The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
1 Corinthians 12-14
Act 3: God’s New Covenant People
Scene 4: Christ’s Church: God’s People Advance the Kingdom
Background Information: 1 Corinthians 12-14
To a church divided into many factions, Paul doubles down on the beauty of unity in diversity. The Church has one Spirit, and he gives many different kinds of gifts. The Church is one body, and like the human body, it consists of many diverse parts. The Spirit gives various gifts for the common good. The diverse parts of the body all work together for the overall health of the body. Then, in a stroke of inspired brilliance, Paul gives us what is one of the most beautiful chapters in all of human literature. But more than that, he gives us a picture of the beauty of the gospel lived in a unified Christian community. This “love” chapter, quoted at many weddings, is not about sentimentality and poetic eloquence; but instead it is about what maturity looks like in actual practice. All the gifting, all the brilliance, and all the sacrifice mean nothing without love. This is not love as a feeling–that kind of love is mostly about self. This is about love as practical, applicable, real-life, and real-choice stuff. All the posturing, all the cool chasing, and all the focus on me and mine are child’s play. It may all look grown-up to those who don’t have the mind of Christ, but to those who do, it is playing games with things of eternal importance. It is ironic that the very teaching designed to communicate the need to put others first in worship has been used to divide the Church into even more factions. Whatever you believe about Spiritual gifts, you must believe this: the gifts are intended for God’s glory and the good of others. If this theme seems redundant, then it is intended redundancy. Spiritual children, though they may grow tired of it, need to hear the same important truths over and over. Spiritual adults, who have seen how life actually works, never grow tired of the old truth of God. Living a life of love for God and others is never mere redundancy for the growing Christian; it is an ever-widening horizon that grows exponentially day after day.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Ask God to use the work of Embrace to protect the lives of unborn children and to introduce Jesus to women and men considering abortion.
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.