By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.

But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will reveal the quality of each mans work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Dont you know that you yourselves are Gods temple and that Gods Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys Gods temple, God will destroy him, and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 A number of years ago, at a leadership meeting at a local Church, a suggestion was made in response to a number of perceived needs in the congregation. As the suggestion was being debated a retired Pastor who had been assisting with that congregation stood up to speak against it as a course of action. The gentleman who had proposed the suggestion responded by protesting that it had worked very well in a number of organizations out in the real world, to which the retired pastor responded graciously with the following statement. My dear brother, the Church is not the World, and the worlds methods must not be part of our approach. That ended the discussion, turning us back to an earnest searching of the scriptures, that we might find wisdom for the way forward. I thought of that Godly Pastor this week as I was examining the logical argument that the Apostle Paul develops here in 1 Corinthians. The problem with divisiveness which the Corinthian Church was dealing with and to which Paul responds in this letter is one which is of fundamental importance to their life together as part of the Body of Christ. We can be so thankful that in the providence of God that New Testament Church was dealing with that particular problem, and that the divisions in the Church were so deeply ingrained in them, touching every aspect of their life together. Our thankfulness is owing to the fact that Pauls response gives us a clear description of what we the twenty first century Church are to be. He calls us to be a Church which is truly Christ Centred in every way. The foundation of our Church must be the Lord Jesus Christ. In defining this statement we must look back at what the Apostle has been telling us. Twice he defines the Gospel as being the proclamation of Christ Crucified. This means more than just a message about the cross of Christ. Paul calls us to recognise that at the heart of our Gospel, our lives, and our Church is Christ the Crucified One. He is the One who has been crucified, as the sacrifice of atonement which has secured our approach to God. All of the blessings of God to us are found in Him and in Him alone. He is the Crucified One who lives forever, having conquered death. He now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven interceding for us. Paul tells us that this One, and this One alone is the foundation of the Church. The Church cannot be built on any other foundation than that which God has provided for us in the Gospel. Therefore we must build it in Gods way. In 1 Kings 18:30-31 we read about Elijah and his conflict with Ahab. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come here to me. They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in

ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Your name shall be Israel. Elijah rebuilt the Altar in Gods way, signifying that Israel was being called back to a life and faith which would be centred upon the Word of God. So too are we as the Church called back to a Biblically obedient life together as the Church. For us today this means at least the following three things. 1) Our Church must be a Christ-Centred, Spiritual Church. We are to be completely devoted to Christ crucified. He is our sacrifice of atonement, and our life. He is the means by which we have boldness of access to the Fathers throne of grace. 2) Our Church must keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must be devoted to a constant lifestyle of prayer. How can we walk with God unless we ask Him for directions? 3) Our Church must develop a lifestyle of obedience to the Word of God. James calls us to be doers of the Word. This is what we must become, searching the scriptures looking for directions which we can follow in our life as the Church.