ARE YOU HELPING OR HINDERING YOUR LOCAL CHURCH? (12 OF 13)
by Bob Ingle
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Are You Helping or Hindering Your Local Church? (12 of 13)
Volume 1: Great God, Messy Church
Bob Ingle
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
True or false? What you don't know won't hurt you.
I read of a woman just this week that did not know that making toast in a toaster while in the bathtub was not advisable. Her funeral was Thursday. What she didn't know did in fact hurt her. I think most people would agree that no matter how many times that phrase is repeated it just isn't true.
- If you don't know a serial killer is in your house, you can still be hurt.
- If you sleep with someone with a STD without knowing his or her condition, you are still at risk.
- If you don't know that three Taco Bell burritos at one sitting is nearly toxic, you will still likely spend the next two hours in the restroom. What you don't know can hurt you.
In other words, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is not a blessing. Ignorance will not automatically protect you from danger. Ignorance will not automatically shield you from pain. In fact, God Himself says just the opposite in Hosea 4:6 when He says, ''My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.'' God says, ''What My people don't know isn't just hurting them; it's killing them.''
That brings me to a second question this morning: Did you know that the church of Jesus Christ is so prized and so valuable and so precious to God that no matter who you are if you bring harm to His church He promises to bring harm you? If you hurt God's church, He will hurt you. If you defile God's church, He will destroy you.
Most people, including Christians, don't know that. But just because you don't know it doesn't make it any less true. And just because you don't know it doesn't mean it can't hurt you. God promises that if you injure His church, the church that He sacrificially paid for with the life of His own Son, the church that He will joyfully spend eternity with, the church that He declares to be His beloved wife, if you b ...
Volume 1: Great God, Messy Church
Bob Ingle
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
True or false? What you don't know won't hurt you.
I read of a woman just this week that did not know that making toast in a toaster while in the bathtub was not advisable. Her funeral was Thursday. What she didn't know did in fact hurt her. I think most people would agree that no matter how many times that phrase is repeated it just isn't true.
- If you don't know a serial killer is in your house, you can still be hurt.
- If you sleep with someone with a STD without knowing his or her condition, you are still at risk.
- If you don't know that three Taco Bell burritos at one sitting is nearly toxic, you will still likely spend the next two hours in the restroom. What you don't know can hurt you.
In other words, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is not a blessing. Ignorance will not automatically protect you from danger. Ignorance will not automatically shield you from pain. In fact, God Himself says just the opposite in Hosea 4:6 when He says, ''My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.'' God says, ''What My people don't know isn't just hurting them; it's killing them.''
That brings me to a second question this morning: Did you know that the church of Jesus Christ is so prized and so valuable and so precious to God that no matter who you are if you bring harm to His church He promises to bring harm you? If you hurt God's church, He will hurt you. If you defile God's church, He will destroy you.
Most people, including Christians, don't know that. But just because you don't know it doesn't make it any less true. And just because you don't know it doesn't mean it can't hurt you. God promises that if you injure His church, the church that He sacrificially paid for with the life of His own Son, the church that He will joyfully spend eternity with, the church that He declares to be His beloved wife, if you b ...
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