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To the church of God in Corinth,

It was vital that there should be a church in Corinth.

It is always essential that our ‘Corinths’ should have local churches.

It is vital that ‘ Corinths’ should have praying churches (and as we saw yesterday, here were people calling on the Name of the Lord).

In the ancient world Corinth was a by-word for immorality. In fact, there was a saying: ‘to Corinthianise’, or ‘to play the Corinthian.’ It referred to having an immoral lifestyle. But a church had been planted in the moral sewer that was Corinth. These believers were not perfect. They were flawed. The truth is they still had a lot of Corinth on them (and in them). But they’d had a good old gospel dousing down (See 1 Cor 6:11), and they were in the process of being changed. They were “called to be…holy” (verse 2).

The common Greek word for the church: ekklesia, refers to a ‘called out’ people. In one sense, the Christians were called out of Corinth even as they still had to live there. But they were God’s people; they belonged to Him, and were called to live out their true identity. Yes, they were still “in Corinth”, but the greater reality is that they were “in Christ Jesus”.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that my life in Christ will shape and inform how I live in my Corinth.

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours:

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:12, 13)

Paul writes about a double-calling. First of all, our Christianity begins with the call of Christ. This is of paramount importance. It precedes our birth even, occurring in eternity past. But as far as we are concerned, we are converted when we call upon the Name of the Lord and are saved (Romans 10:13). Like drowning men and women, we recognise that we cannot resist the undertow of sin. It is taking us down. All we can do is to call on the One who offers to rescue us and is able to do it. We relax in His arms by faith and trust Him to carry us to safety. But calling on the Name of the Lord is not just where Christian experience begins, it is also how it continues – in prayer. It is where the race begins and how it is run. Leonard Ravenhill commented that ‘ The church that is not praying is playing.’ To say we believe in God, and yet be prayer-less is a form of practical atheism. After 44 years in pastoral ministry – although now retired – I find myself scratching my head over how many Christians seem to pay only lip service to the importance of prayer. It is a source of sadness and great concern to

 me. As someone said, ‘The greatest cause of unanswered prayer is unoffered prayer.’

What might happen today, I wonder, if all Christians were to devote themselves to prayer, as at the very beginning (Acts 2:42)?

 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes…

Paul refers to Sosthenes as his ”brother” or ”friend” (as ‘The Message’ puts it). To be a true friend or brother to someone else is no small ministry. Who is God calling you to befriend just now? Do you know? Why not ask Him?

Paul was a team player. He mentions numerous individuals by name throughout his New Testament letters. (You just have to think, for example, of the last part of Romans). Jesus sent out His disciples on mission two by two. Paul seemed to regularly follow this pattern – sometimes his teams were even larger. But he recognised his need of the help, support, gifts and ministries of others. He saw the church as a ‘body’ made up of many necessary parts. He did not believe in unemployed church membership.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says:

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labour:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Thought: What might be possible for the Kingdom if you were to team up with someone else? What could you do together, ‘in Christ’, that you could not alone? Who might be your ‘Sosthenes’?

Just a heads up – this is not going to be a ‘typical’ introduction to a Bible book. It’s more of a word of explanation. In this next season, we are going to start to work through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. I say start because we may not finish. I’m not going to be in any hurry, and there may come a point where I sense the wind change direction and feel that we need to set our sails to move elsewhere. But 1 Corinthians will be our point of departure.

I believe Max Lucado, in one of his books, said something like this, ‘Every day, read in your Bible until something hits you, and then carry that thought with you through the day.’ This is going to be my approach to First Corinthians, and may I encourage you to do the same. Also, I welcome your comments/insights. You should be able to share them whether you are reading from the ‘Home Thoughts from Abroad’ site or the ‘A date with Jesus’ Facebook page. I can’t promise that I will always be able to reply, but I will try to as much as possible. May God bless us as we embark on this journey together.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your Word. I confess I cannot understand it apart from the help of the Holy Spirit. So I look to you for insight and understanding. Thank you Lord.