The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
1 Corinthians 5-8
Act 3: God’s New Covenant People
Scene 4: Christ’s Church: God’s People Advance the Kingdom
Background Information: 1 Corinthians 5-8
Sadly, the church at Corinth not only mirrored the sins of the wider culture, but in some ways they actually exceeded those sins. How could professing Christians have become so messed up that they believed they could embrace both Christ and sexual immorality? Paul outlines a list of various types of sins that he says will keep people from the Kingdom of God. He is not saying that you can’t be a Christian if you still sin. He is saying that you cannot be a Christian if you continue to live in sin without a clear sense of conviction and a lifestyle of repentance. Some of the church at Corinth foolishly believed that the grace of Christ allowed them to continue to sin rather than empowering them to live in victory over sin. They used what were a kind of first century Corinth “bumper stickers” as their life motto. “All things are lawful for me” implies that they were free to do whatever they wanted. Paul’s response was, “No, those things are not helpful, and they will enslave you.” “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” was a way of saying, “We have appetite for food, and there is food, so eat. We have appetite for sex and there is sex, so indulge.” Paul’s response was, “No! Christ will destroy the sinful flesh, and he did not make your body for that. He made your body to glorify him.” It has always been a challenge for Christians to live effectively in culture without being submerged under it. A culture is simply a shared way of life. Christians are called to live within their wider culture, but with a kind of Christ-centered counterculture. There are two mistakes the Church can make in regard to living within the culture where God has placed them. One is to attempt to live completely outside the wider culture…to try and isolate from the wider world in order to avoid being “infected by it.” Paul said this cannot work, and it should not be done. The other is to do what some in Corinth did and to live in a way that is indistinct from the wider culture. Of course, this also must not be done. The biblical model is to be “in but not of” the world (culture). When the church has adopted this posture in a balanced way, it has always impacted the world around it. This “in but not of” approach is not about some large-scale organizational strategy, but rather individual followers of Christ, gathered in local churches, living faithful day to day lives. In communion with Christ and in community with others, they do the hard and good work to be found faithful at their posts. This is how the world is transformed.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Ask God to help Evan Wilson this morning as he serves pastors in Moldova and surrounding countries. Evan is leading a training online for the pastors about leadership. Pray that God would use Evan to encourage these people and in turn strengthen their churches.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.