Sheryl Brady - Never Forget What Matters Most

On your way down, just shake somebody good and hard—not too hard—but just tell them, «Don’t ever forget what matters most.» How many of you are having a happy New Year so far? Yep, that’s about half of you, but anyway, it’s going to get better. It’s going to get better; it’s going to get better in the name of Jesus. It’s going to get better. You know, I’ve decided that if I’m alive, if I have the activity of my limbs, if I have my right mind, if I have food on my table and a roof over my head, it is good. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. We read from 1 Corinthians 13; I said it was a familiar passage of Scripture, and it is, because many people refer to it when they start talking about love. It is a very foundational passage of Scripture, and the author is the Apostle Paul. Paul is someone you would not automatically assume God would use regarding foundational issues in the church; initially, Paul was against the church. He hated it. He just did not like Christians; he was a hater of Christians. Not only did he hate Christians, but he also persecuted them; he was a murderer of Christians. Then one day, he had an encounter with God Himself, and he ultimately became what he hated. He became a Christian himself, and such were some of us. Some of us said we didn’t like church; we were never going back. Our grandmothers and mothers dragged us to church—some of us, that’s the only drug problem we had—but I’m grateful anyway. Some of us said that if we ever grew up and got out of church, we were done with it. The truth is, we laughed at people who were in church once we got out. We made fun of people who were in the church. But here you are today, sitting right in the middle of church, whether you planned on being here or not. God lassoed your life, pulled you in, and brought you to the kingdom for such a time as this. Then you turned around and became the very thing you were making fun of. You never thought—some of you never thought—you’d be standing up in a choir, clapping your hands, singing your song, and worshiping God. But here you are, and I’m grateful that you are here. It’s amazing that you are here after some of the things we have been through, but look at your neighbor and say, «He turned it around for me.» Now, that’s why we’re here. Truth be told, it’s because God literally grabbed our hearts and our lives, and He did turn it around for us. So Paul becomes a believer, and God begins to use him to establish doctrine and New Testament theology. He begins to make people aware of who they are and the love of God. He does this in the middle of all kinds of religions, philosophies, and business philosophical ideas. He establishes what we now call the Church of Corinth, made up of a mixture of people—people who were wrestling with their humanity and carnality, alongside those who were extremely spiritual. So, here you have people who are extremely spiritual and very carnal, and bless his heart, he’s trying to build a church amid all of that. How many of you know he had his work cut out for him? He did, because often those attracted to spiritual gifts, powers, and influences are the ones who wrestle with the deepest corruption, the deepest depravity, and the deepest sinfulness out there. Somebody say «Selah"—think about that right there. It’s very possible to be very spiritual on one hand and very carnal on the other. Well, thank you for being honest; thank you for the five of you that were honest just then. It is indeed possible for us to be spiritual one minute and carnal the next. The thing Paul was trying to instill, the thing he was attempting to teach us, was that we need a balance in our lives. We don’t need to be so extremely spiritual that we are of no earthly good, nor should we be so carnal that we separate ourselves from the presence of God. Paul was instructing them; he was giving them wise instruction. Paul didn’t pull any punches; he would confront them, get up in their faces, and correct them. However, he would not do this by ignoring the human felt needs they had in their hearts. He was concerned about what they felt and about their hearts, but he loved them enough to bring correction to them…