Steve Stratos

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

1. How would you explain the importance  of Creeds?

2. Why does the 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 creed matter?

3. What is it (1 Cor. 15:3-8) telling us to believe? Give 5 things.

4. Why is it important to believe in the Trinity?

5. What is the creed telling us in Phillipians 2:5-11?

6. Why is it important that Jesus is fully God and fully human?

Steve Stratos 1 Corinthians 14:26-40

1. Have you ever felt alienated by what people say or do in a church meeting? How can you learn from that experience in what you yourself say and do?

2. Think about times when you have spoken in a Christian gathering. What was your motivation? Do you think you should speak more, less, or differently, in future?

3. As you reflect on Chapter 14, what will you pray for your church?

4. What experiences in your life have taught you about the differences between bonding and boundaries? What do you need to do to bring balance between the two?

5. What questions can you ask to your family members to create better communication, relational balance, and intimacy?

Ryan Moffat 1 Corinthians 14:1-26

1. What did God say to you this week through the teaching?

2. What is your experience with the “Sign Gifts”? How might your experience be shaping your views of how they should (or shouldn’t be) practiced in the local church?

3. Do you know your Spiritual Gift, and if so, are you actively leveraging it to serve and build up the body?

4. Read 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 again. What strikes you about this description? How can SCC better facilitate a space for the presence of God? Are we actively looking for and praying for God to work in this kind of way in our church and community?

Ryan Moffat

1 Corinthians 13

1. What did the Spirit say to you through the teaching this weekend?

2. Paul mentions 5 activities (All important activities) that he says “are nothing” if they’re not tethered to love. Which (if any) are you most prone to value over love? How does valuing activity over love lead to problems?

3. Paul defines the nature of love in verses 4-7. Compare this description with the current culture’s definition of love. What observations stand out to you as you compare Paul’s list to our culture’s list?

4. How do you become a person motivated by the 1 Corinthian 13’s kind of love?

5. One theologian has suggested an interesting experiment is to substitute the word “love” in 1 Corinthians 13 with “Jesus”. Re-read the passage making that substitution. Reflect on the love of Christ, the goodness of His love, and the steadfastness and faithfulness of the love of God. How does receiving and rehearsing His love change us?

Mark Seekins - 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

1. Mark gave an example of the “ripple effect” with the illustration of small acts of kindness. Have you ever experienced a “ripple effect”? Did it inspire you to pay it forward?

2. Do you feel like you are a “vital” part of the whole here at SCC? Why or why not?

3. Re-read 1 Corinthians 12:12–27. God carefully arranged the church for your gifts to be a vital part! What happens when we try to “go it alone”? Have you seen the results of a church not unified in service?

4. As sheep with a good Shepherd do you recognize the voice of the Savior? What can you do to point others in the body to Jesus? Share a time when you were in suffering that someone pointed you back to Jesus.

5. Is there a ministry opportunity missing in the church that you can fill? Is there an existing ministry that needs your help? Talk about in your group what it might look like to serve together in a ministry that has a need.

6. What is keeping you from serving? What are some common obstacles that get in the way of meaningful service?

Steve Stratos & Jim Gurney

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

1. What do you think is the root cause of divisiveness in the Corinthian church?

2. As you celebrate the Lord’s Supper, what is your primary motivation? As you celebrate communion, which one do you give more emphasis to: looking up in gratitude, back in remembrance, forward in proclamation of Jesus’ return, within at your own sin, or around at the rest of the church?

3. Do you think you take communion seriously or religiously?

4. What could you do to ensure communion is a genuine significance in your church?

5. What does Paul want us to remember and what are we looking at?

Ryan Moffat

1 Corinthians 11:1-16

1. What did God say to you this week through His word?

2. Re-Read the creation narrative (Genesis 2:18-25) and compare that with the “curses” in Genesis 3:16. What stands out to you when you compare them?

3. As a “complimentarian” Church (men and women are equal in value, different in roles), what kinds of ways would you like to see us live out a more balanced, healthy, and vibrant complimentarianism?

4. Jesus himself was under the “Head” of God the Father. How does the gospel of Jesus Christ free us to live well under authority? How can you make the gospel more visible while living under whoever is your head (boss, government, husband, spiritual leaders)?

5. For a great article looking at the complexity of gender in our times, read “We Live In Confusing Times,” by Kevin DeYoung. You can find the article online through the following URL: https://wng.org/opinions/we-live-in-confusing-times-1648558031

Steve Stratos

1 Corinthians 10:23- 11:1

1. How have you experienced freedom in Christ?

2. Where or when has your freedom caused you or someone else to stumble?

3. How would you describe conscience and how is it developed?

4. How would you develop a more Christlike conscience?

5. Paul’s constraint is motivated by his love for God and others (2 Cor.5:14). Where have you experienced this from others? Where have you exercised it for others?

Jonathan Martin

1 Corinthians 10:1-22

1. Tell about someone you know that lives a grateful life, filled with thanksgiving? What makes them this way? Did they have an easy life or a difficult one? What made them grateful?

2. What would our Church community look like if we all were truly grateful like the person you just descriped?

3. How are grumbling against God and Idolatry the same?

4. Why do you think that the very culture that has more than any other in history is also the least grateful and most entitled?

5. Would those closest to you describe you as a grateful person or a grumbler?

6. What does it mean “the root of thanksgiving is found in His eternal love and salvation”? Why is this important?

7. What do you think of this quote: “If we are truly grateful for that which can never be taken away, only then can we truly value those things that are temporal.”

8. How do you take your complaints to the Lord - and yet not be a grumbler? Watch this short vide by Joni Eareckson Tada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZJEuiI-INQ

Mark Seekins

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

1. Mark gave the example of the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping as a way of engaging culture. What’s the craziest thing you have seen someone do when their faith intersected with their culture?

2. When the choice arises, what do you do most often: engage the culture in order to influence them (towards Christ) or condemn the culture and wash your hands of it?

3. Re-read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. Can you think of some relevant questions or topics that would compare with “eating meat sacrificed to idols?” What do we as believers need to be cautious of when our faith and culture intersect? How can we be sure not to assume others know and believe what we know and believe?

4. How can you see applying the guiding principles of “love over knowledge” and “love over freedom?” Think of a time when you were confronted with this choice. How did you respond?

5. What are some of the ways that we look for significance? How can this search affect the way you engage in culture, good or bad?

6. Consider the ways that your actions affect the body of Christ. What can you do to make sure that you are representing the church well? Pray for each other that this will be our posture both to this world and one another.