October 9, 2005
"Building Your Life on a Solid Foundation"
What Makes God Smile?—Part 2
1 Corinthians 3
"You can't separate your personal growth from the growth of the church."
1. The church is a family—the goal is maturity.
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.
—1 Corinthians 3:1
The marks of maturity:
"How do these marks affect me, where am I?"
A. Diet
I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
—1 Corinthians 3:2
"The Word of God is pictured as spiritual food."
Read: Psalm 19:7-10 and Hebrews 5:11-14
B. Behavior
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?
—1 Corinthians 3:3-4
2. The church is a field—the goal is productivity.
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task... For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field...
—1 Corinthians 3:5, 9
"There are many tasks within the church as a field."
The marks of productivity:
A. Spiritual growth
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
—1 Corinthians 3:6-8
"There's no need to compare ourselves because it's not about you."
B. Numerical growth
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
—John 15:4-5, 11
3. The church is a building—the goal is quality.
For we are God's fellow workers; ...you are God's building.
—1 Corinthians 3:9
The marks of quality:
A. The right foundation—Jesus Christ
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
—1 Corinthians 3:10-11
B. The right materials—Word of God
If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
—1 Corinthians 3:12-15
C. The right plan—God's wisdom
Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness."
—1 Corinthians 3:18, 19
D. The right motive—Glorify God
So then, no more boasting about men!...
—1 Corinthians 3:21
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...
—Galatians 6:14
Lifework
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
—Proverbs 2:1-5
What Makes God Smile—Week 2
Personal and Group Study
Getting Started
- What was the home you grew up in like? What was your favorite room in that home? Why?
- If you were to describe yourself in terms of a building, what kind of building would you be? (A mansion, a shack, a high-rise, an industrial building, a barn, etc.)
Digging Deeper: 1 Corinthians 3
- The Church in Corinth is having problems with cliques. How do you think these cliques arose? Why do cliques usually arise?
- What does Paul mean when he says, "I gave you milk not solid food"? Why were these believers still not ready for solid food?
- Paul describes the Corinthian Christians as worldly. What does he mean by worldly? How should spiritual people act in the same circumstance?
- Why is it so easy to get focused on a person rather than the work God wants to do through the ministry of the church? What was different about Paul's and Apollos' ministries?
- What is the point of Paul's metaphor in verses 5-9? What is the goal when farming a field? What does that say about the purpose of the church?
- What is the point of his metaphor in verses 10-15? What are the building materials? Why is quality desired? What does that say about the purpose of the church?
- The "you" in verses 16 and 18 are plural, referring to the Corinthian Church as a whole. What is Paul's lesson for the church? Can this picture be taken personally also?
Applying It To My Life
- What do you learn about a pastor's purpose for a church from this passage? What do you learn about an individual Christian's purpose in a church from this passage?
- What do you learn about the importance of ministry? Given the guidelines about what makes good building materials, what is one concrete way you could help build God's temple, of which you are a part?