Corinthians

EXCERPT AND INTRODUCTION

But you know the reason that has happened is because worldliness has pervaded our individual hearts and minds. And when I say that I am not just talking about the church at large…I am talking about us…I am talking about me…and the fear that I have that the world may have also pervaded my own mind and impacted the way I reason…the way I look at things.

I think deep down maybe all of us are a bit afraid to look too closely at ourselves for fear that we may indeed find that worldliness has not only pervaded not only our corporate life but our individual thought and worship as well.

That is why, in the next thirteen weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to take a fresh look at Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

You see…First Corinthians has something important to say. It was a letter addressed to a church in trouble…a church that no longer lived in the midst of world but rather lived with the world in its midst. But it is because of that that it is an important book for us to look at. You see…when you get right down to it there are a world of similarities between the church at Corinth and that church over on Riverside…or the one over on I35…or even the one over on Beach St. It is because of that…and it almost causes me pain to say it…that First Corinthians is one of the most practical books in the New Testament.

You see First Corinthians was written to the Church in the Mall…and because it was it has a lot to say to us today.

Lesson 1…The Church in the Mall