And if you weren't here last Sunday, I urge you to go back and listen to that message from last Sunday because today we continue along the same theme from a slightly different angle, a darker shade, if you will, here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We'll be in verses 1 through verse 9. This is what God's Word says. but as people of the flesh as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk not solid food for you are not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way. For when one says I follow Paul and another I follow Apollos are you not being merely human. What then is Apollos. What is Paul. servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. I planted Apollo's water but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one and each will receive his wages according to his labor for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field God's building. Let's pray together. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so we ask now that it would not be my words that are heard, but may your words be heard and be obeyed for the glory If you've ever read through 1st Corinthians at all, especially when you compare it to Paul's other letters, you would quickly get the sense that this first century church in Corinth had many issues. The Corinthian church was not a very healthy church. with virtually as many problems as there were people in the congregation. And that's why the basic format of this letter, if you want to break it down section by section, it really comes down to Paul giving them correction after correction. Correction number one, chapters A through B, correction number two, chapter C through D, so on and so forth. It's just him dealing with all these specific issues that were rampant in the church. In fact, you might be surprised that some of the most memorable verses and portions of 1 Corinthians that you all hold dear was actually spoken and written in the context of Paul rebuking the church and correcting their errors. For instance, Everyone loves 1 Corinthians 13, that great chapter on the supremacy of love. Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy, love does not boast, so on and so forth. Well, why did Paul write that? Because he was trying to correct the issues in the congregation that was full of loveless people that were all self-serving. And so he was trying to teach them, this is what love actually is. And likewise, in 1 Corinthians 15, that great chapter on the glorious hope of our bodily resurrection in the future. That was written because there were many people in the church in Corinth who falsely believed that there was no resurrection and that we were all just going to rot forever, our bodies decay. And so needless to say, the Corinthian church was an unhealthy church with many problems. And in the spirit of reinforcing the things that we learned last week, sometimes a great way to learn is through negative examples. to learn what not to do to learn how not to be. And so we have here this portrait of an unhealthy church of the first century Corinth and particularly here in Chapter 3 we're given a window into how much that congregation had a tendency to make church all about one man and elevating and following just one favored member of the church and thereby warping the body that the church was meant to be the body of many members. And this is all written to teach us and to show us the foolishness of centering the life of the church around one individual because that's not church as we saw last week. And moreover, that's not a healthy church, nor is it a sustainable church, because it is being built on a shaky foundation which will eventually come to a crumble in only a matter of time. The only solid foundation and rock of the church is Christ himself, which you all know, but hear this. It is Christ himself. It is the whole Christ. It is all of Christ, including his whole body and every member of his body. That is the foundation of the church. The very glory and presence of Christ is manifested in the assembled gathering of the multitude of his people, not just particular isolated individual members. Jesus said, where they are gathered in my name, there I am among them. But when the weight of the church is cast upon and hangs on one individual that is not the glory of Jesus that is presence but it is the glory of man and to do so is to make much of men and for a church to Now notice His language starting in verse 1. But I, brothers, could not address you as a spiritual people, but as people of the flesh. Meaning as unspiritual people. It's flesh versus spirit. And so people of the flesh means you are an unspiritual people. As infants in Christ. He's calling them spiritual babies. You're in Christ, but you're not well matured in Christ. And Paul continues in verse 2. I fed you with milk, as is fitting for a baby, not solid food, for you are not yet ready for it. You are not mature enough. And even now, he says, even now, you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. In other words, still is very important. Because he's implying, not just that you are immature as you should be because you are where you are in your course of maturation, but that you are still of the flesh. You are still unhealthily immature when you should be mature by now, meaning you haven't been growing, is what Paul says to the Corinthians. Now that's quite a negative assessment, isn't it? That they are spiritually infantile. And as he repeatedly says, that this immaturity has to do with them being unspiritual and of the flesh. And the question is, what was going on in this church? What was happening in the minds and hearts of the congregation for Paul to say such things? Well, understanding the context of 1 Corinthians and also the context of Corinth, the city, the area, that'll help us to see what Paul was dealing with. Because you see, Corinth was a city, a very significant metropolitan city in Greece. It's actually still there today. If you go on Google Maps, you can type in Corinth and see where Corinth is, although technically that's New Corinth. Old Corinth, the ruins of the ancient Corinth, is a few miles away, but close enough. It's in Greece. And Corinth was a major urban center, kind of like San Francisco. or kind of like Los Angeles. And so you can imagine, as with San Francisco or Los Angeles, those major urban areas, there's a very strong concentration of the culture of the world of society. And so it was with Corinth, there was a concentrated hub of strong Greek culture. Now, I don't know how much you know about Greek culture, especially ancient Greek culture, And well, one of the distinct features of the culture of ancient Greece was that they highly valued human intellect, higher knowledge. And that's why there's so many Greek philosophers. You recognize some of them, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates. Because they all just wanted to gain this understanding to the mysteries of life. And so naturally, the culture of Corinth was such that they admired men of prestige, of sophistication, learned men. Those who had wisdom, especially those who not only had wisdom, but were able to communicate that wisdom in a very impressive way. They loved the art of oration. They loved skilled orators. And so they were drawn to eloquent speakers, which is why, if you look in chapter 1, verse 17, Paul has to push back on this idea that Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. This is what the Greeks loved. This is what the Corinthians loved. Now, turn with me to Acts chapter 18. to get a feel for what the situation in the church was when Paul wrote to them. Acts chapter 18, this is all part of Paul's missionary journeys. And in Acts chapter 18, this is his first time to Corinth. This is him bringing the gospel to Corinth for the first time. And from verses one through 17 of Acts chapter 18, Paul arrives, and he's there at the synagogues every Sabbath to persuade both Jews and the Greeks that Jesus is the Christ, the risen Savior. And in verse 18, it says that after this, Paul stayed many days longer, which means that he was there establishing the church in Corinth. There was birthed the church in Corinth, and it turns out that Paul stayed in Corinth for about 18 months before he moved on to the next place. Where did he go to the next place? Verse 19, They came to Ephesus. So Paul comes to Corinth, preaches the gospel, establishes the church there. There is birthed the church in Corinth, the very church that Paul is writing to in 1 Corinthians. And then after about 18 months, he now moves on to do mission work in Ephesus. And then he goes to Ephesus, and in verse 24, this is what happens. While Paul is at Ephesus, A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a believer, a Jewish believer. And he was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures. Apollos was a gifted preacher. In verse 25, and he had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus. And so he was a gifted preacher, And Apollos was also a passionate preacher. And look in verse 27. And he wished to cross to Achaia. to go and preach somewhere else also. And the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him, and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. And so here's Apollos, a gifted preacher, a passionate preacher, and now he was evidently a famous preacher because there was demand for him from a different region, and he was a powerful preacher. I mean, this man was a whole package. And then, as Apollos preaches in Ephesus, and as he preaches in Achaia, in chapter 19 verse 1, it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. Apollos arrived in Corinth. And you already know how the Corinthians reacted. They went head over heels for Apollos. That is giftedness. This man is gifted. Gifted man. And soon enough, as he loved listening to Apollo's preaching, what happened was many of the members of the church in Corinth, they became fanboys and fangirls. And the fanboys became fangirls. The church life of Corinth, it became the Apollo show. Oh, you've got to come hear our preacher. Oh my goodness, he's such a gifted preacher. You've got to listen to him. And some people are going, oh my goodness, I'm an Apollos man. I'm all about Apollos. Hey, Pastor Apollos, can you sign my Bible? That's what they're doing. And this fandom then turned into factions. Whereas some were saying, I follow Paul, because this guy is the greatest preacher since Charles Spurgeon, even though Spurgeon wasn't born by then. Anachronistic, I understand. Or, oh, I follow Paul, because the blue-collar folks like Paul more, because Paul wasn't a very good preacher, and he kind of talked a little bit like street talk, and he wasn't a very eloquent man. But that's why they liked him. And the blue-collar folks were saying, well, we like Paul, because he's an apostle. I mean, this guy's got authority. At least his knowledge is really legit. And it's to this environment that Paul begins his letter in chapter 1, verse 12, saying, why are you guys so divided? What are you thinking? Verse 12 of chapter 1, each one of you says, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, what are you doing? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? Peter, Apollos, anybody? Why are you making much of men? Why do you value human intellect, human skill, human eloquence, human prestige, human knowledge and wisdom? And that's why Paul begins in verse 18 of chapter 1, listen, the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. In other words, don't you understand that the gospel is foolishness to the world because it is a spiritual truth and message that the natural man chapter 2 verse 14 the natural man cannot accept because it's all foolishness to him it doesn't make sense to him as paul explains there at the end of chapter 2 the gospel is a spiritual wisdom that can only be supernaturally received by the supernatural enablement of the Spirit of God. It is incompatible with the values of the natural world and natural human wisdom. And so we come to chapter three, where Paul says, why are you guys thinking and behaving in a way that is so merely pathetically human? You see why He says that? He's saying, your thinking is so worldly still. It is so natural. When you say, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos. That is of the flesh. That is how the world thinks. You see, this was the spiritual immaturity of the Corinthian believers. Though they were Christians, they were still under much worldly influence. and they had a long ways to go still to grow out of it. You know, if we can sum up all the issues of 1 Corinthians, it's simply this. All the problems of the church in Corinth can be summed up in this way. There was way too much Corinth in the church and not enough of the church in Corinth. In other words, that congregation was far more influenced by the culture and the world around them than they were an influence to the world around them. And what they ended up doing was they simply imported their worldly mindset and worldly patterns into how they did church life. And that's why there's all these problems. And this happens just the same today, doesn't it? If we can point the barrel at ourselves, How much of popular American culture is in us and in our church? How much of Bay Area culture? Let's get more specific. How much of this church and how much of our thinking and our living is influenced more than we realize by the area in which we live? The great idolatry of comfort. and entitlement to comfort and ease. A life of just privacy, just mind my own business. I don't really want accountability. I just care about me and my family and my little house, my little kingdom. I don't really care about anybody else. Being dominated by the cares of the world. And perhaps we're not so different from the people in Corinth. But for them, their particular spiritual immaturity and their still great worldly influence showed in how much they elevated human wisdom, human prestige, such that they celebritized men in the church, particularly gifted and skilled ministers and leaders. There was a bit of Hollywood culture in them, if you will. And it was to the point of, as Paul mentions in verse three, there was jealousy and strife among them. There was a tribalism centered around their favorite preacher, to the point of fighting about us. So silly, isn't it? They're picking sides, hosting fan club meetings, as it were. But if we're very honest, it's not that far from home. In our Christian world, this Bible church reformed world. You know, our secret idolatry is hidden underneath many layers that we like to call, oh, we have an appetite for sound teaching, an appreciation for faithful Bible teaching and Bible teachers, a hunger for the word. We're very good at deceiving ourselves. But whereas man looks at the outward appearances, the Lord looks on the heart. And peeling off all those layers, He sees how much we seek for our little Apollos in our lives all the time. I mean, people drive miles just to hear their little Apollos preach somewhere. We curate all these sermon playlists on YouTube of all the best sermons by our Apollos, and we just daydream about one day meeting Apollos. and getting our Bible signed by him. A new podcast by Apollos drops and we get giddy. Yeah, even within the church, even within the local church, we pick out our favorite preacher. Unfortunately for you, you have no choice. It's just me, but even in the church, oh, Paul is preaching today? Oh, Paul's not a very good preacher. It's true, he wasn't. He himself admits it in his letters. Oh, but Paul is preaching today? Bummer, I wish, I was hoping to hear Paul was preached today. But I'll just bear with it and hopefully next Sunday, it'll be a better experience. Or this happens sometimes. A beloved pastor of a church who served there for many years He leaves the church that he's been serving, not because of sin issues, but because either he retires or God has called him to serve elsewhere, which God has every right to do. And the minister is obligated to obey his master. But when that beloved pastor leaves that church, what sometimes happens is that much of the congregation leaves with him. That is a sign that it is an unhealthy church, attached to just one member. And perhaps not all of them will leave right away, but certain members, they'll try to stick around for a bit, but eventually what happens, they lose their enthusiasm and they fizzle out. And it doesn't even have to be a minister. It could be, oh, my best friend in church is gone. Now I don't really have any reason to be here. Well, that tells you a lot of why you were here in the first place. You see, all of these things reveal that they were unhealthy church members all along. Because they weren't there for the church, the body of many members, not few. And instead, they were just there for a man. They were just following men. They were just interested in one member of that body. And so look, we can cover it up with as many fig leaves as we want. But God sees the true nakedness underneath. That when we do this, we are being merely human. So unspiritual. And so fleshly in our thinking. Do you know why we do this? Why do we celebritize people? It's ultimately, it's about us. It makes us feel special. that by associating ourselves closely with people that we admire and regard as having much glory, we feel like we have a share in that glory. That's how idolatry works. Idolatry is all about yourself at the end of the day. A relatively innocuous example, relatively innocuous, insofar as it stays innocuous, is how people root for sports teams. You know, passionate fans, rude and cheer and they want their team to win the championship and let's just say very hypothetically if the Warriors were ever to win a championship which is never going to happen anytime soon at the rate they're going but all the Warriors fans in this room will say we won the championship ah technically they did they did all the work you just watched But in how you identify yourself with this team and you elevate and you extol and you admire this team as a fan, you feel like you have a share in that glory. And again, innocuously, it's fine. That's the fun of sports. But for that same reason, how silly is it? How silly is it when you see some people, some sports fans, get so riled up that they start actually fighting with other fans of other teams? as though it were their own personal honor and dignity and reputation that were on the line. It's pretty silly. But that's the jealousy and strife that is hidden under every fanaticism and tribalism. You're ultimately jealous for your own glory. And that's the worldly thinking that people bring even to the church. They look for men to glorify because they want something from them. A piece of the glory they see in them. In the end, it's all to glorify themselves. That's why the strife and the jealousy is there, because it is that competitive spirit of worldly ambition for your own glory. This is the psychology of celebrity worship. You can look it up. It's called ego identification. People do this all the time, even in the world. Why do people worship celebrities? This is why. People look for the shiniest idols to bow down to. Why? Because in their shininess, they want to see a mirror reflection of themselves. That's how idolatry works. And people do it in the church. Oh, this pastor is so legit. And I am at his church. Then that must mean I am so legit. That's the thinking. But look, God sees it all. He sees into the depths of our hearts and our motives, even if we can't see it ourselves. And to bring this mindset into the church is spiritually immature. It is of worldly influence because it is the foolishness of seeing God's holy church through a fleshly perspective. And so that's why starting in verse 5, Paul wakes us up to see the church properly from God's perspective, through God's eyes. He says in verse 5, what then is Apollos? What is Paul? Not just who is Paul and who is Apollos, but what are we? We are just servants through whom you believe. Instruments God used to bring you to faith in Him. We are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. The greatest of preachers and ministers are but servants and slaves of the One Master, who assigns them to do the work." That's what they are. That's what we are, Paul says. You know, Jesus explained it well to His apostles in Luke chapter 17, verse 10, when He says, When you have done all that you were commanded, to the apostles, to His ministers, He says, when you have done all that you are commanded, then just say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty. We don't need praise. We just did what we were supposed to do. I don't need praise from any of you. I'm just doing what God tells me to do. I don't need a reward for that. This reminds me of when I was in the fourth or fifth grade or so, some kid in class never did his homework. And one day he decided to do his homework and turn it in. And then he goes to the teacher and he says, so what do I get for this? Do I get a reward? And the teacher goes, why would you get a reward for doing what you were supposed to do? It's just homework, just do it. But that's what it is. We just did what we're supposed to do. That's all Apollos says. That's all Paul is. That's all every pastor is. Those who followed orders, don't glorify them, because God is the one who gave the orders. Glorify Him. And so, verse 6, Paul says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. It was God who gave the growth. And so, neither He who plants, nor He who waters is anything, but only God who gave the growth. But how great is our tendency to evaluate and esteem men and ministers by the quantity of visible fruit we see of their ministry? Oh, this many people were saved under his preaching. Oh, that many people were filling up the pews of his congregation. Look how big his church is. Look at how fast the church is growing numerically. And then we become fans. He must be doing something right. Maybe. But those same things could be happening because he's doing something wrong. Paul says, Paul says nobody. Paul is nothing. God alone is the one responsible for however much fruit is born from the fruitful labors of a faithful minister. It is just entirely based on His will. And we can't always understand it. I mean, let me ask you something. How much visible and enviable fruit Did John the Baptist's ministry produce, apparently, to the visible human eye? Not that much. I mean, yeah, he baptized a lot of people, but he also turned off a lot of people because, I mean, partly because the way he preached, you brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the wrath to come? I like that, I gotta preach more like that. But eventually what happened? The guy's head got cut off. Sorry, there was no big celebration of Him. He just lost His head. And in fact, John himself was evidently so discouraged by the apparent fruitlessness of his own ministry that while he was in prison, he sent some of his disciples to go to Jesus and ask Him, Hey, can you just clarify? Are you really the one who is to come or should we look for another? Even though it's the same John who was saying, Behold, it's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's how discouraged John got. He felt like his labor was in vain. But what does Jesus say about John? Among those born of women, none is greater than John. Now that is a compliment. Greater than Moses? Greater than the prophet Isaiah? God alone gives the growth and brings forth visible fruit as he pleases however he pleases whenever he pleases to whomever and for whomever he pleases he will he will use each of his instruments however he chooses and he will be the one to evaluate them and commend them in the end verse 8 he who plants and he who waters are one, meaning whoever plants, whoever waters, whether Paul or Apollos, we have different roles, different functions, different giftings, but we're all in the one and the same category, which is that we are mere instruments. And each will receive his wages according to his labor, that God will give his commendation to each as is fit. And so praise shouldn't come from man. Verse 9, for we are God's fellow workers. That's all we are. We're just mere workers assigned to a task. We're just mere instruments in His hands. And so don't glorify mere instruments is the point. And if we look at all this from God's eyes, it's really quite embarrassing sometimes, but we do. When we focus so much attention on the man, on the minister, and we make church life primarily centered around following men. Because look, it's as if, it's as if the Beatles are in town. And I've lost some of the young people, they're thinking, what? Insects migrating to the city? No, the Beatles, the band from the 60s. It's as if the Beatles are in town. And they're holding a concert and we're there and we are captivated and enamored by the microphones that they are using. Oh man, that mic came out three months ago. It is the latest and greatest. Oh man, that is so legit. And we're having debates comparing which mic is better. And, oh no, that one's the more expensive one. No, that one's the, no, that model number. I mean, it's ridiculous. And then after the concert's over, everyone is looking after the show, looking to meet John Lennon or Ringo Starr. And what we're doing is we are watching the mic be packed away into the bag. And we're following the bag around. I mean, it's just senseless. But that's what God sees. That's what we do. This is what we do even when we have strong preferences for one preacher over another. They're just microphones. When God is the one speaking. But it shows that we are focused on hearing the voice of a man and not the voice of God. And so we are behaving in such a human way. And so when people say, oh man, I wish Paul was preaching today. Oh, Paul's not a very good preacher. Or, oh man, we got a guest speaker. Oh, we don't like, I don't like this one. He's not a very good preacher. I wonder what God would say. Perhaps God would say to those, sure, he might not be a very good preacher, but you're not a very good listener because your ears are focused on the instrument rather than the one who speaks through his instruments. And that's why it is a sign of spiritual immaturity. Your spiritual hearing is underdeveloped and you are listening with natural hearing, with ears of the flesh than anybody else can hear. Anybody else can hear an eloquent speaker and be impressed by that and want to hear more. but your spiritual hearing is underdeveloped. You see a mature and healthy believer listens to the word of God and listens for the voice of God. He cares less about which instrument God has chosen to use that day insofar as that instrument is faithful to God's word. Because what he cares about is that which is firmly fixed and unchanging, the Word of God. And what is most important is to listen to the Word of God and to obey the Word of God. So let me just say for our members, while I'm away on sabbatical for those three months, if newcomers come to our church, please don't say to them, oh, you need to stick around, you need to hear our pastor preach. They don't have to hear me preach. They just need to hear someone preach faithfully the Word of God. That's what they need. And if they are going to come and stay in this church because of whatever attraction this is, then they're looking for the wrong thing, that they think this is an amusement park. And if I or one particular member is the only reason they're gonna come and stay in this church, then they will not be healthy church members. And our church will become more unhealthy because of it all. And in the end, we come back to the same thing, the same lesson as last Sunday, don't we? That the church is a body of many members. The whole collective, the congregation is what the church is. You all are, the members are, Maranatha Bible Church. And we need to value what God values, that is, His whole body of all the members. Notice how Paul ends in verse 9. He says, we are God's fellow workers, ministers. We're the workers. But you, y'all, plural, y'all are God's field, God's building. Why are you treasuring us when we are the ones who have been called by God to be guardians of His treasured possession, His field, His garden. We're the ones that laid a foundation and try to help and work to build up the church. But you are God's building. You are the holy temple of God, His dwelling place. We are just the ones who care for it. And so, devote yourself not to a man, but to a church, to a congregation. Because to devote yourself to a church is to devote yourself to Christ, whose very own body is the church. And let the one who thinks that he is spiritually mature and has any modicum of spiritual understanding and wisdom, let him prove himself by devoting himself to this whole congregation. Not just a man. You know, some time ago, I said to my wife, one day I want to run a little experiment. I want to start preaching some boring sermons, some bad sermons, not bad as in unfaithful to the text, heretical or unorthodox, but just boring, dull, unengaging, what have you, but still faithful to the text of scripture. And I want to preach some boring sermons for six months straight. 26 Sundays in a row. I won't take a Sunday off. Y'all want me to, but I won't. And after those six months, let's see who stays. Those who leave, it will be evident that they were here looking to follow a man. And those who stayed, it will be evident that they were here looking for Christ and his people whom he loves. That never left. And besides, those who stayed, there would be so much unity in this church because you guys would all together with one voice commiserate with one another, what a boring pastor we have. But then you would say, thank God that we did not have a boring savior. And that, is truly seeking to follow Christ. All of Christ, only Christ, the whole Christ, including all the members of His body. And for those of you here who do not follow Jesus, I don't know what you're looking for in this church. But one thing I can tell you, man cannot save you. And man cannot satisfy you. Man cannot satisfy the gaping hole in your heart and the longing of your soul that can only be filled by the glory of the living God, your Maker and Redeemer. You need to come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ, by repenting of your sins, and by believing and all that He has done to save you from your sins, by going to the cross to take the place of sinners, to suffer the eternal wrath that is stored up for all who are guilty of sin, and by trusting that He rose again from the dead to prove truly God and truly man, the very Son of God who came down. He is the Living God, the Creator Himself, who entered this world to save this world from sin. That is the only thing worth following all the days of your life, into death and into eternity. Stop looking for the things of earth, whatever this world can provide for you. You need to look for the One who has come down from heaven to save you from your sin. come to Jesus Christ, follow Jesus, and follow Him to life and eternal life forever. And church, may this all remind us this morning of the very simple thing, that Jesus Christ alone is the head of the church, and that He alone deserves all the praise and all the affection and all the allegiance of our hearts forever. He is the only foundation. The solid rock and all other ground is sinking sand. He is the only foundation of this church. He is the only one, at the end of the day, who has built up His church. And He has called up whatever instruments and whatever members of the body to do that very task. And so may God help us as a church to magnify the glory of Jesus alone. And may He help us to mature as a congregation with a real healthy growth. as He builds us up on that holy foundation of the majesty of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you. We thank you that we were those lost in sin and that all the wisdom of the world could not save us. That all the trust that we had put in in princes and in sons of men all in vain because in them there is no salvation. But we are so grateful that Christ came down to us, the wisdom of God came down to us to show us the way, the truth, and the life in himself. Oh Lord, let us return to our first love and may Christ alone be magnified in this precious congregation that you so dearly love and for whom Christ died. We pray in his name.