Antioch Odessa
Prayer Breakfast
  • Song
  • How Great Thou Art
  • I Believe
  • Doxology (Amen)
  • Song
  • All My Boast Is In Jesus
  • Take My Life And Let It Be
  • God Is Faithful (Psalm 114)
  • We Give Thanks (Psalm 107)
  • How Deep The Father's Love For Us
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    For those of you who have braved the cold weather and icy street I am so glad that you are here with me today. For those of you watching on-line stay warm. I want to talk to you about something so exciting this morning because we as believers have been given some wonderful blessings. The title of our message today is, “The Blessings of Belonging to Christ.” When I do funerals or see people who have no hope and are so lost in this world I am always reminded and thankful of my hope in Christ and that my identity is founded in Jesus and not myself or in the things of this world. When we as believers understand who we are in Christ we begin to know that there are great benefits in belonging to Jesus.
    Grab your bibles and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. As I stated last week the main focus of this first letter to the church at Corinth is having a foundation in truth for godly living. Why is this so important? Because it is extremely easy to not live for Christ today.
    If the Lord has truly changed our lives and we have come to see our sin and our desperate need for Christ than we are truly God’s saints, we are His holy ones, we have been set apart to bring honor and glory to God. This means that we are no longer conformed to this world but that we our conformed to obey and please the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our heart, soul, and mind. As God’s saints there will come a time as we grow in our relationship with Christ that we see the benefits that we have as believers.
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    1 Corinthians 1:4–9 ESV
    4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
    ​
    Let me share with you 4 Blessings of belonging to Christ.

    1. We are Blessed by God’s grace.

    1 Corinthians 1:4 ESV
    4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
    1 Corinthians 1:6 ESV
    6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—
    Each and every believer has much to be thankful for but first and foremost we are always thankful for God’s grace shown to us through our salvation. Paul is truly thankful here to not only these Christians in Corinth but to God who had redeemed him.
    It’s important here that we understand the word grace. Of course this word was used in most of Paul’s greetings but this word grace shows us much more in that each Christian has been favored in regard to God saving men and women through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God’s grace is totally undeserved and unmerited. Let me say that another way. God’s saving grace is free and unearned. However, we must see our need to be forgiven of our sin in order to fully understand God’s grace. The problem for every human being is that we are all sinners, and there is no one who can hide or escape sin. We are all guilty and helpless and because God is not only loving but just He cannot just ignore or look away from our sin. It must be punished, and its penalty is death. Church we must all understand today that because of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death our sins have been atoned for. Grace is a gift from God that we cannot go out an earn, and we never deserve it. That is what makes grace grace. If you know Jesus today and He has truly changed your life than you must understand that God has forgiven all of your sins, past, present, and future. In Christ, all of our guilt and shame are removed. That is what grace truly is. Paul was eternally grateful for the grace of God which was given in Christ Jesus.
    In verse 6 this testimony about God’s grace concerning Christ was confirmed. As Christ changed the hearts and lives of believers the Holy Spirit would empower the apostles and then all of Christ’s disciples to be His witnesses. The apostle John tells us this.
    1 John 5:11 ESV
    11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
    Real life, true life, is found in Jesus. Church family when you stop to take time and think about your life, no matter what you have gone through or are going through, we are blessed and can thank God today for the grace that He has shown us through saving us.
    ​

    2. We are Blessed by the gifts God has given to us.

    1 Corinthians 1:5 ESV
    5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—
    1 Corinthians 1:7 ESV
    7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    In the Lord Jesus Christ we have everything that we will need for this life. Now there are many times where it can feel as if we are empty or we need something in this world to help us get through the difficult days. This week people thought we need more toilet paper, water, milk, and eggs. People waited in line for hours to get propane. However, in Christ we have all that we need and we realize just how blessed we truly are. Peter reminds of this in his letters.
    2 Peter 1:3 ESV
    3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
    Notice here that Paul uses the word “Enriched.” He uses this word to describe the Corinthians condition. When we think of this word we might think of money and wealth, but here it refers to spiritual wealth. This church and it’s people were spiritually wealthy because of the gifts and spiritual leaders in their church. Imagine having the Apostle Paul as your pastor and even Apollos who was known as a mighty man in the Scriptures who was a great leader there in the church. Clearly what we see here is that the Corinthians were spiritually gifted.
    Among the many things that God gives us and that we have in Christ, Paul shares two primary gifts.
    -All Speech.
    -All Knowledge.
    Speech = When it come to our speech you need to know that God has given every believer the ability to speak and use your words for Christ. This is so important because there are many times we don’t know what to say or even how to say it. This past Tuesday I was asked to pray before our School Board and many members of our community. I was nervous about what to pray about and how to say it. That morning I read this passage for my quiet time.
    Matthew 10:19–20 ESV
    19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
    I had nothing to be nervous about. Many times we as believers can fail the Lord by not speaking for Christ because we may think I don’t know what to say or I am afraid to say it. Remember when we witness and share our faith the Holy Spirit will give us exactly what we need to say. We have no excuses for not giving a testimony about Jesus. We are called to speak with boldness. Whether we are experienced or not, may we be willing to use our words to help others know about Jesus.
    Knowledge = Another wonderful gift that the Lord gives to each believer is all knowledge. We may not know everything in the Bible or feel like we have an answer for every question, but we are given everything we need to know to speak effectively for the Lord. If there are things you feel that you want to know more about ask the Lord to help you learn those things and study to be an approved workman.
    We know that Paul prayed for the Ephesians that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. Paul said this in Ephesians 1.
    Ephesians 1:17 ESV
    17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
    Paul even prayed for the Colossian church this way.
    Colossians 1:9–10 ESV
    9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
    Church, God has given us the words and speech, but we must actually open up our mouths in order to use those gifts for Him. Likewise, God has also given us all knowledge, but we need to use it for Him. Just as Christ has blessed us through our salvation, He also has blessed us through His gifts. God graciously provides exactly what you and I need as we journey through this life as well as the ability to grow in the knowledge of Him in order to do exactly what He wants us to do.
    We have much to be thankful for today. We are thankful for the gifts of speech and knowledge. As well as other spiritual gifts. Some of you have been given the gifts of teaching, preaching, exhortation, administration, helps, and giving. So, take time to thank God for those gifts. Also keep in mind that we have been called to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and to use the gifts that He has given us. Just like food and exercise help us to physically grow, we have been called to grow in our knowledge of God and use our gifts for Him to grow in our spiritual lives.

    3. We are Blessed by knowing that Christ will return.

    1 Corinthians 1:7 ESV
    7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    As we think about the blessings of our salvation and the spiritual gifts God has given us the best gift is yet to come. Our greatest joy is looking forward to the revealing of Christ or the return of Christ. Right now every believer watches, waits, and hopes for the Lord to return. Many of us this week were awaiting this severe storm. When was it going to arrive. How bad would it be. So, we all know what it is like to anticipate something. But to enter a new life with Christ will be so much better. Why? Because our true home, our true citizenship is in heaven. Paul said it this way to the Philippians.
    Philippians 1:23–24 ESV
    23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
    To be with Christ is far better! Just like Paul eagerly awaited to be with Christ we too await the Lord’s return. And we can be confident that Christ will someday return. You may ask why should we be joyful about that day. Well first of all Jesus will finally be crowned Lord of Lord’s and King of Kings. Someday every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Also the Lord’s return will bring the final defeat of Satan. There is coming a day where Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity. However, one of the greatest blessings is that for each believer who continues to endure until the Lord’s returns we look forward to our glorification where we will have new bodies in a new heaven and new earth. We will live a life of everlasting joy in the presence and glory of our Lord. When Christ returns He will confirm or establish us as blameless before God the Father. Church, God is faithful to His sovereign will through whom you were called and if we are called we are justified and if we are justified we are being sanctified and as God sanctifies us there is coming a day where we will be have bodies that will be glorified.

    4. We are Blessed by knowing that God is faithful.

    1 Corinthians 1:8–9 ESV
    8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
    Paul was able to praise God not only for the saving grace given to the Corinthians but also to himself. Now Paul assures these believers that God will continue to sustain them and keep them in that grace till He calls them home.
    Church, we must know that God is faithful to those whom He has called or saved. God is faithful even when we are not. God is faithful even when we are fickle. Because God has declared us as righteous or justified us, He also continues to sanctify us and sustain us to the end.
    As we eagerly await for the Lord’s return, we enjoy many blessings here on earth. We enjoy that God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with Christ. Here is the really cool thing church, God called us into an eternal relationship with Jesus and this is based solely on His sovereign grace. This relationship with Jesus is based not on our own efforts, but wholly on the faithfulness of God who will sustain you to the end.
    One of the most important blessings of our journey in this Christian life is experienced each day with the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us. He is with you to the end. Paul explained it this way in Romans chapter 8.
    Romans 8:38–39 ESV
    38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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    (Close in Prayer)

      • 1 Corinthians 1:4–9ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:4ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:6ESV

      • 1 John 5:11ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:5ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:7ESV

      • 2 Peter 1:3ESV

      • Matthew 10:19–20ESV

      • Ephesians 1:17ESV

      • Colossians 1:9–10ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:7ESV

      • Philippians 1:23–24ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:8–9ESV

      • Romans 8:38–39ESV

Antioch Odessa
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