Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North Sermons - Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North

Jeff Miller
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Weekly sermon notes and audio recording from Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North.

  1. Sep 27

    Unified and Purified - Motivated By Love

    Introduction: Church: Be Unified and Purified (1 Corinthians 16:13-24) Be PURIFIED . (1 Cor 16:13) Be WATCHFUL ! Stand FIRM ! Act like MEN ! Be STRONG ! Be UNIFIED . (1 Cor 16:14-24) Be SUBJECT to SERVANTS . (1 Cor 16:15-16) Give RECOGNITION to REFRESHERS (1 Cor 16:17-18) Show AFFINITY to one ANOTHER . (1 Cor 16:19-24) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: Motivated By Love Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 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 differenc

  2. Sep 20

    Unified and Purified - Some Business Items: Scheduling Ministry

    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." By EXPECTING the UNEXPECTED (1 Cor 16:5-7) By viewing OPPOSITION as an OPPORTUNITY (1 Cor 16:8-9) Plays well with OTHER BELIEVERS . (1 Cor 16:1-12) By supporting their EFFORTS . (1 Cor 16:10-11) By respecting their CONVICTIONS . (1 Cor 16:12) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: Scheduling Ministry Taylor Brown Download Audio Transcript 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. 05:54 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. 06:05 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 pl

  3. Sep 14

    Unified and Purified - Some Business Items: Giving an Offering

    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: Am I giving INTENTIONALLY ? Am I giving PROPORTIONALLY ? 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): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: Giving an Offering Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 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 t

  4. Sep 7

    Unified and Purified: We Labor in Victory

    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): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: We Labor in Victory Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 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:

  5. Aug 30

    Unified and Purified: We Will Be Raised in a New Body

    Introduction: What Happens to Me When I Die? 2 Corinthians 5:8 - ...we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. When Do these Resurrections Take Place? Acts 24:15 - ...there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. What is the Resurrection Body Like (1 Corinthians 15:35-49)? Your body now is like a "SEED" , your resurrected body is like a "PLANT". (1 Cor 15:36b-38) Your resurrected body will be SIMILAR but DIFFERENT but BETTER . (1 Cor 15:39-42a) Your resurrected body will never have EARTHLY WEAKNESSES . (1 Cor 15:42b-44) 4 Contrasts Between Your Earthly Body and Your Resurrected Body: PERISHABLE vs. IMPERISHABLE DISHONOR vs. GLORY WEAKNESS vs. POWER NATURAL vs. SPIRITUAL Your resurrected body is just like JESUS' glorified body. (1 Cor 15:45-49) Philippians 3:21 - who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body... Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: We Will Be Raised in a New Body Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:05 Open up those Bibles with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 00:11 If you don't have a Bible, you're welcome to take the one in the seat back in front of you. 00:17 I know that's got like microscopic font. I think there's bigger print ones in the shelf in the very back. 00:23 Oh, Jane Hour got it. Alright. So if you want a bigger print Bible, you've got to wrestle Jane Hour for it. 00:30 Oh, okay, there's more back there. Okay, you don't have to, you don't want to do that anyways. 00:34 So, but please consider it our gift to you if you don't have one. So, speaking of, I'd like you to just stop for a moment and pray for me to communicate God's Word as I should accurately and clearly. And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord tells us in His Word. 01:04 in this portion we're looking at today. So let's pray. Father in heaven, as we turn to this portion of your word, there's such great encouragement for what you have promised. There's also challenging conviction. Your word says that when we have this hope, we purify ourselves as you are pure. So I pray, Father, that this Yes, would be informational in the sense of correcting wrong thinking that we have carried. But at the same time, Father, use this to motivate us to use the short time we have here on the earth to make an impact for your kingdom. We thank you ahead of time for whatever it is you're going to do here, Father. We pray in Jesus' name. When all of God's people said, Excuse me. Amen. 1 Corinthians 15, are you there? Back in 2009, Heidi Montag, who is one of the stars of the TV show The Hills, she was 23 at the time, 2009. She had 10 plastic surgeries. 02:35 in one day. 02:39 Ten plastic surgeries in one day. 02:45 You got questions? 02:47 I got questions. 02:49 Like, ten? 02:52 What all did she have done? 02:53 Well, she had her brow lifted. 02:57 She had Botox. 02:59 She had her nose done. 03:01 She had fat injected into her cheeks. 03:04 and lips. She had her chin done. She had her neck done. Liposuction. Isn't that when they take the fat out? But then it was put into her cheeks. So just like one hose. All right. I don't know. Look, I've never had plastic surgery, but you probably knew that. 03:34 You're like, I sure hope you didn't pay for that look. Anyways, she had her ears pinned back like a Doberman. She had her waist, her hips, and her thighs done and some other things. Ten surgeries in one day. You got questions? I got questions. How much does something like that cost? Well, I had to Google that. I have no idea. I don't know what the going rate is now, let alone what it was in 2009. 04:04 It cost her, they say, about $30,000. 04:12 How long does that take? 04:16 How long does all that stuff, it was 10 hours of surgery. 04:22 You know what my question was? 04:26 Did anybody recognize her when she got home? 04:29 Could you imagine? 04:30 and she leaves in the morning and she's like, I'm going to have some surgery. Then she comes back, a completely different person. Like, hey, I'm home. And they're like, ah, who are you? Like, it's me. It's me, Heidi. You know, groundhog, we didn't recognize you. I mean, we do all kinds of things to try to keep this young and from wearing out. And look, maybe plastic surgery is not. 05:00 your thing. Maybe it's exercise. I was going to ask for a show of hands, but I think to save all of us from embarrassment, myself included, we won't do any hand raising here. Okay, at least for this part. But do you have an exercise equipment graveyard in your basement? Do you remember things like the ab circle? Do you remember the ab circle? The bow flex, the toe flex, The Total Gym. How about the Thighmaster? You old enough to remember the Thighmaster? Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze your way to firmer thighs. Well, maybe it was just the exercise method, right? Because we've got Pilates, we've got yoga and Zumba, P90X, Insanity. 06:00 T25. You ever done this program? I've done Insanity and T25. And let me tell you, that is for the birds. For the birds. And I was like really into it for a while. And my wife was like, are you doing that exercise thing where you dance around the living room like a ninny? I'm like, well, I guess not anymore. 06:31 Okay, like, you can get the body you've always wanted. Get the body you've always wanted. The problem is you're not going to keep it forever. 1 Corinthians 15 is all about the resurrection. Jesus and ours. The Bible says because Jesus rose from the dead, Listen, I think so many people sitting in churches miss this truth. You, too, are going to rise from the dead in a new body. Now, if I told you, hey, next week, you're going to get a new car. But here's the deal. This car, this is the only car you're allowed to drive for the next 40 years. 07:30 car it is? Wouldn't you want to know what it's like? You mean I'm stuck with this car for four decades? Yeah. What kind of car is it? Tell me about it. I want to know all about it, right? Right? Well, the Bible says you're going to get a new body that you are going to have for all of eternity. Would you like to know what this body is like? 08:00 of eternity. So, we've got a lot of information here. Again, in this chapter, Paul packs so much information. And we're going to be going through it very quickly. So, you might want to listen to this again when it's on our website or podcast or whatever. You might want to pass this on to someone else. So, I encourage you to jot some notes down. First question, we're just going to take a step back here and kind of this whole thing. The first question is, what happens to me when I die? What happens to me when I die? And the reason we're starting here is like, look, okay, we got resurrection. Okay, but like, it's obviously not immediate. So, what happens to me when I die? Well, the Bible never talks about limbo or purgatory or soul sleep. The Bible never talks about that stuff. The Bible is very clear. If you're a believer in Christ, when you die, you are immediately in the presence of the Lord, right? 09:00 2 Corinthians 5 verse 8 says we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Paul says something very similar to this in Philippians 123. 09:14 He said to depart is to be with Christ. 09:20 Right? So if you're a believer when you die you are in the presence of the Lord. 09:23 Your spirit is. And if you have not received Christ you go to a place of torment called Hades, where you are awaiting the final judgment. All right? But the Bible promises that eventually, eventually, everybody, everybody will get a resurrected body. Everybody gets one. Like, well, when do these resurrections take place? 09:57 Here's the next question on your outline. Understand again, the Bible is crystal clear and consistent. It teaches many times there are two resurrections. Okay, there are two. Acts 24, 15. There will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. Right? We talked about that before. Daniel 12, 2. Jesus said it in John 5, 28 and 29. There are two resurrections. Okay. 10:27 First, I want to talk to those who have trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, those who are born again. The Bible says you will get your resurrected body at the rapture. Now, we're not going to get too deep into this now because next week the whole passage is about the rapture. But at the rapture, when Jesus returns to remove His people from the earth, believers up to that point, dead or alive, will get a new resurrected body. 10:57 about that next week. Those are for believers. For those who ha

  6. Aug 23

    Unified and Purified: The Resurrection Means Everything

    Introduction: Why the Resurrection Means Everything (1 Corinthians 15:12-34): The resurrection SHAPES my FAITH. (1 Cor 15:12-28) IF There Is No Resurrection: PREACHING the Gospel: Meaningless. (1 Cor 15:12-14a) FAITH in Christ: Meaningless. (1 Cor 15:14b) Your BIBLE : Blasphemous. (1 Cor 15:15) Your SIN : Not forgiven. (1 Cor 15:16-17) Believers who have DIED : Gone forever. (1 Cor 15:18) CHRISTIANS : The worst. (1 Cor 15:19) The resurrection STOPS my FEAR. (1 Cor 15:29-32) The resurrection SELECTS my FRIENDS. (1 Cor 15:33-34) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: The Resurrection Means Everything Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:05 Open up your Bibles with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. While we're turning there, just ask that you would please take a moment to pray for me, to be faithful to communicate God's Word accurately and clearly, and I will pray for you that your heart would be open to receive what it is that God has said in His Word. Deal? All right. Thank you both. 00:34 Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We're asking now that You would eliminate any distractions in our minds and our hearts, that we would focus solely on what it is You've communicated to us. Father, lay on our hearts the importance of this Word because of who said it. 01:04 that we're not here to talk about my opinion or some old preacher's opinion. We're here to talk about what you have said in your word. So I pray that that would drive the attentiveness that we give to what it is you've said here, Father. We thank you in advance for what you're going to do. We pray in Jesus' name that all of God's people Amen. Amen. Alright. Who here is a golfer? Raise your hand if you're a golfer. Some of you are shy about it. I'm sorry, is it a secret? I see some of you. Yes, it's a secret. Come on, raise them high. Raise them proud. Who's a golfer? Even if you play golf. You don't have to be on the PGA. 02:06 Do you know? I've never played golf a day in my life. I'm not against golf. I've just never played it. When I was in high school, I was going over to my friend's house, and he was in his, it was actually his grandparents' house, and he was in the backyard hitting golf balls into the woods, just whoosh, whoosh. So I show up. He's like, hey, I'm almost done. I'll be with you in a minute. 02:34 So I don't golf. I'm just like do-do-do-do-do-do. And I look, and in the tree, like where the branches split, there was a wiffle ball in the tree. I'm like, I wonder how that got there. So I pulled this wiffle ball out, and I was shocked at how heavy it was for its size. Very intriguing. I can tell you're intrigued by it. I certainly was. So he's hitting the golf balls, and I said, hey, check out how heavy this ball is. And I tossed it to him. And he was like, ha-ha. And he took a swing. Let me tell you what I think he thought was going to happen. I think he thought he was going to hit that wiffle ball like into the woods, launch it in midair like baseball style, right? So I'm like, hey, check out how heavy this ball is. I threw it. And he's like, whew. And he swings and the ball hits the middle of the golf club, like the shaft. 03:34 and it explodes. 03:37 And he's standing there holding the handle. 03:39 And his eyes were like as big as silver dollars. 03:42 He's like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. 03:45 I'm like, what's the matter? 03:47 He's like, this was my grandfather's brand new driver. 03:55 And I found out later it was very expensive. 03:58 I don't know. 03:58 I don't play golf. 03:59 I told you that. 04:00 But he's like, I'm like, what's the problem? He's like, this was his brand new driver. And I'm like, his driver? I said, is that important? And he's like, is that important? It's the most important club. And he got in all kind of trouble and we all laughed. Well, he didn't, but we all did. Like, why did I tell you this? That story. 04:31 Because here's the thing, in golf world, I was completely oblivious to the most important thing. I didn't know. I didn't know. The driver, it is important, right? It's important. Okay, all right. It is important. I was clueless. And you know, fast forward a few decades, let's get out of golf world, let's get in church world, the principle still stands, I think. 04:59 There are so many people in church world that are ignorant of the most important thing. And the most important thing, biblically, is this idea of resurrection. And we talk about it in church, and there are people that are like, is that important? Like, it is the most important thing. Resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 is all about resurrection. 05:29 And the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this is by no means any kind of exaggeration, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in the history of the world. It's the central teaching of the church. And because Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, the Bible says his followers too will resurrect from the dead. 05:59 just a few minutes ago. Dead to self. Alive. Raised in Christ. Understand that when we talk about resurrection, it's not just like this metaphor or this poetic concept. It's real. This is literally your eternal state of being. You will resurrect. So you have to know what the Bible says. 06:29 says about this, and you have to believe this. 06:34 So on your outline today, I encourage you to take some notes, but why the resurrection means everything. 06:41 It means everything. 06:45 Number one, we're going to do some theology today. 06:50 Number one is the resurrection shapes my faith. 06:54 It shapes my faith. 06:56 Everything that we believe in this church is tied into this idea of resurrection. 07:07 It shapes my faith. We started this last week. Paul talked about the evidences that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. 07:13 He talked about the grace that we receive, the gift of God. 07:18 And now when we get to this section, Paul actually plays a what-if game concerning resurrection. Paul says hypothetically, hypothetically, what would result if there were no resurrection? 07:35 What would result if Jesus didn't rise from the dead? 07:41 What would that mean? 07:42 What would be the significance for us, church, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead? 07:47 I mean, imagine the scene. 07:49 Imagine the scene. 07:51 Jesus Christ, mocked, humiliated, crucified, dead, taken from the cross, put in the tomb. Three days later, the women show up and the stone is still there. The guards are still there. The guards are like, move along, move along ladies. And Jesus is in the tomb and He stayed in the tomb. 08:21 What if there was no resurrection of Jesus Christ? What if? That's what Paul gets into here. Look at verse 12, 1 Corinthians 15. He says, now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 08:51 has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Stop there. On your outline, if there is no resurrection, the first thing Paul says, if there is no resurrection, preaching the gospel is meaningless. Think about that. Preaching the gospel is meaningless. You are totally wasting your time here this morning. You got up and got your church clothes on and you drove here for what? 09:21 studying this. That was a complete waste of time. I wasted much of my week. You wasted your Sunday morning coming here today. You're wasting your time right now just listening to me blather on and on and on about what? Every sermon, every Bible study, every small group, every Christian book, every Christian podcast, every Christian conference is a complete waste of time and money if there's no resurrection. 09:52 Why are you here? So preaching the gospel is meaningless. Letter B, faith in Christ is meaningless. Look what he says. Rest of verse 14, he says, and your faith is in vain. If there's no resurrection, your faith is in vain. Who's your faith in? My faith is in Jesus. Oh, okay. Well, if Jesus died and stayed dead, what's so special about him? He's just in a a long list of religious leaders that showed up, said some profound things, died, and is in his tomb. Just like everybody else. There's no resurrection. Oh, by the way, Jesus throughout his ministry clearly proclaimed that he would die, and he said he would rise from the dead. So, if there's no resurrection, Jesus Christ is either crazy or he's a liar. And that's your faith? Your faith is in that one? 10:52 Let us see your bible is blas

  7. Aug 16

    Unified and Purified: We Live in Grace

    Introduction: Daniel 12:2 - And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. John 5:29 - ...those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Romans 10:9 - because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 3 Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-8): The CHURCH . (1 Cor 15:1-2) SCRIPTURE . (1 Cor 15:3-4) Isaiah 53:10 - Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Psalm 16:10 (Acts 2) - For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. EYEWITNESSES . (1 Cor 15:5-8) 3 Evidences You Have Received God's Grace (1 Corinthians 15:9-11): You don't think you're WORTHY . (1 Cor 15:9) You DEFINE yourself by grace. (1 Cor 15:10a) You are motivated to WORK by grace. (1 Cor 15:10b-11) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Unified and Purified: We Live in Grace Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:04 1 Corinthians chapter 15. My wife Erin was talking to a good friend of hers, Sharon. And Sharon told her this story that I've been thinking about all week. She said she took a bunch of youth to this youth conference. And they asked everybody to stand up. We're not going to do this here today. But she asked everybody to stand up. 00:34 I asked everybody to stand up and asked who had been saved for a year. And did they know at least one Bible verse? And if not, sit down. Right? And then who'd been saved for two years? You know two Bible verses. If not, you can sit down. And it went up. Who's been saved five years? Do you know five Bible verses? If not, sit down. And by the time the exercise was done, nobody was standing. 01:04 And I keep thinking about that. It's not a matter of learning Bible verses to be like ready for Bible bowl or just in case you're on Jeopardy and New Testament is one of the categories. That's not the purpose of learning the Word of God. What is the purpose of learning the Word of God? 01:35 What you really believe shapes how you live. That's just a reality. You live according to what you really believe is true. We just finished a section of 1 Corinthians with Q&A. And I think it's where this Bible knowledge intersects with the biggest question. 02:04 we really discover the biblical ignorance of a lot of people in church. And the biggest question is, what happens after we die? You know, thinking about all of those matters, you know, our death and rapture and return of Jesus and resurrection and heaven and hell, and what about all of that? Look, I've been doing this a long time, and I've been part, of so many funerals. 02:40 And it's always astounding to me, at a funeral, even people that say they've been following Christ for many, many years, it's astounding to me some of the crazy unbiblical things people say. 02:56 For example, I've heard this many times at a funeral. 03:00 They're like, well, you know what? God just needed another angel. And I'm like, there is so much wrong with that statement. First of all, God needs nothing, right? Second of all, we don't turn into angels when we die. Where did you get that concept? It's biblical ignorance. That's not really the place. That's not really the place to correct people, right? You don't want a shot block there. I guess that would help to have Miles there with me, I guess, at a funeral. 03:30 next time that happens. 03:32 Like, God needs another angel. 03:33 Miles would just be like, you don't turn into an angel when you die. 03:38 If you know, you know. 03:43 Another crazy thing I've heard people say is, well, you know, grandma's just watching over me. 03:52 You know, little Joey was supposed to have a t-ball game and they were calling for tornadoes and thunderstorms and hail and blizzards and all that. 03:59 And it didn't. 04:00 We had perfect weather. Thank you, Grandma. Grandma was watching over me. Well, your Grandma might have been wonderful, but she's not God. Okay? But that's one of the crazy things people believe is our departed loved ones are orchestrating things. You know, another crazy thing, and this might be the craziest, is regarding what happens when we die afterwards, all of these matters. Some people say, well, nobody really knows. 04:30 That could be the craziest thing because God wrote it all down for us. And when I talk about our Bible ignorance, I hope you don't take that as a guilt trip as much as over the next few weeks we are looking at a chapter in the Bible that answers so many of the questions that so many Christians get wrong. 05:00 I encourage you to tune in and take notes and look very closely at what God has said. So with that said, let's just bow our heads for a second. I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful, to clearly and accurately communicate the word of God. And I will pray for you to have your heart open to receive what it is that God said. All right. Let's just take a moment and pray. 05:30 before you today with Thanksgiving. I thank you for your word that clears up all of these questions that we wouldn't have answers to otherwise. I thank you for the noise of the children in this room right now. It's a sign of life. And I thank you for parents that want to come and worship you and hear your word and will bring their kids. I thank you for that. Father, I just pray that you eliminate any distractions in our hearts and minds so that we can laser focus on what it is you've said in your word today. 06:00 This is the most important message there is. And what a tragedy it would be to leave here and have missed it. What it is you've said here in this absolutely awe-inspiring portion of your word. God, we thank you. And we pray in Jesus' name. And all of God's people said, okay, some of God's people said it. The rest weren't ready. 06:30 We'll try again next week. Come back to Second Service. You can try then too. Okay, so what happens when we die? Well, among many other things the Bible teaches, the Bible is crystal clear on this. You will resurrect from the dead. You will. Everybody, not just believers actually, Everybody rises from the dead. The Bible says unbelievers get an eternal body that's suited for hell and judgment. And believers in Jesus Christ get an eternal body that they will use in glory in heaven forever. Right? Daniel chapter 12 verse 2. Old Testament talks about this. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some to everlasting life. And some to shame and everlasting contempt. Jesus taught this, John chapter 5. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. There are two resurrections, one for believers, one for non-believers, an eternal body that will live forever somewhere. And 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is all about resurrection. 08:00 The first stretch is, appropriately, about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then the back nine of 1 Corinthians 15 is about our resurrection. Look at chapter 15, verse 1. Paul says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand. 08:31 You see, we just spent a lot of time, 1 Corinthians 11, 12, 13, 14, they had all these corporate worship problems. And Paul's like, okay guys, we cleared up some of the details, but the most important thing is getting back to the basics of the gospel itself. And he's talking about resurrection in this chapter. As we said, it is not resurrection. 09:00 Resurrection is not a part of what we believe. Resurrection is the heart of the gospel. It is the core. It is the very, it's essential to being a Christian. It is absolutely a necessary doctrine that we got to embrace. Look at what Romans chapter 10 says. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that what? God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Do you see how a belief in resurrection is directly tied to your salvation? It's non-negotiable. But of course, there's always skeptics, right? You can study the ancient Greeks. Many of the Greeks who lived in Corinth, they didn't believe in a bodily resurrection at all. 10:04 And even Christians today, they're just not entirely sure what happens. 10:14 You know, I know there's, okay, so we die, but w

  8. Aug 10

    Questions and Answers: What Should a Worship Service Look Like?

    Introduction: How to Have a Church Service, God's Way (1 Corinthians 14:26-40) BUILD UP believers. (1 Cor 14:26b) ELIMINATE the chaos. (1 Cor 14:27-33a) WOMEN don't preach. (1 Cor 14:33b-35) 1 Timothy 2:12-14 - I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. None of this is up for DEBATE . (1 Cor 14:36-40) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Questions and Answers: What Should a Worship Service Look Like? Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:36 You know, just a few days ago, in this very room, it was complete chaos. It was so good. I mean, VBS, it was complete chaos, right? You're going to hear more about it later. We're going to show you a video. But just kids on top of kids, people screaming and throwing. There was slime dripping from the ceiling. Wasn't supposed to, but there was. 01:06 And it was just, it was chaos and it was beautiful. Which is fine for vacation Bible school, but chaos is not something that should describe Sunday morning. And that takes us to the passage we're looking at today. So I'm going to ask you to please pray for me. 01:36 Faithfully represent God's Word. That's all we try to do here at Harvest Bible Chapel. We're not preaching our opinion or scratching itchy ears. We just want to represent the Word of God. And I'm asking you to please pray for me to do that faithfully, and I will pray for you to receive what it is that the Lord has said in His Word. All right? Let's just take a moment and pray. 02:09 Father, when we open the Bible, the question is, is this from God? 02:21 Father, we have solidly come to that conclusion. 02:25 We believe that this is your word. 02:28 When it says things that we like, and when it says things that we maybe struggle to believe, It's your word. And I pray today, Father, for all of us. You eliminate any distractions or preconceived notions and allow us to receive what it is that your word actually says. We pray in Jesus' name. And all of God's people said, Amen. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Chapters 11 through 14. 03:04 in 1 Corinthians is all about corporate worship. Right? And we've been talking through this series. We had a little break from Pastor Taylor's excellent message taking us back to the Old Testament. But in this section in particular where we find ourselves, we're talking about speaking in tongues. And you can go back and review those. But tongues, there was a legit miracle gift. And if you study your Bibles, Speaking in tongues was speaking a known language. All right. It was an existing language, but the speaker, they didn't know that language. They didn't study, but they would. It'd be like if I got up and started speaking Mandarin. I don't know Mandarin, but I started speaking Mandarin because there were Mandarin speaking people in the congregation. That's what the gift of tongues was about. We saw. Previously, the tongues was a sign of judgment. 04:04 Israel had rejected the Messiah. And tongues was God's way of saying, okay, you're going to hear a language you don't understand because you've rejected me. I'm moving on to other people. And it was for the season of transition from the old covenant to the new covenant. We saw in chapter 13, verse eight, he said, tongues will cease. It's going to come to an end. It was only for a season. 04:34 The Pagan Practice of Tongues. In many pagan religions, there would be this ecstatic screaming of sounds. They weren't real languages. It's just screaming this gibberish. And the Corinthians brought that into church. It's chaos. There's chaos. Look at verse 26, where we left off last time. Verse 26. Paul says, What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Stop right there. That's not a command, by the way. He's describing the chaos. He's like, here's what your church service is. Everybody shows up, and everybody is like, ooh, ooh, me, I want to teach. I want to speak in tongues. I'm going to sing. And everybody was doing it. 05:33 And it was just this circus. He says your worship services are just chaos. You have the gibberish. You have misusing the real gift of speaking in tongues. You have the debacle that you've made the Lord's Supper. You have women preaching. You have people showing off. Your services are a complete mess. And it'd be real easy for us to look. 06:03 and say, wow, yeah, glad we've matured from that. But sadly, many things that are called church services are still a real mess. What have we turned worshiping our Savior God, what have we turned that into? For some churches, it's putting on a concert and giving a pep talk. 06:33 heresy, screaming gibberish, holy laughter, holy barking, craziness, chaos. So much being done in the name of worshiping the Lord that is anything but actually worshiping the Lord. And you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second, hang on. 07:01 Who says what should happen in a church service anyways? Well, I would suggest to you God. The God that we worship has told us how we should worship. So very simply, in this passage we're looking at today, Paul is outlining here's what a worship service should be. That's what this passage is. What should happen in a church service? Paul's like, this is what should happen right here. 07:31 So, on your outline, how to have a church service God's way. Number one, first thing has to happen, absolutely has to happen. He says it first because this has to be the primary drive. Number one is build up believers. Build up believers. Look at the end of verse 26. He says, let all things be done. 08:01 For building up. 08:07 Here's a philosophical slash theological question for you. 08:11 Who is church service for? 08:13 Is it for believers or for unbelievers? 08:19 Biblically, church service is for believers. 08:23 Now listen, if you're here today and you're not a believer and somebody invited you, we're so glad that you're here. 08:29 But we're going to tell you to receive Christ. We're going to tell you to believe what the believers here believe. That we are, by nature and by birth, we are alienated sinners from God. And God reconciled us to himself through the death of his son, Jesus Christ. And he commands us. He commands us to turn from our sin and to believe in Jesus Christ. And when you do, you are saved. You are a child of God. That's the gospel. 08:59 The goal biblically in our worship service should be building up believers. Like, what parts of the service? Well, your Bible says the same thing that mine does. Let all things, all things be done for building up. It's teaching God's truth and teaching believers how to apply God's truth. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this because we have talked so much about this through 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 09:29 Church is where you go to give, not go to get. Over and over and over and over and over. Paul says edify, build up, edify, build up. It's just been the theme of this whole chapter. Paul says when you go to church, you should go to church ready to serve other people. That should be your mindset. I'm not here to get, I'm here to give. You're like, well, what about evangelism? 10:01 I'll study the book of Acts. When believers are built up, they are prepared to reach the lost in their lives. There's lost people in your life, in your sphere of friends, influence. You need to be built up here so you can go to them and share the gospel of Christ. The church is not what's in it for me, but. 10:29 Everything we do here has to have the mindset of what can we do to build up believers. That's what he says. So number one, how to have a church service God's way, build up believers. Number two, he says, eliminate the chaos. You've got to eliminate the chaos. Here he talks about two gifts. Just for that day that were not used appropriately in Corinth. Tongues, even the legit, They weren't doing that right. And prophesying. And understand again, the New Testament was being written during this day. So prophets were getting new revelation from God. We don't get that now that the Bible is complete. Right? Those blank pages in the back of your Bible aren't for you adding to Scripture. That's not what that's for. 11:32 But there were two gifts in that day that were being wildly misused, and it was contributing to the chaos. Tongues and prophecy. First, he addresses tongues. Okay? Legit gift of speaking in tongues. How do we do it? How do we do it? Look at verse 27. He says, and let someone interpret. 12:02 But if there is no one to inte

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