Paul had spent nearly two years organizing and developing the church in Corinth. As a result of those two years there, he had developed many good friendships there. He heard regularly from these friends about the progress of the church. But, the reports were not always good reports, as the text today indicates. In this particular section, Paul expresses concern about a report of divisions within the church.
In this brief paragraph, Paul mentions three very important points. First, he says that we are all to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Next, he says that God sends preachers where He wills. Then he says, the preacher's job is to preach the Gospel.
In closing my ministry among you, I would like to elaborate on these three points. But, I'm going to do it in reverse order.
Paul says that the preacher's job is to preach the Gospel. Now, some of you may say, "Duh!" But there are those who call themselves preachers who preach something that is hard to recognize as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, sometimes it is hard to find anything of the Gospel in those messages.
I believe I have fulfilled this calling. I have preached the Gospel faithfully among you for the last eleven years. Many of you know that I consider preaching to be an awesome task, because I believe that I am bringing God's Word to you. I believe that when I begin my message, I can honestly say, "Thus says the Lord."
There have been times when situations have arisen in the life of the church or of individuals when I have been tempted to set aside the message I had planned and pull out a text to "beat people over the head." But I have always resisted that. I stay on my planned message because my job is to preach the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus Christ. I have always worked hard to share about His love and forgiveness and His expectations for you, both as individuals and as a church. Only once in my 33 years of ministry have I deviated from my planned preaching schedule. That, of course, was the Sunday following 9/11.
There have been times when someone has said to me, "You're asking too much of us." Or "We can't possibly do all that you want us to do." I believe that it is not me, but rather that I have simply preached the Gospel. I have called on you to do what God wants you to do.
There have also been times when one or another of you has said to me something like, "You were speaking to me today. " Or, "Have you been following me around, lately?" In fact, as many of you know, my sermons are almost always planned weeks or even months ahead of time. I am always amazed at how God is obviously working in the planning of the preaching of His Gospel. Just the past few weeks, I had a series of sermons planned a couple of months ahead which I felt led to preach on the Marks of An Alive Church. I planned them well before I made the decision to retire. Then, as I got into preparing them, they became a series about what you are doing and need to keep doing during this interim period to be and to stay alive for the Lord.
The second point to be made is that Christ sends us to preach the Gospel. He sent Paul to Corinth for two years and then sent him on to another place and then another. Hearing God's call and being obedient to His will are things about which I have spoken a number of times. Yet, for many, radical obedience is an extremely difficult thing to understand. But, I firmly believe that God clearly calls us and if we are willing to walk obediently, He will show us the way - step by step. And often, only a step at a time.
It has been clear to me, in each of the calls I have had to serve churches, that God has been abundantly leading and preparing the way. I say that for two reasons. First, in every case the circumstances have been unusual. Many times, especially as I have served on the Committee on Ministry of a presbytery, I have seen pastors who are pushing to move up to the bigger church and sometimes present themselves a little more strongly than they should or enhance their resumes and their interviews a little more than they should. In most of those cases, the pastor then finds himself or herself in a situation that is not a good one and they leave or fail unexpectedly. I have always felt good in the calls which God has given me and thus confident that it was from God and not my own efforts.
I want to thank you for eleven wonderful years of service. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve our Lord and Savior here in Jones Creek. I have been confident that it was the Lord's will for me to be here. That has made it a true joy. Now, I believe it is God's will for me to slow down a little and not have to carry the daily cares of keeping a church going and growing. In this, too, I have felt the Lord's hand as Linda and I have both prayed a great deal leading up to this decision to know what God wanted next for me.
As I go, I leave you with one concern on my heart. It is the same concern Paul wrote to the Corinthians about in the first part of our text today. Paul had heard that there was much division in the church at Corinth. Some people were saying, "I am a disciple of Paul." Others were saying, "I am a disciple of Apollos." Others, "I am a disciple of Peter." Still others, "I am a disciple of Christ." Paul makes the point that all Christians are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ, not this teacher or that teacher, not this pastor or that one.
My concern is one which I suppose every pastor worries about. It comes not from an egotistical mind, but from a loving heart. A little over half of our current membership have joined the church in the last eleven years. I know that some of you have come into the life of the church because of my friendship or Linda's. Some have come in because of my pastoral care. Some have come because of my preaching or personality or whatever. I worry that, because I am not here, you may stop coming to Gulf Prairie Presbyterian. Or, as a new pastor comes to begin his or her ministry here you might drop out saying, "He's not like Bryan."
Please, remember what Paul said. Let me restate it in my own paraphrase: "We are not to be followers of Paul or Apollos or Peter or Bryan Kile. We are to be followers of Jesus Christ!"
My friends, it is my prayer that every person here will continue to worship here, participate here and support financially the work of Gulf Prairie Presbyterian Church. It is my prayer that, in the years to come, this church will remain strong, vital, alive, active and growing. It is my prayer and expectation that all of you will remain disciples of Jesus Christ and thus you will do whatever He calls you to do to keep this church alive and growing. Do not think of yourself as a disciple of myself, or any other pastor past or future. You are disciples of Jesus Christ. I commit you to His care and guidance for the months and years ahead with love and thanksgiving.
Prayer:
Gracious living Lord Jesus: We give ourselves to You. Hold us close and teach us as Your
disciples to follow Your ways and to share Your word. Bless us each in the weeks, months and
years ahead as we move into new and different styles of ministry and service. Most of all, keep
our commitment to You strong and help us in whatever service to which You call us. For Your
love's sake. Amen.
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Sermon December 23, 2007
Sermon December 24, 2007
December 30, 2007 - Guest speaker, transcript not available
Sermon January 6, 2008
Sermon January 13, 2008
Sermon January 20, 2008
Sermon January 27, 2008
Sermon February 3, 2008
Sermon February 10, 2008
Sermon February 17, 2008
Sermon February 24, 2008
Sermon March 2, 2008
Sermon March 9, 2009
Sermon March 16, 2008
Sermon March 23, 2008
March 30, 2008 - Transcript not available
April 6, 2008 - Guest speaker, transcript not available
Sermon April 13, 2008
April 20, 2008 - Guest speaker, transcript not available
April 27, 2008 - Guest speaker, transcript not available
Sermon May 4, 2008
Sermon May 11, 2008
Sermon May 18, 2008
Sermon May 25, 2008
Sermon June 1, 2008
Sermon June 8, 2008
Sermon June 15, 2008
Sermon June 22, 2008
(Please note: At this point in time, we are only able to keep the last few weeks' messages available. As a result, links to
earlier sermons on previous sermon pages may not work.)