Church Blog (Page 10)

1 Corinthians, Day 8 DON’T LET DIFFERENCES CAUSE SCHISMS “Spiritual Gifts” 1 Corinthians 12 – 14  DEFINING SPIRITUAL GIFTS — Chapter 12 One of the issues in the Corinthian church was the misuse of spiritual gifts. Paul found it necessary to go into great detail explaining the origin and use of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts come from the same source: the Holy Spirit. Here are the 18 spiritual gifts that are mentioned in God’s Word in alphabetical order: Administration, being…

1 Corinthians, Day 7 1 Corinthians 11 I used to work as a supervisor for a college cafeteria. At the end of each shift, we had a checklist of tasks to complete after we were done serving meals for the day. We all knew that the faster we completed the tasks, the faster we got to go home. One of the lessons I learned is that when the people I was “in charge of” realized I had their best interest…

1 Corinthians Day 6 1 Corinthians 8 – 11:1 The Dangers of Christian Liberty “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” (1 Corinthians 10:24). “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). We in the United States relish our constitutional guarantee of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” As Christians, we are no longer under the Jewish law, but we walk in…

1 Corinthians, Day 5 I Corinthians Chapter 7 The Love of My Life Who is the Love of your Life? If you are married, you should probably answer, “My lovely wife” or “My wonderful husband.” In I Corinthians Chapter 7, Paul gives extensive instructions on marriage. Likely, these instructions were given to address the low esteem for marriage that was a general problem in the “sin city” of Corinth, and that may have been a problem in the Corinthian church.…

1 Corinthians, Day 4 I Corinthians 6 |“I’m Gonna Sue!”  Two problems are discussed in I Corinthians 6: lawsuits between believers and sexual immorality. As I read this chapter, I am reminded of a story that was shared by a professor back in my undergrad studies. I was a business student in a class that focused on applying theology to work. It was such a time of growth as we developed a biblical ethic of business that would help us…

1 Corinthians, Day 3 The Problems, #3 (1 Corinthians 5) “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians…

1 CORINTHIANS, Day 2 DON’T LET DIFFERENCES CAUSE SCHISMS The Problems #2 1 Corinthians 3 – 4 Divisions in the church — Chapter 3 Paul begins this chapter by telling the Corinthians that they were conducting church matters in a worldly way and not a spiritual way. He states that while he was with them, he gave them Christian baby food (milk) and not Christian adult food (meat) because they were not spiritually ready for adult food. They had the…

1 Corinthians, Day 1 1 Corinthians Chapters 1 – 2 A little-known fact about me is that my first major in college was accounting. I like numbers, I like processes, I like knowing the result of 2 + 2 will always equal 4 and I like following directions. It seemed like a good fit. You know what I don’t understand at all? — Accounting. It was made abundantly clear to me during Accounting 101 that the ways of accountants are…

Romans, Day 12 Romans 15 – 16 | Acceptance without Exceptions “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7). The U.S of A. was once known as “the melting pot,” a country where people of different ethnicities could come from all over the world and blend together into one homogeneous, happy family of “Americans.” In reality, once you take the lid off the pot and look inside, you see more of a…

Romans, Day 11 “The Practice of Service” Romans Chapter 14 Service can be defined as “contribution to the welfare of others.” “A call to leadership in the church is a call to a life of willing sacrifice and service.”1 “There is no doubt about it: servanthood is the thematic biblical description of every follower of Jesus Christ.”2 In Mark 10:45, Jesus is speaking: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give…