Sunday Praise & Worship 10:00
Christian Education - 10:00 - Casual Dress - Loving Childcare
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1 Corinthians 1:4-10
(October 24, 2004) Scripture quotation taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright© 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Paul begins his letter to the Corinthians by giving thanks to God for them, as was his custom. For Paul, God’s love and grace in Jesus Christ elicit thanks, no matter what the current situation. His gratitude to God and his recognition that the Corinthian Christians belong to Jesus Christ serve as a framework for the entire letter. Because he is grateful to God for working in their lives, Paul can be bold enough to correct them, so that they may reach their fullest potential for Christ to serve as witnesses to bring others to Jesus. Paul bases his relationships with other Christians, not on whether he likes them or not, nor on whether they agree about everything, but on the simple fact that he is grateful for God’s grace at work in them as well as in him. Paul’s gratitude serves as a needed corrective to our cultural attitude of entitlement. Culture teaches us that we deserve and have the right to certain things. Grace, on the other hand, recognizes that everything, even our very life, is a gift from God, and we respond with thankful hearts. When we begin from a posture of gratitude, our entire perspective on life changes, and our relationships change as well. In this passage in 1 Corinthians, Paul expresses his thanks to God for three gifts to the Corinthian church. First, God has given the people generous gifts which enrich their church and their relationship with each other and with Christ. Second, God has provided everything that they need and will keep them strong and blameless up to the end of time, and God is always faithful. Third, God has given them a wonderful friendship with Jesus Christ. Gratitude for these three gifts, which are above all other gifts, produces the essence for a happy and contented life. Because of all of these awesome gifts and God’s incredible plan for them, Paul admonishes the Corinthians for arguing and tearing each other down. Paul encourages them to be in harmony, which does not entail everyone singing the same note, but everyone singing different notes which build one beautiful chord. They must be one, united in purpose. The vision which unites them should be far more powerful than anything that threatens to tear them apart. Many parallels can be drawn between the Corinthian church and Skyline. We have much for which to be grateful. God has blessed us with many gifted and wonderful people who work to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ. God has provided our church with dedicated leaders who work diligently on Skyline’s behalf. God has also set our hearts on fire to spread the Good News that God loves us unconditionally and invites us into a relationship with Jesus Christ, through whom we can be forgiven. We have everything we need and God has a plan for us. Let’s respond with hearts full of gratitude as we share one common purpose. Questions for Reflection
For further study: Read Philippians 2:1-11, Ephesians 4:1-16, Galatians 3:24-29, Colossians 2:6-7.
For next week: Read
1 Corinthians 1:18-29. How well do you trust God’s seemingly foolish plan
for your life? |
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