Pursuing Unity

Introduction

In this passage of scripture we find the main reason that Paul wrote this letter to his church plant in the city of Corinth. They were being ripped apart because they were at odds with one another. Things like greed, politics, and theology were all the things they were arguing about, but the real problem was very simple: pride. Paul doesn't directly address what things were tearing the church apart, but his plea to them is simple—to put partisanship aside and be unified.

Just like the church in Corinth—we have some issues with unity in our communities today. It seems like we are always at war with each other in the church. When Jesus raised up the church in the 1st Century, he called us to be a refuge for weary, a safe-place for broken people to heal, for rejects to be accepted, for the discouraged and depressed to be encouraged, for the anxious hearts to find rest, for sinners to find grace, love, and mercy. Jesus’ Church is a place for all of these things, that is the beauty of the Church! It is the only place in the world where we can be so different but so alike. We are Republicans and Democrats. We are Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. We are rich and poor. We are male and female—and even some confused people too. We are black and white—and every shade in between. We have different views on politics. We are raised in different backgrounds. Some of us are staunch 5-Point Calvinists and others of us are 5 Point Arminians (Free-willies). The Church is beautiful because it is the only place on the planet where we can celebrate how diverse and different we are, yet at the same time be united together as the Family of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

We

The question that is repeatedly answered throughout the book of 1 Corinthians is, “What does the Church of Jesus Christ look like in a fallen and broken world?”. For the church in Corinth, it was a pressing issue. They city was incredibly multicultural, Corinth was a global city. There were different religions, different political views, different socioeconomic classes, and different ethnic/racial groups.

The church in Corinth just like every church was supposed to be UNITED, but instead they were torn into factions—they were “cliqued up”...

How had the church in Corinth become so divided? Paul gives three main reasons: (1) They forgot WHAT saved them, (2) they forgot WHO saved them, (3) they forgot HOW they were saved. Essentially, this church had made a huge mistake. They were trying to get beyond the simple gospel and become sidetracked by other issues.

And if we have divisions among us—and we do—somewhere along the way, we too have forgotten the gospel. And when we forget the gospel, we lose the very thing that unites us as the family of God.

So if this is where we are, where do we go from here? What do we need to do to be unified? There are three ways: (1) we have to know WHAT unites us. (2) We have to know WHO unites us. (3) We have to know HOW we are united.

So…lets look at three questions tonight:

What Unites Us?

Paul is clear that we fi The Foolishness of the Cross is what Un

Who Unites Us?

The Foolishness of Human Wisdom

How can we be United?

The Foolishness of Preaching