Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
The Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
This week we continue our study focusing on Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
Today we are talking about God’s Fellow Workers.
Text
1 Corinthians 3:9 NKJV
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 NKJV
Sectarianism Is Carnal
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
Watering, Working, Warning
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
Prayer
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Introduction
The Holy Spirit is at work within God’s church to call out labourers for the Lord’s harvest.
The emphasis of the text for this message is that all who serve their Lord are not jus labourers with God, and God with them, but they are also labourers with one another.
The statement “We are God’s fellow workers” is the subject for this message.
- All Christians who are in service for God are God’s fellow workers.
The church has its origin in God and is maintained by Him.
The Lord established the church for His purpose and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Because of the purpose and plan of the church, He will see that it goes on, and in so doing, He will use believers as His co labourers.
The Lord, in maintaining the work of the church, requires the work of His children.
If the world is to be evangelised, it must be done by trustworthy human labourers. (Mark 16:20)
These labourers are God’s instruments, and each one has a specific responsibility to perform.
This idea is found in 1 Corinthians 3:6, where Paul speaks of one person planting and another person watering.
It is also found in the parable recorded in Matthew 25:14-30.
The Lord, in evangelising the world through the use of human instruments, supplies their needs.
Even though His human instruments plat and water, it is the Lord who gives the increase.
He also rewards according to one’s labour.
The Lord even supplies the teamwork to get the job done.
2. All Christians who are in service for God have their weakness, and this will hinder the work.
This passage is not saying that weak people cannot serve, rather, even though there are weaknesses among Christian workers, they can still be used.
Weak Christians ought to discover their weaknesses and seek to strengthen them.
People are dominated by the lower fleshy nature.
They need to reverence God and His work.
Because of weaknesses and the need for the ability to work, each Christian should grow.
Paul suggests ways of growth in verse 2.
Food for spiritual growth includes good reading, proper fellowship, subjecting yourself to the right kind of influence, and prayer to God for help.
Another way to grow spiritually is to avoid envy and trouble.
Each Christian needs to conduct their way of life as Christ would.
3. All Christians are to rise up and meet the task of serving the Lord.
Christians are to cooperate with their spiritual leaders.
Cooperation must be grounded in confidence in the leader’s judgement.
To cooperate we must have respect for our leader’s training, decisions, and knowledge.
Christians are to cooperate with their peers.
Paul said he planted and Apollos watered.
The Lord bestows on each the spiritual gifts needed to carry on the work of the church.
For the work to be done successfully, each person must to their own work in cooperation with others.
Christians are to consecrate, dedicate, and surrender their all to the Lord.
These actions of consecration, dedication, and surrender will offset human weaknesses and make Christians available for the Lord’s use.
Conclusion.
The Lord’s work is vast and challenging.
He has chosen you to be His partner in this work.
Now work with Him!
This is life’s greatest achievement.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2022 IS A YEAR OF REPENTANCE AND BLESSINGS
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