Sermon Recap
The Bema Seat: Face to Face
Part 2 of 7 in Full Reward
Parte 2 de 7 de la serie Full Reward
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Brian Hunter · August 10, 2025
“The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss.”
Scripture Referenced
Recap
Continuing week two of the “Full Reward” series, Brian dug into the question of exactly how believers will be judged at what Scripture calls the “judgment seat” of Christ, the bema seat. Starting in Romans 14:7-12 and 2 Corinthians 5:10, he established that every believer, not just unbelievers, will one day give a personal account to God, standing before that seat regardless of how they treated other believers along the way. From there Brian turned to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, the passage that would anchor much of the series: every life is a foundation built on Christ, and the materials used to build it (pictured as gold, silver, and jewels versus wood, hay, and straw) are tested by fire on judgment day. What survives brings reward; what burns brings loss, though the person themselves remains saved.
Brian then pictured that moment using imagery from Song of Solomon, describing Jesus inviting his bride to step out from hiding and let him see her face fully, “cleft of the rock” imagery Brian tied back to the wound in Christ’s side from which the church was born. He described the eyes of Jesus as burning like fire, able to see everything, making that meeting both terrifying and, for those who trust him, wonderful rather than something to dread.
The message closed with Psalm 139:16 (“you saw me before I was born, every day of my life was recorded in your book”) as the basis for what believers will actually be judged on: not comparison to someone else’s calling, but faithfulness to the specific assignment God wrote into their own story from the beginning.
Touch Points
- Brian said even believers will give a personal account before Christ. Does picturing that moment change how you think about daily choices?
- Gold, silver, and jewels versus wood, hay, and straw, what “building materials” do you think make up your life right now?
- The image from Song of Solomon pictures Jesus wanting to see your face fully, not from hiding. Is there an area of life you tend to hide from him?
- Psalm 139:16 says every day of your life was already recorded before you were born. How does that shape your sense of a personal, specific assignment from God?