Stronger Together (Part 7)
Sermon Outline for Sunday, February 21, 2021:
As we continue our look at STRONGER TOGETHER 2021, we look last week at an overview of several reasons the Word of God gives use to show we are STRONGER TOGETHER as a Church Family.
Let’s review:
On Sunday, January 3 ~ we gave an overview on Hindsight 20/20 – we are STRONGER TOGETHER! But Why?
On Sunday, January 11 ~ we looked at Jesus being the Good Shepherd, Pastors being the under-shepherd to Christ (given charge to watch over His sheep) and we are His sheep.
On Sunday, January 17 ~ we seen that Jesus is the Head of the Church and we, as the church, are His body … the Body of Christ! We, as the body of Christ, must work in unity.
On Sunday, January 24 ~ we looked at using our gifts and calling for the Body of Christ.
On Sunday, January 31 ~ we took a closer look at the Body of Christ; each member is necessary and essential
On Sunday, February 7 ~ we looked at the fact of just as each member is necessary and essential, Jesus must be a part of the unity if we are to be STRONGER TOGETHER.
Today, February 14 ~ What’s Love Got To Do With It? Our Relationships makes us STRONGER TOGETHER!!!
1 Corinthians 11:12–27 ESV
for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
1. There is a special intimacy that comes at communion, an act only possible with the called out Body of Believers.
2. This passage refers to several items.
a. Relationship – essential partnership
i. Neither the man nor woman is independent of the other. They are dependent upon each other. The Lord has ordained it.
ii. The woman is from the man, created from his rib; and the man is from the woman, born of her.
iii. All things are of God: both man and woman.
iv. The point is this: it does not matter who is of whom, whether man is of woman or woman of man. Both are of God, and both have their place and function, calling and purpose in the universe. Therefore, both owe their allegiance to God. Both must be faithful to God in their place and responsibility.
Ephesians 5:22–25 ESV
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Ephesians 5:33 ESV
However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
b. Wisdom – common sense
i. A Person can usually look at a situation and tell what to do – if he will think and be honest. But both thinking and honesty are necessary. In our passage, Paul is appealing to the Corinthians to judge situations themselves, to think and be honest about the matter.
1. A woman should think about the relationship between her, her husband and God. She should be properly dressed both in worship and in society.
2. A man should think about nature and creation. God created him to hold authority and to bring the world and nature with its catastrophic disasters under control (Genesis 1:28). Therefore, he is not to be in rebellion nor a non-conformist in customs that are biblical based. He is not to be consumed with trivial matters. He is time and energy are to be given to the authority and work God has given him to do.
3. Both male and female, God has given a great ministry and work to do for His Kingdom. Instead of trying to figure out how to get as close as we can to the world, we should be trying to get as close as we can to God.
Genesis 1:28 ESV
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
c. Customs or Traditions
i. This is both direct and demanding. We must not contend and argue over customs. Believers should conform to the expected customs of Christian behavior and church order and not argue and rebel against them. The implication is this: we are not on earth to argue and fight over trivial matters, but to carry on the ministry of God’s church. There are too many desperate people in the world who are dying from hunger, thirst, poverty, disease and sin – too many who need our help – for us to become so involved in arguing over personal rights and customs.
1 Corinthians 9:19–22 ESV
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
1 Corinthians 10:24 ESV
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
Pastor Andy Lambert