1 Corinthians. A letter to a dysfunctional Church – Stop fighting! Our Vision: Let’s see what God can do There was a city of the Roman Empire where evil practices were pervasive. It was called Corinth. Corinth was a popular port town. It was like the Las Vegas of its day. It was oozing with any kind of sin you could even imagine. It was a very multiethnic place, freewheeling, anything goes. “What happens in Corinth, stays in Corinth.” And then one day an apostle shows up. The apostle Paul. And he comes with a message that is turning the world upside down. And a church is started. But this group had troubles. The whole letter we call 1st Corinthians addresses these problems. Divisions, rivalries, sexual sins, idol worship, taking communion wrongly, tolerating sin, pride, arrogance, spiritual gifts, and even if women should wear head coverings. They were a mess. But they were a church. They were God’s people. They were planted right in the middle of Sin City. 1 Corinthians 1:1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes. 2 I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. 3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This might be the most encouraging thing you’re going to hear today; that in spite of all the problems you’re going to read about in this letter to the Corinthians, in spite of all the mess, in spite of them getting drunk at communion, in spite of them crossing some boundaries, he still calls them God’s people. This is why these verses are so encouraging; salvation, a relationship with God is stout. It is strong. And our salvation is based on Jesus and not on our performance. These verses say … He called – he made – he did – he has – he will – he is When we celebrate communion this morning, we are celebrating what God has done for us, his faithfulness, his invitation to be in partnership with his son. We are not celebrating our goodness or our dedication or our worth because everybody in this room knows that even at our best, were not that good. It’s his body broken for us. It’s the new covenant in his blood. You see, we need to celebrate this morning that even when we fail, even when we sin, even when we get it wrong, that God doesn’t yank his eternal life from us and say, “I knew you would do this, I knew you would fail me!” Understand this; his gift of salvation does not depend on me being perfect – it depends on Jesus being perfect. Now when I say these things, there’s a few of you here today that will say, “that almost sounds like an excuse for us to call ourselves saved and then live any way we want.” Oh, how we underestimate what meeting Jesus at the cross does to the human soul. When you meet Jesus, a piece of heaven comes inside of you. When you meet Jesus, the orbit of your life changes. God takes all these people that He called – he made – he did – he has – he will – he is – And he places them in this one big, giant, beautiful, diverse, one-of-a-kind, never been done before, God’s crowning achievement on this earth, something that we call the church. The first dysfunctional problem Paul is going to address is that they were fighting about who the best preacher was. Let me just read it… 1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! Let there be no divisions. Live in harmony. “What happened to your harmony?” Instead, everybody was playing their own song. Then it got personal. Quarreling. Dividing into factions. Fighting. Paul rather forcefully says… 1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. You have to understand that Paul loved the church. And he loved this church in Corinth. And the church preserved the truth of God. And the church proclaimed the things of God. And the church was actually the presence of God wherever it showed up. And now he’s telling these people “You’re ruining it. You’re blowing it. You are messing up God’s big idea.” 1 Corinthians 3:1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? This is the first big dysfunction that Paul addresses; dividing over the preacher. But the real issue isn’t the preacher. It’s when we put our preferences, and our opinions as more important than the Bible. To love each other like Jesus loves us. In the body of Christ, there are no constitutional rights. Jesus is the head of the body, and we surrender all of our rights when we come to him. Galatians 5:13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. Ephesians 4:3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. Being a church – being a family – requires great effort and humility and love. Sacrificial love. And discipline. It’s no wonder that one of the fruits of the spirit is self-control. Let’s see what GOD can do! Pastor Brian Harrell