Learning from History
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
- How does this section relate to the whole unit of 8:1-11:1?
- Read Exodus 14 and 16:1-17:7. In vs. 1-5 how does Paul relate Israel’s exodus and wanderings with what we call church “ordinances”? What is he trying to communicate to the Corinthians?
- Discuss each of the four specific sinful expressions that the Corinthians and the Israelites share (idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord, and grumbling). How does each find expression in our lives? Which of these do you find is your greatest struggle? Why?
- Think specifically about the sin of grumbling. What is at its heart? What are its effects on others? How can you deal with a grumbling disposition if you find one in yourself?
- Look carefully at vs. 11-13. What do these verses mean? Why is Paul concerned about the Corinthians overconfidence in their own spiritual lives? What should we take away from this? What type of confidence should we have in our salvation?
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group:
- Pray specifically for each other to stay free from the shared sins of the Corinthians and the Israelites. Pray for our church as a body of believers to be collectively guarded in those areas.
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Run to Win
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
- Read the text for this sermon and read Philippians 2:12-13. Talk about the tension produced in these texts regarding the nature of salvation and the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.
- Respond to this statement: “We are always training ourselves spiritually in one direction or another.” Do you agree or disagree. As you think about this question look up 1 Timothy 4:7 and 2 Peter 2:14.
- Why is spiritually training as a Christian so difficult? Did any of the reasons given in the sermon stand out to you?
- Think about the stages and/or elements involved in a physical workout regimen. What parallels can you draw to the spiritual life?
- Discuss the following statement: “When I discipline myself I put myself in a position at some point in the future to do by direct effort what I cannot now do by direct effort.”
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for one another to live lives of personal spiritual discipline. Each person in the group should share one area of spiritual weakness that they want the rest of the group to be praying for.
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An Apostolic Resolve: Let Nothing Hinder the Gospel
1 Corinthians 9:1-23
- Summarize Paul’s overall goal in this text. How does it relate to the broader context or 8:1-11:1?
- Name some ways that we get in the way of the Gospel going forward.
- What are you “putting up with” for the sake of the Gospel? What did Paul “put up with”?
- Talk together about how Paul became like the following people: the Jews/those under the Law (consider Acts. 16:1-5; 18:18; 21:21-26 and 2 Cor. 11:24), those not under the Law/Gentiles (consider Gal. 1:13-16 and Galatians as a whole), and the weak (Weak in what way?)
- How can and does the idea of “becoming all things to all men” get abused? What are some good guidelines or principles to keep in view when applying this text? In context, to what does the “all” refer?
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for one another to not let anything hinder the Gospel. Repent of ways you may have hindered it in lifestyle, relationships or other interactions.
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Concerns for the Church
1 Thessalonians 3:1-10
- While in a personally difficult situation, Paul sends Timothy to encourage and strengthen the Thessalonian church. What does this tell you about the importance of community? More specifically, what does this tell you about the importance of leadership within community?
- In 1 Thess. 3:3, Paul informs believers that they are destined for trials. Why is this not a popular message in America today? What should our attitude be towards difficulties, trials and hardship? Why did Paul inform the Thessalonians that trials were coming (v. 4) and what is the application for us today?
- Look at verse 5. What is Paul’s fear? Why is Paul concerned about Satan and how should that inform our attitude towards him?
- Take a closer look at verses 6-9. What can we learn about encouragement from these verses?
- Pray for your faith that it may grow and be strengthened. Pray also that Lifeline would be a community that encourages others.
- What can we learn about prayer from verse 10? What does it mean to pray “night and day”? What can you do to strengthen your prayer life?
- What does Paul mean in verse 10 when he says he wants to supply what is lacking in their faith? What might be lacking in your faith and what can you do about it?
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“Freedom Without Love”
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
- Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and 10:14-11:1. Summarize what you understand Paul to be teaching concerning believers’ interpersonal relationships and idol feasts. What different issues do these passages address regarding believers, their relationships and idol feasts?
- Read 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 and 10:18-22. What is Paul’s theological understanding of idols? What do you think about this?
- Read Deuteronomy 6:4 (keep in mind that it is a key statement of Old Testament monotheism). Read carefully 1 Corinthians 10:6. What is Paul trying to accomplish theologically speaking by this statement? (As you answer this keep in mind that Paul is taking the Gospel and the identity of Jesus to new places and new people and to his own Jewish people along the way) As you consider this think about N.T. Wright’s observation that this is “one of the greatest pioneering moments in the entire history of christology.” Do you agree? Or is he overstating the importance of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:6?
- Do we overvalue our individual freedom as believers? What are the dangers of doing so? Have you ever personally seen the exercise of someone’s freedom cause another person to stumble? What happened?
- What is the difference between being an offence to someone and being a stumbling block to someone? What are some practical areas of application today where the improper exercise of our freedom can produce a stumbling block? Are there any applications in our present context for people coming out of Mormonism?
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for each other to exercise Christian freedom appropriately. Pray for the issue of idolatry, specifically as it grips our own context via the deification of man.
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To Marry or Not to Marry? That Is the Question
1 Corinthians 7:25-40
1. Discuss these questions: Is it better to be single or married? What factors into your decision?
2. Vs. 29-31 mentions five areas where our perspective on life ought to take on new life as we live with eternity in view. How should each take on a new shape:
- Marriage
- Mourning
- Rejoicing
- Purchasing
- Possessions
3. Talk about the section of the message that dealt with the deification of the family. Do you agree or disagree? As you think about this look up the following texts and discuss them: (think about what they are saying in terms of the family and the kingdom of God)
- Matthew 10:34-39
- Mark 3:31-35
- Luke 9:57-62
4. Why is marrying a believer so important? For those of you with children, how will you guide them toward owning this as an essential component in finding a mate?
5. How would you summarize Paul’s perspective on marriage as you reflect on all of chapter 7.
6. Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
7. Pray for the marriages represented by the group. Pray for anyone that you know who is making a decision about marriage or in a relationship moving toward marriage. Pray for wisdom in how best to pour into the life of our family and into the life of the church.
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Marriage and Sexual Purity
1 Corinthians 7:1-9
- What are God’s purposes for marriage? Look up the following texts in addition to the one for this sermon: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12; Malachi 2:10-16; Ephesians 5:22-33
- How would you respond to someone who says, “Paul was a sexist”? How would you respond to someone who says, “Paul is down on marriage”?
- Read and discuss Proverbs 5:15-21. What is the message of the text? Why do you think that vs. 21 seems to have such little import into the lives of modern people?
- Talk about the role of sex in marriage. How would you characterize a biblical concept of sex in marriage? In what ways has our culture polluted the biblical view of marital sex? In what ways does marital sex take on a selfish dynamic? What does it mean for your spouse to have “authority” over your body?
- What is the gift of celibacy? How could it be misunderstood?
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for the marriages in the group. Pray that God would make selfless spouses out of each individual. Pray for each to be given to self-control in the sexual arena of their lives.
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“Your Body Matters”
1 Corinthians 6:9-20
- Share some data points and observations from our society that would demonstrate that our culture is rather like the one exemplified by the two Corinthians slogans. Can you trace how we have culturally come to this place we have?
- If I say, “You are not a person with a body, but you are an embodied person,” what if any difference exists between these two perspectives. What is your relationship to your body? What wrong perspectives concerning our bodies do we face in our present culture and from our present vantage point?
- Read through this text carefully, as well as Romans 6:13; 8:9-11; 22-23; 12:1; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Colossians 3:5. How would you put together what they say about the body? As you think about these texts think about the role of the body in human life and the challenges presented with being an embodied creature. How does it affect your spiritual life?
- What does sexual union with another person outside of an appropriate marital context do to you as a person? What do you think Paul is getting at when he utilizes Genesis 2:24 in reference to a man’s union with a prostitute?
- Look at vs. 19-20. Talk about how your body (and you in total for that matter) is possessed (19a), purchased (19b-20a) and purposed (20b).
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for the members of the group to grow in their understanding of how to glorify God with their bodies. Specifically pray for protection from the evil one and your own flesh as you live in a sexually licentious culture
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The Church and Judement
1 Corinthians 6:1-8
- In general, what problems do you think result from taking your brother to a secular court regarding a civil matter? In addition, talk about what underlying issues such an action exposes.
- Read Proverbs 25:8-10. What does it mean? How does it relate to this sermon’s text and the issues in it?
- Why do we often treat relationships within the church body like we could take or leave them? How might they change if we genuinely saw them the way we do family relationships?
- Regarding the judgment of the world, does 6:2-3 contradict what 5:12 teaches regarding outsiders? Can you explain this seeming contradiction? What are the implications of the future role of believers in God’s judgment for their present role as part of the church?
- Talk about the role that personal rights play in our contemporary society? Do you think they play a healthy or unhealthy role today? How are they expressed in the personal lives of believers and in their life together as the church? What impact does this have on our body-life as a church?
- Reflect on John 13:35, 1 Jn. 4:20 and this text. What does our marginalizing of one another communicate?
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for individuals to value others more than their own “rights.” Pray for our church to maintain a great testimony to the world because of the way that we relate to each other.
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An Unholy Church
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
- To what degree is holiness valued in the church today? Explain the factors that you think play into your answer.
- Respond to this statement: The church is supposed to be a different type of community with a different type of culture because they possess a different type of character.
- Why do you think the Corinthian church tolerated this man’s sin? What do you think it says about them?
- Explain the reason for the placement of the statement, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” In attempting to connect it to vs. 6 and the first part of vs. 7 please read Exodus 13:7 and Deuteronomy 16:4 (and possibly their contexts). How is the Gospel at the center of this issue? (You might recall the three things listed in the sermon.)
- How does Paul think the church should respond to immorality outside and immorality inside the church? Why do these responses differ? What are the respective goals of each?
- Formulate your own question from this text to share with the group.
- Pray for Lifeline to value holiness and restoration. Pray for Lifeline to keep the Gospel at the center of the issues we face as we do life together.
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