The Corinthian church presumed that speaking in tongues was a sure mark of the Holy Spirit dwelling in a Christian, without tongues there would be no Holy Spirit in our lives. Does the Bible affirm this view? What are the spiritual gifts? Are they still applicable today? In this passage, Paul clarifies the place that Tongues and other spiritual gifts have in the life of the church.
Lord’s Supper is a sacred practice in the church. It demonstrates the remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. We also remember how that made our Heavenly Father forgive sinners. But how is it suppose to reflect in our relationships in the church? How does it help us to have the right attitude? This passage teaches us the manner in which we should participate Lord’s supper.
Head covering is a very contentious issue. However, this shouldn’t divide churches or break fellowship with others because head covering is not a practice upon which the church is built, in this sense it is a secondary issue. The church is built upon the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ. Having said that, we should not avoid learning about this practice and its importance in worship. This passage explores head covering and its implications in our context.
Should we attach religious significance to food? Does the bible condemn eating certain kinds of food or does the bible condemn food offered during religious festivals? As Christians, we’re called to live among believers and unbelievers who may have very different cultural backgrounds, so imposing our views on others may not always be wise and glorifying to God. How do we handle differences without being a stumbling block to others? Listen to the sermon to find out.
When we participate in the Lord’s supper and have communal meals together, we’re not involved in empty rituals. We remember the ultimate sacrifice Christ has done for us on the cross, so we do it by faith. Not only that, but we also have fellowship with the members of the church because we have all been united in Christ. Similarly, when pagans celebrate their festivals with communal meals, they have fellowship with their pagan gods. This passage teaches us that if we partake in such pagan communal meals, we’re committing idolatry.
Nominal Christians are those people whose life is not characterized by repentance, obedience and faith in Christ, but they’re found in the church gatherings just to maintain their religious status. It is necessary to examine our lives and see if our professed love for God stretch into action and showcase Christlike character. In this passage, we learn how we can forsake nominal Christianity and continue to walk faithfully in the path that Christ has called us.
Christianity is not about serving ourselves but it’s about serving others. It’s about putting other people’s needs before us, it also means that we shouldn’t always insist on our rights. We have reached a passage where Paul begins to challenge believers to sacrifice those things that are unnecessarily offensive to other believers and this can even be extended to unbelievers as well. He wants Christians to make every effort to win people to Christ.
There are many obstacles in our lives that keep us from giving our full attention to God’s mission. Deep down we’re not as passionate as God is, to serve others. Our lives are mostly surrounded by career, family, entertainment, vacation etc. This is why the passage calls us to make sacrifices in our lives so that we can serve others who need Christ. This passage also calls us to suffer just like Christ, in order to reach people with good news of the gospel.
A person’s wage is often calculated based on how valuable and resourceful the labor is. But when it comes to pastoral ministry, not much attention has been given to the pastor’s labor. This passage gives adequate reasons on why we should be supporting the laborers of the gospel who honor Christ and serve His sheep faithfully.
We often characterize our cultural distinctive by what we eat and drink. This is not necessarily wrong, but it goes wrong when we look down upon others because of our differences in eating and drinking. But the Apostle Paul teaches us in this passage to live in unity and be mindful of other people’s choices despite our different cultural backgrounds. Why is this unity important? Why should our Christian liberty needs to be carefully exercised? Listen to this sermon to find out.