{"id":395,"date":"2006-12-06T06:47:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-06T06:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2006\/12\/06\/on-a-twisted-church-sermon-summaries-12306\/"},"modified":"2006-12-06T06:47:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-06T06:47:00","slug":"on-a-twisted-church-sermon-summaries-12306","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2006\/12\/06\/on-a-twisted-church-sermon-summaries-12306\/","title":{"rendered":"on a twisted church (sermon summaries 12.3.06)"},"content":{"rendered":"
The snow stopped, the parking lot is plowed, and we are back to our regular schedule, Praise the Lord! Did I mention we don’t do snow?<\/p>\n
This week we began 1 Corinthians with the message previously scheduled for last Sunday afternoon. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus, in the midst of very successful ministry in the Roman province of Asia (see Ac 19). While there, news came to him of difficulties in the Corinthian church. These were addressed in a letter which is now lost. But the difficulties continued so Paul wrote a second letter which is preserved for us as 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians Paul deals with various difficulties, discovered either by way of bad reports that came to him, or by way of questions asked by the Corinthians.<\/p>\n
The first issue Paul dealt with in 1 Corinthians is the issue of the party spirit that was dividing the church. Our message was entitled, “Great Opposition in Corinth<\/a>“. Our proposition: “Conflict and division in a church are evidence of a failure to fully accept the implications of the gospel.” Paul begins by stating the problem – the division is around well known Christian leaders, Paul, Apollos, Peter, even Christ are set up as heads of ‘factions’ in Corinth. In arguing against this kind of spirit, Paul points out that the preaching of the cross is the power of God, therefore let us glory in the cross, not men. He also points out that the wisdom of God, manifested in the cross, is incomprehensible to the world. The world is ‘natural’, we are ‘spiritual’ [or we should be], but the Corinthian problem is that they are ‘carnal’, and act like men who don’t understand the wisdom of God, though they should. Since we are spiritual, we should have the mind of Christ, and if we did divisions would disappear. We would not unduly exalt men, and men would not unduly exalt themselves, pastoral (and even apostolic) leadership would be viewed as household slaves who serve the living word to God’s people. The only solution to this problem is humility of mind and submission of spirit. Paul closes the section by warning them that they can have him come with a rod or with gentleness, the difference in approach depends entirely on whether they will adopt humility of mind and submission of spirit now … or later.<\/p>\n