One Bad Apple...
Jesus Out of Focus • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsWe can not ignore the sin of our brothers and sisters in the church.
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Transcript
In 2016 I tore my Achilles tendon. When they repaired it they used a cadaver tendon to make it extra strong. I had a cast on for six weeks or so following the surgery. So that wound was in the cast, in the hot humid Tennessee summer, for six weeks. I knew before I got the cast off that something was wrong. This is what it looked like when the cast came off…
When something dangerous is not given attention, this is what can happen!
In this chapter Paul is talking about sin in the church. Sin the Corinthians were just letting happen and not taking care of it as we are supposed to.
What can happen if a church lets its people sin without ever addressing it?
pray and read chapter 5
We can not ignore the sin of our brothers and sisters in the church, for their own good and the church’s.
We can not ignore the sin of our brothers and sisters in the church, for their own good and the church’s.
Care for you brothers and sister
Care for you brothers and sister
A church needs to take action to help its people struggling with ongoing sin.
So I had to have another Achilles surgery to clean that infection out. I had to have a PICC line put in my arm for medicine. Kristen was pregnant with Dawson when this was happening and we have a picture of her in labor in the hospital giving me meds.
If I would’ve have been paying attention to that wound it likely would have never gotten that infected. Some medicine would have taken care of it early on. For the same reason, we need to address sin in the church.
So this is a gross situation… 1-5
They’re proud about something…
What are some things that some churches are proud of today because they think they’re doing good, but they really shouldn’t be?
Some say that it is loving to just let people do what they want and hateful to tell them they are in the wrong. I think it’s the opposite of that…
How is it loving to tell someone they are in sin?
So we do church discipline. This is something that Jesus talking about in Matthew 18…
And look at the similarity between what Paul says in verse 5 what what Jesus says
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
So even though this may seem harsh, it is done for the good of the person and the church.
And this is what is expected of us for those who say that they are Christians, Paul tells us in 9-13.
First he says we don’t discipline non-Christians for not behaving like Christians.
It doesn’t do any good to try and change the behavior of a non-Christian (unless they’re going to hurt someone)…
We are to expect those who proclaim Christ as their Savior to live as He lived.
Notice the way Paul phrases everything in verse 11. He’s talking about people who have a habit of sin, not an occasional mistake. People who are continually doing it, probably not even trying to correct it or admitting they are wrong.
That’s not what Christians do.
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
So, first of all, are you ignoring a pattern or habit of sin in your own life? Remember, Christ said we have to get the plank out of our own eye before we can help our brother with the splinter in his eye.
Then, is there someone you know who claims to be a Christ-follower that you know continuing in a pattern of sin in their life. Do you need to go to them, in love, and have a very real and very difficult conversation.
Do this in love for this person and do this in love for your church.
Care for your church
Care for your church
Don’t let sin creep into and damage your church.
Paul uses this baking illustration with leaven in bread…
Paul is saying that even one person who goes on sinning with no concern can eventually infect the entire church.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
Everyone who has placed their faith in Jesus must leave behind the old leaven, a life of slavery to sin, and live with the unleavened bread of belonging to Christ for the church to be its healthiest.
For the good of your church. For the good of your brothers and sisters. For the glory of our Lord Jesus. We must not leave sin unaddressed in the church.
But when you go to a brother or sister, remember who they are…
Make sure you go with the right heart and the right goal…
The goal of church discipline is for God’s children to repent of sin and return to Jesus and for those who are not truly God’s children to reveal themselves.
Jesus came to rescue his people from sin and his church shares that goal. If you have not called on Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, then you are still headed for destruction. Not just the destruction of your flesh that Paul mentions, but the everlasting destruction of your soul as well…