Christians are often unsure what to do with the topic ambition. Self ambition is condemned in the Bible - but is there a godly alternative? Often in this confusion Christian people can remain highly ambitious in their private lives but remain happy to settle for mediocrity in the church. This is not good. In this sermon ambition will be scrutinised through the passage in Genesis 11 (The tower of Babel) and people will be challenged to put aside petty ambition and pursue first the kingdom of God and be ambitious for that

Another one of the Corinthian church errors is lovingly being exposed in this passage. Their thinking about leadership (christian leadership) is back to front. They are taking pride in one leader over another. Paul warns them that such thinking is dangerous, and he uses the a number of images to show how foolish this thinking is. One image is that their leaders are not kings at the front of a victory parade but the down trodden condemned men at the end of the procession. The second image is that leaders are not the prized possession people treasure but rather the scum of the earth. Both images display the foolishness of taking pride in one piece of rubbish over another. The great one is the God they serve and it is important to remain humble before Him. The problem with taking pride in one leader over another is that it flows into your own assessment of yourself and that you are now far more able to take pride in yourself over others - this is a grave danger. We need leaders and people who follow them as humble servants of God, not going beyond what is written

Everything we have comes from God. Knowing this means we can't judge others and we can't boast in ourselves.

We get to join God in building the Church where He lives by His Holy Spirit, so build on the right foundation (Jesus Christ) & with the right materials (that fit the foundation & show how special it is) rather than building a monument to your own life.

Why is it that the things that are good for us are so hard to do? Case in point - why is it so hard to be mature spiritual Christians and to stop being worldly fleshy spiritual babies? Paul rips into the Corinthian Christians for still being spiritual babies and in doing so unearths 3 things under the surface that we need to understand and to really believe: 1) that we're in a war between what our flesh wants and what the Holy Spirit in us wants. 2) that true spirituality looks like having the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us, and not necessarily the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 3) God is the one who ultimately brings spiritual growth.

We have a part to play in God's plans for a flood of lifelong disciples in the Illawarra! Let's give thanks for growth at Salt and hear next steps for growth and progress on our New Home.

Why aren't more people followers of Jesus? What is it with the message of Jesus that makes it so unpopular?