It is tempting, when a listener is not satisfied with the Bible, to want to add to it.  It is important to recognize that God has spoken, and His power is in His words..

Some of us really are wiser than others; some have made fewer or smaller mistakes.  Some have committed more offensive sins.  It makes no difference.  The ground is level at the foot of the cross, and we all are saved on the same basis, and there is no place for pride.

Men flatter themselves by means of their intelligence and reason; but that is a mistake.  The power to save us is revealed not by reason, but by the God who saves us.

As mentioned last Sunday, Corinth was a messed up church.  But it was still the Church.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we are works in progress.

One of the rules of preaching is ‘You have to go through Corinth to get to (fill in the blank).  The blank is where you live.  The rule means we first have to understand what the message meant to its first audience before we can understand what it means to us.  The thing is, as we look at Corinth, we may find we are already there.

We will celebrate God’s love, as shown by His gift to us.

We all know what Christmas is, and we all know why we celebrate it.  But what does that have to do with the way we celebrate Christmas, and why do we do the things we do?

Baptism has somehow become a controversial thing within Christianity, and has been loaded with a lot of baggage.  Originally, it was an initiation rite.  Some tie it to salvation.  What we read in Matthew 28 links it more to discipleship than salvation.  This message will consider these things, looking at what baptism is, how it should be done, and why we do it.

This will be preaching to the choir, as I speak to people at church about going to church.  But this will consider the questions, what is the Church?  What is the difference between Church and church?  Why do we do church the way we do?   How do we keep our heart in church?  Maybe more; there is a lot to what we do in church, for church, and as a church.  This message will state some of the obvious, and maybe some that is not so obvious.

November 3 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  We will consider this passage, watch a video about the persecuted Church, and spend some time in prayer.