Sermon Summary

This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Healthy Church sermon series through the book of 1 Corinthians. In this week’s text, the Apostle Paul is calling believers in the church into greater levels of maturity in Christ. Immaturity in the Lord will manifest as selfishness, often because the self is still on the throne of our lives. We must make Christ our Savior and our Lord, surrendering to His will in all areas of our lives.

Luke 2:11 (ESV)
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

2 Peter 1:11 (ESV)
11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:18 (ESV)
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Corinthian Questions

  1. Are these Christians Paul is speaking to?
  2. Did they lose their salvation?
  3. Is Jesus their Savior but not their Lord?
  4. Is it possible for a Christian to live a life without any change or transformation?

Matthew 13:18–21 (ESV)
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

  1. Hard Heart (:19)
  2. Superficial Commitment (:20)

1 John 2:19 (ESV)
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

Matthew 13:22–23 (ESV)
22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

  1. Self-Interested Commitment (:22)
  2. Wholehearted Commitment (:23)

Mature or Immature Christians?
1 Corinthians 3:1–3a (ESV)
1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh.

“(The flesh is) our base, primal, animalistic drives for self-gratification, especially as it pertains to sensuality and survival.”
Jon Mark Comer (Live No Lies)

“The main work of life is to come out of our selves, out of the little dark prison we are all born in.” C.S. Lewis

Immature or Mature Christians?

  1. Where has God matured you?
  2. What areas are you immature?
  3. When do you expect to mature these areas?

“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”
Winston Churchill

The Symptoms

1 Corinthians 3:3b-4 (ESV)
For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

The Cure

1 Corinthians 3:5–9 (ESV)
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Discussion Questions

  1. What is a carnal Christian? Have you ever been one?
  2. Look at Matthew 13:18-21. Be honest: which of the 4 types of soil are you current day?
  3. Look back on your walk with Christ. Where has God matured you?
  4. Look at your life current day. What areas are you still operating in immaturity? When do you expect to mature these areas?
  5. What is the cure to immaturity?

Application Questions

  1. Ask yourself honestly this week: who is the Lord of your life? Who sits on the throne? Who calls the shots when you make decisions? If your answer is anything other than Christ, get prayer with a mentor this week, fully surrendering to Christ’s Lordship over your life.
  2. This week, determine an area where you need to mature in Christ. Pray with your discipler in this area and ask the Lord how He would call you into greater selflessness and growth.