This is why we evangelize
This genuine heart-felt love for God is why we do everything we can for the gospel.
Brothers and sisters, run the race of Christianity in such a way that you may win.
When a sprinter runs in the Olympics, she runs for the gold medal.
Winning bronze or silver is an accomplishment, but ask any athlete that you find and they will tell you that they are running for the gold.
That’s what they train 4 whole years for.
We run to win the crown of life, our eternal imperishable wreath we know as Heaven.
James 1:12 says
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
If a sprinter runs this hard for a piece of metal that, from an eternal perspective means nothing, how much more should we run after our crown of eternal life?
For some of us, we understand that we should love God. But exactly does that really mean? How does this apply to me?
Jesus in John 14:15 says
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
1 John 5:3 echoes this same sentiment
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Think of someone or something you truly love. How much would you do for that person or thing?
How much more would you do if the things they asked weren’t burdensome?
If you love God as you are supposed to, with heart, mind, soul and strength, then you WON’T run without aim, you won’t box to beat the air.
Your life will not be filled with shallow and superficial things that hold you back.
It would not be spent serving yourself, but serving God and others, as God commanded.
Make your body your slave as verse 27 commands you to.
The sprinter in the Olympic race will make her body a slave in order get out of it what she wants.
She follows the rules of the race so that she would not be disqualified, so that her training would not been in vain.
While she is definitely free to try to cheat and get away with it, the consequences of cheating are too great.
Romans 6:6 says
That our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
Verse 11 and 12 says
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts
Just like the sprinter, we as Christians must realize that the consequences are too great for us as well. Taking advantage of God’s grace sends a message not of love, but of hatred and unappreciation.
Galatians 5:13 says
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
If a sprinter understands that the consequences are too great to cheat, why don’t we as Christians understand that hell is an even greater consequence?
Why do we try to cheat God?
Why try to take advantage of someone that loves us so much?
For some, it’s because at times we lose sight of why we became a Christian in the first place, we lose sight of that love.
And for others, it’s because we honestly are not who we say we are.
We don’t realize that we can’t cheat God, we are only fooling ourselves.
Our desire to live for ourselves and live a life of sin shows that not only aren’t we free, but we don’t even know what freedom looks like.
What is the result if we don’t acknowledge these commands?
Romans 8:13 says
For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.Remember why you are here.
You have been freed from the slavery of sin to be a servant to Christ. Former president Dwight D. Eisenhower once said “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
From that quote and the scriptures we have studied today, the only thing left to say is this. Use your liberty to completely serve God and others, or you may find that you are not truly free.
.
..
...
...
....
.....
....
...
..
.
So what do you guys think? Be honest! Be as nice/brutal as you need to be! :-)
| Permalink | 
