1 Corinthians SeriesThe Long Road Back Introduction:Everything needs to grow, and everyone. Whether a plant, a child or even a city, the human race is characterized, unified really, by its desire to see things grow. Most people what to be more then they are. When I was a kid, I fell in love with history, with understanding the human race as a whole. I loved looking at different civilizations, cultures and languages. Honestly part of it was just that I wanted to be Indiana Jones. As I got older I realized I had a gift for academics and I was sure that I wanted to get a PHD in history. I wanted to know more then anyone else about human civilization. So I spent all of my time growing my academic abilities. Well others joined sports or bands I spent my weekends wandering through the libraries of Edmonton. But then, something changed. As I started to go to church and find out who Jesus is I felt something in my heart. A calling, a command. As I prayed I felt that God was telling me to become a pastor, something I had no desire to do. I didn’t want to preach, or run a youth group. I had a dream! I wanted to learn history! All of a sudden, the growth I was experiencing stopped. The opportunities I might have to fast track into a history program fell through. My weekends at the library became less and less interesting. I was like a car running out of gas, just coasting on fumes. No more grow. It left me feeling frustrated and terrified in equal measure. Today were going to look at another lack of growth, this time within the Corinthian Church. As this multicultural church was fighting amongst itself, divided over preacher-factions and other issues; sin had crept inside. One of the young men in the church was in a sexual relationship with his own step mother. Not only that but the church was proud of this. Paul wastes no time giving a harsh correction to this young man.  Chapter 5 shows us the final measures of Church Discipline when all other solutions have failed, Excommunication. Excommunication still happens in our churches today, even in this very province. Well excommunication is a complex issue, we are going to look at 3 important truths about excommunication that every believer needs to know.  Section 1: Excommuncation is RareFirst of all, 1 Cor. 5:9 tells us that Paul has already sent a letter to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians isn’t actually the first. This issue of sexual sin has been an ongoing problem for the Corinthians. Paul isn’t flying of the handle. The Corinthian’s have already ignored his advice on the matter!I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.It’s also important to remember that this young man is committing a sin that isn’t just heinous to Believers but to the world outside the church. It is widely reported that there is sexual immorality  among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated  among the Gentiles. Not even Romans or Greeks thought a man sleeping with his step mother was ok. The world does have some boundries, some things that are just too far. It was unthinkable. In our world today it would be like if someone came to our church claiming to be a Christian well claiming that pedophilia was acceptable. Everyone knows that is vile. No-one, not even the people furthest from the church would argue that what that person was doing was wrong. A church wouldn’t even have to have a conversation about distancing themselves from someone like that. That was the level of shamefulness this young Christian was bringing to Corinth. And he was p