[Introduction]
Beloved congregation,
Do you know when the relationship between people breaks down?
It is when they start insisting on their own rights against each other.
Of course, the rights and freedom we have are very precious.
However, at times, when we try to prove until the very end that we are right, we end up losing precious relationships.
It is true at home, and it is true in the church.
Even if my thoughts are right and my arguments are justifiable, if I try to push them through to the end, love grows cold and hearts drift apart.
Two thousand years ago, this exact problem arose in the Corinthian church.
There were people who insisted on their own freedom and rights, hurting brothers and sisters whose faith was weak.
To these people, the Apostle Paul shares his own life in today's passage.
He says that although he had every right he could claim, he laid down those rights for the sake of this gospel.
Why did he do so?
Because to Paul, there was something far more precious than his own rights.
It was this very gospel, and the one soul who needed to hear this gospel.
Beloved saints,
Through God's Word today, I desire that we, too, engrave one truth upon our hearts:
A person captivated by the gospel treasures the work of saving one soul.
I bless you in the name of the Lord that today’s Word of God will be deeply engraved in our lives as a time of amazing blessing.

1. First, we are stewards of the gospel. Instead of boasting of our own merits, we must joyfully lay down even our rightful claims.
Let us look at verses 16 and 17.
[1 Corinthians 9:16–17]
16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.
Everyone, the Apostle Paul says that he has nothing to boast about just because he preaches the gospel. Why is that?
Because preaching the gospel is not something to boast about as my own choice or ability; rather, it is a mission I must fulfill as a "steward" entrusted with managing the Master’s house.
So in verse 18, Paul shares something truly amazing.
He asks what, then, is his true reward as a steward.
To the Apostle Paul, enjoying his own rights to the fullest was not his joy.
Rather, by laying down his rights so that this gospel could be preached without any hindrance—this very thing was Paul's greatest joy and reward!
In fact, as an apostle, Paul had the natural right to receive help from the church and demand fair compensation.
Nevertheless, to lessen the burden on the believers in the Corinthian church, he took responsibility for his own livelihood by working to make rough tents.
Why did he go to such lengths?
Because the great grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to him on the road to Damascus when he was undeserving, was simply overwhelming.
He wanted to make sure that this free gospel he preached would never become a stumbling block to anyone.
Beloved congregation,
Before this Word, I hope we can reflect on ourselves.
When we do even a little work at home or in the church, we want to be recognized.
Of course, thanking and encouraging those who have worked hard is truly important.
However, our service must not stop at merely seeking human recognition.
We are not people who work to receive a payout; we are stewards who serve out of gratitude for the grace we have already freely received.
Think about Abraham, our forefather of faith in the Bible.
When a quarrel broke out with the herdsmen of his nephew Lot, Abraham, as the elder of the family, had the natural right to choose the good land first.
However, for the peace of the family and the glory of God, Abraham gladly laid down this right.
"If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left."
He gave the first choice to his nephew. He took a step back.
Everyone, when he gave up his legitimate right like this, what happened?
In the very place after Lot had parted from him, our God personally came to Abraham and poured out an even greater and more amazing blessing, promising to give him all the land he could see to the north, south, east, and west!
At this hour today, I hope we can ponder this together.
Whether at home or in our church, what is there that I can yield just a little more?
Rather than insisting until the end that I am right, for the sake of your beloved spouse and beloved children, and for the sake of the beloved members of our church, take one step back first, just like Abraham.
This is the true image of a steward entrusted with the gospel.
There are times when laying down my rights seems like a loss in the moment.
However, if the gospel is preached and the love of heaven is established in the place where I stepped back, what could be more precious than this?
I bless you in the name of the Lord that all of us may become stewards of the gospel who bring joy to heaven.

2. Next, to save one soul, we must gladly become servants of love.
Let us look at verses 22 and 23.
[1 Corinthians 9:22–23]
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Here, there is an expression we must pay attention to.
It is the phrase, "to win them."
Paul says that to the Jews he became like a Jew, to those under the law he matched their eye level, and to the weak he became weak.
This does not mean he compromised the truth of the gospel.
While guarding the essence of the gospel, he gladly lowered his own attitude and method of approaching people.
Why did he go that far?
Today’s Word testifies:
"So that by all possible means I might save some."
The Apostle Paul's heart was directed toward one soul.
Winning this one person was more important than asserting his own freedom.
Having this good news, this gospel, preached to this one soul was more important than protecting his own comfort.
Beloved congregation,
As I meditated on this Word, the image of a deacon who was once in our Smyrna Church came to my mind.
It is the late Deacon Shin.
Those of you who remember will recall that it was the day before the deacon was called home by God.
Even on that day, suffering from his illness, our deacon led his body—which could barely even walk properly—and came to this Sunday worship service.
Not even having the strength to sit up, he worshiped while lying down right over there in that spot.
Even as he coughed and blood came up in the midst of his coughing, he focused stitch by stitch on every word of God.
I will never forget the message I preached that day.
It was the Parable of the Sower.
I preached about sowing the seed of the gospel.
Yet after the service ended, the deacon received prayer with the laying on of hands, and that day he left without even eating the church lunch.
Having heard the Word that day, he said there was someone he absolutely had to go and preach the gospel to.
He said, "I do not know whether I will go before God today or tomorrow, but to this person at least, with the heart of a debtor, I must surely preach the gospel."
So he led his aching body and went out to meet that person.
And the very next day, he was embraced in the arms of the Lord.
Everyone, I cannot forget the sight of that day.
He was someone who did not even have the strength to sit up and had to lie on the chairs to listen to the Word.
Yet as soon as the service ended, he went out to preach the gospel to one soul.
What made this person walk such a path?
Was it something someone forced him to do?
No!
It was because the grace of Jesus Christ, who saved him, was alive and breathing inside his heart.
It was because the heart of the Lord toward one soul was also in the heart of the late Deacon Shin.
Until his very last moment, our deacon was a person who preached the gospel.
Beloved saints,
What we need today is to first look around at each and every person beside us.
It is the same when we treat our spouse and children at home.
It is the same when we treat one another inside the church.
First, consider that person’s heart as an individual.
There are people whose faith is weak.
There are people whose hearts are hurt.
There are also people who have different thoughts from mine.
Do not put your own standards first.
Take one step down to where that person is standing.
And one more thing:
Around us, there are still pitiful souls who do not know the Lord, groaning as they walk toward that eternal fire of hell.
I bless you in the name of the Lord to embrace them in our hearts.
Whenever an opportunity is given, preach Jesus Christ who saved us.
We cannot save that person. Salvation is the work of God.
However, sowing the seed of the gospel is the mission entrusted to us.
The Apostle Paul testifies to us today:
"So that by all possible means I might save some."
I bless you in the name of the Lord that this heart may become the heart of our Smyrna Church.

[Conclusion]
Let me conclude the message.
Beloved congregation,
How was the Apostle Paul able to lay down his rights?
How was the late Deacon Shin able to walk toward that one soul until his very last moment?
The reason is that our Lord Jesus Christ came to find me first.
Although Jesus was in very nature God, He humbled Himself.
He laid down all the glory of heaven, took the very nature of a servant, and to save us who were in sin and death, He gave up His own life on this cross.
The Lord loved us first.
The Lord came to find us first.
Because we are people who have received this grace, today we, too, can humble ourselves for someone else.
Beloved saints,
I bless you that this heart of the Apostle Paul may become our heart, and that the footsteps of faith left behind by the late Deacon Shin may continue in our lives.
I desire that our Smyrna Church will not be a church where we insist on our own rights against one another, but a church where we can gladly humble ourselves for each other.
And I hope we become a church that treasures every single soul in Enterprise and sows the seed of the gospel.
"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."
For the sake of this gospel, and for the sake of one soul, I bless you in the name of the Lord that both you and I may gladly give ourselves.
Let us pray together.

[Closing Prayer]
Father God, abundant in love and grace,
We thank You for this great love—laying down all the glory and rights of heaven and giving up even Your own life on this cross to save sinners like us.
Lord, although we have become stewards of this gospel saved by free grace, please forgive our shameful appearance of still trying to look out for our own rights and pride first.
Now, we desire to become servants of love who gladly take a step back for weak members and our beloved families.
Especially, we remember the earnest footsteps of the late Deacon Shin, who, even in the pain of gasping for his last breath and coughing up blood, guarded his place of worship and treasured the work of sowing the seed of the gospel to one dying soul.
Lord, please reignite this passion for the gospel in our cooled hearts as well.
During this week, may our Smyrna Church embrace in our hearts that one pitiful soul dying without yet knowing the Lord, share Your warm love, and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We love You, Lord.
We pray in the precious name of Jesus. Amen!