New River Valley Church

Today we look at "The Shema," the greatest commandment. This prayer was prayed morning and night by Jesus' contemporaries. How can these words become written on our hearts?

In our cultural setting we tend to make the Lord's Supper, or communion, personal. That is, we make it all about ourselves. The Corinthians did this too, just without the hyper-individualism. It led to divisions and humiliation. The Lord's Supper that Jesus instituted was a necessarily communal practice and Paul teaches us that such a practice can be a "living sermon", one that proclaims the Lord's death until he returns. May we make communion communal.

Paul encourages his hearers to embark on the 'treacherous mountain trek' of becoming love. When Jesus took on flesh, he perfectly modeled love for us. By his love, we need not seek after self-love, but rather we are empowered to become love for God and for others.

Corinth was an epicenter of athletic completion, strict training, and competing for a crown. In such a culture, Paul uses these images from every day life to paint the picture for God's people. We are to be teammates in the gospel of Jesus - training ourselves to be like Jesus for the sake of others. And the crown that will given to us shall never perish, spoil or fade.

How do we follow Jesus in this world despite our circumstances? Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians is to "live as a believer in whatever situation" you find yourselves... Live your calling. When we find our identity in the One who calls us, we are able to let go of shame from our circumstances, tell our story, and see God move.

Today we look at the early Christian teaching that Jesus was the Christ, that he died for our sins, and that he was raised on the third day. Today we ask, is this all true? Was Jesus who he said he was? Was he a liar? A lunatic? A legend? Or was he really the Lord, did he really raised to new life? And if so, is he really Lord to us, or do we treat his teachings more like lies or lunacy?

Every year on Palm Sunday we celebrate and remember Jesus' triumphal entry. Today we look at one man's reception of Jesus as King contrasted with the crowd's desire for a kingdom... The question for us is, "What do you want Jesus to do for you?" Do you want his kingdom without him as King?

The topic of sexuality is generally looked at as taboo for public church settings. But doesn't the Bible have lots to say about our sexuality and our bodies? Our cultural narrative tells us we have the right to do anything. Such freedom tends to lead to the slavery and degrading of our bodies though. Yet we discover our bodies are invaluable to God.

 "A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough." Paul confronts our attitudes towards sin. In his view, sin is not just a personal matter but a communal one. As challenging as it is, we are responsible for one another. Yet even more so, Jesus is responsible for us.

Are you not still worldly? In 1 Corinthians 3 this is the question the apostle Paul asks of his audience. He challenges them for the ways they look at others and they look at themselves, losing sight of God himself. When we turn our eyes back to God we are able to shift from "self-made" people, to servants of God and coworkers with Christ.