BBC Sermon Cast Brackenhurst Baptist Church

Spiritual maturity requires biblical corporate worship, unlike the kind experienced by the church in Corinth. Lots of people wanted to speak, but what they had to say was, for the most part, unhelpful. In chapter 14, Paul aims to set the matter right and, in doing so, helps us to see the best way to use our tongues in corporate worship. We will look at this under three headings:

1. Corporate worship must be informed
2. Corporate worship must be intentional
3. Corporate worship must be intelligible

Paul unlocks the secret to being content, no matter his circumstances. Through our study, I trust we will be encouraged, as the church at Philippi was. As G. K. Chesterton once said this: “Christians ought not to be better than other people ought to be. But they ought to be better than other people are.” Why? Because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We consider three truths from Philippians 4:13:

1. Suffering Saints
2. Suffering Saviour
3. Suffering’s Secret

Whether the Beatles understood the nature of true love is highly questionable, but they weren’t far off the mark when they sang, “All you need is love.” The church at Corinth needed to learn this. And perhaps so do you and I. To help us to see, savour, and seek this love, we will study 1 Corinthians 13:8–14:1a under three headings:

1. The Permanence of Love (13:8–12)
2. The Pre-eminence of Love (13:13)
3. The Pursuit of Love (14:1a)

As the early church was characterised by praying together as a part of corporate worship (Acts 2:42), as well as when there were particular needs (Acts 4:23–31; 12:1–5), so our church should be characterised. Tonight, we spend some time looking at what it means to pray without ceasing and to do so with understanding. We see:

1. We Are to Pray Dependently
2. We Are to Pray Deliberately
3. We Are to Pray Devotedly

The psalmist prayed that God would open his eyes to behold wonderful things out of his law. This is a prayer that God’s people do well to pray today.

Disciples of Christ are called to focus on one main priority: seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness above all else in this fallen world. There are two elements to this priority in Matthew 6:33:

1. A Divine Priority (v. 33a)
2. A Divine Promise (v. 33b)