Sheryl Brady - Devote Yourself to Grow Yourself

First Corinthians chapter 3, I’m going to read the tenth verse. I’m reading from the NIV, and I’ve asked them to put that up on the screen so you can follow along with me. The scripture reads: «By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, those are two very extreme points right there. Here’s what happens: whatever you build on will show your work for what it is. So if you serve Him cheaply, your work will be known. If you serve Him in a costly way, your work will also be known. It may not always be recognized by people, but God will always know what you do. It will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Paul is the founder of the Church of Corinth, and he says it is by the grace that God has given me that I have laid a foundation as an expert builder. Look at someone on your right and say, „Neighbor, this is your year to devote yourself to grow yourself.“ Tell someone around you on the other side, „Devote yourself to grow yourself.“

Father, thank You for the word. Thank You for what You’ve put in my heart. Thank You for sending people who have ears to hear. Thank You for ordering our steps and bringing us to this very moment. Take over this room, take over this microphone, take over this vessel. Say what only You want. Hide me behind Your cross. Lord, when I get through here today, please touch somebody’s life. Challenge us beyond the norm, and we’ll give You thanks for it in Jesus’ name. Amen. Somebody, one more time, clap your hands and hold your head back and just tell God thank You for Your word. Thank You! Come on, tell Him thank You for Your word today! In Jesus' name.

On your way down, tell somebody, „Devote yourself to grow yourself.“ As I began reading 1st Corinthians 3, where Paul is talking to the Church of Corinth, the more I read it, the more I felt a personal assignment. The more I read it, the more it personally got to me. Paul says, „I am a master builder.“ What he has done is made a commitment here to ensure that the church being built is not just being built, but it is being built right. Because when it is all said and done, whatever you lead will come to a reckoning day when you have to stand before God and display your works. If you’ve done what He’s called you to do, it will stand. But if you haven’t, it will be burned up as wood, hay, and stubble. So if you spend your whole life being a doctor but God called you to be a preacher, then what you have done is wood, hay, and stubble, and it will be burned up before God. You will be left standing empty-handed because you have missed the purpose of God for your life. If God has purposed you to be in this lane, and you fool around and dabble in all of these other lanes, multitasking and missing the purpose of God, that is a difficult life. All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. So when your feet land in your purpose, God has the ability to take all the things that were working against you and turn them around to make them work for you.

One of the things you really need to understand this year is that purpose is everything. You get exhausted when you are in your purpose; it’s incredibly exhausting to be outside of your purpose. Paul is making a commitment here. He’s saying we’re not just going to build a church, but we’re going to build it right. Whatever it is that you are building, make sure that you don’t just build it for the sake of building but that you are building it according to the pattern, according to what God has spoken to you. He is not so much talking about quantity as he is quality. He wants what is being built under his watch, under his leadership, to last for generations and generations. I feel that same urgency, charge, and commission. As Paul is saying those things, I feel like there is a commission—an assignment that comes to me as a builder. We are all builders; we’re just all building different things. But we are all builders. Look at somebody and tell them, „You are a builder.“ Pastor Brady is talking about you, so don’t sit here today and think that you can pitch what I’m saying over your shoulder because, number one, you have done that too many times.