Yesterday I had the joy of performing the wedding for my nephew David Adams and his bride, Maria Basuino. David and Maria decided to be married at the University Baptist Church in Baltimore—and I have to say I applaud their decision because it is one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen. The sanctuary sits under a huge stone dome—with beautiful stained glass windows—amazing cross-shaped light fixtures and something you don’t see in new churches—PEWS. There were three balconies surrounding their worship center and dark wood everywhere. They have a beautiful tiled baptistery with six individual changing rooms on each side. There’s an amazing pipe organ. In short, it’s a huge physical plant surrounded by gardens—and I really enjoyed wandering around—giving myself a tour!
As I was making a few last minute changes to the service in the “pastor waiting room” — an area I where I believe the pastor stays before each service—I found a scrap book and read through the church’s history. I learned it’s about to turn 100—and that Annie Armstrong’s brother was a charter member—as was the man who started the Brotherhood Commission—which was THE men’s ministry movement back in the day. I also learned they STILL are a mission-minded church because they just got an award for digging a fresh-water well in Africa. Pictures in their church directory show they are ethnically diverse—and have members of all ages. I learned they just got a new pastor—and he seems to be doing well.
Now—if you think I got a little too nosey—I probably did but I always do this kind of thing when I’m visiting a church. You see, I’ve always been interested in local churches—and not just because I’m a “P.K” who grew up to be a “P.” I love the church. I mean, it is the front lines of the only truly lasting thing in this world of ours—The Kingdom of God. Think of it: A local church is almost literally the Body of Christ because congregations like ours are the flesh Jesus is using to do His will. Well, in the interest of helping US—THIS LOCAL church get it right—I want us to spend the next few months study a famous—or some would say INfamous church. I decided to study this particular congregation in the hopes that we could learn—not only from their mistakes but also from their successes. I believe a study of this church will help us affirm the core values—the root FOUNDATIONAL beliefs and practices—that will help our church thrive.
Now—whereas we don’t have a bulletin or a budget or a newsletter from this church that we can study—we DO have a letter written to the church by its founder. If you’ve read our newsletter—the GRACE CONNECTION—then you know the church I’m referring to is the church at Corinth—and its founder is of course the Apostle Paul.
Before we begin let me give you some background to this church. The city of Corinth had been an important city for a long time—since the days of Homer. That “first Corinth” survived until 146B.C. and I say “first” because in that year a Roman legion destroyed it totally—burning it and tearing down all the walls. They leveled the city and it was a deserted ruin for the next 100 years. Then in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar came to power in Rome. He recognized the strategic location of Corinth both for commercial and military purposes and ordered his soldiers to rebuild it. He populated Corinth with Italians—specifically retired Roman soldiers. He gave them property there as a reward for their service. Gradually the descendants of the Greeks who had lived in the original city returned and they weren’t the only ones. Syrians, Asians and Egyptians—even Jews mingled in making Corinth a very cosmopolitan city. There was also a large slave population there.
As I said—geographically, Corinth was at a crossroads. It was located on an isthmus that connects northern Greece—where Athens is—with southern Greece—which was called Achaia. So if you wanted to travel from the southern part of Greece to the northern part, you had to travel through Corinth. If you wanted to travel north to south, you traveled through Corinth. I mean, Julius Caesar was right because all roads in the area led to and through Corinth. There are bodies of water on both sides of this strip of land on which Corinth sat but it was so treacherous sailing around it that often ships would stop at Corinth—and the captain would hire slaves to put the ship on a skid and move it on land the four-mile trek across from one body of water to the other.
Even though it was expensive to take your ship overland, it actually saved lives and time. This of course benefited Corinth because sailors and merchants were in town longer. I mean, not only was it a port—ships literally rolled through its streets. Because of this Corinth became a very rich city with products from all over the world flooding its markets—things like: Arabian balsam wood, Phoenician dates, Libyan ivory, Babylonian carpets, and Lycaonian wool. One scholar referred to it as “the Vanity fair of the ancient world.” With all this commerce flowing through its streets it is no wonder that the leaders of the city were wealthy merchants who worshiped money.
Corinth was also home to the Isthmian Games—athletic contests that were second only to the Olympics. But Corinth was primarily known—not for its commerce or for these athletic games—but for its sin. You see, people who came to gamble on the Isthmian games stayed and indulged their every appetite. Like our Las Vegas, Corinth became a mecca of sexuality. In fact, the leading “religion” of that city promoted prostitution. You see, Corinth had a temple that was the center of worship for the goddess Aphrodite. And in the evening, the temple would have thousands of sacred priestesses, who were actually prostitutes, flood into the streets of Corinth to sell their bodies to business travelers—to sailors, to tourists, to athletes, to residents, to just anybody who wanted a so-called “religious experience” in Corinth.
In short, it was a city soaked in sin. You could describe it as “temptation on steroids” because there was so much immorality there. The Greeks actually coined a term from the name of this city. To “Corinthianize” something was to make it sexually charged, to make it sexually immoral, sexually unrestrained. For a woman to be referred to as “Corinthian” was the same as being called a loose woman.
With all this in mind, picture Paul entering the city alone to start a church. What an unlikely place to do that—what a challenge that was! And I need to stop and point out that the job we are called to do as a local church is usually not easy. Following our Head as a local body means we seek and save the lost—and that is often a difficult thing to do because the lost can be difficult themselves and are often found in difficult places. The fact is God calls us to the “Corinths” of the world. He calls us to join Him in seeking out the people who don’t know Him. He calls us to follow Paul’s example and enter into difficult places—difficult conversations—He calls us to love difficult people. Think about that for a moment—where or who is YOUR “Corinth?” Is it a family member who rejects God? Is it a workplace filled with co-workers who embrace sinful behaviors? Is it a Muslim neighbor? Is it a spouse who makes fun of your faith? Where is YOUR “Corinth?”
Well—Paul was middle-aged when he first walked the streets of this 1st century Vegas as part of his second missionary journey. Shortly after his arrival—perhaps as he walked through the markets, stopping at the booth of some tent-makers—Paul met a couple named Priscilla and Aquila. Since tent-making was Paul’s like of work they became friends and would have spent the long winter months making sails to sail—sell. Now—we don’t know if Priscilla and Aquila were Christians when Paul first met them—but we do know they were followers of Jesus when he left. And their meeting so soon—is a reminder to you and me that God goes before us in the “Corinths” of life—a fact that is not only comforting but thrilling. Wouldn’t you agree?
Now—we read about Paul’s work in Corinth in Acts 18 and it tells us that Paul’s used his typical church starting strategy there—by first going to the Synagogue daily where he would share the Gospel. But in Corinth he faced more opposition there than in other cities. In fact, it was so harsh that in verse 6 of Acts 18 Paul responded by saying, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” But his synagogue work wasn’t totally in vain. Verse 8 says that, “Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord.” In any case, Paul must have been discouraged at this point because verses 9 and 10 tell us that God spoke to him in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking. Do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack you because I have many people in this city.” God of course new that there were many people in this sin-soaked city who would respond to Paul’s preaching—so He encouraged him to keep on keeping on.
At this point I want to stop and remind you of a “core value” of church growth and here it is: lasting church growth takes time. It takes persistence. It’s not easy. Most church growth is NOT a result of a growth SPURT but rather of “plodding” along—faithfully sharing the Gospel even when we face rejection for doing so. Albert Einstein once said about his many accomplishments: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” Missionary and social reformer William Carey said something similar. “I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.” Like Einstein, Carey attributed his accomplishments not to his own brilliance, but to simple persistence. That’s the way it is with healthy, lasting church growth. So as Paul says in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Well, because Paul did not give up—with the help of God’s Holy Spirit, the church in Corinth began to grow and many residents became Christians. The Jewish leaders complained about this growth and took their case to the Roman proconsul but he said, “That’s your problem. It’s not my concern.” This of course Gave Paul free reign to witness and he did exactly that. In fact, he stayed there working in Corinth—longer than any place other than Ephesus. He “plodded” along persistently sharing the gospel and as a result a church was planted in that sin-soaked city.
Now—the church at Corinth would have been an incredibly diverse congregation—made up of slaves, freemen, ex-Roman soldiers—and people from all over the world. And I love that—in fact I think diversity is one of the secrets of our health here at Redland. It not only greatly adds to our “talent pool”—it also gives us a global mindset—and an understanding of the foundational fact that God loves the WHOLE world! Plus, we can do so much together as a diverse body than we could do if we were all the same.
One of my favorite stories is told by a Vacation Bible School teacher out in Oregon who had a second grade class. A new student came into the class one day, a little boy. And he had a physical challenge; he had just one arm. The teacher wished she’d had a chance to kind of school and coach the kids about accepting this boy and not treating him any differently. But the kids did really good throughout the day. They stared a little bit. The teacher just didn’t want anybody to embarrass him in any way. At the end of the class, she kind of forgot herself, and said, “Kids, let’s close the class today by doing that little exercise: ‘This is the church, this is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.” She looked down and she noticed the child missing an arm, and she realized she’d done to him what she hoped none of the kids would do.
And right then one of the girls in the class reached out her right hand and put it in the boy’s left hand and she said, “Come on, Davy, let’s build a church together.” That’s what a church does—it combines different people together—united by the Holy Spirit—to build a church!
Well, after 18 months—with the church healthy and growing, Paul left—accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla—and continued his missionary work traveling throughout Galatia establishing churches. Then, after six years had passed—it was about 56A.D.—Paul heard rumors from the household of a person name Chloe that the church in Corinth was having problems. So he wrote this letter to the church to help—but I have to point out that it is written to us as well. Paul says he is writing, “to all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is important to note. I mean, one reason God inspired Paul to write this letter is because He knew we would face the same temptations and challenges that the church in Corinth faced. Okay—with that in mind take your Bibles and turn to 1st Corinthians 1 and follow along as I read the first eighteen verses.
1 – Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 – to the church of God in Corinth—to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people—together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 – Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 – I always thank my God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.
5 – For in Him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—
6 – God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.
7 – Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
8 – He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 – God is faithful, Who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 – I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11 – My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
12 – What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul;” another, “I follow Apollos;” another, “I follow Cephas;” still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 – Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 – I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 – so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
16 – (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
17 – For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Now—if you paid attention you would have noticed that Paul has some GOOD THINGS to say to the church at Corinth and some BAD THINGS. Let’s start with the good.
(1) Paul reminds them that they are a truly BLESSED congregation.
He drives this important truth home in two ways.
a. First, he tells them—and us—that they are SAINTS.
Look at verse 2 where Paul says he’s writing, “to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people—or—“called as SAINTS.” Now, what does that word “saint” mean? Well, it’s from the Greek word “hagios” which literally means “to be set apart.” And in this context—it means “to be set apart unto God.” Some Christians define a saint as a special select individual—someone holier than others—a person who sets himself or herself literally apart from the world—renouncing all worldly things. They erect statues or make medals out of the likeness of these special holy “set apart” people.
And let’s not be too critical of our brothers and sisters who think of “sainthood” in this way because many Baptist Christians do a similar thing—in that they think of pastors as saints—holy—set apart—but not themselves. In his book Liberating the Church, Howard Snyder says that most church members “expect doctors to treat us, not to train us to treat others. We expect lawyers to give us expert advice, not to admit us to the secret fraternity of those who understand how the legal system works. Likewise, we want pastors to serve us, not to build and train us to serve others.” His point is this: We are all saints. We are all ministers—and the job of pastors like myself is to train you for your ministry. A pastor’s job is to equip saints like you for the “Corinths” of life. I pray every day that I do a good job of that!
You know, I think it breaks God’s heart when believers come to a church with a consumer mindset saying things like, “teach me. Pray for me. Fix my kids. Counsel my spouse. And if you don’t do all of this up to my standards, I’ll go down the street and see if another church will pay better attention to me.” That’s not Biblical Christianity. The Bible teaches that we are ALL saints—all called to full-time ministry. We come to a church to serve in that church and be equipped to serve in the world. The fact is, God’s Word says that every Christian is a saint. Sainthood is the state into which all believers are brought by the new birth. You’re a saint. I’m a saint. Take a moment turn to the person next to you and say, “Hi Saint Bill or Saint Joyce—insert their name.” Someone once put it this way, “Beware of religion which SUBSTITUTES itself for everything. That makes monks. Seek a religion that PENETRATES everything. That makes Christianity.”
That’s the kind of sainthood Paul is talking about—a religion that penetrates everything in a person’s life. I mean, saintliness is not produced by separating ourselves from certain things. It is expressed by taking our faith into what we do and how we live. It’s literally a grace-driven mind set in life. When a person understands that Jesus died for them—when they comprehend His amazing grace in forgiving them their sin then they let that penetrate their attitude about everything. When they realize that through faith in Jesus they have been set apart—forgiven—cleansed—well, they want everyone else to experience that same grace.
Saint Paul has a favorite word that he uses repeatedly when he writes to other saints like you and me. It’s the phrase, “in Christ” and he uses it 164 times in his letters. In 1st Corinthians 15:22 he defines this “sainthood” we’re talking about by reminding his readers that everyone is located in one of two spiritual positions. He writes: “For as IN ADAM all die, even so IN CHRIST shall all be made alive.” Either we are in Adam or we are in Christ. And when we realize through our decision to follow Jesus that we have been set apart IN CHRIST—well it changes the way we live. It was this kind of holiness and sainthood that turned the world upside down in Paul’s day and it will do the same in our world.
In Bolivia they have a prosperous industry making hats out of rabbit fur. Paul Harvey once said that Bolivians have a way of pulling a hat out of a rabbit. Likewise, God has a way of making saints out of sinners like you and me.
When the English government ran out of silver coins under his rule, Oliver Cromwell sent people to search the country for silver. When they reported back that the only silver they could find was in the statues of saints in cathedrals he said, “We’ll melt down the saints and put them into circulation.” That’s a pretty good description of the saints of the church—and Paul reminds the Corinthians that their church is full of true SAINTS—people set apart unto God.
b. The second GOOD thing Paul reminds his Corinthian friends of is the fact that theirs is a church that has experience GREAT LEADERS.
They had been taught by people like Sosthenes. He was a leader of a Jewish Synagogue who had become a Christian. In other words, they had benefited from their own Lon Solomon! They had also been blessed by the teaching of Paul, Peter, and Apollos. I can’t help but think of those days when Willow Creek had on its staff, Bill Hybels, John Ortberg and Lee Stobel. WOW! That’s almost as good as Adams, Archer, Cooke and Freeman! My point—Paul’s point—is that Corinth was full of Christians who had been taught well. They had experienced solid Biblical teaching week after week. They had been FED well!
c. The third GOOD thing Paul says is that it was a church that was incredibly gifted.
Look at verses 5-7: “In Him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack ANY spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” As we’ll see in our study of future chapters, the church in Corinth had every spiritual gift imaginable: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, performing miracles—prophecy, discernment and so on. I mean it was an incredibly gifted church. And—I don’t want to give you the big head—but I can’t help but think of YOU. I’ve served in several churches over the years and none has been as blessed—as gifted—as Redland.
Over the years I’ve seen people here who had the gift of FAITH—people who helped us to see that “Yes—we can build that ROC—what’s 4 million dollars to God!?” I’ve sat under amazing teachers like CC Day and Pam Burdette and Bob Michael and David Roney and Roger Price. I’ve been incredibly blessed by people who have musical gifts—led and equipped by people like Bill Archer and Ken Owens and Paula Pursel and Louise Brinkman and Judi Owens—and Marilyn Jordan and MANY more. I’ve been ministered to by people like Nancy Faulconer who obviously have the gift of hospitality. I’ve been motivated by people like Charlie Brinkman and Mike Craig and Jim Mitcham who have a God-given passion for evangelism. I’ve been moved by people like Sandy Wehunt and Cyndi Word who have the gifts of helps and mercy—compelling me to want to help children and women in crisis. I could literally go on and on—but can you see how GIFTED WE are as a church!? Everyone look around at all the saints in this room and say: “Thank You God!” This fact that we are so blessed makes me feel confident—encouraged to bless others! It makes me feel BOLD about going into the “Corinths” of today. It tells me there is nothing we cannot do together for God! It should make you feel the same. Well, Paul had firsthand knowledge that the church at CORINTH was an amazing church. I mean there was so much POSITIVE about that church. It was filled with SAINTS who were well-taught and incredibly gifted.
(2) But because of a problem—something they lacked at the moment—none of that meant anything. I’m referring to their lack of UNITY.
They were a church that was coming apart at the seams. Look at verse 10 where Paul writes: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say—and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
The word for “divisions” that Paul uses here literally means “plowed up.” That’s what had happened to the “sweet, sweet Spirit” of the church at Corinth. It had been plowed up.
Things were so bad that Paul devoted four chapters of his letter to this one issue. In fact, Paul says, “I appeal to you” —using the same term we find in John 14 when Jesus describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit when he comes alongside of us as Comforter. Paul is saying, “I’m coming alongside of you right now. I’m coming alongside of you as a friend. I’m coming alongside as someone who cares about you and I’m appealing to you. You’ve got to understand that you’ve got a huge problem.”
And notice there are two aspects of this lack of unity he speaks of. He says that they need to be perfectly united in MIND and THOUGHT. Mind and thought. That phrase “perfectly united” comes from a word that was used to describe the mending of broken fishing net. It could also be used to describe a physician who sets a broken bone in order for it to heal. In short, it’s a healing term. It’s the idea of taking something that’s broken and healing it and restoring it. It tells us that Paul knew there were some relationships in this church that were broken and that needed to be healed—their unity needed to be restored—in mind and thought. Now, when Paul uses this phrase, I think he was saying two things. First, when he said “united in mind,” he was referring to the essentials of our faith, the non-negotiables of Christian doctrine, like salvation, issues of the identity of God, issues on sin, etc. And when he said, “united in THOUGHT,” I think he was referring to the non-essentials, those areas where Scripture is not black and white—areas of opinion that are open to discussion. He was saying he wanted them to be able to agree to disagree; and sometimes to do it without being disagreeable—because thanks to their freedom in Christ, they didn’t have to share the same opinion.
It makes me think of a scene from the Spielberg film Lincoln. Throughout the film you see that Secretary of war Stanton and President Lincoln had their squabbles—their disagreements. But as they stood in that 19th century “situation room” waiting for the telegraph machines to report the outcome of a major battle—they stopped arguing and grabbed each other’s hand. They disagreed over many things—mostly unimportant—but they were united on the essential belief that the war must be won. The fact is churches don’t usually split over ESSENTIALS. Sadly, they usually allow their unity to be plowed apart by disagreements over trivial, non-essential things.
But—when churches get this CORE VALUE right—when they have “unity in the essentials, freedom in the non-essentials and love in all things”—when they are united in MIND and THOUGHT—they enjoy a wonderful unity that makes them a powerful tool in God’s kingdom.
We must remember this CORE ISSUE. Unity is VITAL. Without it—we are impotent as a church. Unity is that important. It is a precious thing that must be protected.
Now—the church at Corinth had its fair share of typical quarrels but its main problem was the fact that it had allowed itself to be torn into various FACTIONS—little subsets or cliques or personality cults or fan clubs—each centered around a particular church leader. In essence they had stopped focusing on the MESSAGE—the ESSENTIALS—and had begun focusing on the MESSENGER.
a. One group rallied around Paul. They were saying: “I follow Paul; Paul rocks!”
And most likely the people who were saying that were the founding members of the church in Corinth, the charter members of the church in Corinth—people who saw Paul as their spiritual father. He was the FIRST pastor and they rallied around him.
b. Another group came along and said: “I follow Apollos; Apollos is the man.”
We know from other Scripture, that Apollos was an incredibly gifted communicator who started teaching after Paul left town. Many became followers of Jesus under Apollos’ ministry. Acts 18:24-26 says Apollos had thorough knowledge of the Scriptures—he spoke with great fervor—he spoke boldly and people were just drawn to him. Evidently that led people to say things like: “We’d much rather listen to Apollos than Paul. Apollos just makes the Scriptures come alive. We are so moved by his warmth and his sensitivity and his charisma and his sense of humor when he teaches. Apollos, he’s the man.”
c. Then there were those who followed Cephas or Peter.
These were probably the traditionalists in the church, those who had deep Jewish roots. They probably weren’t too comfortable with those Gentile believers who had been converted out of paganism and paid very little attention to their Jewish traditions and customs. Maybe they followed Peter because they knew he was one of the original twelve that Jesus handpicked. And Peter preached at Pentecost! He helped BIRTH the church so he was their man.
d. The final group followed Jesus.
Now, you may hear this and think, “Finally somebody’s finally got a little maturity and perspective here. That’s what it’s about—just follow Christ.” But in reality in the church in Corinth, this was the most dangerous group of all because they actually claimed to be more spiritual than everybody else. They were the spiritual elitists who were saying they didn’t need to submit to human spiritual authority like Paul or Apollos or Peter; they could just listen to Jesus. And they were just as divisive as the other three cliques, probably even more because they weren’t really focusing on Jesus. They were focusing on a holier than thou SELF.
Well, Paul is saying—the Corinthians needed to do away with these factions—and unite around Jesus. He asks, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” In other words—they needed to get back to keeping Jesus and His cross CENTRAL. They were no longer oriented—focused on—the cross. And that is the MAIN lesson I want us to take from today’s study. You see if our lives—if our church ever stops focusing on the message of the cross—if we orient ourselves around anything else—we are lost—and cease to BE a church.
In 1914, not long after the sinking of the Titanic, Congress convened a hearing to discern what had happened in another nautical tragedy. You see, in January of that year, in thick fog off the Virginia coast, the steamship Monroe was rammed by the merchant vessel Nantucket and sank. Forty-one sailors lost their lives in the frigid winter waters of the Atlantic. During cross-examination it was learned, as the New York Times reported, that the Monroe’s captain, navigated with a personal compass that deviated from the standard magnetic compass. He had never adjusted it so that it steered true. This tragedy illustrates the consequences of mis-orientation. The reminder for us is this: we need to constantly make sure our church is oriented around the cross. Let me put it this way. Jesus is every church’s magnetic north. And Paul reminded the Corinthians of this CORE VALUE. He said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence—lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
When I began I told you of my interest in churches—and one thing I look for when I visit a church is the cross. I look to see, “Is it prominent? Is it at the top of the steeple?” If it’s not—I wonder, “Has the church lost its way? Is this church focused on the wrong thing? Is it dedicated to preaching the Gospel message?” I am so thankful that the cross is our focus at Redland—and has been for all 50 years of our history. I know we had to move our huge cross as part of our new projection system but it will be re-hung in the upper foyer—so that it is the first thing people see before they enter the sanctuary. We’re putting it there to keep the cross always before us. We’re also hanging a flying cross up there—and are considering putting the cross that was on the original sanctuary in the baptistery.
As I finish I’d like to call us to a time of self-examination. Is there anyone in our church with whom you have a relationship in need of mending? Are there any conversations you need to have? And—is the cross central in your life? Is proclaiming its message your focus?