In Corinth // In Christ

Normally, I’m not a fearful person.

But ever since Amy and I found out she is pregnant with our first child, I have been dealing with a whole new set of fears. How can I protect my new little girl from the hyper-sexualized, hyper-materialistic, hyper-relativistic culture in which we live?

I’ve long been aware that, in spite of its beauty, the world is a broken place. But now that I’m (nearly) a dad, that brokenness seems to threaten in a deeper way entirely. When we first found out that we’d be having a girl, one father told me, “Well, now instead of having to worry about just one boy, you get to worry about all the boys.” As a boy myself, this is not a comforting thought.

What is comforting, however, is the realization that 21st-century America is not the first environment in which the community of God’s people has faced the challenge of being a blessing amidst a broken culture. In fact, it may not even be the worst environment in which we’ve faced this challenge. The city of Corinth in the first century also had a hyper-sexualized, hyper-materialistic, hyper-relativistic culture. As we shall see in our journey through 1 Corinthians this fall, the church in Corinth had much in common with us. But as the Apostle Paul reminds them in the opening to his letter, “God is faithful” (1 Cor. 1:9). In the words that follow, he patiently and clearly gives them the guidance they need to follow Jesus.

We need these words as well. In this sermon, we will begin to look at Paul’s first major theme in the letter: unity.

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SEE IT // BE IT

(Weekly Community Group Discussion Guide)

Date: August 9, 2015  // Title: In Corinth // In Christ

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:1-2:5

SERMON REVIEW  5-10 minutes

How do you live in Atlanta and in Christ at the same time? This is the question that runs through our worship together this week. It’s a question that Paul addresses, in his own time, to a group of people living in the city of Corinth, who like living in Atlanta, were tempted to be distracted by so many other things vying for their attention. Corinth, like Atlanta, was an economic boomtown—a regional city of commerce. It was a city fascinated with sport, a center of sexuality, worship, and a city driven by rhetoric (public communication). Here in this city the drive for celebrity, intellect, and achievement meant everyone was trying to make a name and fortune for him or herself. And it is into this highly competitive and highly competent culture that Paul calls them to live out what God has already built into them—to be holy, as God has made them holy in Christ. The first step to this holy life is to live in unity, and the key to unity is the cross.

THE MAIN THOUGHT: (keep this in mind as you facilitate discussion)
“The Cross is the KEY to Unity”

SEE IT – Questions 10–15 minutes
Picture: Jon spent a lot of time this week talking about the correlation between the city of Corinth and the city of Atlanta—what points of connection did he make? (city destroyed, commerce, sport, rhetoric, worship, sexuality).
What point of correlation stood out to you most? What temptations did the Christians who lived in this city face?
(celebrity, Sophism and spectacle). What was Paul’s answer to temptation? (Unity) What was the key to unity? (the Cross).
Mirror: Do you find it hard to live in Atlanta and live in Christ? Why or why not? What are the three biggest challenges of living in Atlanta and in Christ? How have you found yourself caught up into the need to achieve, perform, find pleasure, or project success in your work or neighborhood? How can the unity of our group help you battle against the wrong pursuits of these things? What do you think the cross has to say to our struggles?
Window: In battling our need for celebrity, how can you become a leader who leads people toward Jesus instead of just leading people toward yourself? What implications does this have to how you think about the way you use Facebook and Twitter? In the battle of Sophism (or wisdom), how can you resist the temptation to manipulate people with your words and instead speak clearly about the truth? In the battle of spectacle, how do we learn to lead a humble life? How might this affect the way you tell your story and celebrate your successes?
 

BE IT – Practice

Change UP // Back to School
This week, as our kids go back to school, and our Fall season starts to take shape, it is a great time to gather as a community to call out our prayer requests for the year and commission each other into mission. Ask each family to speak out their biggest prayer request heading into this Fall season? Then ask each family to choose one fruit of the Spirit they might need in this struggle to live on mission in this new season (Galatians 5:22-25).

Change IN // Spirit Stories
This week Jon talked about a moment in his time in Bogota (South America) where the Spirit of God worked significantly without all the things we sometimes think we need for God to move—no lights, no cameras, no sound system, etc. Take a few moments as a group to share significant stories of how you have seen the Spirit of God work in places that you have been, where you might never have expected Him to work. Then take some time to believe together that your group might be this kind of place.

OUT // Memory Makers
This week we came in contact with lots of opportunities to be hands-on in mission and make memories of mission in our lives and around the world. Take some time to look through the Grace Mission opportunities this year and begin to consider with your group possible mission trips some of you might take together. Or come together as a group with the Grace Family of Churches and text in a community investment for another community in Nigeria to have access to the Scripture—Scripture Translation Project. (770-809-6177; text amount and word “translation”)