**Skip to minute 51 to hear the audio

Caleb Drahosh \\ At the end of Luke's Gospel, two travelers find themselves on the road to Emmaus. These men meet the risen Christ who interprets the Scriptures for them, intimately breaks bread with them, and affects their hearts deeply. Similarly, we are invited through God's Word, to walk with the resurrected Christ in ever deepening intimacy as our affections for Him are sparked and fanned into flame.

Caleb Drahosh \\ The ideas of gender as a social construct and sex as biologically negotiable have grown significantly in our culture over the past decade. Issues of sex and gender can be found in headlines and have been the topic of debate in all areas of society, even in Christian circles. Not unlike us, the church in Corinth experienced their own issues concerning sex and gender. Paul affirms before the Corinthians that there are two genders–male and female. Both are equally made in God's image and both have complementing roles to one another. How men and women relate to one another–in marriage and in the church–sends a profound message about what we believe to be true about God and Jesus Christ.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem mere days before being crucified, He foreshadowed a much greater coming: His return for His bride, the Church. Our maleness or femaleness does not belong to us, but to God. It is given to us as His image bearers to picture His redemptive work in history.

Caleb Drahosh \\ We aspire to be like and seek to imitate people we observe all the time. And others inevitably imitate us. Paul calls the Corinthians to imitate him as he imitates Christ. As Christians, we should be seeking and setting Christlike examples. This is our purpose: God loved us first and now we have the great privilege of loving others with the same love in order that we might show each other and the world who Jesus is and that we are His disciples.

Blaze Culliton \\ Although we have all been given access to God through Jesus Christ, we still inhabit sinful flesh and need help to overcome temptation and sin. With that, we proclaim in unity that Jesus Christ is the one who has overcome. We have an escape against all temptation and sin as we serve our one master Christ Jesus. Turn away from idols and fully trust him, proclaiming with your life what has been accomplished on your behalf by Jesus Christ on the cross.

Caleb Drahosh \\ As Christians, we are free from sin and free to live in the way that God designed for us. Paul recognized this; he was free to exercise certain rights as an apostle (e.g. financial support) but realized exercising those rights might lead to potential obstacles in his Gospel proclamation. He was willing to give up everything to ensure that he ran a race worthy of receiving a prize. His mission was to proclaim the Gospel and he resolved to be as flexible and adaptable as necessary in order to avoid creating unnecessary obstacles. We are to follow Paul's example, giving up whatever is necessary to ensure our Gospel proclamation is not hindered.

Caleb Drahosh \\ Being leads to doing; who we are in Christ leads us to live God-honoring, Christ-exalting lives on mission. God chooses to make use of us as the means to bear witness about Jesus so that the world might believe. We are a distinct people, set apart for to glorify God through making disciples by proclaiming the Word.

Caleb Drahosh \\ We are often inclined to seek earthly things, but Paul reminds the church in Colossae that their identity, as those who have been raised with Christ, grants them the ability to seek things that are above. As the local church, we must seek Christ letting His peace rule in our hearts, letting his word dwell in us richly, and doing everything in the His name.

Caleb Drahosh \\ As a church, how will we view ourselves and one another? In John 17, Jesus prays specifically for His followers, that they would have unity and that unity would flow from the understanding of the oneness of God. Will we view one another as those who have been purchased by the blood of Jesus and set apart to glorify God? Or something else?

Caleb Drahosh \\ We all make a lot of assumptions in our daily life, assumptions that are not always motivated by love. Paul wants the Corinthians to notice that they are called to build one another up in love and not to be puffed up with knowledge. Being right with the information makes little difference if our hearts are wrongly motivated.

Caleb Drahosh \\ Have you ever felt as though your social status prevents you from being effective in making disciples? Paul tells the Corinthians that they can bring God glory wherever they find themselves in life. Marital status, employment status, etc.: find contentment there. Seek faithfulness and contentment no matter your place in society.