In this passage Paul blows us away by telling us that the local church is actually the inner sanctuary of God’s temple because the Holy Spirit has chosen to dwell in our midst. He goes on to warn the Corinthians that God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple. In this message we will consider the implications of this passage including both the protection and the warning that it comes to offer. We will also consider the amazing reality that this passage was written by a man who had once made it his mission to destroy the church.

Have you ever wondered how Judgment Day informs how you do ministry? Most of us have rarely thought about that, but for Paul it mattered greatly. Listen and hear how the Gospel transforms the way we do ministry in light of Judgment Day.

In a culture that favored public speaking, the Corinthians began dividing over their favorite pastors. In our culture today, with innumerable podcasts, videos, and social media posts, we aren't too far removed. Listen and hear how the Gospel directs the glory we long to give to others to the only one who actually deserves it.

The wisdom of God hidden from the world is the magnificent grace of God freely given to us in Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, and so we depend upon the Spirit applying salvation through the gospel to have the mind of Christ.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the call to tell others about Jesus? Have you ever felt weak or afraid of being rejected or looking foolish? If you have then Paul wants you to know that you are not alone. In I Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul tells us that he felt weak and afraid and was filled with much trembling when he arrived in Corinth. However, Paul’s response to these feelings might surprise you. In this passage we will see how Paul responded and why he chose to respond that way.

What if where you are right now, in terms of earthy categories, was as good as things ever got for you? What if the current state you find yourself in was the place that God desired to be with you for the rest of your life? If that were the case do you think that his love would be enough for you? In this passage Paul reminds the Corinthians that God’s love for them has never been dependent on their earthly status and that what he has given them in Christ is enough.

Evangelism can be really hard. Often the fear of rejection or even of looking foolish to others keeps us from sharing the Gospel. We want to share the Gospel, but sometimes our inability to figure out how to make the Gospel sound attractive to others keeps us from sharing it. But what if the Gospel wasn’t supposed to be attractive to the values of this world? What looking like a fool was meant to tell us more about the person who is rejecting the Gospel than the person sharing it? And what if God has designed the sharing of the Gospel, with the rejection that often comes with it, to do a transforming work in the one sharing it and not just in the one hearing it? These are some of the questions we will consider in this message.

We live in a time where people are very quick to divide over conflict and all of us are familiar with the pain that comes when people we love choose to part ways with us over a disagreement. Sadly this conflict isn’t just something we face in our culture but its something we experience within the church as well. In I Corinthians we see that we are not the first to experience significant conflict within the church. Here Paul comes entreat us to remember that we are on the same team and to seek to mend the relationships that have been torn apart by sin. Paul goes on to give us three different arguments for unity and what we will find is that these same truths can also be used to comfort those who are dealing with the pain that conflict and division within the church can cause.

The Corinthian church was a mess. They were tolerating sexual immorality, they were suing each other, they were getting drunk on communion, some were teaching that there is no bodily resurrection and they were using the spiritual gifts God has given them to make them feel superior to others. It was church filled with conflict and compromise. And yet Paul calls them “Holy” and declares that Jesus will sustain them until the end, guiltless on the day of Christ Jesus. How can Paul talk like this to a people that were so sinful? Why did he feel like this was the best way to address them? In this sermon we will seek to answer these and other questions.

Where do you seek hope in the midst of suffering? Often when things get difficult we seek hope in convincing ourselves that it isn’t our fault. We defend or justify or compare our involvement to others believing that the path to hope lies in our innocence. But Psalm 106 comes to show us another way. In Psalm 106 we find that as crazy as it might sound, the path to hope actually lies through confession. If you are wondering how that is possible this sermon will seek to answer that question.