While the world chases fleeting riches, God enriches you in Christ Jesus through His Word.
Read / Listen to the chapter:
Read the chapter in an outlined format
Read previous DIG DEEPER posts on 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 1 Summary
In our fast paced lives we always just want to cut to the chase, to fast forward through the boring stuff at the beginning and get to the point. Paul's letters always seem to follow the same pattern as they open, so it's tempting just to skip over the first few verses. But look at what you miss when you don't soak those words in:
You are part of the Church - a gathering of people belonging to God. You are connected to these people in Corinth who lived millenia ago, and "all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." This letter was written to you!
You have been sanctified (made holy) and you are considered by God to be a saint (a holy person).
The two things that you need above all else each day - grace and peace - are given to from both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as you read these words.
Dig Deeper
It's interesting to see that right off the bat, the early church divided up into factions, which Paul calls them on the carpet for. So then, is it wrong for today's church to be divided up into denominations or associations?
Yes and no.
It certainly isn't God's design for the church to be splintered into so many sub-groups, but at the same time denominations allow people to remain true to their core theological convictions while maintaining unity with their congregation.
Our own denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, recently demonstrated that a large majority of its members seek to live under the authority of scripture as it's described in our Reformed Confessions.
While we hope that all of our denominational brothers and sisters will remain with us in this conviction, it's becoming clear that a few will not. In this situation, the best way to preserve Christian unity may be to encourage this small minority to find fellowship elsewhere rather than continuing to push against what the gathered Church, in prayer and study of Scripture, has found to be true.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God our Father (v3) the one who is faithful and who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ (v9)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will sustain you as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ (v7)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
