Day: April 24, 2021

Dealing With Disunity (April 24)

Churches aren’t perfect because
churches are full of imperfect people.
Paul writes to the believers at Corinth
to correct errors in their public
and private behaviour which
are detracting their gospel witness.
These include factions, immorality
and lawsuits between believers.
In an orderly fashion, Paul
set forth godly guidelines for
conduct consistent with the
grace of God given by Christ.

Dear Lord, we recognise the
tendency of the church to fall
into divisiveness and disorder.
Help us Lord to be concerned over
unity in our local churches; and
not mistake cordiality for unity.
Lord help the church leadership to
squarely address such problems.
Help us Seek to Be of One Mind;
Help us Seek Your Insight and
Help us Seek Your View. Amen

Lord, we will Seek to be of One Mind:
I appeal to You by the authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop
arguing among yourselves. Let
there be real harmony so there
won’t be divisions in the church.
I plead with you to be of one mind,
united in thot & purpose (1Cor1:10)
Lord, we realise that divisions
usually occur when our focus
shifts away from You Jesus.
Help us to stay focused and work
at agreeing with one another.
We recognise there will always be
people with whom we’ll disagree.
But let the love of God control
our relationship so that we can
see others’ perspectives and
even agree to disagree. Amen.

Lord, we will Seek Your Insight:
What we have received is not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, so that we may
understand what God has freely
given us. This is what we speak…
in words taught by the Spirit,
explaining spiritual realities with
Spirit-taught words (1Cor2:12-13)
Lord, thank You that You have
given me Your Holy Spirit.
Give me spiritual ears to hear &
teach me how to listen to You.
And I need to better understand
grace, forgiveness & eternal You.
Keep me from the distractions
of busyness and draw me
closer to You each day. Amen.

Lord, we will Seek Your View:
Look at Apollo’s and me as mere
servants of Christ…Now a person
who is put in charge as a manager
must be faithful… It matters very
little what you or anyone thinks…
Be careful not jump to conclusion
whether or not someone is faithful.
When the Lord comes, He will
bring our deepest secrets to light…
If you pay attention to scriptures,
you don’t brag at the expense
of another (1 Cor 4:1-6).
Lord Jesus, what a privilege to
be Your servant in Your kingdom.
Help us be good stewards of the
tasks You have entrusted us and
faithfully proclaiming Your message
Help us not to be Judgmental.
Help us not to be too concerned
about what others think; but
instead be very concerned about
what You God thinks. Amen.

Living For Christ in Corrupt Society

As the Bible is arranged by genre,
to enhance understanding context
we had been meditating scripture
by time sequence over 3OT phases:
OT1: Five Books of Laws & Job
OT2: Conquest to United Kingdom,
including Psalms & Wisdom Poetry.
OT3: Divided Kingdom, Exile, plus
Post-Exilic period & the Prophets.
Then we meditated on the gospels
ending with John where we learnt
Jesus Christ as Son of God and
believing we have life in His name.
Acts records fulfilment of Jesus’
Commission as Spirit-transformed
disciples spread the gospel. And in
Romans, Paul gives a sample of his
message before he arrives in Rome.

Next First and Second Corinthians.
In New Testament times, Corinth
was famous as the commercial hub
of southern Greece. But it was also
infamous as a center of immorality.
Despite that, Paul established
a church there near the end of
his second missionary journey
(Acts 18:1-17). Though the church
was in Corinth, Corinth was also
in the church, infecting its fellowship
and witness. Paul recognises
the gifts and strengths of the
church but he also deals decisively
with the problems plaguing it.
His goal is that all things be done
decently and in order (1Cor 14:40).

Paul’s troubles with the Corinthians
continued. After his first letter,
Paul’s teaching, character and
motives were brought under attack.
Paul writes back to set forth
his credentials and vindicate
his conduct, thanking those
who support him and appealing
to the rebellious minority. The book
is heavily autobiographical, offering
glimpses into the life of Paul:
his preconversion background,
his visions from Goa, his thorn
in the flesh and his persecution
for the cause of Christ.

We’ll meditate I&2 Corinthians over
4 weekends in following divisions:
1C1-6: Problems of Factions
1C7-10: Perspectives on Liberty
1C11-14: Perspectives on Worship
1C15-16: Perspectives on Resurrectn
2C1-5: Minister of the Gospel
2C6-9: Motivation in the Gospel
2C10-13:Authority as Gospel Minister
Lord, You are a holy God and
we recognise the importance that
all things be done decently and
in order. Grant us Lord the grace
of wisdom and strength to do so.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray.