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August 5 - 1 Corinthians 1 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, friends. It's Sean here.
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  It's Monday, it's the 5th of August, and today we get to open
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  up a new book of the Bible, blow the dust off, crack it open to
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  1st Corinthians. Yeah, we are going to read
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  through 1st and 2nd Corinthians now starting of course with
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  First Corinthians. First Corinthians written by our
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  mate Paul to this church that he planted in the city of Corinth.
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  Corinth was a new city, planned and kind of revitalised and
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  rebuilt by Julius Caesar. And it was full of activity
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  right on the port where so much trade was going on.
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  And lots of the people that they sent to set up this this new
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  Roman settlement, we're freed slaves from all around the Roman
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  Empire. So we've got people who've come
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  here without old money. There's a lot of
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  entrepreneurship, a lot of cutthroat self interest,
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  developing their own little part of the Kingdom.
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  And unfortunately, when this little collection of house
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  churches started to develop and grow after Paul left, that
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  approach of Corinth started to shape the way that they did
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  this. And so there was a lot of
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  inviting and a lot of flaunting of possession and status.
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  And Paul wants to make sure that he draws them away from the
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  status quo, which is kind of deeply embedded in the Greco
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  Roman gods and religion of the time, and that real promotion
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  and beginning of capitalism as that started to grow and say as
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  God's family, we do it differently.
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  And so it calls them back to the way that it it ought to be under
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  the rule of Jesus. And this is such a great letter
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  because it addresses all these things that were going wrong
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  that yes, friends still go wrong in our communities today.
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  And so, so much of what Paul has to write to his old friends in
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  Corinth still echoes very loudly and a pick up applicably into
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  our modern world. So friends, let's gather around
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  our friend Paul and hear what he has to say as we read together
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  First Corinthians chapter one. This letter is from Paul, chosen
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  by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
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  And from our brother Sosthenes. I'm writing to God's church in
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  Corinth to you who have been called by God to be His own holy
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  people. He made you holy by means of
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  Christ Jesus, just as He did for all people everywhere who call
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  on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
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  May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and
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  peace. I always thank my God for you
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  and for the gracious gifts He has given you now that you
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  belong to Christ Jesus. Through Him, God has enriched
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  your church in every way with all of your eloquent words and
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  all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told
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  you about Christ is true. Now that you have every
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  spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of
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  our Lord Jesus Christ, He will keep you strong to the end so
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  that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord
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  Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for He is
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  faithful to do what he says, and He has invited you into
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  partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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  I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of
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  our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other.
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  Let there be no divisions in the Church.
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  Rather be of one mind united in thought and purpose.
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  For some members of Chloe's household have told me about
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  your quarrels. My dear brothers and sisters,
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  some of you are saying I am a follower of Paul.
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  Others are saying I follow Apollos, or I follow Peter, or I
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  follow only Christ. Has Christ been divided into
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  factions? Was I, Paul crucified for you?
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  Were any of you baptised in the name of Paul?
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  Of course not. I thank God that I did not
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  baptise any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for no one
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  can say that they were baptised in my name.
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  Oh yes, I also baptised the household of Stefanus, but I
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  don't remember baptising anyone else.
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  For Christ didn't send me to baptise, but to preach the good
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  news, and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross
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  of Christ would lose its power. The message of the cross is
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  foolish to those who are headed for destruction, but we who are
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  being saved know it is the very power of God.
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  As the Scriptures say, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
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  and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.
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  So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and
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  the world's brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this
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  world look foolish since God and his wisdom saw to it that the
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  world would never know Him through human wisdom.
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  He has used our foolish preaching to save those who
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  believe. It is foolish to the Jews who
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  ask for signs from heaven, and it is foolish to the Greeks who
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  seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ
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  was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say
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  it's all nonsense. But to those called by God to
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  salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of
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  God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is
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  wiser than the wisest of human plans and God's weakness.
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  He's stronger than the greatest of human strength.
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  Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were
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  wise in the world's eyes, or powerful or wealthy when God
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  called you. Instead, God chose things the
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  world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they
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  are wise, and He chose things that are powerless to shame
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  those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the
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  world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring
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  to nothing what the world considers important.
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  As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
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  God has united you with Christ Jesus for our benefit.
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  God made him to be wisdom itself.
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  Christ made us right with God, He made us pure and holy, and He
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  freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures
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  say, if you want to boast, boast only about the Lord
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  Jesus. It is so tempting for us to
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  think that we need to be wise and eloquent and impressive.
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  Thank you for Paul, who writes so clearly that it's not about
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  us. It is about Your spirit at work
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  in your people and we are just needing to be faithful to what
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  you call us to do. Thank you Lord, that it is Your
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  glory, your magnificence and Your truth that will always be
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  what's impressive. So continue to humble us,
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  continue to give us servant hearts so that we would always
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  point to You and never let our egos get out of Czech, Lord, as
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  we start to think how clever we are.
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  No, no, it is you, you who makes the intelligence of the world
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  unintelligent, and instead use what the world would consider
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  foolish to be your wisdom. So Lord, make us humble, help us
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  get in line so that we can point to you for all the glory to land
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  on your throne, our glorious, glorious Saviour.
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  In his name we pray. Amen.