On Mission With Jesus: Sacrificial Gospel Living & Loving

Gospel Freedom!

1 Corinthians 9:19-27

On Mission with Jesus: Sacrificial Gospel Living & Loving!

 

For the Sake of the Gospel …

 

“I have made myself a servant of all … becoming all things to all people” - Paul

 

“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.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”  [1 Cor. 9:19-23] 

 

 

“I do not run aimlessly … but I discipline my body and keep it under control” - Paul

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”  [1 Cor. 9:24-27] 

 

Notes, Quotes & Scripture References:

Chapter s8-10 of 1 Corinthians addresses another topic that was causing division, confusion, and strained relationships within the church body in Corinth: Food sacrificed to idols.  Some of this food was sold in public marketplaces (10:25) and some of it was eaten at feasts held in the pagan temples. (8:10; 10:20).

Christian Freedom

What is it?  How do we live it in community?  How do we preserve it?  How do we regulate it?

Last week: Applying gospel truth & love to our relationships.

This week: Submitting our lives to Jesus’ gospel mission.

“Every man dies, not every man truly lives.”

- Braveheart movie trailer

“The key to understanding the sin of preferences is to understand the need to overcome ‘preference slavery’ and to become a slave to others.  Paul is the model for us in that he made himself a slave to the preferences and culture of others rather than a slave to his own preferences … Moving beyond preference requires a new motivation and outlook … [That outlook is the mission of Jesus to reach all peoples.]”  - Stetzer, Breaking the Missional Code

Gospel Mission:

Every disciple is a missionary.  We exist as a church for the mission of Jesus Christ in this world!

“We ask, ‘Where does God fit into the story of my life?’ when the real question is “Where does my little life fit into this great story of God’s mission?”

“The vast majority of Christians have not been helped to see that who they are and what they do every day in schools, workplaces, or clubs is significant to God, nor that the people they spend their time with in those everyday contexts are the people God is calling them to pray for, bless, and witness to.  So we pray for our Sunday School teachers but not , for example, schoolteachers working 40 hours a week in schools among children and adults who on the whole don't know Jesus.  We pray for overseas missionaries but not for Christian electricians, builders, shop assistants, and managers in our towns … We have simply not been envisioned, resourced, and supported to share the Good News of Jesus in our everyday contexts.”  Total Church, p.35-37