1 Corinthians

Read John 3.16-17. How does this passage speak to you today? What in the text encourages you? What inspires you? 

How important is the local church in the day and time of Paul? How did the local church in Corinth impact the world around it? How important is the local church in our day? How important is our church to you? 

Describe how the local church in Corinth was distinct from any other place in all of Rome? 

Read Galatians 3.26. In your own words, define being “one in Christ.” How is this truth being lived out in your life today? Where is one area of growth for you as it relates to this truth? 

Read Revelation 7.9-10. How does this picture of heaven impact your life on earth? How does this picture of heaven impact your life in the local church? 

Read and reflect on the quote by Dallas Willard: “The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons, with Himself included in that community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.”

Read 1 Corinthians 11.2-16. What spaces to you most personally in the text? 

What’s the purpose for Paul writing this portion of the text? How does this impact us at Sanctuary? Why is order in the gathering important to Paul?

Read verse 3 and then answer the following questions: What are ‘these important traditions’ that Paul notes? What are they not? How do we often confuse our religious traditions from what Paul is describing here? 

Read verses 4-5. What does the Bible mean when it describes, “prophesying?” What’s the cultural implication of these verses? What is important for us to hold onto today? 

How do you view the role of women in the local church? What do you believe is biblical about what a woman can or can’t do in the local church? 

Read verse 6 and then verse 13-16. What is the cultural context of this verse? What does this mean for us today?

Read verses 7-12. After reading this text, how important is “authority?” 

Read Ephesians 5.21. In your own words, define “mutual submission.” 

Read Galatians 5.6. How does Paul truth call you to act in mutual submission? What does love look like in submission? 

Spend some time praying for God’s wisdom to continue to be given to you and to our church leaders. Pray for unity and mutual submission for our church. 

Read 1 Corinthians 10.23-33. What’s the primary implication of this text for you today? 

1 Corinthians 10.31 is the heartbeat of this section. What’s the purpose of this statement to the Corinthian Church? What’s the primary implication of this statement for our Faith Family, and for you and your family? 

Note an example of someone you know who fully lives out the truth of verse 31. How does their example encourage you? How does it challenge you? 

The Corinthian Christians were mostly interested in “knowledge and rights.” Paul wants them to express their faith through “love and freedom.” What’s the difference between these two ideals? 

In what aspects of your daily life do you sense a bend toward “knowledge and rights?” How are you growing in your daily expressions of “love and freedom?”

In your own words. define self-righteousness. 

Read and reflect on the words of Richard Foster, “Self-righteous service comes through human effort. It expends immense amounts of energy calculating and scheming how to render the service…True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside. We serve out of whispered promptings, divine urgings.” 

How are you growing to recognize your own temptation toward self-righteousness? How are you being freed from this burden?

There are times when we as Christians may be unsure what action or belief or relationship is best. Below are five questions and five corresponding Scriptural truths to help us know how best to live in freedom and love

1. Will this lead to freedom or slavery?

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. – 1 Corinthians 6.12

2. Will this make me a stumbling block or a stepping stone?

Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. – 1 Corinthians 8.13

3. Will this build me up or tear me down?

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. – 1 Corinthians 10.23

4. Will this only please me or will it cause others to glorify Christ?

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10.31

5. Will this help to win the lost to Christ or turn them away?

Even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. – 1 Corinthians 10.33

How could these questions and Scriptural truths help guide the way you act privately and publicly? 

In your own words, define the “glory of God.” 

Read Psalm 19.1; 29.1-2 and Habakkuk 2.14. How do you see the “glory of God” in creation? 

Read and reflect on John Piper’s description of the glory of God: “The public display of the infinite beauty and worth of God…I believe the glory of God is the going public of his infinite worth. I define the holiness of God as the infinite value of God, the infinite intrinsic worth of God. And when that goes public in creation, the heavens are telling the glory of God, and human beings are manifesting his glory, because we’re created in his image, and we’re trusting his promises so that we make him look gloriously trustworthy.” 

How does this definition encourage you as you consider verse 1 Corinthians 10.31? 

What was the relationship between the Israelites and the glory of God? 

Read John 1.1-14. Jesus is His glory. Jesus is the public display of infinite beauty. How do you see the glory of God in Jesus? 

Read John 17.20-22. What is Jesus actually praying for here? 

Read and reflect on the words of C.S. Lewis. “It may be asked what practical use there is in the speculations which I have been indulging. I can think of at least one such use. It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.” –  C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Read 2 Corinthians 3.18. How are you sensing God at work in you transforming you into His image “with ever-increasing glory”?  

Spend a few moments asking God to continue to reveal His glory to you, in you, and through you.

Read 1 Corinthians 10.14-22. What is the problem in the Corinthian church? How is Paul inviting the Corinthians to grow? 

What stories in the Old Testament can you recall that highlight the importance of sharing a meal? What about the New Testament? 

Think about the word “idolatry.” What “idols” have you had to flee from in your life? What or whom might still hold too high a place of prominence in your life? 

The Corinthians were practicing a form of idol worship when eating in pagan temples. What’s the correlation to this act in your world today? 

Reflect on one or two stories of Jesus sharing a meal with friends, or family. It seems that Jesus eats with all kinds of people. Who shares a meal at your table? What have you learned about yourself by sharing a meal with others? 

Read 1 Corinthians 10.21. What does it mean to “drink the cup of demons?” 

Read 1 Corinthians 11.17-34. What is the primary implication of this text?

How important is the Lord’s Supper to the church at Corinth? What kind of value do you think they placed on the Lord’s Supper? How important is the Lord’s Supper to you? How much do you value it? What is the most meaningful aspect of the Lord’s Supper? 

What problem is Paul trying to correct? 

Read and reflect on the comments of J.D. Walt. “Don’t for a minute think you are remembering the Lord when you have practically forgotten the poor. It’s not the ritual that creates the righteousness, but the righteousness that verifies the ritual.” How do you participate in this practice without it becoming ritualistic? What is the importance of the communal aspect of communion? 

What is the New Covenant Jesus mentions? 

Read John 13.34-35. How does Jesus express His love for His friends? How has a friend expressed holy love toward you in the last two weeks? How does His example inspire you to put love into action? 

Read Revelation 19.6-9. How does this eternal picture give you strength and courage to commune with the Lord and with others today? 

Spend a few moments in taking communion today. 

1) What comes to mind when you think of distractions that disqualify?

2) Where you do you find yourself relating to the four examples of idolatry of the Israelites that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 10:7-10? Are there areas in your life where you see yourself refusing, repurposing, requiring, or rejecting God’s instruction and gifts?

3) Paul warns us to be careful if we think we stand, lest we fall. Are there areas in your life where you need to be aware of the pull/push (temptation/test) deception technique the enemy can use?

4) What may be pulling you away from God with the false promise of offering something better than God can provide?

5) What circumstances in your life may be pushing you away from God as your trust in his goodness/faithfulness is questioned?

6) How does it encourage you to know that our God is faithful and will provide an escape…always?

7) Are there things in your life that you recognize are distractions that are designed to disqualify? Take some time and reflect on the truth that our God is better than any distraction this world has to offer.