In a world gone very wrong, God's plan to redeem a people for Himself is now to be unfolded. And it involves God being incredibly gracious.

As we bring this series to a close, we will be encouraged once again to let the Gospel influence every part of our thinking, planning, trusting and doing.

Not only will God graciously resurrect all believers to eternal life, but we also get new bodies!

But because Jesus DID rise from the dead, God's plan to redeem people is real and true. It is living proof that Jesus really is the Messiah - the One we can put our trust in for salvation.

This concluding section of the chapters on spiritual gifts (especially tongues) once again contains some points that are quite controversial, both within the church and within culture generally. So we hope you can join us as we let God's Word speak to us about how we are to roll as we gather together.

This Sunday we will conclude Paul's instructions to the Corinthians on these issues, with a call to not be childish about spiritual gifts, but to be wise and mature to use what God has given for the purposes for which they were intended.

His answer reinforces the argument he's been making for the last two chapters: spiritual maturity is not evidenced by whether you can speak in tongues - instead, it's whether you are prepared to put the interests of others ahead of your own.

And just so we are clear what he means by this, chapter 13 contains a long definition of what love looks like. We often hear it at wedding ceremonies, but the original application was much wider than just husbands and wives! This is how God's people should relate to each other, and the Gospel empowers us to do it.

Spoiler alert - it's not to prove we are better or more spiritually mature than another believer!

Taking verses out of context or divorcing them from everything Paul has to say on this topic can lead to some unhelpful practices that neither encourage believers nor glorify God.