Is Christ Divided? Keeping the Cross of Christ as the Crux of the Church

September 20, 2009 · Filed Under Sermon Study Guides, Sermons 

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

  1. Have you ever been part of a church situation where quarrels and divisions ran rampant?  What happened?  How was it handled?  What were the results?
  2. Think about the four names mentioned in vs. 12.  There is much debate over whether these represent four groups of people that aligned themselves with leaders or whether Paul is utilizing these name/identifications as a means of exposing their lack of concern for the body and their primary concern for self-interest.  If hypothetically they were aligning themselves with individuals why do you think these four names are mentioned and what do you think may have been unique about each group?
    1. Paul
    2. Apollos (you might want to read Acts 18:24-28)
    3. Peter
    4. Christ
  3. Recall how vs. 10 was explained in the sermon.  What does it mean and what does it look like practically to be a body of people who are saying the same thing and are refurbished or reset in mind and thought with one another?
  4. Discuss the cross and its role in corporate unity.  How do the two relate?  (A text that has some relation to this, albeit focused on the Jew Gentile distinction, is Eph. 2:14-18 [note the “cross” in vs. 16]).
  5. What do you make of vs. 17?  Talk about the phrase “words with human wisdom.”  What is Paul trying to steer clear of here?  How would it “empty the cross of its power?”
  6. Pray for the unity of Lifeline.  Pray for our church to keep the cross of Christ at the center of its ministry.

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