Series: Reactive Love
Message: A Message from 1 Corinthians 13
Preacher: Jessyka Albert
Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 27:1-6.
Read: 1 Corinthians 13 - As you read in the NLT translation, note 1-3 insights/questions that arise.
Reflect: Now that we understand more about the city of Corinth, let’s understand the Church in Corinth and what they were struggling with. Paul has laid the foundation of the church there and has stayed for over a year with them. When Paul leaves on his third mission journey, the church goes back to struggling with holding true to what they have been taught. Their secular setting has begun to engulf their small group, while they are still trying to hold true to the name “Christians.” Hays, in his commentary First Corinthians, concludes that there must have been about 150-200 Christians living in Corinth during this time. Hays writes:
One thing that we do know, however many Christians there may have been in Corinth, is that they represented a spectrum of differing social and economic classes, ranging from prosperous household heads to slaves. This socioeconomic diversity—highly unusual for any voluntary association with in the ancient world or today—created some tensions and difficulties within the church.
With Paul gone, the church begins to struggle. They are in disagreement over who they are following. They are in disagreement on sexual immorality. They are in disagreement on how to worship. They are in disagreement on worship. They are in disagreement about the role of women in the church. This list goes on and on. Needless to say, the church is in chaos.
Recalibrate:
Respond: Pray for restoration.
Research: Read the entire letter of 1 Corinthians and find all the areas of disunity that Paul addresses.