Truth Encounter: 1 Corinthians

Suppose one hundred years from now one of your great, great grandchildren is rummaging around in the attic and found a box of letters that you had written. As they read these letters what would they conclude about what was important in your life? We have been studying a personal letter written by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians and are coming to the conclusion of the book. You can almost hear the Apostle Paul scribbling quickly to get some last minute details to the Corinthians…

We all know that death and taxes are inevitable, and when it comes to paying taxes out of a dry bank account, it sometimes feels like death. Unlike many countries in Europe, the USA has no state church and giving to the church is your choice. What does God’s word actually teach us about the way the Lord wants us to give to support His work?

Our American culture places tremendous stress upon appearance, but all the Maybelline, Clinic, and weight machines can’t overcome the invasion of time against our vitality. This is not a call to throw away cosmetics or the exercise routines but it is time to face the fact that we need a hope in the future that our life existence will not end in the skeletal dust of the grave.

Description:“If this life is all there is, then why do it?” I’ve got some great news. Life is not meaningless. Your work can add up to something, but it is all contingent on getting a perspective that moves beyond trying to get everything to add up from just the ten, forty, or eighty years we spend here on earth.

One fact of human existence that we all try and ignore is that none of us can drink from the Fountain of Youth. Phil Simms and Troy Aikman might comment on the Super Bowl, but they do not play in it. This kind of talk can get real depressing except for one fact. I know someone who has beaten and can help us to outdistance time.

The waters of Lake Michigan were frigid and the cold sucked the swimmer's strength. As they began their frantic CPR it seemed futile. Then the miracle. The swimmer coughed and opened his eyes. As we talk about the miracle of Easter morning, are we talking about the resuscitation of a Savior, or did something infinitely more miraculous take place in that Palestinian tomb?

Mormons have built an entire baptismal rite on the passage. Many orthodox believers have hardly even heard of the phrase from First Corinthians 15, but as we turn to verse twenty nine we read these strange words “if the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?” What is this talk about “baptism for the dead?”

Whenever we approach a religious holiday, the major magazines offer cover stories highlighting some of the latest controversies or discoveries in the land of the Bible. Suppose you logged into your news access and it had this headline, ”The Skeleton of Jesus Found.” What effect would a discovery like this have on your faith?

Imagine someone who was told that they had AIDS, only to discover when further tests were done that the virus had disappeared. Or imagine a convicted felon in a capital murder case on their way to the chamber where they will receive a lethal injection having their final walk interrupted with a pardon from the governor. Excited isn’t a strong enough word for this kind of joy and this joy should be yours.

Ethnic, religious, national, and international differences--they divide us humans and many men and women are willing to live and die for their group and cause. Did you know that God divides the entire human race into just two groups and it has nothing to do with race, citizenship, or social standing?

The most beautiful event that ever took place in history becoming common place? Ignored? That would be a tragedy and yet this is exactly what many do with the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead then our faith is useless

How can we be sure that this almost two thousand years of talk about the Savior who left death behind is not simply the wishful dreams of his original followers which mushroomed into the biggest delusion this world has ever seen?

Do you ever feel that God is speaking to you in a language you don’t understand, that He is turning away from you and won’t have anything to do with you? There is a good chance that you are not listening to the voice of the true God. He speaks in the language of your heart and He wants you to listen to His love.

Maybe it is time for us to take a careful look at how someone who comes to our churches, seeking to figure out what this Christianity is all about might react. Can they even understand our inside jargon? Are they faced with a truth and a love that exposes what is really going on deep in their own heart?

The music is loud. The words are unintelligible. The participants have sent their minds on vacation while their emotions sore into ecstasy. Unbelievers experience this in the frenzy of a disco, but some groups of believers are experiencing this in what is called the exhilaration of worship. What does the New Testament teach us about “out of our mind” experiences?

Have you ever gone to church and found yourself sitting back and going through this kind of evaluation? “I don’t know this song and I don’t particularly care for the praise band. The people sitting next to me didn’t even try to make me feel welcome. The pastor’s message was ok but his delivery was terrible." This might work for an evaluation of a restaurant, but when we gather with other believers, the issue is not your taste and satisfaction, it is your vertical connection with God and your horizontal giving to others.

No great social reformer could tear down the barriers that existed between God and mankind. In the Old Testament God especially chose one group of people who were to become an example that would wet the appetite of all men and women to come to Him. But after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God tore down all the walls of separation and invited anyone who would believe in his son to come to celebrate at his table as part of the family.

A drug addict will risk their life for the moment. A long distance runner will endure severe pain and oxygen deprivation for the experience. A musician will live for the union with the music that yields the euphoria. What is this experience called the “high” that so many live for? We all know that the drug high can be deadly and we warn our young people about the deleterious effects of drugs, but what about beginning to live for even legitimate highs?

Diapers, diet coke cans, paper plates, plastic silverware, razors, and plastic trash bags. It is possible that when historians grasp for a label to pigeon hole our time they might just choose the disposable age. It is a crime that our culture has made unwanted infants and worn out old folks disposable, and it is tragic when marriages and families are as easily discarded as used paper napkins. Is there anything “nondisposable?”

Wouldn’t you like to stand in DL Moody’s shoes before the throne of God or in this modern age, in Billy Graham’s? Well, both men knew that being a gifted mouth in the body of Christ is not enough. What is more important than all the sermons they ever preached?