We all have times in our lives when we were less mature than we are now. Just think back to middle school and it\u2019ll probably prove the point. We all have to grow up sometime. We can\u2019t act like we\u2019re in kindergarten if we\u2019re actually an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same goes for how we grow as Christians. We should move past how we acted, thought, and spoke when we first started following Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grab a pen and paper and spend a few minutes writing about when you first believed in Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What kinds of things have changed in the way you live since then?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Who has set an example for you of how to think about other people?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Where do you see room to improve in the way you treat others? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem comes when we stay put\u2014when we don\u2019t grow up as Christians. That\u2019s part of the Corinthians\u2019 problem and Paul calls them out on it. Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-23.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While you\u2019re reading, jot down the signs that point to the Corinthians\u2019 immaturity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn\u2019t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2<\/sup>I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren\u2019t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren\u2019t ready, 3<\/sup>for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn\u2019t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren\u2019t you living like people of the world? 4<\/sup>When one of you says, \u201cI am a follower of Paul,\u201d and another says, \u201cI follow Apollos,\u201d aren\u2019t you acting just like people of the world? 5<\/sup>After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God\u2019s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6<\/sup>I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7<\/sup>It\u2019s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What\u2019s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8<\/sup>The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9<\/sup>For we are both God\u2019s workers. And you are God\u2019s field. You are God\u2019s building. 10<\/sup>Because of God\u2019s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11<\/sup>For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have\u2014Jesus Christ. 12<\/sup>Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials\u2014gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13<\/sup>But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person\u2019s work has any value. 14<\/sup>If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15<\/sup>But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. 16<\/sup>Don\u2019t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17<\/sup>God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God\u2019s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 18<\/sup>Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world\u2019s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. 19<\/sup>For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, \u201cHe traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.\u201d 20<\/sup>And again, \u201cThe Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.\u201d 21<\/sup>So don\u2019t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you\u201422<\/sup>whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23<\/sup>and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.<\/p>(NLT – New Living Translation version)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The Corinthians wanted both the Christian life and the worldly life everyone else had in the city. Remember that, at that time, people lifted wisdom\u2014particularly wise leaders\u2014 onto a pedestal. The Corinthians arguing about which leader they follow would have been the cultural norm in Corinth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, in this section, Paul attacks their need to rally behind, rely on, and brag about certain leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul has harsh words for the Corinthians. He calls them childish and worldly. They\u2019re too immature to recognize God\u2019s role in their growth. And they\u2019re too arrogant to see that what they\u2019re doing goes against the life God\u2019s called them to. They\u2019ve mistaken God\u2019s work for human work. They\u2019ve idolized human leaders over God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And we can do the same. We can look at how our lives have unfolded and easily forget God\u2019s role in all of it. When we neglect to remember that God\u2019s in the middle of it all with us, we worry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes when we\u2019re worried, our immediate reaction is to go looking for comfort. For some people that could be alcohol, shopping, social media, video games, or a TV show. But if we think that\u2019s the best way to live the Christian life, we\u2019re just like the Corinthians. We\u2019re deceiving ourselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \ufeffPause for a few minutes to be honest before God. Confess any ways you might be turning to something\u2014or someone\u2014else besides God with your worries. Tell him what you\u2019re worried about. Ask him for opportunities to go to him with your worries this week.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When we allow God to dig up the deep-rooted ways we resist the selfless life God\u2019s called us into, we grow. Or rather, he grows us. Let\u2019s praise him for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking back from when you first know Jesus until now, what can you praise God about for the changes He made in you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Text your response to the above prompting questions to your group and\/or share it as a comment below<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We all have times in our lives when we were less mature than we are now. Just think back to middle school and it\u2019ll probably prove the point. We all have to grow up sometime. We can\u2019t act like we\u2019re in kindergarten if we\u2019re actually an adult. The same goes for how we grow as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"\n Welcome!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to the book of 1 Corinthians. As we study this letter, we\u2019ll step into ancient Corinth while reading the words Paul wrote to the fledgling church. We\u2019re going to see that, like all churches, the Corinthian church wasn\u2019t perfect. They had a problem. A big problem. And it grew to such an epic proportion that it poisoned the church in various ways. Paul wrote to provide the antidote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this study, we\u2019re going to explore Paul\u2019s solution to both the problems in Corinth and in us. Through his words, we\u2019ll learn more about Jesus\u2019s plan for a people who live radically different lives than the world around them. But we\u2019ll also take a hard look in the mirror and ask the Spirit to point out our own self-centered attitudes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading the Bible isn\u2019t just something we do to impress people or to check off on a to-do list. It\u2019s about getting to know God. It\u2019s about shaping every minute of our lives to reflect Jesus. It\u2019s about thinking differently in the power of the Spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So as we approach each week, we\u2019ll focus on one main idea. That main idea will point us to change how we think, feel, and act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This week, we\u2019ll see that resolving relational disunity begins in our hearts because division is a symptom of self-focus. From this main idea, we have three goals: <\/p>\n\n\n\n First Corinthians will take us on a journey. We\u2019ll look at the struggles of one of the first local churches in all of history. We\u2019ll see that the Corinthians weren\u2019t much different from us. And we\u2019ll realize that Paul\u2019s words to them still ring true today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But before we jump into 1 Corinthians, spend a few minutes writing out a short prayer to God. Ask him to use this study to change you. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Open up your Bible to 1 Corinthians. Go ahead and read the entire first chapter. As you read, ask yourself this question: What was the problem in the Corinthian church?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 1:1\u201331 (ESV): <\/p> 1\u00a0Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, \u201cI will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.\u201d<\/p> 20\u00a0Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21\u00a0For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22\u00a0For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23\u00a0but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24\u00a0but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25\u00a0For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.<\/p> 26\u00a0For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27\u00a0But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28\u00a0God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29\u00a0so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30\u00a0And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31\u00a0so that, as it is written, \u201cLet the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The Corinthian church suffered from division. We\u2019ll see it all throughout the book. The struggling church fought over leadership, spiritual gifts, food, marriage, and theology. Since the theme of disunity runs throughout the letter, it\u2019s tempting to think that was the church\u2019s problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it wasn\u2019t. Disunity was only a symptom of a far more insidious\u2014and common\u2014 disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you catch the real issue that was going on in Corinth? It was selfishness. They were so consumed with themselves that they tried to solve their problems their own way, held on to their culture, and, as a result, blasted chasms between them and other Christians.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one likes to admit to selfishness\u2014 especially people who claim to follow Jesus. But it often sneaks into our lives in ways we don\u2019t readily see. And then it spills over in ways we never expect. For the Corinthians, their selfishness led to severe divisions in the church. What is it for us? We\u2019ll spend the rest of the study unpacking that very question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we know the main problem Paul\u2019s tackling in 1 Corinthians, take a moment to be honest with God. Write down any fears or concerns you have about confronting the problem of selfishness. Ask God to use this study to turn your gaze to him.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1corinthians"],"yoast_head":"\n
2\u00a0To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3\u00a0Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4\u00a0I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5\u00a0that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge\u2014 6\u00a0even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you\u2014 7\u00a0so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8\u00a0who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9\u00a0God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10\u00a0I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11\u00a0For it has been reported to me by Chloe\u2019s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12\u00a0What I mean is that each one of you says, \u201cI follow Paul,\u201d or \u201cI follow Apollos,\u201d or \u201cI follow Cephas,\u201d or \u201cI follow Christ.\u201d 13\u00a0Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14\u00a0I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15\u00a0so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16\u00a0(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17\u00a0For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18\u00a0For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19\u00a0For it is written, <\/p>