Say the words spiritual gifts and people think of very different things, from the charismatic movement to the New Apostolic Reformation. This lays out the basics of what Paul actually means before the specifics come later in the chapter.

Theodicy comes from two Greek words meaning to justify God, and today’s question is whether God can be justified in a doctrine as hard as hell. Consider why a good and loving God can still righteously judge.

Spiritual gifts, like most of God’s good gifts, get dogged by problems in the Corinthian church, problems that look a lot like our own: excess, self-promotion, division, a taste for the spectacular. This opens Paul’s teaching on the gifts by addressing those distortions head on.

Who doesn’t love a good riddle, or a detective story where the clues slowly add up to a solution? Consider Psalm 110’s mysterious portrait of a king who is also a priest, a riddle that only gets solved in Christ.

If someone told you they loved their spouse but never spoke to or listened to them, would you believe it? Consider Peter’s call to add to our faith, and why growth in Christ is the evidence that our profession is real.

We all know the stereotype of the rebellious teenager, finally old enough to make their own choices and fed up with the rules. Consider Psalm 2’s picture of the nations raging against God’s anointed King, and why that rebellion is ultimately futile.

The Bible pictures our relationship with God many ways, sheep and shepherd among them. Consider 2 Corinthians 5 and Paul’s picture of Christians as ambassadors carrying the King’s own message of reconciliation.

The Christmas story can be viewed through two lenses: first the sheer physical hardship of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, then the far greater humiliation behind it, God the Son descending to take on flesh.

Unto you is born this day a Savior, opening straight from the angel’s announcement in Luke 2. Consider what it means that Jesus is specifically named Saviour at his birth, not just a teacher or example.

The Lord’s Supper is central to the Christian faith, one of only two ordinances Christ gave his church, alongside baptism. Consider Paul’s correction of the Corinthians’ disorderly, self-centered practice of the Table.