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On Sunday we moved into 1 Corinthians 4 where Paul reminds the church that its leaders are like stewards... not masters. Stewards manage the household but they are not the home owners. And as believers and teachers and leaders in the church, we are stewards of the mysteries of God... caretakers of a storehouse of gospel treasure... but not the ones that have actually accomplished any of it! Therefore, we cannot boast in ourselves because everything we have, we have been given. While church leaders seemed to think they belonged at the front of the line, Paul tells them that being an apostle feels a lot more like being at the back of the procession... and yet the promise is that if we stewards are found faithful when the master returns, we will look up from that procession and realize that it is the triumphal procession of Jesus that we are walking in. This challenge and encouragement helps us not to be overly self-satisfied, it puts both affirmation and critique in its proper place, and it helps us remember the persecuted church, since they are often regarded just as Paul describes it... as the "scum of the earth, and the refuse of the world." May we be found faithful!

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What happens when a church full of spiritual gifts starts choosing sides? In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 3, Pastor Ericka explores church unity, spiritual maturity, and what it means to belong to Christ instead of a favorite leader. The believers in Corinth were lining up behind Paul or Apollos, but Paul reminds them that leaders are only servants: one plants, another waters, and God gives the growth. If you've ever wondered how God builds His church, or what gets in the way, this message is for you.

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Paul continues to correct the church in Corinth for the divisions among them caused by following impressive human leaders. The teachers that came after knew what the Corinthians valued, things like impressive speech and eloquence and philosophy. "I did not come to you with any of that!" Paul tells them. "I aimed to know only one thing among you, Christ and Him Crucified." It was hard to stay content with that basic message: not just in 1st Century Corinth... but for us as well. We so easily get drawn in by the wisdom of the world rather than the wisdom of the cross. But all that wisdom is passing away, Paul says. And so we keep our eyes fixed on God's Wisdom, the Cross of Christ.. this is how God has revealed himself to us fully. But we need the Holy Spirit to show us... otherwise, like Paul before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, we cannot see it. But when the Holy Spirit turns that light on for us? We have the mind of Christ.

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"This week we began a series in 1 Corinthians where Paul writes to a church that is spiritually gifted but deeply immature. Rather than begin by rebuking them for a laundry list of issues, Paul reminds them who they are. He greets them as, "To the church of God, in Corinth." He names them by who they are in God, and who they are in place. This reminds us that as the Body of Christ we are not just the church in general or in the abstract, we are a church that has been placed. In this way, we become an ongoing extension of the incarnation of Jesus... we are His Body, on earth, in our community. Just as the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us... the Church does the same and chooses presence, proximity, and relationship with our neighborhood."

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God invites us to be ministers of reconciliation, and for us at Madison, we live into this calling through the four Reaches. We Reach Up to glorify God, we Reach In to be transformed by His grace, we Reach Out to share God's love near and far, and we Reach Across to embody racial justice and reconciliation. Praise God.

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In the fourth and final sermon of our Reach series, Pastor Ericka White explores what it means to Reach Across—and why unity is spiritual warfare. What if learning to love across our differences is part of our “training for reigning” with Christ? This message invites us to consider how the church can live now as a preview of Christ’s coming Kingdom.

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Pastor Andrea brought us to Acts chapter 2 which gives us a snapshot of the early church and how they operated together after Pentecost. They gathered in fellowship, studied the apostle's teaching, broke bread, prayed together, met in their homes, and took care of the needs of the community. Then it says "The Lord added to their number day by day." On Reaching In Sunday, we are reminded that part of our mission is authentic community, and that gets built, day by day, in some pretty ordinary practices. Community is an investment account: it grows as we contribute to it. And these practices, over time, is what God uses to shape us, as a community, into Christ's Body.