Introduction to 1 Corinthians: Greetings From Paul
1 Corinthians: Order in the Church • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 14 views1 Corinthians is an interesting book. In this opening section Paul deals with the only good things he could say.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The Setting...
The Setting...
To receive an Apostolic letter was BIG deal
There was not “Church building” for those in Corinth to gather
There were no doubt mixed emotions about the gathering
The Burning Question:
The Burning Question:
“What would the apostle have to say about the church?”
Outline:
Outline:
Paul’s Signature and Authority v.1
Paul’s Recognition of His Hearers v.2
Paul’s Prayer for the Churches vv.3-9
Paul’s Signature and Authority
Paul’s Signature and Authority
There is no doubt as to who wrote this letter
Paul reminds the Corinthians that he is an apostle
Apostle = one sent with a message
Messenger of Jesus Christ through the will of God
Apostles were men to be feared
Fear = revered
Why?
They had been given the responsibility of setting up the church
From the beginning of this letter Paul was letting his readers know this was not going to be a friendly letter
Also notice as well the grace of God.
Paul mentions Sosthenes
Sosthenes is mentioned first in Acts 18
There he was giving Paul a rather difficult time
Notice however in 1 Corinthians…Sosthenes was a changed man!
He had been converted and is now serving God!
Paul’s Recognition of His Readers
Paul’s Recognition of His Readers
“Unto the church of God”
Is it not good to know today who you belong to?
I’m glad that this is not a church of man, but of God!
Aren’t you glad to know that you do not belong to the church of Todd?
We belong to God!
Which is at Corinth
Corinth was the most important city in Greece, but it was wicked!
It was the center of the worship of the goddess Diana
This worship was centered around immorality at its worst
But there was a church there!
Church = called out assembly
They were called out of the life of immorality and called to a life of service to God!
SO ARE WE!!!
We are the church of God in Ramseur!
We are called to be saints
Not perfect, but that doesn’t lessen our calling!
We are called to be different
We are called to be holy
We are called to be faithful
We are called to carry the gospel to our community!
Now we move on...
Paul’s Prayer for the Church
Paul’s Prayer for the Church
Paul’s prayer calls the Corinthians to remember the blessings they recieved by their faith in Christ!
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace!
Someone has said there is no better word to describe grace than Amazing!
Grace means that God has given to us something we do not deserve!
If we had what we deserved we’d be in hell right now!
Not only grace, but peace!
Peace from God the Father and the LORD Jesus Christ
Peace = the cessation of hostilities; the war is over!
Our peace comes at the expense of the Son of God and don’t you ever forget it!
That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
This church was spiritually blessed!
Chapters 12-14, deal with this in detail, but here at the beginning Paul reminds them of this blessing!
Church, we need to be reminded of the gifts God has granted to us!
Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
Their testimony of Christ was proof of they were believers
This church was known for its gospel witness
Verses 8-9 summarize the introduction...
Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Corinthian church was a lot like Parks Crossroads Christian Church...
Imperfect, but serving a perfect, coming Savior!
Concluding Thoughts
Concluding Thoughts
The first nine verses of 1 Corinthians ends not only the introduction, but also anything good Paul had to say about this church
There is one word which describes the Corinthian church and I pray to God it never describes Parks Crossroads:
Carnal
Challenge...
Challenge...
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to begin reading 1 Corinthians and as you venture passed verse 9, begin asking God to show you similarities with the Corinthians
Let this be a challenge to repent and ask God to help you see any changes that need to be made in your life
Let us pray each day to be more like Jesus
