When we view spiritual gifts in a selfish, individualistic way, we compare and covet, and the church is divided. In today's passage Paul stresses that the gifts of the Spirit are distributed out to each person according to God's will for the purpose of building up the church rather than building up ourselves.
1 Corinthians 4:1-17 "Under-Rowers and Stewards"
In today's passage, Paul confronts the Corinthians for foolishly measuring by the world’s standards. This mistake is leading to pride and divisions as they seek to impress human judges. Instead, Paul shows them that they should be obedient to Christ alone, and they are accountable to Christ alone.
We Are Biblical
We are kicking off a four week sermon series on our core values by discussing our commitment to living out God’s word. We want everything we do at Wayside to be grounded in and founded in the Word of God. This certainly goes for our preaching and teaching, but also everything that happens both on Sunday mornings and throughout the week.
Acts 15:1-35 - "Recipe for Unity"
We will see in Acts 15 that the key to unity in a church made up of diverse believers is maintaining a focus on the essentials of the gospel. This plays out in today’s passage as we see that elevating non-essential practices creates division, focusing on gospel essentials creates unity, and living in community with diverse Christians requires charity.
Acts 8:5-25 - "Directions To Christ"
In today’s passage, most of the Samaritans receive the gospel with joy, but Simon witnesses the signs of the power of the Holy Spirit and is so distracted by them that he misses the true glory of the Gospel. Just like the Samaritans, we can respond to signs of the gospel’s power by allowing them to direct us to Christ, leading to saving faith and glorifying God; or we can allow them to distract us from Christ, leading to an empty faith and glorifying ourselves.
Hebrews 8:1-5 - "Invisible Realities"
Just as a correct understanding of invisible forces like gravity and germs can help us properly interact with the world around us, a correct understanding of the invisible, heavenly realities of Christ will allow us to truly understand the world around us. And this understanding can only be achieved through faith, which reveals the invisible realities of heaven and renews our understanding of the visible realities of this world.
Hebrews 2:5-9 - "Destined For Glory"
Sin causes us to forget our purpose, what God created and redeemed us for. So we seek our own goals instead of pressing on toward God’s destination. We drift away from God. We neglect our great salvation. But today’s passage reminds us that men and women were meant to rule over Creation in fellowship with our Creator. Through Christ, we will one day be restored to that honor, to rule with Him for eternity.
Hebrews 1:4-14 - "The Better Messenger"
With so many competing messages flying in our direction, it can be hard to determine what is trustworthy. The trustworthiness of a message is rooted in the authority of the messenger. Today, we will see from this first chapter of Hebrews that Jesus is the ultimate Messenger from God, carrying the full authority of God, so His gospel message must be the ultimate guide for our lives.
Genesis 6:11-8:22 - "The Flood"
The Bible does not leave room for us to separate God’s just judgment from His merciful salvation. Judgment and salvation are linked. Therefore, we can rely on God’s mercy even as we encounter His judgments.
