As a church community, we are looking through the book of 1 Corinthians together. We have available a daily devotion for you to spend your personal time or in small groups to study the word alongside the Sunday preaching series.
About 1 Corinthians
‘Imagine a church racked by divisions. Powerful leaders promote themselves against each other, each with his band of loyal followers. One of them is having an affair with his stepmother, and, instead of disciplining him, many in the church boast of his freedom in Christ to behave in such a way. Believers sue each other in secular courts; some like to visit prostitutes.
As a backlash against this rampant immorality, another faction in the church is promoting celibacy—complete sexual abstinence for all believers—as the Christian ideal. Still other debates rage about how decisively new Christians should break from their pagan past. Disagreements about men’s and women’s roles in the church add to the confusion. As if all this were not enough, alleged prophecies and speaking in tongues occur regularly, but not always in a constructive fashion. A significant number of these immature Christians do not even believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ!’1 Welcome to the world of Corinth!
Whilst this doesn’t sound like our church, many of the issues this church faced are issues we continue to face today.
How do we celebrate our diversity as a church? What should we believe about sex and sexuality? What should we make of prophecy and speaking in tongues? What roles should men and women have?
Paul’s letter written around 51-53 CE seeks to address the issues the Corinthian church faced and helps us answer the questions we face today.
How to use this book –
– This series of devotionals is designed to take you through 1 Corinthians over 54 days. This is manageable!
– This study has been written by number of people from across our church community, aimed at giving you a broad and balanced perspective of the book.
– Our aim is to help you create a daily rhythm for study, prayer, and encounter. So each week Monday -Thursday are study and prayer days, Friday is a day to reflect and encounter God, Saturday is a rest (it is the Sabbath after all!) and Sunday is an opportunity to encounter God as we gather for our meetings.
– We suggest setting aside a regular time to study each day. You will need 10-15 minutes per day to study effectively and at least 20 minutes to reflect each Friday.
– Begin every study session with a prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read. He guides us in truth (John 16:13) and we need his help when studying his Word.
– Aim to stick with one Bible translation. We recommend any of the following: NIV, ESV, NLT, CET or NRSV. Read the passage listed for each day before reading the daily reflection.
– Complete you time of study in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you.
Gateway Church Ashford | 01233 638866 | office@gatewaychurchashford.co.uk
www.gatewaychurchashford.co.uk | The Riverside Centre, Clockhouse, Ashford, Kent, TN23 4YN
Comments