TB 243
The Body – PART 17
All In!
13 July 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
Great teams are “All In”! I cannot imagine that anyone would disagree with this statement. We have all probably worked on teams where someone was not “All In”! As a result, the performance of that team is in jeopardy and the attitudes of the other team members are probably greatly challenged.
Today we conclude our study in the book of 1 Corinthians with the big idea, Great Teams Are All In!
Note several aspects of what being “All In” looks like as Paul concludes this REALLY long book.
1. Great teams are “All In” when it comes to their financial resources (v.1-4):
Read the first four verses and answer the following questions:
• What is the pattern for giving?
• What is the expectation of how much?
• Where do you see integrity in the process?
• Why Jerusalem?-Check out Romans 15:26
Notice that Paul is not talking about “tithing” here , but a special collection for the poor. (NOTE:Tithing as a legal requirement had passed away with the Old Covenant and been replaced by the greater challenge of “giving” in the New Testament)
• Why is our money the hardest thing to separate with?
• How do you know when you are being generous?
Note the context of this appeal of Paul. He has just talked about how all of us are poor in one way or another:
• Spiritual Poverty - 15:3-4- Our sinful state makes us spiritually poor before God, lacking the resources to make ourselves right with God. Check out 2 Cor. 8:9
• Physical Poverty - 15:42-44- What is it about our current physical state that demonstrates we are “poor”?
This is an important point for us who are not materially poor because when we reach out to those who are materially poor, there is no room for thinking that we are reaching down to them (or we have it all together) as we help them out. We all are poor in many ways and need help. We all have experienced poverty.
2. Great teams are “All In” when it comes to the resource called “time” (v.5-8):
Read these verses and note how Paul wants to spend time with these folks:
• What is the opposite of just a “passing visit”? – see v.7b
This is a pattern we often see in Paul. Note the following text:
“Even though we had some standing as Christ’s apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else. We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did. 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8 (MSG)
• Talk about how time is a gift we can give.
• Who needs the gift of your time these days?
• Why is it hard to give?
People will more likely remember that you gave them some of your time, versus what you said to them. This gift of time is a huge blessing when it is given.
• What might giving people the gift of your time look like in your small group, on a Sunday am?
3. Great teams are “All In” when it comes to their courage (v.9-13):
Do you see the courage of Paul in v9?
Paul understood that there was a cost to being “all in” and all there. This is the “labour” part we talked about last week. It says something about Paul’s perception of his ministry, that the presence of opposition was a sign to him of the viability of his labour and reason for pressing on, not running away (cf. Acts 19:30–31).
Note the courage of Timothy (v.10-11).
What was the possible emotion that Timothy was experiencing when thinking about ministering to the Corinthians?
What is the emotion you experience in those difficult assignments? Anxiety, anger, frustration?
Apollos also knew of the challenge of Corinth.
V.12 - Perhaps Apollos did not want to add fuel to the fire of the Corinthian party spirit and to their playing of favorites. Remember 1 Cor. 1:12?
Then notice v.13 and how the corrective words of Paul to Corinth demonstrate this was not an easy place. In many ways the opposite was what described Corinth.
Some may have prayed, “Oh God send me anywhere - even Moose Jaw - but not Corinth!”
• What are the circumstances that can drain your courage?
• Are you a courageous team member?
Note Paul was a mentor to Timothy. I wonder if he sometimes had to say to Tim, “Don’t let your fear get the best of you.”
Note Paul with Apollos - I wonder if he had to encourage Apollos to press in.
I think we need people around us who can, essentially, say, “ Muster up the courage and take this next assignment, press in on this next part of the vision, hunker down and get at this next part of the project.” Without that “Paul”, we might not have the courage.
• Who is your Paul?
4. Great teams are All In when it comes to their attitude – humility (v.14-18):
Read through this and note how Stephanas and his household ministered to the saints. It is believed that because of the names of Fortunatus and Achaicus that they were probably household slaves.
What makes this really interesting is that the mention of Stephanas’ household suggests that he was a man of considerable means. The Good News that Paul preached was for all people, but it often required the greatest sacrifices of the socially better-off, since they had more to give and the most to lose in honour, power, and social position by converting to a new minority religion. While Paul drew on the benefits of the social structures of his day, he would not allow those structures to dictate the structure of relationships in the new “ekklēsia”.
I would like to meet Stephanas - as a new convert he was unadulterated by the arrogance of some in Corinth, not soiled yet by the establishment, just wearing his WWJD bracelet and doing it.
Final Greetings (v.19-24):
Note Paul’s love for this Church, which had done so much to hurt him:
- the passing on of greetings (v.19-21)
- the desire to protect the church. Note his desire to protect the body with the statement in v.22. This a passionate warning, probably aimed at false teachers who were not “all in”, whom he believed to be already present in the congregation (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3–4).
- the words of blessing (v.23, 24)
Paul loved the Body!
This week, why not pray into the four characteristics of teams that are “All In”! Bethel values and needs teams of people that are “All In”!
Mark Kotchapaw
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
Touching Base - Part 242
TB 242
The Body – PART 14
No Resurrection, Then Insurrection!
22 June 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
How have you weathered the storming of the foundations of your faith?
How are you doing at processing all the questions and accusations that can make your faith seem unsteady, wavering, like a UFC fighter teetering….about to do a bloody face plant on the canvas?
How do you react when some people, like those below, say,
“Though the details differ across the world, no known culture lacks some version of the time-consuming, wealth-consuming, hostility-provoking rituals, the anti-factual, counter-productive fantasies of religion.”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
“I think religion is a neurological disorder.”
― Bill Maher
If you have kids, how do you think they are weathering the storm?
Do you know of any spiritual fatalities, people that just gave up faith because the barrage of questions splintered their faith?
This past Sunday we tackled one of those issues within the Christian faith that, if not true, collapses our faith like a house of cards - the resurrection.
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
Big Idea: No Resurrection, then total Insurrection
This is the sentiment of v.32b, which is what some of the Corinthians were doing.
How important is the resurrection? Scan through the text and list or highlight all the reasons why the resurrection is so important to the Christian faith.
What stands out?
Note v.29 - This was an influence of the surrounding paganism of the day. Paul is not endorsing it but is just using it as part of his argument, demonstrating how, if there is no resurrection, then why do you baptize for the dead?
V.20-28 is a theme we will pick up on next week when we look at v.35-57.
So after reading this, how important is the resurrection to your faith? What sense does it make to be a Christian if Jesus did not rise from the dead?
We would all agree on the importance of the resurrection, but there are some truths we need to consider as we think about the fact of resurrection. The following is just an appetizer. I am hoping that you will do your own digging and researching.
Is there enough evidence for a rational person to be justified in concluding that Jesus’ resurrection was a real event in history? Can we ascertain with a reasonable amount of certainty that the event occurred?
Firstly, let me introduce you to two lines of thinking…. then Carmen will add some further comments (a guest lecturer brought in from North of the 401! :-)
1. Historical Method
Historians carefully use criteria and techniques when investigating the past. Their systematic approach is called the “Historical Method”. For example, some of the basic criteria are
a. Multiple attestation (more than one witness)
b. Early testimony (the closer to the resurrection, the better)
In addition to the Historical Method let’s also consider…
2. Minimal Facts Approach
This approach considers only those data that are so strongly attested historically that they are accepted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones.
One of the strengths of this approach is that it avoids debate over the inspiration of the Bible. Believers and skeptics alike accept the Minimal Facts approach.
The death of Christ
When it comes to the death of Christ do the Historical Method and Minimal Facts Approach support this event in history? Well, without a death, you don’t have a resurrection:
• “Virtually no scholar in the field denies Jesus’ death on the cross.” Gary Habermas
• “That Jesus was crucified and died through the process is granted by virtually 100 percent of scholars who study the subject.” Michael R. Licona
Listen to these non-believers in what they had to say about the death of Jesus:
• Josephus (born 37 AD, a Jewish historian) writes “ When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified….”
• Tacitus (born 56 AD – a Roman historian) - “Nero fastened the guilt (of the burning of Rome) and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.”
• Lucian of Samosata (born 120 AD, a Greek satirist), writes, “The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account.”
Note the basis of the death of Christ outside of the use of Scripture.
What about the resurrection?
• Highly critical NT scholar Rudolf Bultmann agreed that historical criticism can establish “the fact that the first disciples came to believe in the resurrection.”
• Atheistic scholar (NT) Gerd Ludemann concludes, “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”
• Paula Fredriksen of Boston University comments, “ I know in their own terms what they saw was the raised Jesus. That’s what they say and then all the historic evidence we have afterwards attests to their conviction that that’s what they saw. I‘m not saying that they really did see the raised Jesus, I wasn't there. I don’t know what they saw. But I do know that as a historian that they must have seen something.” ( In an interview with Peter Jennings in The Search for Jesus, July 2000)
• Late NT critic at the University of Chicago, Norman Perrin, who rejected the resurrection wrote, “The more we study the tradition with regard to the appearances, the firmer the rock begins to appear upon which they are based.”
Now of course the mere fact that the disciples claimed that they saw the risen Jesus does not alone merit the conclusion that Jesus rose from the dead- since anyone can make a claim- but what is the best, most responsible explanation?
What about the empty tomb?
“An impressive 75 percent of scholars who study the subject acknowledge the empty tomb.” Michael R. Licona.
Now this doesn't mean that there was a resurrection, but it does challenge the reader to explain why there was an empty tomb. Over to Carmen…
And there WAS an empty tomb, a fact, oddly enough, that is strengthened by the very officials that put Jesus to death! Consider the following - the authorities were terrified that the disciples would try to steal Jesus’ body (Matt.22:62-66), so…
- They sealed it with a heavy stone (Matt. 22:59-60)
- Pilate authorized them to put guards in front of it. If those guards fell asleep, the penalty was DEATH. So no one was going to come in and remove a body without them seeing it.
- Some people have said “well, the women were upset… they went to the wrong tomb”. Okay, so all the authorities had to do was go to the RIGHT tomb (it was right there, near Golgotha) and produce the body. They didn’t.
- Matthew 28:11-15 tells us that the Jewish officials then bribed the guards to say the body was taken by the disciples – they’re admitting the body was gone, further strengthening the case.
Christ’s appearances:
Mark also mentioned the belief of the disciples that they had seen Jesus. Some people have suggested that perhaps what happened was a group hallucination. For the record, group hallucinations are actually not possible since they originate in a person’s own mind.
What we do see though, and you can read more in detail about this in our recommended resources below, is that over a 50-day period between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus appeared over and over again to hundreds of people, to men and women, in different times and places, alone and in groups. And he didn't just talk to them, he ate (to reassure them he was real) and walked with them as well.
The disciples were transformed:
BEFORE THE RESURRECTION
- Peter, Jesus’s closest friend, denies he even knows Him three times
- everyone scatters and go into hiding, which Jesus had predicted
AFTER THE RESURRECTION:
- the disciples, without exception, WILL NOT recant, and they WILL NOT be quiet about what they have seen and heard “with our own eyes”.
- with the exception of two of them who died of old age (and Judas, naturally), all of them were put to death for their beliefs in the early years following the resurrection
- what’s even more compelling is that these devout Jewish men turn away from thousands of years of Sabbath (Saturday) worship and begin worshiping on Sundays (which they call “The Lord’s Day”)
Can I add a comment here? Let’s be clear about this: people will die for a mistake, BUT THEY WILL NOT DIE FOR A LIE. Remember, they would not recant, and they would not be quiet.
What happened on that first Easter Sunday is so significant that we literally now calculate calendar timelines around Jesus’ birth (BC - Before Christ and AD - Anno Domini – “in the year of our Lord”)
SOMETHING HAPPENED, and it’s up to all of us to evaluate and decide just what it was.
So to sum up, the case for the resurrection of Christ is a historical case based on a solid foundation. The easiest way to remember the various pieces of evidence is to use the acrostic F.E.A.T (thanks to Hank Hanegraaff, The Bible Answer Man, for this!):
Fatal Torment – we know Jesus died
Empty Tomb – we know his body wasn't there
Appearances of Christ – we know he appeared to hundreds of people
Transformation of the Disciples – we know they paid a heavy price and turned the entire Roman Empire upside down
Only one conclusion is possible and reasonable in light of this evidence - the resurrection of Christ is simply one of the most-well-attested facts in history. And we praise God for what He has done!
Wrap
So What?
1. Do your homework - realize the weight of external evidence. You can purchase/visit some great resources to get started:
BOOKS:
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus - Gary Habermas
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus - Nabeel Qureshi
The Case for the Resurrection - Lee Strobel
The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel
WEBSITES:
Stand to Reason http://www.str.org (Greg Koukl: articles, radio show…)
Reasonable Faith http://www.reasonablefaith.org (William Lane Craig: articles, radio show…)
2. Don’t be afraid to speak up on the historical foundations of your faith.
Let’s love God with our hearts, soul and MIND!
Mark Kotchapaw / Carmen Gauvin-O’Donnell (Guest Lecturer! :-)
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
The Body – PART 14
No Resurrection, Then Insurrection!
22 June 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
How have you weathered the storming of the foundations of your faith?
How are you doing at processing all the questions and accusations that can make your faith seem unsteady, wavering, like a UFC fighter teetering….about to do a bloody face plant on the canvas?
How do you react when some people, like those below, say,
“Though the details differ across the world, no known culture lacks some version of the time-consuming, wealth-consuming, hostility-provoking rituals, the anti-factual, counter-productive fantasies of religion.”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
“I think religion is a neurological disorder.”
― Bill Maher
If you have kids, how do you think they are weathering the storm?
Do you know of any spiritual fatalities, people that just gave up faith because the barrage of questions splintered their faith?
This past Sunday we tackled one of those issues within the Christian faith that, if not true, collapses our faith like a house of cards - the resurrection.
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
Big Idea: No Resurrection, then total Insurrection
This is the sentiment of v.32b, which is what some of the Corinthians were doing.
How important is the resurrection? Scan through the text and list or highlight all the reasons why the resurrection is so important to the Christian faith.
What stands out?
Note v.29 - This was an influence of the surrounding paganism of the day. Paul is not endorsing it but is just using it as part of his argument, demonstrating how, if there is no resurrection, then why do you baptize for the dead?
V.20-28 is a theme we will pick up on next week when we look at v.35-57.
So after reading this, how important is the resurrection to your faith? What sense does it make to be a Christian if Jesus did not rise from the dead?
We would all agree on the importance of the resurrection, but there are some truths we need to consider as we think about the fact of resurrection. The following is just an appetizer. I am hoping that you will do your own digging and researching.
Is there enough evidence for a rational person to be justified in concluding that Jesus’ resurrection was a real event in history? Can we ascertain with a reasonable amount of certainty that the event occurred?
Firstly, let me introduce you to two lines of thinking…. then Carmen will add some further comments (a guest lecturer brought in from North of the 401! :-)
1. Historical Method
Historians carefully use criteria and techniques when investigating the past. Their systematic approach is called the “Historical Method”. For example, some of the basic criteria are
a. Multiple attestation (more than one witness)
b. Early testimony (the closer to the resurrection, the better)
In addition to the Historical Method let’s also consider…
2. Minimal Facts Approach
This approach considers only those data that are so strongly attested historically that they are accepted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones.
One of the strengths of this approach is that it avoids debate over the inspiration of the Bible. Believers and skeptics alike accept the Minimal Facts approach.
The death of Christ
When it comes to the death of Christ do the Historical Method and Minimal Facts Approach support this event in history? Well, without a death, you don’t have a resurrection:
• “Virtually no scholar in the field denies Jesus’ death on the cross.” Gary Habermas
• “That Jesus was crucified and died through the process is granted by virtually 100 percent of scholars who study the subject.” Michael R. Licona
Listen to these non-believers in what they had to say about the death of Jesus:
• Josephus (born 37 AD, a Jewish historian) writes “ When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified….”
• Tacitus (born 56 AD – a Roman historian) - “Nero fastened the guilt (of the burning of Rome) and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.”
• Lucian of Samosata (born 120 AD, a Greek satirist), writes, “The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account.”
Note the basis of the death of Christ outside of the use of Scripture.
What about the resurrection?
• Highly critical NT scholar Rudolf Bultmann agreed that historical criticism can establish “the fact that the first disciples came to believe in the resurrection.”
• Atheistic scholar (NT) Gerd Ludemann concludes, “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”
• Paula Fredriksen of Boston University comments, “ I know in their own terms what they saw was the raised Jesus. That’s what they say and then all the historic evidence we have afterwards attests to their conviction that that’s what they saw. I‘m not saying that they really did see the raised Jesus, I wasn't there. I don’t know what they saw. But I do know that as a historian that they must have seen something.” ( In an interview with Peter Jennings in The Search for Jesus, July 2000)
• Late NT critic at the University of Chicago, Norman Perrin, who rejected the resurrection wrote, “The more we study the tradition with regard to the appearances, the firmer the rock begins to appear upon which they are based.”
Now of course the mere fact that the disciples claimed that they saw the risen Jesus does not alone merit the conclusion that Jesus rose from the dead- since anyone can make a claim- but what is the best, most responsible explanation?
What about the empty tomb?
“An impressive 75 percent of scholars who study the subject acknowledge the empty tomb.” Michael R. Licona.
Now this doesn't mean that there was a resurrection, but it does challenge the reader to explain why there was an empty tomb. Over to Carmen…
And there WAS an empty tomb, a fact, oddly enough, that is strengthened by the very officials that put Jesus to death! Consider the following - the authorities were terrified that the disciples would try to steal Jesus’ body (Matt.22:62-66), so…
- They sealed it with a heavy stone (Matt. 22:59-60)
- Pilate authorized them to put guards in front of it. If those guards fell asleep, the penalty was DEATH. So no one was going to come in and remove a body without them seeing it.
- Some people have said “well, the women were upset… they went to the wrong tomb”. Okay, so all the authorities had to do was go to the RIGHT tomb (it was right there, near Golgotha) and produce the body. They didn’t.
- Matthew 28:11-15 tells us that the Jewish officials then bribed the guards to say the body was taken by the disciples – they’re admitting the body was gone, further strengthening the case.
Christ’s appearances:
Mark also mentioned the belief of the disciples that they had seen Jesus. Some people have suggested that perhaps what happened was a group hallucination. For the record, group hallucinations are actually not possible since they originate in a person’s own mind.
What we do see though, and you can read more in detail about this in our recommended resources below, is that over a 50-day period between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus appeared over and over again to hundreds of people, to men and women, in different times and places, alone and in groups. And he didn't just talk to them, he ate (to reassure them he was real) and walked with them as well.
The disciples were transformed:
BEFORE THE RESURRECTION
- Peter, Jesus’s closest friend, denies he even knows Him three times
- everyone scatters and go into hiding, which Jesus had predicted
AFTER THE RESURRECTION:
- the disciples, without exception, WILL NOT recant, and they WILL NOT be quiet about what they have seen and heard “with our own eyes”.
- with the exception of two of them who died of old age (and Judas, naturally), all of them were put to death for their beliefs in the early years following the resurrection
- what’s even more compelling is that these devout Jewish men turn away from thousands of years of Sabbath (Saturday) worship and begin worshiping on Sundays (which they call “The Lord’s Day”)
Can I add a comment here? Let’s be clear about this: people will die for a mistake, BUT THEY WILL NOT DIE FOR A LIE. Remember, they would not recant, and they would not be quiet.
What happened on that first Easter Sunday is so significant that we literally now calculate calendar timelines around Jesus’ birth (BC - Before Christ and AD - Anno Domini – “in the year of our Lord”)
SOMETHING HAPPENED, and it’s up to all of us to evaluate and decide just what it was.
So to sum up, the case for the resurrection of Christ is a historical case based on a solid foundation. The easiest way to remember the various pieces of evidence is to use the acrostic F.E.A.T (thanks to Hank Hanegraaff, The Bible Answer Man, for this!):
Fatal Torment – we know Jesus died
Empty Tomb – we know his body wasn't there
Appearances of Christ – we know he appeared to hundreds of people
Transformation of the Disciples – we know they paid a heavy price and turned the entire Roman Empire upside down
Only one conclusion is possible and reasonable in light of this evidence - the resurrection of Christ is simply one of the most-well-attested facts in history. And we praise God for what He has done!
Wrap
So What?
1. Do your homework - realize the weight of external evidence. You can purchase/visit some great resources to get started:
BOOKS:
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus - Gary Habermas
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus - Nabeel Qureshi
The Case for the Resurrection - Lee Strobel
The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel
WEBSITES:
Stand to Reason http://www.str.org (Greg Koukl: articles, radio show…)
Reasonable Faith http://www.reasonablefaith.org (William Lane Craig: articles, radio show…)
2. Don’t be afraid to speak up on the historical foundations of your faith.
Let’s love God with our hearts, soul and MIND!
Mark Kotchapaw / Carmen Gauvin-O’Donnell (Guest Lecturer! :-)
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Touching Base - Part 241
TB 241
Proverbs 2 and the Good Life
8 June 14
((You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
Opening Ideas
Live the Good Life! Living the Good Life benefits not only us, but it also benefits everyone around us.
Questions:
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase “The Good Life”?
How do you think the following people would answer that question:
• People you work/study with
• Your family
• Your closest friends
Context
Around 3000 years ago, Proverbs was written for the purpose of signing people up for the Good Life.
Most of Proverbs was written by a Hebrew king named Solomon, but there are other authors as well. Solomon spent a lot of time studying and learning and one of really important things that he discovered was that there are certain patterns to life. There are ways to live that have better results than others. Solomon called the good way to live – wisdom.
Questions:
What patterns have you noticed in your life, that have good results?
What patterns have you noticed that have negative results?
Read Proverbs 1:1-7 and 2:1-11.
Questions:
What are the main points of the passages?
How do these passages apply to your life?
Bridge
Solomon spent his life vigorously searching for knowledge and understanding. But because he lived in the Old Testament, Solomon could only go so far in his understanding of wisdom. But the New Testament revealed some amazing new things about wisdom and about where to find it. It says that if we want to know what wisdom really is and if we want to know where to find it, we have to look to Jesus.
The New Testament teaches that Jesus is both the source and the embodiment of wisdom. Jesus came so that we could have The Good Life - a healthy, and vibrant, and fulfilling life; a life that positively impacts the lives of the people around us.
The Good Life/Wisdom Formula
Wisdom = Knowing Jesus + Understanding Jesus + Living like Jesus
1. Knowing Jesus
In John 15 Jesus says that he is like a vine, and we are like branches. He talks about how important it is to be in a deep relationship with him.
Questions:
How well do you really know Jesus?
What are you filling your life with?
How deep is your relationship with Jesus?
Read John 15:1-8.
Questions:
What are the main points of the passage?
How does this passage apply to your life?
“Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God's greatest pleasure.” (Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life)
2. Understanding Jesus
As we seek intimacy with Jesus, we will become more and more like him. We will develop the mind of Christ. But to develop the mind of Christ, we have to start listening to him. We have to turn our ear to him, as Proverbs 2:2 says.
Questions:
What is your prayer life like? Do you do all the talking?
How has God been speaking to you lately?
Have you been listening?
God would love to go deep with you.
3. Living Like Jesus
God is a God of mission, and God has sent us on a mission.
When Jesus left earth and returned to heaven he gave these instructions in Matthew 28:19 – “Go and make disciples”.
Question:
How are you responding to these instructions?
God calls us to live the good life so that others around us will be blessed and will want the good life too. That is what is meant by the term “missional living”. We are called to live out the Great Commission and to light up the world around us.
Conclusion
Jesus invites us to seek him and to find the Good Life.
Questions:
From all that we have discussed, what are some very specific things that God is challenging you to work on today?
What are you going to do about it? (Be very specific)
Who can you ask to keep you accountable in this?
For Further Reading: Hearing God (Dallas Willard)
Steve Kooy (Campus Pastor at Geneva House, on the campus of Queen’s University – kooys@queensu.ca)
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Proverbs 2 and the Good Life
8 June 14
((You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
Opening Ideas
Live the Good Life! Living the Good Life benefits not only us, but it also benefits everyone around us.
Questions:
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase “The Good Life”?
How do you think the following people would answer that question:
• People you work/study with
• Your family
• Your closest friends
Context
Around 3000 years ago, Proverbs was written for the purpose of signing people up for the Good Life.
Most of Proverbs was written by a Hebrew king named Solomon, but there are other authors as well. Solomon spent a lot of time studying and learning and one of really important things that he discovered was that there are certain patterns to life. There are ways to live that have better results than others. Solomon called the good way to live – wisdom.
Questions:
What patterns have you noticed in your life, that have good results?
What patterns have you noticed that have negative results?
Read Proverbs 1:1-7 and 2:1-11.
Questions:
What are the main points of the passages?
How do these passages apply to your life?
Bridge
Solomon spent his life vigorously searching for knowledge and understanding. But because he lived in the Old Testament, Solomon could only go so far in his understanding of wisdom. But the New Testament revealed some amazing new things about wisdom and about where to find it. It says that if we want to know what wisdom really is and if we want to know where to find it, we have to look to Jesus.
The New Testament teaches that Jesus is both the source and the embodiment of wisdom. Jesus came so that we could have The Good Life - a healthy, and vibrant, and fulfilling life; a life that positively impacts the lives of the people around us.
The Good Life/Wisdom Formula
Wisdom = Knowing Jesus + Understanding Jesus + Living like Jesus
1. Knowing Jesus
In John 15 Jesus says that he is like a vine, and we are like branches. He talks about how important it is to be in a deep relationship with him.
Questions:
How well do you really know Jesus?
What are you filling your life with?
How deep is your relationship with Jesus?
Read John 15:1-8.
Questions:
What are the main points of the passage?
How does this passage apply to your life?
“Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God's greatest pleasure.” (Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life)
2. Understanding Jesus
As we seek intimacy with Jesus, we will become more and more like him. We will develop the mind of Christ. But to develop the mind of Christ, we have to start listening to him. We have to turn our ear to him, as Proverbs 2:2 says.
Questions:
What is your prayer life like? Do you do all the talking?
How has God been speaking to you lately?
Have you been listening?
God would love to go deep with you.
3. Living Like Jesus
God is a God of mission, and God has sent us on a mission.
When Jesus left earth and returned to heaven he gave these instructions in Matthew 28:19 – “Go and make disciples”.
Question:
How are you responding to these instructions?
God calls us to live the good life so that others around us will be blessed and will want the good life too. That is what is meant by the term “missional living”. We are called to live out the Great Commission and to light up the world around us.
Conclusion
Jesus invites us to seek him and to find the Good Life.
Questions:
From all that we have discussed, what are some very specific things that God is challenging you to work on today?
What are you going to do about it? (Be very specific)
Who can you ask to keep you accountable in this?
For Further Reading: Hearing God (Dallas Willard)
Steve Kooy (Campus Pastor at Geneva House, on the campus of Queen’s University – kooys@queensu.ca)
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Touching Base - Part 240
TB 240
The Body – PART 13
Oops! Sorry about the chaos!
25 May 14
((You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
When you think of your own faith walk, what are some of the most contentious issues that have divided the Church?
If you included “spiritual gifts” in your list then you are most certainly correct. Much abuse and pain has occurred in the Body because of a misunderstanding of the gifts, their use and implementation. Last week as well as this week we want to continue to talk about spiritual gifts and the theme of being a Body Builder.
Big Idea: Be a Body Builder.
Text: 1 Corinthians 14:26-40
Question: How can I be a Body builder? (read last week’s TB for the first two answers)
3. UNDERSTAND THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS.
“Symbiosis” - In biology this word refers to a close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member. On Sunday I gave several examples of symbiotic relationships- i.e. the bee and the flower. What additional examples can you think of?
Read through v.26-33
Where do you see symbiosis in this text?
How do you see the gifts working together?
What might happen if there is not this relationship?
Note v.29 - judging or weighing the prophecies refers to sifting the wheat from the chaff. As Wayne Grudem has pointed out, Romans 12:6 suggests that one prophesies according to the measure of one’s faith. If enthusiasm exceeds inspiration then true prophecy may be mixed with the residue of an overheated imagination. Thus, it must be carefully weighed or sifted
How could the two gifts mentioned become weapons if they operated alone?
Note Romans 12:21-24 - another example of symbiosis.
How does this example of symbiosis apply to all the gifts? How important is it that no gift attempts to go it alone, to be a Lone Ranger in the Body of Christ?
Note more specifically the upside of the symbiotic relationship.
a. Effectiveness
Tongues and prophecy are far more effective when connected to other gifts in the body. Think of your gifts, what other gifts help your gift be more effective?
b. Evaluation and Development (v.29)
What do you think they were doing when they were weighing prophecy? (this means “to evaluate carefully”) I think this brings out a principle for all gifts – they all need to be evaluated and developed.
What does evaluation determine? I think the equation below identifies some of the issues that need to be evaluated when it comes to gifts. What happens when you remove one of the three variables from this equation? Talk about this as a team. Do you see the chaos that can result when the symbiosis principle is ignored?
Passion (the area I desire to do ministry) + Gifting+ Maturity = Ministry Area
Lots of people are willing to volunteer but some are very resistant to evaluation. Sometimes we need to sit people down and have hard conversations about how a gift is being used. Sometimes that evaluation is important because we get discouraged from using our gift. Ever put your gift on the shelf?
4. Be willing to filter in order to guard the gifts.
When it comes to the gifts being used in the church, all kinds of factors can creep in and wreak chaos in the church… thus the need to filter. This is exactly what Paul was doing. There were some very unhealthy things going on in culture and Paul had to help them filter, he had to help them see that what goes on outside the Church cannot go on inside the Church. If it does, the result will be chaos. So what does Paul do? He filters by giving them some very specific instructions for their very unique context.
Paul limited utterances (v.27) to “ one at a time”. He might have imposed fewer limits on a smaller group and more on larger ones. In other words this is a unique context. He is correcting them, doing some specific filtering.
Here is another example.
“’ Speakers could not plead ecstatic frenzy (as in the rites of Cybele or Dionysus) against following proper order- speaking in proper order was expected in formal gatherings.” Craig Keener
Note v.28, 30, 32- “You are in control,” he is saying.
Think of examples where you filter. For example, to be a Christ follower we are always filtering, always discerning between the good, the bad the ugly.
V.32 Note Paul is bringing them back to the nature of God. Why? Because the Church is God’s and it’s about His Glory, not ours. Without the filter, the gifts and the personalities with those gifts become the center.
He is correcting them, directing them.
Note that he is not trying to filter out the gifts but filter out various factors that are inhibiting the gifts and creating the chaos. We sometimes want to filter out the gifts, but this is not what Paul is doing.
What do you think the Church needs to filter today so that gifts can be used to build the Body? Where have you seen chaos and abuse because proper filtering was not done? Are you open to tongues and the prophetic in your small group? If so what does order look like?
On a final note we need to address v.33b-35. This text certainly reminds us that Paul’s context was unique. What he needed to filter was very different than what we need to filter today. Paul needed to do some filtering on a very specific issue as it relates to women in the Church. I encourage you to check out the doc at http://cbesydney.org.au/articles/interpretations-and-application-of-1-corinthians-1434-35/ I would encourage you not to gloss over this but to dig in and appreciate the unique context of Paul.
Let’s be a Body that Builds! Men and women working together so that the Body is built up and Christ is glorified.
Mark Kotchapaw
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
The Body – PART 13
Oops! Sorry about the chaos!
25 May 14
((You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
When you think of your own faith walk, what are some of the most contentious issues that have divided the Church?
If you included “spiritual gifts” in your list then you are most certainly correct. Much abuse and pain has occurred in the Body because of a misunderstanding of the gifts, their use and implementation. Last week as well as this week we want to continue to talk about spiritual gifts and the theme of being a Body Builder.
Big Idea: Be a Body Builder.
Text: 1 Corinthians 14:26-40
Question: How can I be a Body builder? (read last week’s TB for the first two answers)
3. UNDERSTAND THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS.
“Symbiosis” - In biology this word refers to a close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member. On Sunday I gave several examples of symbiotic relationships- i.e. the bee and the flower. What additional examples can you think of?
Read through v.26-33
Where do you see symbiosis in this text?
How do you see the gifts working together?
What might happen if there is not this relationship?
Note v.29 - judging or weighing the prophecies refers to sifting the wheat from the chaff. As Wayne Grudem has pointed out, Romans 12:6 suggests that one prophesies according to the measure of one’s faith. If enthusiasm exceeds inspiration then true prophecy may be mixed with the residue of an overheated imagination. Thus, it must be carefully weighed or sifted
How could the two gifts mentioned become weapons if they operated alone?
Note Romans 12:21-24 - another example of symbiosis.
How does this example of symbiosis apply to all the gifts? How important is it that no gift attempts to go it alone, to be a Lone Ranger in the Body of Christ?
Note more specifically the upside of the symbiotic relationship.
a. Effectiveness
Tongues and prophecy are far more effective when connected to other gifts in the body. Think of your gifts, what other gifts help your gift be more effective?
b. Evaluation and Development (v.29)
What do you think they were doing when they were weighing prophecy? (this means “to evaluate carefully”) I think this brings out a principle for all gifts – they all need to be evaluated and developed.
What does evaluation determine? I think the equation below identifies some of the issues that need to be evaluated when it comes to gifts. What happens when you remove one of the three variables from this equation? Talk about this as a team. Do you see the chaos that can result when the symbiosis principle is ignored?
Passion (the area I desire to do ministry) + Gifting+ Maturity = Ministry Area
Lots of people are willing to volunteer but some are very resistant to evaluation. Sometimes we need to sit people down and have hard conversations about how a gift is being used. Sometimes that evaluation is important because we get discouraged from using our gift. Ever put your gift on the shelf?
4. Be willing to filter in order to guard the gifts.
When it comes to the gifts being used in the church, all kinds of factors can creep in and wreak chaos in the church… thus the need to filter. This is exactly what Paul was doing. There were some very unhealthy things going on in culture and Paul had to help them filter, he had to help them see that what goes on outside the Church cannot go on inside the Church. If it does, the result will be chaos. So what does Paul do? He filters by giving them some very specific instructions for their very unique context.
Paul limited utterances (v.27) to “ one at a time”. He might have imposed fewer limits on a smaller group and more on larger ones. In other words this is a unique context. He is correcting them, doing some specific filtering.
Here is another example.
“’ Speakers could not plead ecstatic frenzy (as in the rites of Cybele or Dionysus) against following proper order- speaking in proper order was expected in formal gatherings.” Craig Keener
Note v.28, 30, 32- “You are in control,” he is saying.
Think of examples where you filter. For example, to be a Christ follower we are always filtering, always discerning between the good, the bad the ugly.
V.32 Note Paul is bringing them back to the nature of God. Why? Because the Church is God’s and it’s about His Glory, not ours. Without the filter, the gifts and the personalities with those gifts become the center.
He is correcting them, directing them.
Note that he is not trying to filter out the gifts but filter out various factors that are inhibiting the gifts and creating the chaos. We sometimes want to filter out the gifts, but this is not what Paul is doing.
What do you think the Church needs to filter today so that gifts can be used to build the Body? Where have you seen chaos and abuse because proper filtering was not done? Are you open to tongues and the prophetic in your small group? If so what does order look like?
On a final note we need to address v.33b-35. This text certainly reminds us that Paul’s context was unique. What he needed to filter was very different than what we need to filter today. Paul needed to do some filtering on a very specific issue as it relates to women in the Church. I encourage you to check out the doc at http://cbesydney.org.au/articles/interpretations-and-application-of-1-corinthians-1434-35/ I would encourage you not to gloss over this but to dig in and appreciate the unique context of Paul.
Let’s be a Body that Builds! Men and women working together so that the Body is built up and Christ is glorified.
Mark Kotchapaw
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Touching Base - Part 239
TB 239
The Body – PART 12
Selfie Church
18 May 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
Our text today certainly touches on an issue that is, unfortunately, a major concern in churches across North America. This issue has to do with members attending and coming with a self-focus. This can be so extreme that anyone new, an outsider, feels completely left out, completely unimportant and unheard.
Start by talking about a time when fitting in was difficult - perhaps it was not in a church but a grade school memory, or a new work context, or a new neighborhood.
In our text today, Paul addresses selfie-ism. He challenges the Corinthians to see that the corporate gathering demands that they see themselves as present to serve and minister to those around them. What makes this doubly difficult is that they are abusing the gifts God has given them and using them to ostracize various members of the Church. Note that Corinth has a track record for ostracizing people - the weak, the poor, those that are different.
Text: 1 Corinthians 14: 1-25
Big Idea: Be A Body Builder.
Question: How can we be a Body builder?
1. START A COPERNICAN REVOLUTION
In the sixteenth century, Renaissance astronomer Nicholas Copernicus challenged the belief that the earth was at the center of the universe. Copernicus argued that the sun didn’t revolve around the earth, but rather, that the earth revolved around the sun. The Copernican Revolution turned the scientific world upside down by turning the universe inside out.
As you read v1-19, you will note that Paul is pushing back on people who are using the gift of tongues for self serving purposes. They are not the center of the universe, yet their abuse of tongues would suggest they think they are.
Read the text and identify the problem - what are the key phrases that identify it?
What are the key texts that illustrate that some of them thought they were the center of the universe?
How does Paul illustrate the problem?
What is Paul’s instruction for proper usage of the gift of tongues?
What do non-believers think of this whole self-serving focus? (v.23)
Got a personal example?
Note that Paul is not bashing the gift of tongues but rather directing them on the proper use of this gift in this house church.
As a group, talk about what it would be like to be in that setting and not understand what is being said.
What I want you to note is how Paul is standing up and attempting to start a “Copernican Revolution.” He is wanting them to see the great damage being done when “self” is the focus, when gifts that are to be used to build up (Romans 12:7) are actually tearing down.
Note that Paul has talked about how gifts can tear down when love is absent (1 Cor. 13) and now he is showing that gifts can tear down when their original purpose - building the Body - is turned into a self-serving purpose.
There is another way that we can tear down the Body when it comes to gifts - by not using them. Disobedience in not using gifts has left many churches weak, vulnerable and limping along.
2. EMBRACE THE SCHWARZENEGGER DISCIPLINE
There are several ways to be a Body builder, but in light of the context, Paul provides one tool in the Body builder’s apparel that can go a long way in strengthening the Church.
Note v.1 - which gift is key to being a Body-building Church?
Note from this context what we can conclude about the gift of prophecy:
a. We are to desire this gift - one can clearly see why once we understand its purpose and effect. Has this been a gift you have pursued? If not, why not? What are some of the challenges in using this gift in the church? How can it be easily abused?
b. Prophecy builds (v.3,4). “Edify” or “strengthen” refers to the process of building. In other words disciples are like Rome - not built in a day.
c. Both men and women are encouraged to prophecy. This is implied in the language of chapter 14 and is specifically addressed in chapter 11.
d. This is different than the role of an Old Testament prophet. It is not like OT prophecy, which was to be applied, not sifted, and had a “Thus saith the Lord!” sort of authority. Note in v.29 - the prophecy was to be sifted. Note that everyone is to seek it. I don’t think Paul imagines a church filled with Jeremiahs and Isaiahs here. Have you ever seen the abuse that can be perpetrated by a person who says “Thus saith the Lord through me…!”?
e. This gift was different than teaching. Note in v.12:29 Paul seems to make a distinction. Gordon Fee says that this gift was a “spontaneous word.” There is lots of discussion today that suggests that prophecy can include teaching. See what Paul says in v.18,19 that might suggest this. Has God ever laid on your heart a word of encouragement for someone in the Body, your small group? If so how would you describe that experience? How did you go about sharing this?
f. Like all the gifts, it is to be clothed in love. In making the transition from chapter 13 to 14:1a, Paul uses a strong verb —"pursue" ("follow the way of," NIV; cf. Philippians 3:12, 14) — as he charges them to seek love. This is a stronger verb than the following one — "eagerly desire" — which he applies to seeking spiritual gifts. So love must have the priority, and after that the gift of prophecy must particularly be sought.
So with love being the basis, my understanding in how this gift best operates is that there is a relationship of some kind with the person that I am speaking with. “Cold turkey” words can sometimes be the perfect set-up for abuse (next week we will look at the context of v.29).
g. Both the mind and spirit are edified. This is why prophecy in this context is so superior.
h. Prophecy can touch the heart of the non-believer (v.24,25)
So now, imagine a church where when the church gathers, everyone is embracing the Copernican Revolution, seeking to build, edify and encourage. Imagine a church where whenever selfie-ism is seen, it is called out (lovingly) and redirected. Imagine a Church where non-believers, after experiencing Body life, don’t exclaim “I love Jesus but hate the Church” but instead say, “God is really among you!”
Let’s not just imagine but realize a Church committed to Body building at Bethel. Copernicus and Arnold would be proud!!
Mark Kotchapaw
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
For Additional Study:
“V. 21 quotes Isa. 28:11f., which Paul says is in the Law, though nomos, “law,” had become a term for all the OT, including the prophets. The form of the quotation has notable similarities to Aquila’s Greek OT translation and differs from the Hebrew and the Septuagint in some ways. One crucial difference is that Paul has changed the word “hear” in the last line to “obey.”
The larger context in Isaiah 28 indicates that the Lord can only teach those weaned from the breast (v. 9), those who are not spiritually children. In v. 10 there may actually be a sort of Hebraic imitation of glossolalia: ṣaw lāṣāw, ṣaw lāṣāw, qaw lāqāw, qaw lāqāw, zeʿêr šām, zeʿêr šām. The next line describes this as stammering in a foreign tongue, and refers to the impression made on the Judahites by Isaiah’s preaching. As a judgment against hardhearted Judah, God spoke to them in a foreign tongue that they could not understand, because they would not hear the truth in their own tongue.
This larger context becomes very interesting when we look at what follows the quotation in 1 Corinthians 14: In v. 22 Paul says that glossolalia is a sign for nonbelievers, those who do not hear and obey. Here the word “sign,” in view of the Isaiah quotation, surely means an ʾōṯ, a sign of judgment that they are out of touch with God. This is the effect of uninterpreted tongues on the nonbelievers in Corinth. They cannot respond positively but only say that tongues speakers are ecstatics.
By contrast prophecy is a sign for believers. Here Paul means presumably that what is given in prophecy is a word of judgment or exhortation for all believers. It is also a word that convicts and convinces nonbelievers, even if it is neither directed to them nor a sign for them. Vv. 24f. describe how such prophecy can affect the nonbeliever, and we should probably see here a description of a conversion. It convicts them, challenges them, and reveals the secrets of their hearts with the result that they fall down prostrate and worship the true God, saying “God is really with you!” Therefore, even though prophecy is directed toward the congregation, being a sign for Christians, it can have a powerful effect on nonbelievers because it is both supernatural and intelligible.”
Witherington, Ben., III. (1995). Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (pp. 274–290). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
The Body – PART 12
Selfie Church
18 May 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
Our text today certainly touches on an issue that is, unfortunately, a major concern in churches across North America. This issue has to do with members attending and coming with a self-focus. This can be so extreme that anyone new, an outsider, feels completely left out, completely unimportant and unheard.
Start by talking about a time when fitting in was difficult - perhaps it was not in a church but a grade school memory, or a new work context, or a new neighborhood.
In our text today, Paul addresses selfie-ism. He challenges the Corinthians to see that the corporate gathering demands that they see themselves as present to serve and minister to those around them. What makes this doubly difficult is that they are abusing the gifts God has given them and using them to ostracize various members of the Church. Note that Corinth has a track record for ostracizing people - the weak, the poor, those that are different.
Text: 1 Corinthians 14: 1-25
Big Idea: Be A Body Builder.
Question: How can we be a Body builder?
1. START A COPERNICAN REVOLUTION
In the sixteenth century, Renaissance astronomer Nicholas Copernicus challenged the belief that the earth was at the center of the universe. Copernicus argued that the sun didn’t revolve around the earth, but rather, that the earth revolved around the sun. The Copernican Revolution turned the scientific world upside down by turning the universe inside out.
As you read v1-19, you will note that Paul is pushing back on people who are using the gift of tongues for self serving purposes. They are not the center of the universe, yet their abuse of tongues would suggest they think they are.
Read the text and identify the problem - what are the key phrases that identify it?
What are the key texts that illustrate that some of them thought they were the center of the universe?
How does Paul illustrate the problem?
What is Paul’s instruction for proper usage of the gift of tongues?
What do non-believers think of this whole self-serving focus? (v.23)
Got a personal example?
Note that Paul is not bashing the gift of tongues but rather directing them on the proper use of this gift in this house church.
As a group, talk about what it would be like to be in that setting and not understand what is being said.
What I want you to note is how Paul is standing up and attempting to start a “Copernican Revolution.” He is wanting them to see the great damage being done when “self” is the focus, when gifts that are to be used to build up (Romans 12:7) are actually tearing down.
Note that Paul has talked about how gifts can tear down when love is absent (1 Cor. 13) and now he is showing that gifts can tear down when their original purpose - building the Body - is turned into a self-serving purpose.
There is another way that we can tear down the Body when it comes to gifts - by not using them. Disobedience in not using gifts has left many churches weak, vulnerable and limping along.
2. EMBRACE THE SCHWARZENEGGER DISCIPLINE
There are several ways to be a Body builder, but in light of the context, Paul provides one tool in the Body builder’s apparel that can go a long way in strengthening the Church.
Note v.1 - which gift is key to being a Body-building Church?
Note from this context what we can conclude about the gift of prophecy:
a. We are to desire this gift - one can clearly see why once we understand its purpose and effect. Has this been a gift you have pursued? If not, why not? What are some of the challenges in using this gift in the church? How can it be easily abused?
b. Prophecy builds (v.3,4). “Edify” or “strengthen” refers to the process of building. In other words disciples are like Rome - not built in a day.
c. Both men and women are encouraged to prophecy. This is implied in the language of chapter 14 and is specifically addressed in chapter 11.
d. This is different than the role of an Old Testament prophet. It is not like OT prophecy, which was to be applied, not sifted, and had a “Thus saith the Lord!” sort of authority. Note in v.29 - the prophecy was to be sifted. Note that everyone is to seek it. I don’t think Paul imagines a church filled with Jeremiahs and Isaiahs here. Have you ever seen the abuse that can be perpetrated by a person who says “Thus saith the Lord through me…!”?
e. This gift was different than teaching. Note in v.12:29 Paul seems to make a distinction. Gordon Fee says that this gift was a “spontaneous word.” There is lots of discussion today that suggests that prophecy can include teaching. See what Paul says in v.18,19 that might suggest this. Has God ever laid on your heart a word of encouragement for someone in the Body, your small group? If so how would you describe that experience? How did you go about sharing this?
f. Like all the gifts, it is to be clothed in love. In making the transition from chapter 13 to 14:1a, Paul uses a strong verb —"pursue" ("follow the way of," NIV; cf. Philippians 3:12, 14) — as he charges them to seek love. This is a stronger verb than the following one — "eagerly desire" — which he applies to seeking spiritual gifts. So love must have the priority, and after that the gift of prophecy must particularly be sought.
So with love being the basis, my understanding in how this gift best operates is that there is a relationship of some kind with the person that I am speaking with. “Cold turkey” words can sometimes be the perfect set-up for abuse (next week we will look at the context of v.29).
g. Both the mind and spirit are edified. This is why prophecy in this context is so superior.
h. Prophecy can touch the heart of the non-believer (v.24,25)
So now, imagine a church where when the church gathers, everyone is embracing the Copernican Revolution, seeking to build, edify and encourage. Imagine a church where whenever selfie-ism is seen, it is called out (lovingly) and redirected. Imagine a Church where non-believers, after experiencing Body life, don’t exclaim “I love Jesus but hate the Church” but instead say, “God is really among you!”
Let’s not just imagine but realize a Church committed to Body building at Bethel. Copernicus and Arnold would be proud!!
Mark Kotchapaw
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
For Additional Study:
“V. 21 quotes Isa. 28:11f., which Paul says is in the Law, though nomos, “law,” had become a term for all the OT, including the prophets. The form of the quotation has notable similarities to Aquila’s Greek OT translation and differs from the Hebrew and the Septuagint in some ways. One crucial difference is that Paul has changed the word “hear” in the last line to “obey.”
The larger context in Isaiah 28 indicates that the Lord can only teach those weaned from the breast (v. 9), those who are not spiritually children. In v. 10 there may actually be a sort of Hebraic imitation of glossolalia: ṣaw lāṣāw, ṣaw lāṣāw, qaw lāqāw, qaw lāqāw, zeʿêr šām, zeʿêr šām. The next line describes this as stammering in a foreign tongue, and refers to the impression made on the Judahites by Isaiah’s preaching. As a judgment against hardhearted Judah, God spoke to them in a foreign tongue that they could not understand, because they would not hear the truth in their own tongue.
This larger context becomes very interesting when we look at what follows the quotation in 1 Corinthians 14: In v. 22 Paul says that glossolalia is a sign for nonbelievers, those who do not hear and obey. Here the word “sign,” in view of the Isaiah quotation, surely means an ʾōṯ, a sign of judgment that they are out of touch with God. This is the effect of uninterpreted tongues on the nonbelievers in Corinth. They cannot respond positively but only say that tongues speakers are ecstatics.
By contrast prophecy is a sign for believers. Here Paul means presumably that what is given in prophecy is a word of judgment or exhortation for all believers. It is also a word that convicts and convinces nonbelievers, even if it is neither directed to them nor a sign for them. Vv. 24f. describe how such prophecy can affect the nonbeliever, and we should probably see here a description of a conversion. It convicts them, challenges them, and reveals the secrets of their hearts with the result that they fall down prostrate and worship the true God, saying “God is really with you!” Therefore, even though prophecy is directed toward the congregation, being a sign for Christians, it can have a powerful effect on nonbelievers because it is both supernatural and intelligible.”
Witherington, Ben., III. (1995). Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (pp. 274–290). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Touching Base, Part 238
TB 238
The Body – PART 11
How To Put A One In Front Of That Zero.
11 May 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
Busy, but not effective
Sacrificing, but not advancing
Labouring, but not building
Studying, but not passing
Investing, but not profiting
Dieting but not…
Talk about a time when you felt you were spinning your wheels. What did it feel like and how did you break out of the spin?
Text: 1 Corinthians 13
In our text, Paul is essentially telling the Corinthians that they are spinning their wheels. Yes, they are busy, yes, they are doing good things in some cases, maybe even great things, but it is all adding up to a big fat zero. Paul wants to encourage them to move in a better direction, to help them to get some traction and be healthy. In light of their least excellent way, Paul now shows them the most excellent way forward.
Question: What is the most excellent way?
1. NEVER SETTLE FOR JUST DOING THE RIGHT THING (V.1-3)
Check out the right things they are doing:
Tongues - on its own, could mean nothing more than speaking eloquently, but in this context it follows v. 12:28-30 and anticipates chapter 14. So “tongues of men” would refer to human speech inspired by the Spirit but unknown to the speaker. Tongues of angels would reflect an understanding that the tongues speaker was communicating in the dialect(s) of heaven
Prophecy - defined by 14:3
Fathom all mysteries and knowledge
Faith - He moves even beyond the charismata to great acts of sacrifice-. He is using hyperbole .
Give all I possess to the poor
Surrender my body to the flames
How does Paul demonstrate that even though they were doing the right thing (Paul does not condemn these actions), they are scoring zero? In the eyes of God, the act might (and will) benefit the receiver, but not the giver.
As a group, talk about times where you have seen the right thing being done, heard the right thing being said, but scored the whole event with a zero because the heart was wrong.
Has anyone ever ended up hurting you because, although they were saying or doing the right thing, their heart was not right? Have you ever done damage even though you said and did the right thing, BUT your heart was not right?
John Stott says, “Truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love: love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth.” How do you bring the balance?
Essentially Paul is saying that our faith walk is not solely comprised of a “to DO” list, as illustrated by v1-3. Paul wants them to see that the deeper road to walk, the deeper work of the Spirit in our lives has to do with the “to BE” list. This is now where Paul goes.
2. COMMIT TO BEING THE RIGHT PERSON (V.4-7)
This is the most excellent way.
Who would you rather have on your team - a person who is committed to just doing the right thing or being the right person? Why? ( the former person might give you lip service and even do the right thing but their attitude stinks)
Note the contrast between a resounding gong and clanging symbol, and how Paul describes love in v4-7.
I am sure you could talk for some time on the key words that describe love in this text.
For our purposes, note the depth of this “love” word:
Old Testament - In the OT one of the words for love was “hesed” (pr. HEE sid, HEE sed), unselfish love, rendered sometimes “loyalty” (2 Sam 22:26 RSV), but more often “steadfast love” (Gen 39:21) or “kindness.” It is not an emotional response to beauty, merit, or kindness, but a moral attitude dedicated to another’s good, whether or not that other is lovable, worthy, or responsive – it comes from a deep place (see Deut. 7:7–9).
New Testament - The parallel word in the NT is “agape”(pr. ah GAH pay), which is what Paul talks about here. By far the most frequent word in the NT is agape, generally assumed to mean moral goodwill which proceeds from esteem, principle, or duty, rather than attraction or charm. Agape means to love the undeserving, despite disappointment and rejection; not rooted in affection or feeling but principle and a moral attitude.
When you move from just doing (1-3), to being (4-7), the knife cuts deeper. You move from make-up to heart surgery, from optics to internal transformation. Paul is pointing to this condition of the human heart that is lacking in the Corinthian context.
This is the sort of love that a human being can only express and share when he or she has been touched by God’s grace and enabled by God’s Spirit. It goes quite against natural human inclinations to love the unlovely or those who do not love in return. “Agape love, as V. P. Furnish has aptly said,
is not the sort of love that is dispatched like a heat-seeking missile that inherently is attracted to the ‘target.’ ”
These days, what is the toughest context for you to not necessarily do the right thing, but to be the right person?
What aspect of love is your greatest challenge and why?
What kind of community is necessary if people are going to go deeper and move from just doing, to actually being?
“The most excellent way” asks these tough kinds of questions and takes these long, hard looks at the heart.
Finally, note that when we choose to walk the most excellent way we make the most lasting impression and investment:
V8-13 How does this section demonstrate the superiority of love?
V8- Paul is not condemning these gifts but just showing how temporary they are.
V9,10 - see 1:7 to help understand what Paul is saying
Note the two analogies Paul uses to illustrate that behavior from one period is not appropriate for another.
V11- A child
V12- A mirror
Finally note v.13 - Paul is probably referencing a triad familiar to his original audience. Again he is demonstrating the supremacy and excellence of love.
Faith will become sight and hope will be fulfilled, but love will simply carry on, presumably amplified and purified into a perfect condition. It is the one attribute that is to bridge this age and the age to come.
So get this, love is what lasts and I would say is what makes the most lasting impression on those around us.
Many have said that you can put Jesus’ name in place of love and get a great description of Jesus. Yes, I agree and so would Paul. However, that is not Paul’s point. Paul’s point is that we should be able to put our name in place of “love”. That is the kind of person God wants us to be - a person that walks out “hesed” and “agape”, a person that allows the Spirit to do this deep work in our hearts. As we think of community we should be able to put Bethel Church in place of love.
May God grant to us all we need to reflect this matchless attribute in all our relationships. As we do we reflect the heart of God, for God is love!
Mark Kotchapaw
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
The Body – PART 11
How To Put A One In Front Of That Zero.
11 May 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
Busy, but not effective
Sacrificing, but not advancing
Labouring, but not building
Studying, but not passing
Investing, but not profiting
Dieting but not…
Talk about a time when you felt you were spinning your wheels. What did it feel like and how did you break out of the spin?
Text: 1 Corinthians 13
In our text, Paul is essentially telling the Corinthians that they are spinning their wheels. Yes, they are busy, yes, they are doing good things in some cases, maybe even great things, but it is all adding up to a big fat zero. Paul wants to encourage them to move in a better direction, to help them to get some traction and be healthy. In light of their least excellent way, Paul now shows them the most excellent way forward.
Question: What is the most excellent way?
1. NEVER SETTLE FOR JUST DOING THE RIGHT THING (V.1-3)
Check out the right things they are doing:
Tongues - on its own, could mean nothing more than speaking eloquently, but in this context it follows v. 12:28-30 and anticipates chapter 14. So “tongues of men” would refer to human speech inspired by the Spirit but unknown to the speaker. Tongues of angels would reflect an understanding that the tongues speaker was communicating in the dialect(s) of heaven
Prophecy - defined by 14:3
Fathom all mysteries and knowledge
Faith - He moves even beyond the charismata to great acts of sacrifice-. He is using hyperbole .
Give all I possess to the poor
Surrender my body to the flames
How does Paul demonstrate that even though they were doing the right thing (Paul does not condemn these actions), they are scoring zero? In the eyes of God, the act might (and will) benefit the receiver, but not the giver.
As a group, talk about times where you have seen the right thing being done, heard the right thing being said, but scored the whole event with a zero because the heart was wrong.
Has anyone ever ended up hurting you because, although they were saying or doing the right thing, their heart was not right? Have you ever done damage even though you said and did the right thing, BUT your heart was not right?
John Stott says, “Truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love: love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth.” How do you bring the balance?
Essentially Paul is saying that our faith walk is not solely comprised of a “to DO” list, as illustrated by v1-3. Paul wants them to see that the deeper road to walk, the deeper work of the Spirit in our lives has to do with the “to BE” list. This is now where Paul goes.
2. COMMIT TO BEING THE RIGHT PERSON (V.4-7)
This is the most excellent way.
Who would you rather have on your team - a person who is committed to just doing the right thing or being the right person? Why? ( the former person might give you lip service and even do the right thing but their attitude stinks)
Note the contrast between a resounding gong and clanging symbol, and how Paul describes love in v4-7.
I am sure you could talk for some time on the key words that describe love in this text.
For our purposes, note the depth of this “love” word:
Old Testament - In the OT one of the words for love was “hesed” (pr. HEE sid, HEE sed), unselfish love, rendered sometimes “loyalty” (2 Sam 22:26 RSV), but more often “steadfast love” (Gen 39:21) or “kindness.” It is not an emotional response to beauty, merit, or kindness, but a moral attitude dedicated to another’s good, whether or not that other is lovable, worthy, or responsive – it comes from a deep place (see Deut. 7:7–9).
New Testament - The parallel word in the NT is “agape”(pr. ah GAH pay), which is what Paul talks about here. By far the most frequent word in the NT is agape, generally assumed to mean moral goodwill which proceeds from esteem, principle, or duty, rather than attraction or charm. Agape means to love the undeserving, despite disappointment and rejection; not rooted in affection or feeling but principle and a moral attitude.
When you move from just doing (1-3), to being (4-7), the knife cuts deeper. You move from make-up to heart surgery, from optics to internal transformation. Paul is pointing to this condition of the human heart that is lacking in the Corinthian context.
This is the sort of love that a human being can only express and share when he or she has been touched by God’s grace and enabled by God’s Spirit. It goes quite against natural human inclinations to love the unlovely or those who do not love in return. “Agape love, as V. P. Furnish has aptly said,
is not the sort of love that is dispatched like a heat-seeking missile that inherently is attracted to the ‘target.’ ”
These days, what is the toughest context for you to not necessarily do the right thing, but to be the right person?
What aspect of love is your greatest challenge and why?
What kind of community is necessary if people are going to go deeper and move from just doing, to actually being?
“The most excellent way” asks these tough kinds of questions and takes these long, hard looks at the heart.
Finally, note that when we choose to walk the most excellent way we make the most lasting impression and investment:
V8-13 How does this section demonstrate the superiority of love?
V8- Paul is not condemning these gifts but just showing how temporary they are.
V9,10 - see 1:7 to help understand what Paul is saying
Note the two analogies Paul uses to illustrate that behavior from one period is not appropriate for another.
V11- A child
V12- A mirror
Finally note v.13 - Paul is probably referencing a triad familiar to his original audience. Again he is demonstrating the supremacy and excellence of love.
Faith will become sight and hope will be fulfilled, but love will simply carry on, presumably amplified and purified into a perfect condition. It is the one attribute that is to bridge this age and the age to come.
So get this, love is what lasts and I would say is what makes the most lasting impression on those around us.
Many have said that you can put Jesus’ name in place of love and get a great description of Jesus. Yes, I agree and so would Paul. However, that is not Paul’s point. Paul’s point is that we should be able to put our name in place of “love”. That is the kind of person God wants us to be - a person that walks out “hesed” and “agape”, a person that allows the Spirit to do this deep work in our hearts. As we think of community we should be able to put Bethel Church in place of love.
May God grant to us all we need to reflect this matchless attribute in all our relationships. As we do we reflect the heart of God, for God is love!
Mark Kotchapaw
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Touching Base, Part 237
TB 237
The Body – PART 10:
Anatomy and Physiology
04 May 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
My father spent the first half of his working life performing orthopedic surgery of the foot. I never had much interest in the buzz of his precision tools or the splatter of his operating room. I had nothing against the foot itself however, although it is lowly – and increasingly unsightly as it ages.
Our passage for this Sunday is about the foot… and the hand… and the eye… and the nose. It is about members – or organs – in the body of Christ, each one having a specific function, and each one necessary, even if they all aren't as beautiful as each other at first glance.
Many sources, both ancient and modern, deal with the idea of unity and diversity within a group, from Aristotle to the civic leaders of 20th Century America. Different skills all working together as a team is a common theme, of which our passage is a specific - and inspired - example.
The Apostle Paul writes that each Christian is part of the body of Christ – part of Christ Himself; we are part of His anatomy, His structure. Paul goes further and writes that we each have specific spiritual gifts and thus, we are part of His physiology, His functioning: gifts of prophecy, administration and teaching. “If we were all lovely eyes, what about the sense of smell?” asks Paul. “If we were all nimble hands, what about the hidden and calloused and essential feet?”, asks Paul (and my father). As a Christian, you are part of the structure and function, the anatomy and physiology, of the Lord Jesus Christ - a revolutionary idea.
(1) A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA:
Many times Scripture refers to men and women as having inherent value: we are made in the image of God; we are referred to as the sheep of his pasture, and as costly pearls and gems; and Jesus died to buy us back. Christians and non-Christians both struggle with actually internalizing this truth.
But it goes farther: not only are you of infinite value, you are of use to God. This has nothing to do with the Protestant work ethic or capitalism or needing to be busy and occupying one’s time. It’s quite the opposite. You don’t have to be busy or useful to prove your worth and value. That’s established already. The usefulness is to prove nothing. It, too, is God’s gift. He has decided to give you a function in His body.
Read 2 Timothy 2: 21 - The Greek word translated as “ready” or “fit” or “meet” (KJV) for the master’s use in this verse has a prefix that emphasizes just what a good fit, just how prepared and designed, an organ can be to do its function.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 18 - The Greek work translated “according to his good pleasure,” means your function and use to the master is according to his design and pleasure and plan, and that He wouldn't have it any other way. To God, you are of infinite value, and also have a use that is custom-designed.
Question: What gets in the way of your really believing in your Godly value and usefulness?
(2) A SUBVERSIVE IDEA:
Read Matthew 6: 25-34, Luke 10: 41, Philippians 4: 6, 1 Peter 5: 6-7.
Every one of these verses or passages uses the same Greek word translated “care”, or sometimes, “worry”. Each one here is negated. After reading these, do you have any doubt that you are not to be concerned, not to give a care, not to worry about a whole lot of things? Clothes, property, money, even scheduling, RRSPs and taxes - this can be exceedingly hard to do, but is repeated over and over in the New Testament. In fact, there is only one time when this same Greek word is used without a negative, and we are actually told to care, to be concerned, with something.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 24-26.
The one thing, as Christ-followers, we are to care about is…each other. We are explicitly told to care for the other organs in Christ’s anatomy. If one suffers, so should you; and even more difficult, possibly, if one is honoured, you, too, should rejoice.
Paul leads us to the last verse of our passage with this theme and perfect continuity: “And yet I will show you the most excellent way” (v. 31). And so he begins the famous lines of 1 Corinthians 13: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am just a clanging gong or a tinkling cymbal.”
Question: What gets in the way of your obeying scripture’s admonitions about when not to care, and its commands to care?
Eric Prost
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
The Body – PART 10:
Anatomy and Physiology
04 May 14
(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)
This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.
My father spent the first half of his working life performing orthopedic surgery of the foot. I never had much interest in the buzz of his precision tools or the splatter of his operating room. I had nothing against the foot itself however, although it is lowly – and increasingly unsightly as it ages.
Our passage for this Sunday is about the foot… and the hand… and the eye… and the nose. It is about members – or organs – in the body of Christ, each one having a specific function, and each one necessary, even if they all aren't as beautiful as each other at first glance.
Many sources, both ancient and modern, deal with the idea of unity and diversity within a group, from Aristotle to the civic leaders of 20th Century America. Different skills all working together as a team is a common theme, of which our passage is a specific - and inspired - example.
The Apostle Paul writes that each Christian is part of the body of Christ – part of Christ Himself; we are part of His anatomy, His structure. Paul goes further and writes that we each have specific spiritual gifts and thus, we are part of His physiology, His functioning: gifts of prophecy, administration and teaching. “If we were all lovely eyes, what about the sense of smell?” asks Paul. “If we were all nimble hands, what about the hidden and calloused and essential feet?”, asks Paul (and my father). As a Christian, you are part of the structure and function, the anatomy and physiology, of the Lord Jesus Christ - a revolutionary idea.
(1) A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA:
Many times Scripture refers to men and women as having inherent value: we are made in the image of God; we are referred to as the sheep of his pasture, and as costly pearls and gems; and Jesus died to buy us back. Christians and non-Christians both struggle with actually internalizing this truth.
But it goes farther: not only are you of infinite value, you are of use to God. This has nothing to do with the Protestant work ethic or capitalism or needing to be busy and occupying one’s time. It’s quite the opposite. You don’t have to be busy or useful to prove your worth and value. That’s established already. The usefulness is to prove nothing. It, too, is God’s gift. He has decided to give you a function in His body.
Read 2 Timothy 2: 21 - The Greek word translated as “ready” or “fit” or “meet” (KJV) for the master’s use in this verse has a prefix that emphasizes just what a good fit, just how prepared and designed, an organ can be to do its function.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 18 - The Greek work translated “according to his good pleasure,” means your function and use to the master is according to his design and pleasure and plan, and that He wouldn't have it any other way. To God, you are of infinite value, and also have a use that is custom-designed.
Question: What gets in the way of your really believing in your Godly value and usefulness?
(2) A SUBVERSIVE IDEA:
Read Matthew 6: 25-34, Luke 10: 41, Philippians 4: 6, 1 Peter 5: 6-7.
Every one of these verses or passages uses the same Greek word translated “care”, or sometimes, “worry”. Each one here is negated. After reading these, do you have any doubt that you are not to be concerned, not to give a care, not to worry about a whole lot of things? Clothes, property, money, even scheduling, RRSPs and taxes - this can be exceedingly hard to do, but is repeated over and over in the New Testament. In fact, there is only one time when this same Greek word is used without a negative, and we are actually told to care, to be concerned, with something.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 24-26.
The one thing, as Christ-followers, we are to care about is…each other. We are explicitly told to care for the other organs in Christ’s anatomy. If one suffers, so should you; and even more difficult, possibly, if one is honoured, you, too, should rejoice.
Paul leads us to the last verse of our passage with this theme and perfect continuity: “And yet I will show you the most excellent way” (v. 31). And so he begins the famous lines of 1 Corinthians 13: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am just a clanging gong or a tinkling cymbal.”
Question: What gets in the way of your obeying scripture’s admonitions about when not to care, and its commands to care?
Eric Prost
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
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