Saturday, June 11, 2022 Submitted by Donnie O'Fallon
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master I have laid the foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. No one can lay a foundation other than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 3:10-11
PARTNERS WITH GOD:
North Side Baptist Church, for 125 years, has been in Partnership with God, sharing God’s love and the Good News about Jesus in our community, in Texas, in our Nation and across the World. It’s not our Ministry but His; it’s not our Gospel but His. We each one labor in His strength given to us by His indwelling Holy Spirit. In Romans 16, Paul speaks of Priscilla & Aquila calling them, “Fellow workers / laborers with Him”. Again, in 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul reminds the readers, both then and now, that we should “Work together with Him…” The emphasis is as a Christian, we’re to work together in co-operation with each other as Gods leads to accomplish His will form generation to generation until Christ returns. The focus of the passage is, “with God, partnership…”
The words, “Laborers together with God…” are not normal words found in the New Testament. It means, “to struggle to the point of exhaustion, to work one’s fingers to the bone, so to speak.” Literally, meaning anything and everything we do. Everything we do, the energy and motivation with which we do it, we’re to do with God. Jesus gave us a command when He called us to follow Him then He asks a question, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things I say?” In (Isaiah 40:28-31), verse 31 Isaiah calls our attention to this wonderful fact, “…they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
PARTNERS WTIH GOD BUT NOT ALL ALIKE:
Be yourself, be who God made you. I’m the best at being me and utilizing the gifts that God’s given me and likewise with you and we edify and build up the body of Christ in our generation. Paul said in (verse 5-6), “Paul and Apollos were each servants… I planted, Apollo’s watered but God gave the increase.” Paul was a pharisaical Jew of the Diaspora. He learned from the Pentateuch, and Rabbinical teaching. Apollo’s - a Greek, educated in Alexandrea Egypt, a part of the Greco Roman world, as different as day & night. God took their giftedness and blended it to Glorify Himself and to let their generation know of His Love, Grace and Mercy. Diversity brings unity!
PARTNERS WITH GOD, BOUND UP IN UNITY:
(Verse 8: “He who plants and he who waters are one…” The Greek word or prefix for “one”- eis, is in the preposition meaning, “in, to, or toward”, meaning you cannot be one by yourself. It is not the unity of agreement! It is the Spirit of God and the Family of God! I’ve seen in Churches in Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, Nevada and in the country of Brazil. I’ve witnessed it in every congregation I’ve preached in churches in each of these states and Country. We cannot be one by ourselves.
Whatever our efforts, there is always the fact that we are “Partners with God”; We’re Servants to Each Other; We’re Not All Alike - nor do We All do the Same Things, but in Him we will succeed! We each one, must do as the Psalmist reminds us to do daily, “BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.
PRAYER: “Dear Father, keep our hearts pure toward you and turned toward you. Thank you for what you’ve done in & through NSBC. Remind us the best time to PARTNER with You is now, so help us to learn we’re to co-operate with You in that Partnership. Amen!”
