The Master Builder: Foundation and Framework

Introduction: Milk, Meat, and Masonry

Last week, we “girded our minds” to handle fear and trembling. This week, we ask: What are we actually building with those minds? Whether it is our “Impact” group or the church at large, we are a building site under the direction of a Master Builder. We are moving from the preparation to the construction.

Section 1: Growth & The Greenhouse

1 Corinthians 3:1–9 (ESV)

1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 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? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Discussion:

• Observation: Paul mentions moving from “milk” to “meat.” Based on Jack’s notes, what is the “meat” we should be chewing on after years of faith?
• Reflection: Jack listed several modern teachers (Voddie Baucham, Paul Washer, David Jerimiah, or Charles Stanley). Why is it so tempting to define our “spirituality” by the famous people we listen to rather than the growth God is producing in us?
• Application: If you are a “gardener” in someone else’s life (a child, a friend, a coworker), how does it relieve your pressure to know that you aren’t responsible for the growth?

Section 2: The Building Inspection

1 Corinthians 3:10–23 (ESV)

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Discussion:

• Observation: Jack noted that “costly materials” might mean missing a movie to read the Bible or skipping a night out to serve. Looking at verses 12-15, why is the quality of our content more important than the quantity of our activity?
• Reflection: Verse 16 says you (plural) are God’s temple. If we are the building, how does it change the way we treat one another if we believe we are “tearing down God’s temple” when we tear down a brother or sister?
• Application: Paul mentions “boasting in men” (v. 21). How can we ensure our “Praise Team” or our study leaders are seen as “servants cooperating with God” rather than performers or entertainers?

Section 3: The Living Stones (The 1 Peter Bridge)

Paul tells us to be careful how we build. Peter now shows us what the finished “building” actually looks like—it’s not made of brick and mortar, but of people.

1 Peter 2:1–10 (ESV)

1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Discussion:

• Observation: Peter says we must first “put away” things like malice and envy (v. 1) before we can grow. How do those “insignificant things” Jack mentioned act like sand in the gears of our growth?
• Reflection: In Genesis 49, we saw our “strange gifts.” In verse 5, Peter calls us “Living Stones.” How does your specific “shape” help the building stand strong in a way someone else’s shape can’t?
• Application: Peter says the world “rejects” the Cornerstone. When you feel rejected for your faith this week, how does the promise in verse 6 (that you “will not be put to shame”) give you the courage to keep building?

Weekly Challenge: Up, In, Out

UP (Intimacy with God): Inspect your “building materials.” Are you giving God “straw” (leftover time) or “gold” (sacrificial focus)? Pick one “costly” spiritual discipline—like Jack’s example of Bible study over a movie—to prioritize this week.

IN (Investment in Community): Look at the “Living Stones” in our group. Identify someone whose “shape” or “style” is very different from yours. Tell them how their specific gift provides a strength that you don’t have.

OUT (Influence in the World): The world is looking for a “social club,” but you are a “Temple.” This week, when someone asks why you do what you do, don’t point to a teacher or a brand—point to the Foundation: Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.