Sermon Discussion Guide Sermon Discussion Guide 1

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Sermon Discussion Guide 1 Corinthians– Corinthians– In Christ in Corinth Wk 3 SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

INTRO Questions: Excursis: In-Fighting Christians in the Reformed Tradition are given to what Dr. John Frame calls “Theological Warfare.” In this essay-http://www.framepoythress.org/machenswarrior-children/ --Dr. Frame outlines 21 of the most controversial issues currently dividing people, churches, and seminaries who otherwise agree on doctrine to a remarkable degree. The article is well-worth reading, even if you skip the historical context, and go straight to the 21 debates. Frame rightly concludes: “Most of these controversies have led to divisions in churches and denominations, harsh words exchanged between Christians. People have been told that they are not Reformed, even that they have denied the Gospel. Since Jesus presents love as what distinguishes his disciples from the world (John 13:34-35), this bitter fighting is anomalous in a Christian fellowship. Reformed believers need to ask what has driven these battles. To what extent has this controversy been the fruit of the Spirit, and to what extent has it been a work of the flesh?”

How does the fact that believers are united to Christ, “in Christ,” both mandate and make possible our unity with fellow believers? (Background): In recent weeks we’ve seen how the Corinthian church existed in a cultural context marked by an obsession with social status pursued by worldly means: money, power, rhetorical skill, etc. The Corinthian church had assimilated this worldliness, both the traits and the values, thus Paul addresses them as spiritual babies, “infants in Christ” (3:1). (Transition): Greg Grooms opened with the story of St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine. What should have been a monument to 1,000 years of the gospel in Ukraine became a monument to strife and rivalry among Christians. This modern day parable indicts not only the Ukrainian church but also the American church. Twice now in 1 Cor, Paul has honed in on the sin of rivalry (1:10-13 & 3:3-5), describing it with various words: “divisions” (1:10); “quarreling” (1:11); “jealousy” and “strife” (3:3). And twice he uses the example of following different leaders, himself or Apollos or Cephas (1:12-13 & 3:4-6), to demonstrate that Christians corrupt good things, e.g. godly heritage, with quarrels and rivalries fueled by pride. Too often we’re like siblings looking for things to fight about. Many of the epistles, not just Paul’s, focus on rivalry as a root sin in the church. Why are we so prone to rivalry? What are the roots of this sin? (hint: Adam & Eve blame-shifting, Cain murdering Abel...Satan being cast from heaven). READ the text aloud. DISCUSS: How can we sow unity and peace instead of discord and competition? 1) Read v. 5. How can glorifying men, for the work God does, lead to pride and rivalry? What are appropriate ways to appreciate and affirm our pastors and church leaders without assigning them glory that is God’s alone? 2) Greg referenced Philippians 2:3-6. Discuss how Christ himself released his grip on the glory that was his as God by also becoming man—the start of his “humiliation.” 3) Discuss the difference between true humility, which seeks reconciliation and peace through Christ, and false humility, which is just a more subtle form of pride. 4) Christians are those who willingly suffer for love’s sake because having this “mind of Christ” costs us something. What might it cost you in your life right now? Conclusion/Application: Christ became sin for us, to save us from sin. How are we to have the mind of Christ? 1 Corinthians, and the whole NT, make it clear that the greatest apologetic, the most effective evangelistic “strategy,” and the most powerful witness is practicing the love of Christ before a watching world. Why must we do this especially with each other? Discuss this in light of John 13:35, then go do it this week! 1) Are you willing to give up your rights for the sake of peace and love, as Christ did? 2) Think of some relationships in your life where you act rivalrous instead of loving?

1 Corinthians 2:16-3:9, 4:9-16English Standard Version (ESV) 16

"For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

ESV

1 Corinthians 3:1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? 5

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. 9

For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 2 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. 14

I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.