Gospel in the Center, Love on Top

What happens when a church stops chasing success and starts chasing the gospel instead? In this final sermon on 1 Corinthians, Pastor Josh wraps up the series with a deeply personal reflection on what Heartbeat Church is really about — and why being small and dangerous might be exactly what God intended.

Love Always Finds a Way to Act

Pastor Josh opened by walking through 1 Corinthians 16, the final chapter of this long series. Paul is saying goodbye to the Corinthian church, but even in his farewell, there are deep lessons about what it means to love practically.

The chapter starts with Paul organizing a financial collection for suffering believers in Jerusalem. The instruction was simple: on the first day of every week, set aside money in keeping with your income. Pastor Josh made the point that giving isn't just for the wealthy — everyone can participate. As he put it, no one can love everyone, but everyone can love someone.

He then unpacked what biblical love actually is, walking through the four Greek words for love — eros (romantic love), phileo (brotherly love), storge (familial love), and agape, the one the New Testament uses most. His definition of agape was striking:

"I think the better way to describe it is an intense affection with the truth. And that love was the heart of God that reflects his character, his character, not our character."

The key takeaway? Love is not a feeling. Love is an act of the will. When a parent sees a sick child, they don't just say "I love you" — they take them to the hospital. When someone is struggling, sometimes the most loving thing is to say no. He anchored this in 1 John 3:18: "Let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth."

"Love always finds a way to act."

He pointed to Heartbeat's own Above Water program as a real-life example — a fund started during the pandemic where members contribute privately, and those who receive help are encouraged to replenish it when they can. One student promised to pay back his tuition help when he got a job. Two years later, he did exactly that.

Master and Slaves — Working Together Under the Gospel

One of the most fascinating moments in the sermon was Pastor Josh's observation about three people mentioned almost in passing in 1 Corinthians 16:15-18 — Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus. Scholars identify Stephanas as likely a man of means, while Fortunatus and Achaicus bear typical slave names.

"The picture is that the gospel pushed people to overcome any status, any status quo, any norm in the world and made people work together, putting down their own pride and preference. Master and slaves work together, slaves' names are in the eternal Word of God. Isn't that amazing?"

These three were the ones who carried the Corinthian church's questions to Paul — questions about division, tongues, prophecy, sexual immorality, and resurrection. Their availability and willingness to serve gave us the letter that has shaped the church for 2,000 years. Pastor Josh used this to press into the theme of recognition — learning to see and honor the people who serve behind the scenes.

He gave a personal shout-out to Mimi, whose lounge room hosted the Gold Coast church plant in its earliest days. She faithfully opened her home and fed people week after week. He also recognized the nameless leaders across Sydney, Melbourne, and Queensland campuses who meet weekly, problem-solve, and serve without fanfare.

Be Watchful, Stand Firm, Act Like Men, Be Strong

The sermon's anchor verse was 1 Corinthians 16:13: "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith. Act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."

Pastor Josh broke it down piece by piece. Be watchful means being spiritually vigilant — church isn't a social club for your spare Sundays. Stand firm in the faith means holding to the truth of the gospel as an ongoing, daily discipline, not a one-time decision.

He spent time on "act like men," acknowledging upfront that it can sound provocative. His reading was not about gender superiority but about grit and resilience — qualities the whole church needs. He challenged the tendency in Christian culture to over-feminize faith, where everything has to be soft and emotional.

"Sometimes in church, we have to learn how to just stand up and walk the journey. Have the grit. You don't have to feel everything. You don't have to understand everything."

But the verse doesn't end there. It ends with love. Faith and love — that's the summary of the whole letter. The major must stay the major.

The Enemy's Cleverest Tactic

Pastor Josh then dropped what might be the most quotable line of the sermon. The enemy's strategy isn't to erase truth from the church — it's to make truth complicated, unactionable, and lifeless.

"One of the most powerful tactics of the enemy to neutralize the church is maintaining the content of truth and turning it into complicated, unactionable, and lifeless repetition."

He walked through each word. Complicated: the church wasn't destroyed by persecution — it was weakened by division, by people following Calvin or Wesley instead of Christ, by making wearing a tie more important than loving your neighbor. Unactionable: people hear the gospel and nod along but never ask, "What do I actually do with this?" The answer is stunningly simple — love each other, forgive those who hurt you, give to those in need. Lifeless: the enemy loves joyless Christians because they have no influence. If you don't look like you believe the gospel, why would anyone else?

He boiled the entire letter of 1 Corinthians down to two questions we should be asking constantly:

• What saves people? — Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again (1 Corinthians 15).
• What is the most loving thing to do? — This is where the gospel becomes practical, week by week, in every relationship and decision.

"The greatest enemy of the best is not the bad. The greatest enemy of the best is the good."

Social work is good — but it can be done without Jesus. Prayer meetings are good — but they can drift from the gospel. Bible study is good — but you can do it without encountering Christ. The point is that gospel must be in the center of everything.

Challenge: The Small and Dangerous Church

The final section of the sermon was deeply personal. Pastor Josh shared something he'd written in the car while his wife was driving — words that came from years of hurt, failure, and reflection on ministry.

"When we gave up popularity, we started to gain the insight of the power of the gospel. We asked not how can we bring more people together, but we asked what does it look like if we truly love the gospel and love each other first and foremost."

He described Heartbeat's philosophy in raw terms: no gimmicks, no celebrity pastor, no spectacular Sunday presentations. Just people sharing meals, sharing stories of what God has done, and living the gospel together. He was honest about moments of discouragement, insecurity, and even envy of bigger churches.

Then came the church taxonomy that got everyone laughing — and thinking. There are whale churches (mega churches like Hillsong), tiger churches (resilient mid-size congregations), rabbit churches (small home gatherings that multiply fast), and then the most dangerous of all: cockroach churches. Five or six people, eating together, sharing life, splitting when they hit twelve so everyone can still be truly known.

"That cockroach church is us. You are cockroaches. You are the powerful cockroaches. When even a nuclear war happens, they survive."

His closing challenge cut through everything: even if the church reduces to 10 people, it continues on. Because the power of the church was never in the numbers, the buildings, or the programs. It was always in people caught by the cross and resurrection of Jesus, doing life together.

He closed by reading 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 — without love, even the most extraordinary spiritual gifts amount to nothing. And he prayed for Heartbeat to keep fighting for this: gospel in the center, love on top.

"I grow here, I grow old here. I love this small and dangerous church."