1 Corinthians

Last Sunday we began a new Bible study on the book of 1 Corinthians. I hope that this will be a fruitful study of this important book of the Bible. There are just so many topics in this book that are applicable to Christian congregations, even for Christians of the 21st century. This book deals with some of the hottest topics in Christianity and Lutheranism today, such as the ministry, roles of men and women, and church fellowship. It deals with topics that are all around us in society, including questions about marriage and sexual immorality. And in all these topics Christians are encouraged to deal with one another in love and act in ways that build each other up and that build up the congregation as a whole.

We’ll get as far as we can by the end of June, and then we’ll pick it up again sometime later this fall. For those who can’t make it, did you know that we have also been webcasting during our Bible study hour on Sunday morning? Just login between 9:15 and 10:15 PDT and follow along. You won’t be able to hear any questions or answers from the participants very well, but you should be able to follow along. You can download the study guide here to help.

Just to whet your appetite for what’s to come in this book, here are a list of passages scattered throughout the book that you may already know. We’l look at each one of these key verses and what they mean in their context.

1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
4:2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
5:7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
7:2 But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
8:9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
9:22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
14:40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.