The Foundation of our Faith | 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1. Keep the faith (v.1-2)
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain.
Mark 4:3-8: 3 Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a
hundredfold.
Mark 4:14-20: 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in
them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
1. Satan
2. Tribulation
3. Persecution
4. Worldliness
5. Love of Money
2. Believe the Gospel (v. 3-8)
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Romans 4:25: who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
Acts 2:32: This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 The he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
3. Live by grace (v.9-11)
9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Ephesians 2:8-10: 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
2 Corinthians 12:9: He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
1. Give your past to Jesus
Psalm 103:12: as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
2. Stop trying to earn what grace has given you
Romans 11:6: But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
3. Use the grace God has given you to serve others
1 Peter 4:10: As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace
4. Tell someone the Gospel you received
Acts 4:20: for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.
