Slide 1: How Grace Transforms The Church

Slide 2:1 Corinthians 4:1—16  becoming spiritual adultspart #3the marks of a true servant

Slide 3: 4:1 Let people regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 It is necessary for stewards to be trustworthy.

Slide 4: 4:1 Let people regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 It is necessary for stewards to be trustworthy.

marks of a true servant trustworthy

Slide 5: 4:1 Let people regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 It is necessary for stewards to be trustworthy.

marks of a true servant trustworthy ability vs. availability

Slide 6: 4:1 Let people regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 It is necessary for stewards to be trustworthy.

marks of a true servant trustworthy ability vs. availability faithful to the Word

Slide 7: 4:1 Let people regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 It is necessary for stewards to be trustworthy.

marks of a true servant trustworthy ability vs. availability faithful to the Word Be diligent to present yourself to God as a worker he approves, one who accurately handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Slide 8: 4:3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

Slide 9: 4:3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

marks of a true servant integrity

Slide 10: 4:3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

marks of a true servant integrity pleasing people vs. pleasing God

Slide 11: 4:3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

marks of a true servant integrity pleasing people vs. pleasing God peril of people-pleasing

Slide 12: 4:3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

marks of a true servant integrity pleasing people vs. pleasing God peril of people-pleasing someone else’s approval is a trap!

Slide 13: 4:3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

marks of a true servant integrity Am I seeking the favor of people or of God? Am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

Slide 14: 4:3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

marks of a true servant integrity pleasing people vs. pleasing God peril of people-pleasing someone else’s approval is a trap! being “true to yourself”?

Slide 15: 4:4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord who will examine. 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone before the Lord returns. He will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

marks of a true servant integrity pleasing people vs. pleasing God peril of people-pleasing living before the “audience of One”

Slide 16: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

Slide 17: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

marks of a true servant gratitude

Slide 18: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

marks of a true servant gratitude a reality check to our pride

Slide 19: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

marks of a true servant gratitude a reality check to our pride lacking gratitude distorts self understanding

Slide 20: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

Throughout the centuries there were men [of virtue] who took first steps down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision. Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. From the wheel to the sky-scraper, everything we need and everything we have comes from one attribute of man—the function of his reasoning mind. —Ayn Rand

Slide 21: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

marks of a true servant gratitude a reality check to our pride lacking gratitude destroys relationships, while gratitude cultivates closeness & objectivity

Slide 22: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

marks of a true servant gratitude a reality check to our pride lacking gratitude creates spiritual blindness—false and suspicious views of God

Slide 23: 4:7 What gives you the right to judge between God’s servants? What do you have that God hasn’t given to you? And if everything you have is from God, why do you boast as thought it were not a gift?

marks of a true servant gratitude a reality check to our pride practice of gratitude draws you close to God & awakens spiritual passion

Slide 24: 4:8 You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were kings so we could reign with you. 9 Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

Slide 25: 4:10 Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed! 11 Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and without a home. 12 We work wearily with our hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us and are patient with those who abuse us.

Slide 26: 4:13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.

Slide 27: 4:14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as beloved children. 15 For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. I became your father in Christ when I taught you the Good News. 16 So I urge you to imitate me.

Slide 28: 4:9 I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

marks of a true servant example of sacrificial humility

Slide 29: 4:9 I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

marks of a true servant example of sacrificial humility ultimate paradox

Slide 30: 4:9 I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

marks of a true servant example of sacrificial humility ultimate paradox Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his live for my sake, will save it. Luke 9:24

Slide 31: 4:9 I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

marks of a true servant example of sacrificial humility ultimate paradox world’s verdict & God’s verdict

Slide 32: 4:9 I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

Thank God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of God in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

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sweet picture of a vital spiritual community

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sweet picture of a vital spiritual community why not join in tonight!

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sweet picture of a vital spiritual community why not join in tonight! where is God nudging you to mature as a servant of Christ?