Sermon November 30th – 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
“This week our Sermon was from 1 Corinthians 5:1-13.
The Kingdom of God is the People of God under the Will of God producing the Peace of God which is Shalom; everything as it should be. Alignment with the Will of God is always necessary. We are all prone towards believing we know better than God and tempted to ignore His decrees and forge our own path. This is often done with great pride under the banner of progressiveness. If the Church is the hope of the world it’s a really big problem when the People of God are out of line with the Will of God. In this case, there will be no Peace. When we ignore the Holy Scriptures and rely on human wisdom we miss the truth. WE CAN ACTUALLY CALL EVIL, GOOD! This is the problem Paul is addressing. This was progressive thinking in the first century. In response to this Paul demonstrates how a small bit of yeast can leaven an entire lump of dough. Small things can have a big impact. Are there small things in your life where you are out of line with the Scriptures? Is our Church committed to full-scale obedience to the revealed will of God as He has declared it to us in the Holy Word? God wants His People to be a Holy People. What does this mean? Separate. Different. Hopeful. Life-giving. Living in Truth. Expressing Unconditional Love.
Discussion Questions
1. What have you read in Scripture that has challenged your own beliefs? How do the Biblical teachings on purity, loving your enemy, longsuffering and gender roles challenge your own sense of right?
2. What does it mean for the Church to be separate, different, hopeful and life-giving? How do we balance being in the world, but not of the world? How does the desire to conform conspire against our being “the called out ones?” [the Greek word for Church is Ekklesia, which means “called out ones.”]
