March 11, 2007
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Preparation
April 8th, I’m supposed to teach at my youth group. I’ve decided on 1 Corinthians chapter 1 as my text, and will be going through the basic points in it (unfortunately, I’ll only have 10-15 minutes).
1 Corinthians 1:1-31 ESV
(1) Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, (2) To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: (3) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (4) I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, (5) that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge– (6) even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you– (7) so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (8) who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (10) I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. (11) For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. (12) What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” (13) Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (14) I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, (15) so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (16) (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) (17) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (18) For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (19) For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” (20) Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (21) For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. (22) For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, (23) but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, (24) but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (25) For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (26) For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. (27) But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; (28) God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, (29) so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (30) And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, (31) so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”I’ll probably be posting a lot more about this passage, but I’d like to gather the wisdom of my readers first. Thoughts, anyone?
Comments (23)
i think its great.
its good, but keep in mind we have an attention spand of a fly.. so yeah. it might be a lil hard. lol but its good
-courtney
i’d start from 21 on and teach about wisdom
What kinda thoughts are you looking for?
(27) But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; (28) God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, (29) so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (30) And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, (31) so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
I like this part the best. It’s (for me) kind of like saying that you are not doing this stuff alone. If you are smart or wise, it is simply because God created you to be. Use it for Him.
”(27) But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong”
I think that has alot to do with who you are in Christ. Jesus didn’t come to heal the rich, the strong, the proud. He came to save those who were lost and sick. Those who were hurting and needed a Savior. The “strong” and “wise” people of the world would tend to think they are on the top of the “people chart”. It would be an easy thing to mistake, but you have to humble yourself a little bit to see where others are who might be hurting. Go down to where the “foolish” hang out and you might get a reality check. Help ‘em out. Show ‘em the love of Christ, just like Jesus went down to the lowest parts of the “people chart” to show love to the sinners. Then don’t brag about it. Simply do what you are called to do and your reward will be in Heaven. Be the body of Christ.
Those are my thoughts….I would love to know what you think about this passage…….
No, Will’s World would seem like a spin-off of Wayne’s World. And I didn’t know you like Smashing Pumpkins.
Looks like your topic is doing well.. Thanks!
interesting that at the time there was a little apostasy going on; people claiming the baptism of one is more superior than the baptism of another. cross-reference verses 11-15 with acts 19:1-6.
The passage is to large to give an adequate response to. Dude, someone could right a book on this. Wait Matthew Henry probably wrote about 10 pages on this
I don’t know right now. How about the foolishness of it all to the Greeks, why would God choose to die? To their understanding the god’s would never do something as foolish as this, the god’s they understood used humans for their benefit.
Hey bro, thanks for the comment. I wasn’t offended by your nickname, but I did think it rather leaned toward the divisive end of the scale, in my opinion. The word heretic might apply to him by its most formal definition – one who holds incorrect doctrine or unorthodox beliefs – but even if so, the word is too divisive and laden with a sense of hostility for me to use toward someone I consider a brother. That’s my own decision, and of course you may do as you like with the word.
I’ve done quite a bit of study on eschatology, and I am convinced that the Bible doesn’t give us enough evidence to be completely sure of any given end-times system. If that is true, then Timothy Lahaye might actually be correct. He might also be incorrect. But we simply don’t have enough information to objectively confirm either. Every end-times view I’ve ever heard comes with significant exegetical difficulties, but after much study I’ve come to a lightly held conclusion that the pre-trib position has the least difficulty. That doesn’t mean I follow Darby’s teaching or dispensationalism. In fact, those are two topics that I haven’t studied at all. I’d like to learn more about them though.
What is your definition of dispensationalism, and why do you think it incorrect?
:yeahwhatever:
Tin LaHeretic – priceless. It is amazing that a semi-Arian would be more Orthodox than him, aint it (that would be me :notlistening:)?
-Isaac
What the…………………… Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, or *gasp* Sheol? Please be more specific, so we can answer your questions more accurately and so we can serve you better.
-Isaac
That’s very much in line with what I thought it was, though I’ve never formally studied it in its own right. Good description, and yes, it’s late. I’d love to dialogue further some other time - Goodnight!
RYC: Yay! True heresy! lol Yeah, I’ve been referred to as a heretic before, so I try to remind people that Martin Luther, Paul, and Jesus himself were all labeled heretics. And yeah, Tim LaHeretic was hilarious.
Interesting, I just recently went over 1 Cor. 1 with my youth. We’ve been reading through the whole book lately.
remind me not to go to church April 8th……
I don’t understand what you mean by your last comment, care to elaborate? Or are you just trying to hold me in suspense?
So are you are debating eschatology? You must have made some outrages comment, just kidding. Daniel 9, so went right for the kill huh? I wonder if this is where you see the need to call Tim Layhe a heretic because of his interpretation of this passage, I would say it gets border line blasphemous. By the way do you know where people get the years out of the seventy sevens? It is probably one of the biggest give aways that his interpretation is wrong and one of the greatest prophecies pointing toward Christ. It makes me want to do back flips thinking about it.
Wooah I like how you did your site!
Where is this Tim LaHeretic thing coming from? While I don’t agree with his FICTIONAL accounts of what he supposes the end times could be like, I would hardly call him a heretic. I agree full-heartedly with jcmelordy: Caleb, you need to temper your style of argument a little, or you risk ostracizing those who would otherwise openly listen to what you have to say.
Their are several interpretations to Daniel 9. Tim Layhe uses one method to interpret it, I don’t agree with it. But their is strong biblical evidence for the reasoning behind it. I agree with him in his stance on the seventy sevens being years. A total 490 to be exact but thats about where it stops. He neglects the context in which this prophecy is being made in time and what it is referring back to. We would need to go back to the Torah to see what God is referring to, or to even establish a basis for interpreting the 70-7′s as years. The immediate text does not bare this out and so we must by necessity interpret scripture with scripture to find the allusion. If a person does not know the reason why they are weeks then their is no reason I should believe their interpretation but if you understand their significance I do not believe you could ever see a pre-trib rapture in the text. So, have I perked your interest?
“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; (28) God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, (29) so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (30)”
…”Great is your faithfullness oh God, you use the weak to lead the strong”
. I think of Moses, and even David, as the youngest son..This is quite a loaded passage you know…I’m sure it’ll be good.
Also, though I see your point about Tim Lahaye, I would like to agree with Rachael and remind you how important it is to weigh your battles. Yeah, his theology is a bit off. Ultimately though, it’s getting a lot of people’s attention and reminding them that the world isn’t going to be here forever and that there is only one person who can save them. In my opinion, there are more worthwhile things to scorn. If you really feel that it’s that important and want to try and better explain to me your reasoning, I’ll listen with an open mind.
Carpe Diem
-Katie
:splash:
I know this is after the fact, but I believe the main theme of chapter 1 is pride (it’s a big issue in the whole letter). They were taking pride in who had baptized them and whom they followed, which was leading to factious attitudes. However, the only thing they should be taking pride in is God, the ultimate source of their salvation.
Those outside of the church have a hard time coming to God because of pride (Why would the “Savior” die instead of reign from on high (Jews)? How can you say the “Savior” raised from the dead? We know that’s not possible (Gentiles).). God’s plan didn’t fit into their way of reasoning so they wouldn’t accept it. They knew better than God.
The division in the church was a result of pride as well. People were putting value on leaders instead of on the head of the church, Christ.
15 minutes isn’t much time at all to cover that. The first to go would be the introduction to the letter. I’m not sure what I’d cut out next though.