"Be United" -- 1 Corinthians 1:4-17

The Second in a Series on 1 Corinthians

There is nothing so tragic and gut-wrenching as a church split.  Some among us have been through them and almost nothing good comes from them.  Even in the case of a “Scottish revival”–the facetious term for the departure of a group of disaffected trouble-makers who cause the very problem they are complaining about–division in the church is still division, as Christ’s spiritual body is torn apart by our sinful behavior.  While church splits are probably the worst case scenario, there is another more subtle form of division which is found in Christ’s church (and often within Reformed churches).  This is the case of factions.  “I follow the teaching of so and so.”  “Oh yeah, well I follow the teaching of so and so, and he said that your so and so . . .”  It had come to Paul’s attention that several factions had formed in the Corinthian church.  Paul regards this as such a serious matter that this is the very first issue he takes up in his letter to the Corinthians.

In the first sermon we devoted most of our time to the historical background needed to understand the “whats” and “whys” of this very important letter.  I would encourage you to get a CD or listen to the sermon on-line, because this is one epistle which requires that we understand the historical context in which it was written to interpret it correctly.  The similarities between the culture and religious climate of ancient Corinth and that of modern America are really quite striking–and I attempted to draw out some of these similarities in my introductory remarks, and will continue to do so throughout this series.  The ancient Corinthians were much like modern Americans, and the issues Paul addresses with the Corinthians are issues facing the church again today.  This is a letter with which we should be well familiar.

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"Those Who Call Upon the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ" -- 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

The First in a Series on 1 Corinthians

It has been said that the city of Corinth was the New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles of Paul’s day,  all rolled into one.   The parallels between the ancient Greek city of Corinth and modern Southern California are so striking and obvious that a number of theologians have seen fit to make the comparison independently from one another.  The church Paul helped to found in Corinth was largely Gentile and was made up of new Christians recently converted from paganism.  These new Christians found themselves struggling to learn the doctrines of the Christian faith and then to live out their new faith in a city and a culture well-known for its rampant sexual immorality and idolatry.  To be a Christian in first-century Corinth was a lot like being a Christian in twenty-first century America.  The similarities between the Corinth of Paul’s day and Southern California of ours mean that there is much for us to learn from Paul’s remarkable letter to the church in Corinth, that letter known to us as 1 Corinthians.

As we begin a new series on Paul’s first Corinthian letter, we will spend much of our time in this sermon introducing this epistle, so that we have the necessary background to tackle the issues Paul addresses in the body of his letter.  Although Reformed Christians often pride themselves on being students of Paul–devoting themselves to the study of Paul’s letters such as Romans, Galatians and Ephesians–1 Corinthians is often overlooked despite the fact that many of the issues Paul addresses in this epistle are absolutely vital to the health of Christ’s church.  In fact, many of the issues prompting Paul to write to the Corinthians are facing the church again today.  The importance of 1 Corinthians becomes especially clear once we make the connection between the paganism of first century Corinth and the religious climate of contemporary Southern California.  They are very much alike.  

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"Be Watchful" 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

Here's the audio from the 32nd (and concluding) sermon in our series on 1 Corinthians

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"In the Twinkling of an Eye" -- 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Here's the audio from Sunday's sermon: 

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"For He Must Reign" -- 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon:

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"Christ Has Been Raised" -- 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon:

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"The Gospel" -- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon:

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"Decently and In Order" -- 1 Corinthians 14:20-40

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon:  

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1 Corinthians 14:1-19 -- "Strive to Excel in Building Up the Church"

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon.

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"The Greatest of These Is Love" -- 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Here's this morning's sermon, the twenty-fifth in a series.

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