1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:1-17
Today we start a preaching series on 1 Corinthians which will run through Lent, ending a few weeks after Easter.
The letter we call 1 Corinthians was written sort of mid way through Paul's relationship with the church in Corinth (which is located in modern day Greece). Paul founded the church in about AD 51, wrote this letter about AD 55, and the one we call 2 Corinthians a few years later. Paul went on to meet his Maker in around AD 66 or 67.
The church in Corinth was, in may ways, successful. By the time of Paul's writing, it had attached a sizable amount of people, who met throughout the city in a network of house churches. No doubt this is something of what lies behind the divisions we read about in the passages under consideration in this sermon. The church had also penetrated various cultural levels, which lies behind some of the struggle outlined in 1 Corinthians 11:17 and following. They were also very well endowed with spiritual gifts, being the most "charismatic" of any of Paul's churches, which led to its own set of problems. For all their success, the people were still immature and were making some very bad choices regarding living out their faith. We will explore these together throughout the series.
For more background on Paul's contacts with the Corinthians, go here.
As I mention in the sermon, this series will be
-- somewhat sequential, but not totally
-- covers the whole book, but not evenly
-- dovetailed with transition and Lent/Easter.
I will be working through the book, chapter by chapter for the most part. However there are a few sections I will treat out of sequence, because of how the fit in with special days (like Easter).
There will be times that I cover large sections in one sermon and others when I cover smaller sections. It is just the nature of the book and how it seems to apply to where we now are as a church. When I cover large sections quickly, this blog will provide some of the missing material.
And finally, I rather choose this study (with thanks to Trish Schelgel who worked on an outline for Lent using 1 Corinthians which I was able to take and expand upon) because of the way it address some of the things we are/will face as the congregation transitions to a new organizational plan during the first quarter of 2013.
You can view a power point presentation of the new organizational plan by clicking here. If you attended one of the congregational information meetings, you have some background already. This ppt presentation gives more background, with historical and theological information.
I invite you to journey with me.
Thanks for digging deeper.
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