Paul hasn't skimped on difficult issues in his letter to the Corinthians so far - divisions, sexual immorality, idolatry, lawsuits, tongues and head coverings to name a few! In chapter 15 Paul seeks to address another tricky issue - the resurrection of our bodies. Luckily for us, Paul doesn't lunge straight in to the nitty gritty. He opens this chapter by proclaiming the gospel with stark historical accuracy and with a view to the life-changing effect which the gospel has had on his life.

This is perhaps one of the most shocking passages in the whole Bible to modern ears. At first glance, Paul seems to command something like a zipper on the mouths of women in church. Can we really believe that in this modern world? Is this a practice we should take on board at Redlands?

If you could speak in the tongues of angels, or some sort of heavenly language, wouldn't it be good for the church to hear you doing that? Wouldn't that be uplifting to everyone and encouraging for them? It sounds pretty spectacular. And yet, the answer Paul gives in our passage today is, 'no.' No, it is far better for the church to hear plain old ordinary gospel speech. This is a tricky passage, but at the heart of it reveals God's desire to communicate clearly with His people.

If you've been to five weddings there's a fair chance you've heard this passage preached on five times. It's full of beautiful ideas about love that are well suited to a wedding, but has Paul just written this in his letter so that we've got a lovely little wedding text? Or is he saying something more?

Paul is writing these verses to the church in Rome. A Church with both Jews and Gentiles. Why did he write these verses? He wrote it to help the church grow in righteousness and Christ likeness. The church in Rome needed these verses because of potential tension in the church and persecution outside the church. The Roman church then and our church today need a periodic reminder of the rich and costly love that we are called to participate in and share in as a people redeemed by God's great love.

Last week we began a section in 1 Corinthians that stretches from chapter 12 till the end of 14. In it Paul is helping the church understand the gifts God gives His church by His Spirit and to use those gifts for the good of the Church. This week he uses the metaphor of the body to show that, like our physical bodies, God has designed each part of the Church in just the right way for its good. And so we need to ask, "how essential am I to the church in which God has placed me.

The topic of spiritual gifts can be a divisive one. People believe and understand different things about what we've been given or should be given. So, what should we expect when it comes to gifts? Should we be able to heal, or perform miracles? We'll start thinking about these and other questions this Sunday.

Wedding rings, giant keys at a 21st, or a war memorial are all used in our culture to symbolise a deeper reality of commitment and love, freedom and adulthood, or mourning and remembrance. What are we reminded of in the Lord’s Supper? How could we do this wrong, and how is it possible to ‘eat and drink judgment on ourselves’?

As we continue through 1 Corinthians we’re challenged to think about these questions as we partake of a ceremony that many of us might take for granted.

This week we return to the letter of 1 Corinthians after a long break. And we return to one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament. Difficult because on first reading it seems that to understand it, we need an intimate understanding of Corinthian culture. And difficult because it deals with a matter of controversy in the modern church, that is the question of the role of women teaching in the church. Nevertheless, this is God's word and so we will do our best to understand His good design.

The resurrection is often scoffed at by our culture, and for good reason – how many people do you know who’ve risen from the dead? Matthew calls us to examine the truth of the resurrection deeply as it’s the lynch pin of our faith. If the resurrection falls, so does our faith, but if it’s true – we must worship.