Sermon Date: 6/29/2025
Bible Verses:
- 1 Corinthians 3:1–17
- Matthew 9:35–38
Speaker: Rev. Timothy "Tim" Shapley
Theme: https://uppbeat.io/t/northwestern/a-new-beginning
Introduction:
There comes a time in every believer’s life when we need to grow up—not just in knowledge but in purpose.
Paul rebukes the Corinthians for still needing milk when they should be eating solid food (1 Cor. 3:2). Why?
Because immature believers are still focused on themselves. Mature believers are focused on the harvest.
And today, God is calling us not just to care for the one, but to get ready for thirty.
- From Milk to Mission (1 Corinthians 3:1–3)
📖 1 Corinthians 3:1–3
Paul opens this section of his letter with a sobering rebuke:
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.” (v. 1)
He’s not saying they aren’t saved—he’s saying they haven’t grown. They’re still acting like spiritual babies, needing milk when they should be eating meat. Why?
Because there’s jealousy, strife, and a me-centered faith at work in their hearts.
They're more concerned with who’s better, who’s in charge, and how they feel, than they are with God’s mission.
You can’t care about the harvest if you're still fighting in the nursery.
You can't reach the lost when you're still nursing old offenses.
You won’t step into God’s calling if you’re still stuck in petty comparison.
Spiritual Maturity Means Missional Readiness
Growth in Christ is not just about gaining knowledge or feeling more spiritual—it's about becoming usable for His mission.
Spiritual infants ask:
- “Am I being fed?”
- “Did I like the worship?”
- “Did that sermon make me feel good?”
Mature disciples ask:
- “Who can I feed?”
- “How can I worship with my life?”
- “Did that word equip me to go out and make disciples?”
Application Questions:
- Are you still feeding only yourself, or are you feeding others?
→ Are you seeking out the Word just for comfort, or also for equipping?
→ Do you share what you learn, or hoard it for yourself? - Are you content to be comforted, or are you ready to be commissioned?
→ Have you settled for being a cared-for church member, or are you stepping into your role as a sent one, a laborer in the field?
Challenge:
It’s not enough to attend church—we’re called to be the Church.
It’s not enough to drink the milk of encouragement—we need the meat of responsibility.
If you’ve been a Christian for a while, the next step isn’t “more comfort.” It’s more courage.
It’s time to move from milk to mission.
- God Makes It Grow (1 Corinthians 3:6–9)
📖 1 Corinthians 3:4–9
Paul continues by addressing another issue in the Corinthian church: division over leadership.
“For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human?” (v. 4)
They were treating human leaders like saviors, and missing the fact that it is God who gives the growth.
Paul says:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (v. 6)
“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (v. 7)
The Mission Is Bigger Than the Messenger
We all have a role to play—some plant seeds of truth, others water with care and discipleship.
But we are not the Savior.
We are not the source of power.
We are not the reason anything grows.
God alone gives the increase.
That means:
- We don’t boast in our results.
- We don’t despair if we don’t see immediate results.
- We don’t compete—we cooperate.
Faithfulness Over Fame
Your job is not to make it grow—your job is to plant and water faithfully.
God’s job is the fruit.
This frees us from:
- Fear – “What if I fail?”
- Pride – “Look what I did.”
- Discouragement – “Nothing’s happening.”
God is working, even when you don’t see it.
Sometimes the seed is growing underground.
Your job is to show up and sow.
Application Questions:
- Are you trying to control the outcome, or are you being faithful in your role?
→ Are you trusting God with the results, or measuring your worth by visible success? - Are you planting and watering, or just watching and waiting?
→ Are you engaged in God’s work, or sitting on the sidelines hoping someone else will do it?
Challenge:
Stop comparing. Stop competing.
Start planting. Start watering.
God is the Master Gardener.
You just need to pick up the shovel and work the field He’s given you.
The harvest will come—because God makes it grow.
- Building with Fireproof Faith
📖 1 Corinthians 3:10–17
Paul shifts the metaphor from planting to building. He says:
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.” (v. 10)
The foundation is Christ—unchanging, unshakable.
But how we build on that foundation matters.
Paul warns:
“If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire.” (vv. 12–13)
Don’t Build a Faith That Burns
There will come a day when the quality of our work is tested by fire.
Some Christians are building with discipleship, sacrifice, love, and obedience—that’s gold.
Others are building with comfort, self-focus, surface-level religion—that’s hay.
And fire burns hay.
So what kind of faith are you building?
What kind of legacy are you leaving?
Your Life Is a Temple
Paul finishes this thought with a bold reminder:
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (v. 16)
This isn’t just about avoiding sin—it’s about treating your life like holy ground.
You are God’s building.
Build like it matters.
Because it does.
Application Questions:
- What materials are you building with?
→ Are your daily decisions and priorities shaped by what will last—or what feels good in the moment? - Are you building with eternity in mind, or convenience?
→ Are you preparing your life to withstand the fire of testing?
- The Harvest Is Plentiful
📖 Matthew 9:35–38
Jesus went through cities and villages, teaching, preaching, and healing. But what moved Him most wasn’t the size of the crowd or the scope of the need—it was their spiritual condition.
“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (v. 36)
Jesus Saw People, Not Just Problems
Where others saw chaos, Jesus saw a harvest.
Where others saw brokenness, He saw potential.
He didn’t say, “The culture is too far gone” or “This generation is hopeless.”
He said:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (v. 37)
He wasn’t the problem. The crowd wasn’t the problem.
The problem was too few laborers.
Too few people willing to say, “Send me.”
Application: The Problem Isn’t the Harvest. It’s Our Hesitation.
Many of us are waiting for the “right moment.”
But Jesus didn’t say the harvest is coming.
He said the harvest is plentiful—right now.
The issue is not that people are too lost.
The issue is that too many Christians are too comfortable.
We hide in church buildings and Bible studies while people around us are spiritually starving.
We’ve become experts in milk while the fields rot from lack of workers.
Pray—and Then Go
Jesus says in verse 38:
“Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Yes—pray. But don’t stop there.
Because the very next chapter?
Jesus sends out the twelve.
You may be the answer to your own prayer.
Tie-In to “Time to Go to Thirty”
- Whether you’re called to talk to one person, or stand before thirty…
- Whether you’re in a season of uncertainty, or you’ve been a believer for years…
- Whether you’re a father, a student, a teacher, a farmer, a factory worker, or a friend…
The harvest is still plentiful. The time is still now.
Questions to Reflect On:
- When you see your community, do you see a problem, or do you see a harvest?
- Are you waiting for the perfect time, or are you ready to be sent?
- Have you prayed for workers—without realizing you are one?
- Go to One. Be Ready for Thirty.
Some of us hesitate to share Jesus with even one person.
But God might be preparing you for thirty. Or more.
The number doesn’t matter—the obedience does.
It’s time to stop fearing the thirty and start trusting the God who called you.
Whether it's a one-on-one conversation or a classroom, a work gathering, a family reunion, or a neighborhood BBQ—step out.
Go to the one.
Be ready for the thirty.
God will supply the growth.
Closing Challenge:
- Are you still on milk when God’s calling you to mission?
- Have you been shrinking back because thirty feels overwhelming?
- Are you trusting God to provide as you step out in obedience?
Call to Action:
- Pray for boldness to speak the name of Jesus this week.
- Identify one person you can talk to.
- Say yes if God opens a door to thirty.
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