Everyday Church Sermons

We’re carrying on in our journey through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and we’re going to look at the last part of Chapter 9, and the beginning part of Chapter 10. And we could subtitle this section of Paul’s letter “you need spiritual discipline”. Paul is still in discussion about whether it is OK to eat food sacrificed to idols here. But the imagery He uses in these verses show us that...

Paul learned to be all things to all people - for the sake of the gospel. He thought about what would bring him close to people. He identified the barriers – and deliberately broke them down even if that meant surrendering precious rights. Let’s ask ourselves the same questions. - What brings me close? - Which of my rights have become barriers?

Paul continues, sticking to the theme of knowing, or knowledge. Something that seems to have been a bit of an obsession to the Corinthians, with the word 'knowledge' mentioned more in this letter than in any other book in the New Testament. He's bringing this comment in here as to ask, what is more important - to know it all, or to be known and recognised by God. And who is the person who is known...

We will look at Paul's teaching on and affirmation of singleness. Then we will look at how we build communities of faith that honour both singleness and marriage. And finally, we will reflect on how Paul’s teaching challenges the spirit of our age, both in Corinth in the first century and in our world in the 21st century.

Paul has recalibrated the Corinthians understanding on the importance and the place of sex in a believer’s life. He has done this by reinforcing the biblical foundations of sex as a covenant act within the biblical covenant of marriage. He has reminded them that the covenant of sex is rooted in creation and points towards the greater covenant between Christ and his church. In the previous chapters...

Belong, believe, behave - how grace changes the rules.

As we celebrate Easter, we’re going to look at the most important promise ever made, one that changed the course of history, and a promise that we celebrate coming to pass at Easter. It’s the promise of the resurrection – when Jesus, the Son of God, died on a cross, and then rose from the dead three days later. Just as he said.

We can see the issue for the Corinthians, and we can work through Paul’s arguments. But what about us? We live in a sex obsessed world. We all have our own sexual history both in terms of how we think and how we behave. How do we process this teaching without simply being paralysed by guilt and or shame? How do we apply this truth personally and corporately?

The use of the past tense in this passage is hopeful as well as humbling. Paul is not setting them or us up for a fall. We do not have to give in to our flesh. We can move on from our petty intolerances. Because we have been washed, sanctified, and justified. God has done a work in us, is doing a work in us, and will finish the work he is doing in us on that day of days when Christ returns. We are...

Your heart really matters to God. In a world full of distractions, we are called to guard our hearts and keep Jesus at the centre. Come with us as we discover the importance of God's grace, church community, and staying close to the Good Shepherd.

If we’re going to take collective responsibility for the holiness of the church, then we need to be sincere about our own discipleship, which will mean regularly dying to self. And we need a high bar on what we mean by Christian community, sharing lives and discipling one another, which will mean having difficult conversations with one another from time to time.

Be patient with everyone. You are going to meet people in church or in Life Group who are going to rub you the wrong way. It’s just going to happen. But when we remember we are all made in the image of God, and if we remember what Paul said at the beginning of the letter to the Corinthians that none of us can boast that we are better than anyone else, then we can learn to have grace with one anoth...

Paul is sarcastic about the Corinthian’s boasting which is rooted in pride – regarding one person as better than another in race, class, roles in the church, wisdom/eloquence, factions re leaders, and gifts of the Spirit. Paul followed the lead of Jesus, the God who came in low, fully God, fully man, – a picture of the ‘suffering servant’ who came low to serve, to die on the cross

Paul starts of chapter 3, by DISCIPLING the Church to see with some clarity and conviction where they might be getting stuck. Where immature theology and worldly values ARE hindering them from a life of spiritual GROWTH. BUT… he ends the chapter by giving them a vision of how God sees them / of how God has positioned them / of what GOD has in store for them.

The why question for the Corinthians revealed the problem of pride. Paul addresses their pride by reminding them that the gospel is the great leveller. Christians have no reason to boast because our salvation is all down to God. There’s no basis for feeling either superior or inferior to other believers. The challenge with pride is that its presence can be very subtle.

Lots of people want Jesus without the cross. Limit him to being just a good moral teacher or a misunderstood martyr. But the cross is the whole point – the reason he came. His weakest moment – is his most powerful act! The cross is the deepest of mysteries – and the simplest of truths. What it achieves is within the grasp of a child or the most impaired of minds – and yet its full depths are beyon...

There is disunity in the church and Paul will have none of it. In a world that is increasingly divided, polarised, antagonistic, self righteous and self centred it is vital for Paul that the church is unified. The church is meant to speak a better story to the world around it. Not that there will always be agreement on all issues, but rather that disagreements do not breed dissent, disruption and...

We want to get into Corinthians because it is a book about mission. It is written by a man on mission, the church is the fruit of that mission and they are a people on mission. They have been blown off course. The success of the gospel in drawing people from every area of life is potentially their downfall. In their desire to be accessible and relevant to their city, they are in danger of becoming...

Have you ever heard the saying it is better to give than receive? That sounds like the kind of sage advice you might see on an inspirational Instagram post, doesn’t it? Would it surprise you to know that it is actually from the Bible? The apostle Paul, in Acts chapter 20, said to his friends “remember the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Over the la...

These wise men bring gifts that would have made sense to them. These were valuable items, and they were bringing gifts for a King. But, as we are hinted at in Isaiah 60, these gifts were also part of God’s plan for revealing the true identity of this child. Offerings of thanksgiving and praise: o Gold – sovereignty and Kingship o Frankincense – this child is worthy of worship o Myrrh – death and s...

Even though Jesus at this point, is a small child, and born into humble origins, the son of a carpenter, he is in fact a King. The one and only King. King over all the earth. He’s not sitting in the palace with Herod, but nevertheless, he is a King. But what kind of King is he? We’re going to look at a few Kings in this passage to learn more about what kind of King Jesus is, and why we should do a...

God has the power to establish us by his grace. Paul’s message in his letter to the Romans: the gospel is the power of God for salvation for anyone who has faith in Jesus. As JI Packer said: ‘God saves sinners’. This transforms the way we live through the Holy Spirit. He is able to establish us, to make firm. We cannot save ourselves. Tim Keller: ‘The gospel is not done by us but done for us’ Jesu...

So, should women stay silent? When we read this passage in a modern western context this is the question that tends to leap out of the text. Some of you may well have grown up in, or been part of a church that has limited the role of women in the church based on passages like this. Some would argue that it is clear – women should remain silent – that is what the verse says and, therefore, we simpl...

These verses succinctly define the purpose of prophesy as edifying those it’s spoken to. A hallmark of Holy Spirit inspired prophecy is that it builds people up, by strengthening, encouraging, or comforting them. This is in contrast to tongues, which is for self-edification. There are two dangers regarding the prophetic gifts that we ignore at our peril...

Paul’s main point in these 25 verses is to stop the Corinthians from filling their church meetings with publicly given tongues that are not then interpreted, but rather to encourage them to eagerly desire the intelligible gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy, so that everyone can understand what’s being said. Therefore, he argues, a publicly given tongue should be interpreted, so that everyone ca...