Eventually he started a church next door in the house of Crispus, a ruler of the synagogue. He must have been fearful of his safety because he received a vision from the Lord encouraging him to keep on speaking. "Do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack you or harm you, because I have many people in this city." (Acts 18:10) So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

I have always been encouraged by this description because, like Paul and all messengers of the Gospel, there are times when those who oppose you and wish to silence you make you wonder whether you should stay and keep on preaching and teaching. Many pastors have been driven from their congregations by discouragement, and opposition to trying to persuade people that Jesus is the Christ. There are many churches who don't want to hear about Jesus. They would prefer feel-good sermons about doing good in the community. There is much pressure on the messenger to tailor his message to the prejudices of the listener. Yet, in his vision, God reminds Paul to keep on speaking, and not be silent because he has a work for him to do. In every town God has many people he intends to hear the Gospel and become members of his church. The messenger must persevere in his ministry to reach those people God has called him to do so. This is not always easy, but it is necessary. There is a work to do which God has called the messenger to fulfill and he must not give up on it until God has released him from that call.

St. Paul describes how he felt coming to establish a church in the pagan seafaring city of Corinth. "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God....I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling." (1 Cor.2:1,3) The messenger of the Gospel is acutely aware of his shortcomings. We are all sinners. Paul called himself the 'chief of sinners.'

No preacher or pastor has all the gifts. It is impossible to satisfy everyone. Every one of us is limited in his knowledge. The preacher does not claim to possess all the answers. Paul was aware of the pundits of his day, the sophists, who went around claiming to know all the answers to the world's problems and feeding off people's gullibility. Today the popular intellectuals, politicians and celebrities share their condescending wisdom on all sorts of problems. They take upon themselves the infallibility of the divine as they peddle their opinions on every talk show and in every form of media. There is plenty of arrogance to go around. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Yet we know that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." On the other hand the Gospel messenger must be humble because he has no wisdom of himself to give. He knows he is fallible, that he is weak, that he is fragile, that he is totally dependent upon God. If he doesn't know this his ministry will fail. Whenever a church or a preacher or priest forgets this and turns his ministry and his church into an institution that feeds on itself and its power and influence, he will fail, and the church will empty.

St. Paul realized that "my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (1 Cor.2:4,5) The only way the Gospel will take root and grow into a church will be through the power of God's Spirit. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, but it is the result of the power of the Spirit that the gift of faith is given. The messenger knows this and prays for the Spirit to come upon his ministry and upon the people he is trying to reach. Spurgeon wrote:

"The gospel is preached in the ears of all; it only comes with power to some. The power that is in the gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher; otherwise men would be converters of souls. Nor does it lie in the preacher's learning; otherwise it would consist in the wisdom of men...we might as well preach to stone walls as preach to humanity unless the Holy Ghost be with the Word, to give it power to convert the soul."

It is the Holy Spirit who germinates the seed of the Word and causes it to take root and grow in our lives. If a church wants to be established and grow it should make it a priority to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to fall upon it, its worship, its leaders, and its proclamation of the Gospel. Very few churches that I know do this and that is why they are not flourishing as God intends them.

What else can we learn about our central focus that defines our present existence and our future relevance? It is in the message the messenger brings. St. Paul writes to remind the Corinthian church: "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Cor.2;2)

What message did Paul bring during that eighteen months he taught them the Word of God in the house of Crispus? It was about Jesus Christ. This is at the heart of the New Testament preaching of the Gospel from the day of Pentecost on. "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36) Jesus is the Lord of all. Jesus is the Anointed One, the Messiah, who has come to fulfill all the prophecies. "What I have I give you. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, walk." (Acts 3:6) Jesus came to give us fullness of life and to minister to the whole person. "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10:42,43)

How can we receive the forgiveness of sins through Jesus? Paul says that he resolved to know nothing while he was with them except Jesus Christ and him crucified. The focus of his teaching about the work of Jesus was his death leading to his resurrection. His death was a fulfillment of the Day of Atonement in the Temple. It is this costly sacrifice for our sins that saves us. Later in 1 Corinthians he will write, "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." (1 Cor.15:1-3)

This did not satisfy all of his audience. Many found the message of the Cross foolishness because they did not want to have to admit their need of it. They were self-deceived of their goodness and knowledge. It is no different today. The message of the Cross, of sins to be forgiven in a costly fashion by the supreme sacrifice of the love of God in Christ, is offensive to many. They don't want to have to admit their pride and shame and shortcomings. "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Cor.1:22-24)

It is through Christ that we discover the love and the life and the light of God. It is through faith in Christ that we experience the power of God's love and the wisdom of God's truth. Nothing else that we do in the church is as important as our focus on Christ. Everything should point to him who is our Savior and our Lord. It is only as our focus is on Christ that our churches will flourish and our culture will have hope. Put your trust in the crucified and risen Christ.

Not I, but Christ be honored, loved exalted;
Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard;
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.

Not I. but Christ, to gently sooth in sorrow,
Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tear;
Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden,
Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear.

Christ, only Christ.No idle words e'er falling,
Christ, only Christ; no needless, bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ; no self important bearing;
Christ, only Christ; no trace of 'I' be found.

Not I, but Christ, my every need supplying,
Not I, but Christ, my strength and health to be;
Not I, but Christ, for body, soul, and spirit,
Christ, only Christ, here and eternally.

Fannie Bolton