Illuminate Community Church

06/30/19 - What Should A Christian Do? - 1 Corinthians 8

Sometimes it's easy to forget that we Christians live in a broader context than our church community. We live in the world. We are called to be missionaries and ambassadors (good will representatives of some other place - heaven). The Corinthian Christians were asking this question - What is permissible for a Christian and what is not? We often think this way too. We want to know where the lines are so we can step right up to them and yet not feel the guilt of crossing over. Paul changes our perspective. Instead he wants us to think like this: In what ways are we to behave so that we can maximize our evangelistic influence? Paul gives a few timeless principles. What is safe for one Christian may not be for another; true discernment always requires love as well as knowledge; and believers have no right to demand certain freedoms if they in turn prove detrimental to those around them. The mature Christian will ask, "What do those around me need from me right now?" This is love.

06/23/19 - Come As You Are - 1 Corinthians 7:1-24

Some people think that coming to Jesus means you change everything about yourself. That's not accurate. Certainly the call to follow Jesus means we distance ourselves from the sin that hinders our relationship with him. Paul says that we are all former somethings. However, we are not called to change our circumstances in life. The Corinthian Christians took things to the extreme. Their ancient society was rampant with illicit sex, divorce and socioeconomic divisions. Some believed the way to become spiritual was to deny all of these and become like impoverished, celibate monks. Paul says "No, instead, come as you are." God uses us as he finds us. It's not about being married, single, rich or poor. It's not about our ethnicity, age or gender. It's not about being the janitor or the owner. We don't even own ourselves says Paul! It's about obedience to the one who purchased us with his precious blood.

06/16/19 - Your Body Counts - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification : that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God…”
(1 Thessalonians 4.3-5)

There are very few times in Scripture where God speaks so directly about His will—his expressed desire—his ideal, his plan, his best design for us. Paul says that God’s best for you is to abstain from sexual immorality and to exercise self-control.

Living in our culture means you are affected by sexual immorality – our technology has made it freely and instantly available, everywhere at any time to anybody (including children), and always anonymous. It affects our clothing, our schools, our TV, our films, our music, our media, even our coffee. We hear about it; we read about it; we see it; we think about it; we even legislate it. Without doubt, you or someone you know has been and will be affected by the worship of sex because, as Peter Kreeft (professor of philosophy at Boston College) has said, “Sex is the effective religion of our culture.”

Our culture, like Corinth, has hijacked sexuality, taking what is an awesome gift that blesses and making into an awful god that controls and destroys. This Sunday, the Apostle Paul will speak truthfully, directly, and passionately to the Corinthian believers and us, giving perhaps the clearest perspective in all of Scripture on our bodies and sexual sin. I wouldn’t have chosen this text for Father’s Day, but then again, Paul’s words may be the gift many really need and want to receive…

06/09/19 - Take One For The Team 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Are you competitive? Even if you're not chances are you don't like losing. For the competitive Corinthians, life is all about winning and losing. Lawsuits are certainly about winning and losing. So imagine their surprise when Paul makes a most troubling announcement: any Corinthian Christian who takes another believer to court over a trivial matter has already lost. Going to court with a fellow-believer is a no-win situation. The better way is to take it to the church first. If the church lacks the maturity to mediate, then take the loss. Imagine Paul telling us that it is better to be a victim than a victor. Is Paul saying that it is better to be wronged, better to be defrauded?

How can this be? Looking at Paul’s words from the dark side, just what keeps the Corinthian saints from taking the loss, from being the victim? The only reasons I can think of are all bad ones. We don’t want to take a loss because of our pride. We don’t want to let the other person get the better of us. We don’t want to lose. If we are materialistic, we don’t want to lose money or possessions, which are more precious to us than our relationships with fellow-believers. Those who are self-centered and self-serving do not want to have any of their rights violated. We protect and exercise our rights, no matter what the cost to others.

Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian Christians can only be understood in terms of the utterly different value system of the Christian, as opposed to that of the unbeliever. The Christian life is dominated by the cross!

06/02/19 - Immorality In The Church - 1 Corinthians 5

Sometimes it's hard to believe the evil things people are capable of doing. Can you imagine those things happening in the church? Sadly, it does happen. When a church allows itself to be shaped by the world's culture, it will become lax about sin within its walls. Left unchecked, flagrant sin will destroy the individual and infect the whole church. In his letter to the church in Corinth the Apostle Paul explains why moral absolutes and church discipline are vital for the good of the individual as well as the church family, even though the church may be labelled judgmental and intolerant.

The fact is, we all walk around sinning all the time. The difference is repentance. We don’t want Satan to tear us apart and loving confrontation is the means used to bring about repentance, forgiveness and restoration - this is the ultimate goal. Churches don’t often do this when necessary because they don’t take the protective power of the church seriously. It’s like being exposed to radiation. The only way to protect yourself is to enter the fallout shelter. When sin is tolerated in the church it’s like bringing radiation inside where others are affected.

The world is waiting to see a church that that takes sin seriously and shows the power of the gospel in all its forms. Let’s not be like those churches that stay away from sinners and tolerate unrepentant sin. Be gracious with sinners in house and reach those not in the house.

05/26/19 - Spiritual Parents - 1 Corinthians 4:14-21

Moms and Dads are important. Some are still trying to pick up the pieces of their lives after being raised by abusive, controlling and harsh parents. We were designed to have examples of what to be and how to live. When those examples lead you astray the voice in your head receives mixed messages that can take years to unravel.

As Christians, we have been placed in God's family as adopted sons and daughters. The apostle Paul tells us that in God's family there are spiritual moms and dads. Paul referred to himself in this way - a spiritual father. These are the men and women who tell you about Jesus, warn you about dangers, prove to be examples, and care enough to confront in love. Howard Hendricks was once asked how the church can identify her spiritual depth. He said, "That's easy, just ask to see the spiritual children." In other words the church ought to be a maternity ward where there is constantly heard the cry of newborn babes in Christ.  

How about you? Do you have spiritual children in your life? Are you setting a good example for them? Would you be pleased if your spiritual children live their Christian lives just like you? Would you want them to imitate you in your zeal for Christ, your service to others, your love for the saints, your diligence in the Scriptures? I know, these are sobering thoughts. Let’s take them to heart as we prepare ourselves to receive the good words of Paul this Sunday.

05/19/19 - The Scum Of The Earth - 1 Corinthians 4:1-13

"Scum" probably isn't a word you would use to describe yourself. It sounds self-loathing and demeaning. So why would Paul apply it to himself? Albert Hung explains...

Paul was writing to a group of early Christians living in a materialistic, hyper-sexualized culture, much like our own. These Corinthian believers gathered regularly to worship and pray and sit under the instruction of their pastors. They broke bread together in one another’s homes. In that sense, they had every appearance of godliness. Yet in other ways, these Christians were no different than anyone else. They lived in luxury, comfort, and ease. They freely indulged in various forms of sexual immorality. As a result, they became smug, prideful, and spiritually lazy. “Look at how God is blessing us,” they boasted. “Truly, we are favored more than others."

In contrast, Paul and the apostles were poor, itinerant preachers, traveling from place to place spreading the gospel, despite the constant threat of imprisonment or death. The Corinthians wanted no part of this life.

It’s no wonder nobody takes Christians seriously when the only thing different about us is that we go to church, pray before meals, and tend to be more judgmental than the rest of the population. But nobody could accuse Paul and his compatriots of displaying this kind of shallow faith. They were fools for Christ. They were the scum of the earth. The Corinthians were clamoring for the top positions in life, Paul was working his way down.

Henri Nouwen says it well. "The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up. Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record – that’s what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame. The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life."

Jesus modeled this didn't he? He climbed all the way down to the gates of death and burst them open for you and me. He became nothing so we could become something. It's ok, go ahead and count yourself with Paul and Jesus. You're in good company!

05/12/19 - Spiritual Fruit Cocktail - 1 Corinthians 3, Galatians 5:22-23

It's great to be back in the land of free refills! We had a special time together in Isreal and Jordan with a great group of folks from Illuminate. To be where Jesus lived and did ministry makes the Bible come to life in new ways and of course to be reminded of the amazing life of Jesus Christ. I missed you.

I don't have much of a sweet tooth but I do like savory things. If given the choice between chocolate cake and hot wings, it's wings every time. There is however one sugary food I do like. I'm certain it has to do with my experience eating it as a kid - the syrup from fruit cocktail in a can. Along with this sweetness comes that magical variety of fruit all mixed together. It's a perfect combination. So it is with the Fruit of the Spirit. It's when all the fruit comes together in your life you know you've hit the sweet spot. In fact, this is what spiritual maturity looks like. 

The problem with the Corinthian believers is that they had very little spiritual sweetness because they neglected the fruit that produces it. They were not growing in faith as a result. These believers had much talent but lacked depth. This is a bad combination that leads to pride and quarreling and as a result they looked like those on the outside. One of the great fruit killers is when we allow the gospel of the culture to replace the gospel of Jesus. So together, by God's Spirit, let's make Illuminate this amazing produce section in God's store!

05/05/19 - Wisdom in the Inner Ring - 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

C.S. Lewis, in one his most memorable essays “The Inner Ring,” describes a place where almost all of us long to be. We want to be in the know—one of the essential people – in the Inner Ring. We want to be part of that tight circle that’s most important, wherever it may be: in a family, a circle of friends, at work, or at church. Lewis writes: “I believe that in all men’s lives at certain periods, and in many men’s lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside.” To feel excluded or out of it or non-essential is miserable. Yet the desire to be “in” can make you say things you would not otherwise say or not say things you should say. This desire to be on the inside of whatever group you want to join can and will affect your relationships at work at home, in the community, and in the church. In Corinth, the freshness of a relationship with Jesus had worn off among the Christians and had given way to the wisdom of the cool and sophisticated “in crowd.” By the time Paul writes 1 Corinthians, this pursuit for the inner ring had only brought them quarreling, factions, competition, confusion, selfishness, and immorality.

In our text this Sunday, Paul encourages you to rediscover God’s inner ring and the gifts that await you. Inside, you can’t help but be transformed!

04/28/19 -Simply Sharing the Gospel - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

The story itself was still pretty raw. It was a certainly a touchy subject. Jesus and the cross didn’t have tradition yet. It wasn’t in the fabric of any culture yet. In fact, the message of Jesus was still shocking to most who would hear it. Imagine telling someone an improbable story using unfamiliar words about an event that happened a few years back where the leader died; at the same time, you have to communicate that it is the secret to everything. You would have to be pretty adept at presenting this one – especially given the competition in Corinth.

Speaking and telling stories publicly was a big deal in Corinth. It was a pre-social media, pre-mass media, pre-printing press world. Public speakers were a major source of entertainment. The elite speakers were called Sophists – and they were wise. They would make a living by going around and speaking and debating at public gatherings, banquets, and parties. They would come with a bit of “truth” wrapped with fancy logic and clever presentation. When they debated, it wasn’t always about who was right, it was about who made the greatest presentation. And these speakers knew how to work a crowd with their stories.

Paul finds himself right in the middle of this scene in Corinth. And the reality is that he could have gone toe-to-toe with the Sophists in public with the message of the gospel. He was an educated man with great reputation. He was an expert on the law. His writings show he was an expert in persuasion. He could have easily wowed the crowd with his skill. And yet, he chose, on the basis of all he says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, to present the gospel in a much different way – in a way to which you and I can easily relate 2000 years later.

Sharing the gospel today in north Scottsdale poses many of the same challenges for us as it did for Paul among the Corinthians. This Sunday, you’ll discover how simple it can really be.