1st Corinthians CH 1 Recap:

Summary:

So at the beginning a few weeks ago when we started 1st Corinthians we learned How and why the church of Corinth Started

Does anyone remember How the church got started ?

well the Apostle Paul Started it and we see that back in Acts ch 18

He departed from Athens , Left and went to Corinth where He started the church

Corinth itself was a very important city known for its commerce

buying , selling and trading all went on there and the economy was boomin

Geographically it was amazing as well.

the port location made it easy for ships to sail right through the middle of the Land instead of having to go all the way around

So Corinth was a church that was well off because there economy was well off

Now these people probably had all the riches the world had to offer but at the end of the day it was not enough

they became wicked and allowed the world to creep into the church causing Divisions amongst the church

Not only division but they had become defiled with sexual immorality and there reputation had caused them to become defamed

They were divided, defiled , and defamed as a church

So this is the reason we have this letter to the church at Corinth

Paul needed to address these issues to get the church back on track Preaching Jesus !

So the first chapter im going to recap and then we have some questions that I think make for some good conversation that we will pass out and go over in small groups

So the first 9 verses , Paul addresses the issue and what the church lost sight of and that is , Jesus is the ultimate Authority

We all fall under the authority of Jesus

1 Corinthians 1:2 “2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”

So he establishes what is one of the main issues and thats who they should truly be following ! Jesus

the church itself is of God not of Corinth , it just so happens to be in Corinth

they all/ we all fall under the authority of God !!

Then from v 4-9

Paul addresses the spiritual Gifts within the church

the gifts that God blesses us with when we are surrendered to Him

the people at Corinth were a gifted group of Saints , they were gifted speakers and very smart

these Gifts they had were evidence that Christ was in them

but heres the thing the people at Corinth had been abusing these gifts and using them for the wrong things

they had lost sight of true unity which is found in christ and they decided to Divide amongst themselves and follow Leaders within the church

from vs 10 - 17

Paul pleads with the people to not be divided and to be of the same Mind

Wether they were of Paul, or of Apollos or Cephas Or Christ

none of it mattered , why? because Christ himself was not divided

In christ is no division only unity !

Paul Himself was not crucified for the people, Cephas was not crucified for the people Apollos was not crucified for the people Jesus Was !

Baptism was not in the name of Paul, or in the name of Apollos or Cephas or anyone else for that matter

Baptism was in the Name of Jesus !

1 Corinthians 1:17 “17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.”

Paul is tying this all together and basically saying … No man is above christ and no Man takes the place of christ

we should not bother with picking Man to follow but instead Preach the Gospel !

From vs 18-25

1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

now Paul in these verses from 18-25 addresses the true division and that true division is between the believer and the non believer

not between each-other at church !

the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God

there is nothing wise here on earth aside from the word of God

worldly wisdom always changes , biblical wisdom never changes

the word of God is consistent , the wisdom of the world is inconsistent

the wise people of this world didn’t have the ability to figure out who God was through there wisdom

the message in this context is only foolishness because the world does not understand it

and God Himself achieves salvation through the foolishness of the world !

Jesus in his weakest moment is still stronger than our strongest moment

Jesus in His weakest moment is still more wise than the wisest this world has to offer

From 26-31:

Again Not many wise and not many mighty but God choses the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise

and God has chosen the weak things to put to shame the mighty

at the end of the day our identity is in Christ , Nothing else

not man , not wisdom , not strength, not anything but Jesus

If we are to Glory Let us Glory in the name of the Lord !

So don’t take your focus off of Jesus Especially within the Church

So not We are going to brake off Into Groups and Discuss some of these questions that we have to Help some things stick from this 1st Chapter