We live in a deeply divided world where politics, culture, and conflict have fueled growing hostility—even to the point that violence no longer shocks us, but while the world keeps promising unity, it has nothing lasting to unify around; as believers, we are called to be different because we are one body with one Savior and one allegiance, and our unity is meant to stand in stark contrast to the world. In 1 Corinthians, Paul confronts many serious sins in the church, yet the very first issue he addresses is disunity, highlighting how foundational unity is to the witness of the gospel. Even Jesus’ final prayer before the cross was that His followers would be one, reflecting the unity of the Trinity itself, so that the world would know He is real and be drawn to His love. When the church lacks unity and love, we make Christ invisible to a world desperate to see Him; but when we live united, our love becomes the evidence that the gospel has truly transformed us.

Today, the Enemy of God wants to target God’s Holy Temple. He wants to defile your temple by deceiving you into believing that what you do with your body doesn’t matter. He wants to make your temple accessible to your boyfriend or your girlfriend outside of sacred marriage. He wants to make your temple accessible to someone else's spouse. He wants to make your temple accessible to prostitutes and pornography. He wants to make you believe that it’s your body, your choice. Whatever your body wants or needs, have at it. Everything is lawful and permissible!

Yet the question at the very root, for the Corinthians back then and for all Christians today: does your physical body matter to God as much as your spiritual soul? YES

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 |You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Christ paid for your body with his blood.

To be one with you…

his Spirit to dwell in you…

because one day God will resurrect you, forever.

1 Corinthians 5:5 (ESV) “5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” That’s the goal…RESTORATION…so that that person may be SAVED when they face judgement day… whether you are a believer or not…we all have an appointment with our Creator on that day of judgement. We have to give an account of ourselves to the Lord. And we either have accepted Christ…repented from our sins and turned to him…Or rejected Christ…in our unrepentance…turning away from him…I pray that we would be SAVED when we face judgment…becase we KNOW JESUS…which is evident through our lives…

Do you judge on God’s standards of faithfulness, or do you criticize them based on your standards?

WHAT IF ministers like the one standing on the street corner with their bullhorn, or any of those in the pictures… stand before Christ on judgment day, and Christ applauds them for actually being faithful to make Jesus known?

WHAT IF he finds their motives to be beautiful?

WHAT IF he finds their perseverance commendable despite criticisms from fellow Christians?

This message has been about how we deal with criticism. What if the criticism you need to deal with is the criticism not coming at you, but FROM you? God-forbid that like these Critical Corinthians we should ever act glorified, like we have no sin to work on. Church, how should we deal with criticism? AGGRESSIVELY. And if God should be revealing any critical/judgmental spirit in us, will you deal aggressively with it in repentance? Though already justified, may we not assume we’ve arrived and are glorified. We’re Sinners being sanctified… sinners still with room to grow.

We will become like and build for who we belong to. I hope we as God’s church never forget what Jesus has done so we can belong to Him. And if you’re not a Jesus follower yet, I hope you hear His invitation today to belong to Him too. Jesus came from heaven to earth, born as an infant, and went from drinking milk to eating solid foods. Jesus lived an extraordinary life, and has welcomed ordinary people to become so much more than ordinary.

Jesus allowed Himself to be raised up on a cross so that He could be laid down as our foundation. We build on His foundation with gold, silver and precious stones with Christ as our cornerstone. Jesus’ body as God’s temple was destroyed so that we now as God’s temple never will be.

Now, we boast only in the name of Christ, proclaiming Jesus crucified and raised from the dead so that the whole world will know who we belong to.

Now we as His people can be devoted to becoming like Him, walking and talking like Him. Building on His foundation so that the world can see a church, a temple that is so holy it makes people think -

Why are they so united?

Why are they so humble?

And why are they so loving towards all people?

You know why? Because we know who we belong to.

If you are a believer in the Gospel…

Give glory to God. You didn’t figure it out. You didn’t have the wisdom to reason it by yourself. It is by his grace you get it, and by grace you’re saved.

Be a messenger of the Gospel you received, and trust in the Spirit’s Power to be with your message, and for the Spirit’s power to help the recipient receive. Stop putting the pressure on yourself to have to persuade or convince people to believe. It’s never been about how well you can explain it… it’s always been about the Spirit doing the work. Pray for the Spirit’s power. To be in your message as a messenger, and in their hearts as the recipient. So just as much as you should be talking to that person about God, talk to God about that person.

Here’s the good news:

You don’t have to change their hearts, the Spirit will.

And you don’t have to be the Savior. Jesus is.

So for the believers, Give glory to God, be a Messenger of the Gospel, Pray for the Spirit’s power.

And every believer needs to remember… that no one is better than the other… regardless of what the world may think or say or what kind of achievements someone has…

Here Paul reminds us that the cross unites all believers together

Because it levels the playing field -

The cross draws a clear line between the church and the world. But here we see how it erases the lines inside the church.

I believe Paul is speaking to two groups in the church.

To those who think they are nothing… this is encouragement.

God chose you.

God sees you.

God uses people just like you.

Your weakness is not a problem.

Your lack of status is not a disadvantage.

Paul says God chose the foolish, the weak, the low, and the despised.

On purpose. And to other group, those who think they are something… this is a humbling reminder.

The cross is the great equalizer.

Out of all things He could’ve prayed for, for believers of all time…before He goes to the cross…out of all things…He prays for their UNITY. You think it’s important, church? Jesus prays that our unity, as believers, will be like that of Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit…that our unity will reflect the Trinity itself! Why…so that the world will see that and know that He is REAL! And find that love attractive! And want to be a part of that! And the negative implication is that as Christ’s body on earth, if we will not be unified in love…we make Christ to be INVISIBLE…to a world that so desperately needs to SEE Him. That’s what’s at stake. Without unity in the church, we have no evidence that the gospel we are offering has done anything in our lives…the foundation of our evangelism is based on UNITY.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9 |... (God) will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul throughout this letter will call out and correct their sin, but he doesn’t want to destroy their confidence and assurance. Before addressing all their flaws, he starts with this foundation: “God is faithful. If you believe by faith, you are saved based on grace and nothing else.”

In other words, if nothing you did got you saved… then nothing you do will get you unsaved. No good work, no effort, no achievement gained you heaven, so no bad work, no sin, no shortcoming will get you kicked out. Heaven has never been about what we do, or don’t do. Heaven has always been about the grace of God. So though we’re flawed, God is faithful.

Christmas Eve