You Have Everything You Need
(Preached January 16, 2005)
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1.1-9; John 1.29-42


Think of the Bible, once again, as what God has to say to you and me. If this really is the voice of God, speaking to your life today, then don’t you want to listen?

“To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy. . .”

What does it mean “to those sanctified?” To those who are set apart from the world, namely, every Christian. Remember a Christian is one born again by the Spirit to life in Christ. The Holy Spirit has made you “holy” and “set apart”. Those are the dual meanings of the word sanctified. You are set apart to be holy and to serve “holy purposes” in your day, in your time. You are united, God says, with every believer in Jesus, everywhere.

Sometimes it seems almost impossible for me to be holy. I lack the patience. I lack willpower. I lack compassion. During the second of half of the Steeler-Jets game last night, when the Steelers were down 17-10 and you know, I was really grippin’,my son asked me to put together a puzzle with him. I won't tell you my response except to say. . .I lack right priorities.

Maybe you have wondered if living the Christian life; being a holy person, nea, sometimes even a good person is even doable. Well good news, this calling is greater than you and me, and in a certain sense, doesn’t depend on just you and me. The message is clear - God has provided everything we need.

The Lord speaks to the church through the Apostle Paul and tells us that we do not lack any spiritual gift. What does that mean? We have everything that God thinks we need. We have spiritual power. We have gifts to give to each other and to the world.

What I just said is key: God gives us everything we need for the purpose of building each other up and increasing the mission of God through the church, to worship, to witness, to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to teach the growing. God has withheld no good thing from his people, with only one condition – God’s people, use the gifts!

God calls some of you to be leaders in the church. Some of you have stepped up. Others of you are stepping up. Others of you, well, the church for you doth wait.

What do leaders do for the church with their gifts. We lead by good attitudes We lead by investing ourselves in other people. We lead by giving our best to God. We lead by sharing ourselves with others.

So here’s a couple questions for you, particulary you who currently lead in the church. Have you had a good attitude in your work for the church? Do you serve like it’s a privilege to serve?

Secondly, have you identified and recruited others with similar gifts to work with you? Have you ever taken anyone along with you in your work and responsibilities, showing them what you do, why you do it, and how they can do it as well?

Have you shared your life with others and and done so with the aim of giving honor to God and His church?

See, living a holy life and being a good person is never something we can do alone. Remember, we are all working on our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2); but none of us can or should try do that alone. Even secular culture knows this.

For example, here’s a few cards you’ll never see in Hallmark:

“We have been friends for a very long time. . .what do you say we call it quits?”

“I’m so miserable without you. . .It’s almost like you’re here.”

“You are such a good friend that if we were on a sinking ship and there
Was only one life jacket. . .I’d miss you heaps and think of you often.”

Much of the time the Hallmark cards seem like so much fluff. But even Hallmark knows something about human beings and our need for each other.

There’s a scene in the movie, The Gladiator, in which the slaves of Rome are forced to fight Rome’s best in the colosseum for the amusement of Caesar and the people. The slaves are handicapped by terrible odds. The exiled former general of Rome’s legions, Maximus, is one of the slaves. He and the other slaves are cast in a reenactment of the ancient battle of Carthage. It is a stage set for slaughter. Maximus and his men are marched out a dark passageway into the brilliant sunlight of the Colisseum floor and are greeted by the roar of a crowd frenzied with bloodlust. Maximus turns and shouts to his men, “Stay together.” He assembles them in a tight circle in the center of the arena: back-to-back, shields aloft, spears outward. They stair at the gates from which their enemy will come. And again Maximus shouts, “Whatever comes out of that gate, stay together!”

Not bad advice. Not bad at all. Whatever comes our way in life, we, the church, must stick together. This is our greatest gift. This is our most valuable spiritual asset – each other. I am learning this daily being your pastor. You are my greatest asset. I experience so much encouragement and excitement by being with you. I sense the unity of the Spirit among us. I know that if we stick together, so many things are possible that we can’t even imagine now.

Maybe you sense something is missing in your life. Maybe you sense that it is God, it’s goodness, it’s this impossibility of living a holy life. Maybe the answer you are looking for can only be found in the fellowship of other Christians that is the church. When we try to live life independent and alone, we lose. When we stay together, we win. God provides everything that we need.