First Corinthians can feel like a beat-down. Paul isn\u2019t happy with how the church is acting, and the past 11 chapters have all been about what they need to fix. The Corinthians were selfish, which caused lots of problems. Paul\u2019s main point is that Christians should live selflessly and focus on others.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point in the book, we have a good idea of what not <\/em>to do. We\u2019ve looked at several ways we can put our own agendas over the needs of other Christians. Paul\u2019s given us some practical things we can do to be selfless. But in the next 3 chapters, Paul will explain how we can live out an others-centered life in the context of the church, specifically in terms of building up the local church in the ways God\u2019s gifted us.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, Paul will show us what to <\/em>do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As we go through these chapters, we\u2019ll discover that the way we choose the risky life all comes down to one word\u2014love. Loving others is the greatest risk we could ever take. But we choose to love other Christians through our gifts so that all needs are met and so that the church reflects Jesus to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read through 1 Corinthians 12-13 today.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities<\/em> the Spirit gives us. I don\u2019t want you to misunderstand this. 2<\/sup>You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3<\/sup>So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/sup>There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5<\/sup>There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6<\/sup>God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7<\/sup>A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8<\/sup>To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9<\/sup>The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10<\/sup>He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11<\/sup>It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 12<\/sup>The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13<\/sup>Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. 14<\/sup>Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15<\/sup>If the foot says, \u201cI am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,\u201d that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16<\/sup>And if the ear says, \u201cI am not part of the body because I am not an eye,\u201d would that make it any less a part of the body? 17<\/sup>If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 18<\/sup>But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 19<\/sup>How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20<\/sup>Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21<\/sup>The eye can never say to the hand, \u201cI don\u2019t need you.\u201d The head can\u2019t say to the feet, \u201cI don\u2019t need you.\u201d 22<\/sup>In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23<\/sup>And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24<\/sup>while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25<\/sup>This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26<\/sup>If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27<\/sup>All of you together are Christ\u2019s body, and each of you is a part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 28<\/sup>Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages. 29<\/sup>Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30<\/sup>Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31<\/sup>So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. 1<\/sup>If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn\u2019t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2<\/sup>If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God\u2019s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn\u2019t love others, I would be nothing. 3<\/sup>If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn\u2019t love others, I would have gained nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/sup>Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5<\/sup>or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6<\/sup>It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7<\/sup>Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8<\/sup>Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9<\/sup>Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10<\/sup>But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11<\/sup>When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12<\/sup>Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13<\/sup>Three things will last forever\u2014faith, hope, and love\u2014and the greatest of these is love.<\/p>\n1 Corinthians 12-13 (NLT)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n (We will read through chapter 14 later). Even though there\u2019s a lot of content covered this week, there is a big idea that we can trace throughout all three chapters: selfless, sacrificial love. It\u2019s the same love that risks living in an others-centered way. But now we\u2019ll learn how we can individually express our love for God and his people through participation in the local church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll be looking at spiritual gifts a lot this week. Many churches offer spiritual gift assessments to encourage members to use their gifts in the local church. (And you will have a chance to do so soon). While those are great, it\u2019s important we don\u2019t lose the \u201cwhy\u201d behind using our gifts. (As Kimberly said during worship yesterday), our gifts aren\u2019t for us. They\u2019re for the church. We use them to love other Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at your key ring. For most of us, all the keys, rewards cards, and clickers are bound together on a single ring. They\u2019re united. Each item has a different function or purpose, but each is valuable and contributes to your life in some way. That\u2019s what Paul\u2019s getting at in these chapters. We\u2019re all bound together through Jesus\u2019s love. We should therefore function as a unit. The way we act toward each other should reflect the love Jesus has given us. Because he loves us, we give his love to each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Holy Spirit uses us in different ways\u2014 Paul calls it spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are any talents or skills you have that the Spirit works through in order to help the church. These gifts we have are for others, not ourselves. We use them to serve other Christians in our local church because we love them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are some of your talents or skills? How has the Spirit used them in your church? How would you like them to be used by God?<\/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":" First Corinthians can feel like a beat-down. Paul isn\u2019t happy with how the church is acting, and the past 11 chapters have all been about what they need to fix. The Corinthians were selfish, which caused lots of problems. Paul\u2019s main point is that Christians should live selflessly and focus on others.\u00a0 At this point […]<\/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-224035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1corinthians"],"yoast_head":"\n\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>