What a what a great morning. It's great to be be together. This time of year is great. I tell you, just uh when the weather starts getting cooler, I just feel like I can see God everywhere, you know, and and uh it's wonderful. Father, we praise you. We thank you for being such a great God, for adopting each of us as your children. Holy Spirit, thank you for being our teacher. And I just uh ask that that you would speak to each one of us today, that we could feel your presence and your love, and also that we could leave with a with a word that we know is for us from you. Jesus, thank you for for saving us, for for being our friend. It's in your name we pray. Amen. So we started last week talking about this uh this crazy city, and we're gonna see how God's love is even crazier. But uh it's a city of Corinth. Um it's in uh it's in Greece, it's about 45 miles from Athens. It's a beautiful spot right on the Mediterranean Sea. Uh Paul wrote a letter to this uh this city to a church that was really only two or three years old, and um at the time of the letter, there were 300,000 people living in Corinth. It was one of the fastest growing, it was one of the most prosperous cities in the whole world. They had a major seaport there, and it was a big-time business center as well. It was also probably one of the two capitals of Greek religious culture, which is mostly what we'd think of as like Greek mythological culture. There's a big temple, it was probably most famous. They had a temple for the Greek goddess Aphrodite, which was the uh the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. Um that created a huge atmosphere of immorality, really, in the whole city, because there's over a thousand prostitutes just in that one um temple alone. And that's how most of these people grew up, actually, with with uh that type of thing being a big part of their culture and even how they had learned how to worship. There's a famous temple to Apollos, who was the Greek god of truth and prophecy. There was a large temple to Poseidon, who was the Greek god of oceans and earthquakes. Corinth was famous, they had a huge worldwide sporting event. I don't know if it was worldwide at that time, but at least Europe, uh, Asia Minor, whatever. The whole known world, it was the second biggest sporting event in their world. There's Olympic type games that happened every other year. It was really one of the most important cities in the whole world at this time. It still exists today. There's a population of about 30,000 people there. This is actually a live web shot of uh Corinth. That's the temple, uh, the ruins of the temple to uh Apollos. That's ancientCorinth. Uh net. But you know, it's uh sometimes we read the Bible, the city seems so long ago, and it's like this ancient manuscript or or something. But in the big picture, a couple thousand years is not that long a time. And uh those people are very much like us in a culture that's some ways um like ours. And so this letter to that Paul writes to Corinth is kind of like a live webcam into that church, seeing what's going on in these people's lives, seeing what's going on in this new church's life. And what we're gonna see is that a lot of things that Paul talks about are specific and unique to Corinth and to their culture. But if we can just take whatever that is, we can back up maybe one step, and we can see principles that apply uh completely apply to us personally and to us as a church, and will be helpful as we see how we can grow through those. A letter to a church is a funny thing. You know, it's like listening to one end of a phone conversation. Um, because you're only hearing one one side of it. You know, I've I've done that a lot, particularly when our kids were teenagers. You know, I'd try to listen to their side of the conversation and figure out exactly what was going on. And when we read a letter in the New Testament, there's uh uh part of that that is happening. We're listening to one side of the conversation and trying to understand exactly what's what's going on. Um in this case, Paul's gonna talk about having received a report that he's responding to. He's also gonna talk later on in the letter to Corinth about a previous letter that he had sent. And so this isn't the first letter to Corinth. This is the first letter we have that's been preserved from Corinth. When Paul or Peter wrote a letter to church, it was written to be read aloud. Paul would usually dictate the letter and then sign it at the end. And so in 1 Corinthians 16 it says, And I, Paul, in my own handwriting, send you my regards. Now, the reason that the letters were meant to be read out loud is that in that day most people couldn't read. Only 2 to 4% of the entire population knew how to read or write. And so when they'd get together on, say the Jewish people in the synagogue, they would always read the scriptures, because that's the only way they would learn the scriptures. When when Paul says to the church in Rome that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, um, that's literally true. If he'd written to us, he might say that faith comes by reading and reading the Word of God, because that's how often we learn it. But then it was almost always uh literally hearing. So when Paul would write a letter, or Peter or whoever, they wrote it knowing that it was written to be read, that it was going to be read aloud to the church there. And so about 18 years after Jesus was crucified and raised, someone stands up in Corinth. There was a large group of people already, kind of like this, um, like us here this morning. And so someone would stand up in front of them and they would start reading. Paul, I, Paul, have been called and sent by Jesus, the Messiah, according to God's plan, along with my friend Sosthenes. We read it or talked about Sosthenes uh last week. I send this letter to you in God's church at Corinth. Believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus, wherever they live, he's their master as well as ours. May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father and the Master Jesus Christ be yours. What Paul kind of starts off is a really a comment about unity. You know how how this is really something that applies to all people everywhere. And that's going to be a theme. We're going to see kind of these sweeping themes through this letter. We're not going to read uh every verse, we probably won't read every um chapter. But but the themes are kind of unity and love, and how are you unified? And how do you have love when you have favorite speakers? You know, how are you unified and do you have love when you have different spiritual gifts or different roles? Or what does love look like when someone's acting in a way that embarrasses Jesus and embarrasses everybody in the whole uh in the whole church? So Paul's opening statement is a statement about unity. He includes everyone, everyone everywhere who believes in Jesus. Uh and it goes on. Every time I think of you, and I think of you often, I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There's no end to what has happened to you. It's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives. Just think. You don't need a thing, you've got it all. All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the finale. And not only that, but God Himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his son and our master Jesus, he will never give up on you. Never forget that. And so Paul's giving them a glimpse or a reminder, if you will. And again, these are for the most part, I mean, the vast majority are people that would have only heard about Jesus two or three years ago. And he's kind of saying, okay, this is what God's done, this is where you're at now, and this is what he's going to do. And what he's done is he's given them free access to himself through Jesus. You know, and that's so true for for us. And it's always good to remind ourselves that there's nothing that we do that that um makes us right with God. It's a gift that Jesus gives us. It's a belief in his son and our need for him. And then he does the work and that he does the heavy lifting. And and no matter what we're going to find out as we as we go on reading this letter is uh these were some pretty messed up people, and they were doing some pretty whacked up things. And uh, but Paul starts with the statement that no matter what, listen, God will never forget you. He loves you, you're right with God, and and that's the place for us all to start. And it's something for us to remember when we get together on Sundays. It's like Susan um kind of talked about as we were taking the Lord's Supper. There's nothing we're gonna do to make us right with God. And this life that we live isn't one where we mess up, then we earn our way back, and then we you know mess up and then we earn our way back. We are right with God. He will not forget you. It doesn't matter where you're at today, it doesn't matter where you've gone, it doesn't matter if you got a hangover this morning, it doesn't matter if you had a big fight last night. I mean, it it matters because anything negative affects our life. I mean, I don't mean it just doesn't matter. What I meant is it does not matter in our relationship with God. We're right with God because of a gift that Jesus has given us. And it was, it was true with them. And then what's also true is he says, He has changed your lives. You know, the the evidence of God's involvement with them is that their lives have dramatically changed. And he's given them everything they need. Where they are now, he says, you're complete. You've got everything you need. You've got gifts that different people have, you're together, you've got God, you don't need anything else. You've got everything you need. And then what God's going to do is he's going to be alongside of them every single step of the way. He will never give up on them. He will never forget them. And so it's the same with us. Jesus connected us with the loving Father. We didn't earn it, we didn't get ourselves scrubbed up first, and our lives are changing dramatically. I think that's one of the most exciting things about us being together is seeing how dramatically God is changing our lives. And um, it was true there, it's it's true of us, and it's also true that we've got everything we need. We're we're we've got God speaking directly to us, we've got his spirit changing us, we have each other. And it's also true that he'll be with us every step of the way, that he'll never forget any of us, he'll never give up on any of us. And so the next thing Paul has to say is going to be more specific. I mean, that is a more general truth. It's not just true of those people in Corinth, it's true of us, it's true, he says, of all believers everywhere. But now he's going to shift into something a little more specific. And what's happened in Corinth, I'll back up just a second. The reason that is so encouraging is the letter to the Corinthians is kind of letter, a letter known as a um to correct problems in the church. And we'll see that there's some of that, you know, it's it's just I think more that it draws our attention. But the overall attitude that Paul starts and finishes with is you guys are okay with God. Now, let's, you know, work on these things, and we and we can, you know, follow Jesus, be more like like Jesus. But one of the things that's happened is the church already, part of their culture, has been that they argue and they've they've gotten uh divided a little bit, and mostly around personalities. You know, the Jewish people kind of liked Paul because of his background, uh, the non-Jewish people, but not from Greece, kind of like Peter, and the local Greek people, which was most of them, liked a guy named Apollos. And he was the overall favorite guy of the church. We'll even see this as Paul writes, that mostly he's uh trying to change the culture, but he's also in places a little bit sensitive about the fact that they like Apollos more. But uh because he's just a person just like us. And uh and so in Acts 18, we learn a little bit about about Apollos. Last week we kind of looked back at Acts 18, because that's where the church in Corinth started. Okay, we stopped around verse 19 or so. This starts at verse uh 24. Paul's gone along on to Ephesus with Acul and Percillus. And a man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt, and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the scriptures. He was well educated in the way of the master and fiery in his enthusiasm. Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point, but he only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story. When Apollos decided to go to the Achaea province, which Corinth was the capital of, the Achaea province, his Ephesian friends gave their blessing and wrote a letter of recommendation for him, urging the disciples there to welcome him with open arms. The welcome paid off. Apollos turned out to be a great help to those who had become believers through God's immense generosity. He was particularly effective in public debate with the Jews as he brought out proof after convincing proof from the scriptures that Jesus was in fact God's Messiah. Now, in Greek culture, the two things that were prized the most were knowledge. I mean, they really valued intellect and knowledge. And the other thing was public speaking. The celebrities of the day were the great orators, were the great debaters, were the great public speakers. And so here comes this guy who is a great orator. I mean, a great speaker, a great debater, who just also happens to be named after the Greek god Apollo. It's Apollos. And you know, he's got a huge temple right there in the middle of the town. Apollo does. And so these people really like Apollos. He's where it's at. Great speaker, great debater, very, very smart. Um so many in the church say, hey, this is my guy. I'm I'm with him, I'm I'm following him. Now, Paul really likes Apollos, but he's frustrated that they're they're picking sides, and that the whole debating part of their culture in Greece has become a part of their culture in the church, where they're quarreling and they're arguing and they're and they're choosing all the time. And so he goes on with his letter. I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends. Using the authority of Jesus our master, I'll put it as urgently as I can. You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. I bring this up because some from Chloe's family brought a most disturbing report to my attention that you're fighting amongst yourselves. I'll tell you exactly what I was told. You're all picking sides, going around saying I'm on Paul's side, or I'm for Apollos, or Peter's my man, or I'm in the Messiah group. I asked you, has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul's name? I was not involved with any of your baptisms, except for Crispus and Gaius, and I get in this report, I'm sure glad I wasn't. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. This is kind of funny, because then he remembers somebody else. Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanus' family. But as far as I can recall, that's it. Now, God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center, Christ on the cross, be trivialized into mere words. See, Paul wasn't really known as a powerful speaker. But but he's saying that's okay with me, because the power is not in words, the power is in Jesus Christ. And we'll finish today just kind of looking at this and seeing how we can apply this together as a group, and also maybe how we can apply it some in our in our homes and at work or at our schools. Uh as a group, we are really together. You know, I mean I think it's it's exciting to see. I mean, rarely do I hear any kind of argument. We just, I mean, it's just um it's just such a great group. And so we can take this and we can say, hey, okay, this isn't a correction, this is just something we can be encouraged about. It's obviously an important thing to Paul, it's obviously an important thing to God, is that we're together. We don't spend much time arguing or disagreeing or worrying about personalities or clicks or any of that type of stuff here, which is uh is so refreshing and enjoyable um to be part of. Now, on a bigger picture, Jesus Church as a whole, I would say overall we're not doing so good. Um, because what Paul was concerned about in the church is exactly what has happened. Um, Christians everywhere in every city are divided by following different people. You know, most denominations uh start by following a particular um person, and even non-denominal churches don't really get a pass in this context because Paul is saying, and some of you say, hey, I just follow Jesus. His point is that we should be uh united. Jesus' best plan was for there not to be any divisions at all. In John 17, this is uh Jesus praying for his disciples. He says, I'm praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. That's us. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one, as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May the experience, may they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love me as and you love them as much as you love me. We're not going to unravel denominations and and and all the different types of churches and all that. And there are great churches of all denominations in this area, and there's great non-denominational uh churches in this area. But the way we can apply this, I think, to ourselves is just us. How do we view other believers? And in viewing all believers as our brothers and sisters. You know, our unity with other Christians is not based on you know some sort of doctrinal purity or theological agreement. It's based on who our Master is, Jesus and Savior is, Jesus Christ. Now the reason this is so important is that Jesus said, we just read it, he said that if there's one thing that would convince the whole world that I am God's son, it wasn't WWJD bracelets, it wasn't Jesus is my homeboy t-shirt, it wasn't four spiritual laws or five points of evangelism explosion. He said if there was one thing that will convince the entire world that I am God's son, it's unity. It's a powerful thing. You know, so we want to ask God to give us hearts where we view the believers everywhere the same as our brothers and our sisters, and we're unified together. I was at a business meeting this week, um, and thank God it wasn't a church business meeting, it was a business meeting, business meeting. And um, we had people in from all over the country, and there's about 75 people, and it was Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and during that time I probably had 15 different conversations with people uh about God, and I wasn't instigating them, it was just people maybe I'd known in the past and and uh and knew what we were doing or just different situations, but but different and some of them just happened spontaneously, but they were all about God, and it was so exciting because it was um some people that were very success successful, and what made them excited is they wanted to make money not for themselves because they just love so much giving. There was a um there There was a guy that he and his wife lead a Spanish-speaking church. There was another guy that his his whole thing is he works Monday through Thursday, then he volunteers for the rest of the week. And there was just this real focus on God and giving and helping others. And the thing is, out of all those conversations, not one of us asked what kind of church you go to. No one cared. I mean, we were just talking about God and Jesus and and how he's changed our lives and how he's part of businesses and the good that you can do with a company and with success and and and and different things like that. And what it created, I've really never been in a meeting quite like this, because what it created was this um sense of com, I guess, camaraderie and unity that spread through the whole meeting. And there's just the spirit of, hey, let's do this together, let's let's be together, let's work together. And it's just like a real small thing, but unity is such a powerful thing. That's why uh Jesus uh put such a huge importance on it. And it's nice for us to root for other churches. It's nice for us to see the great things that they're doing and the different ways that they're they're helping other people. And it's great not to feel the pressure of having to convert everybody to our specific doctrinal belief. Um or I was gonna say, or invite everybody, like they have to be part of his hands. And I want to temper that because the truth is so many people aren't part of a loving group like this at all. And so we want everybody that wants to be to be part of us. But just to not have that pressure, just to be able to love and appreciate what we have in common instead of arguing and quarreling and debating about any differences. Now the personal application is less about picking sides, I think, and more about just arguing in general. Paul says, I bring this up because some from Chloe's family brought a most disturbing report to my attention that you're fighting among yourselves. Proverbs 17, 14 says, starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate. So stop before a dispute breaks out. This is especially true in our marriages. That sometimes if we would just stop, you know, it goes from discussion to argument to bruh ha, you know, and and if we could just stop some point before the dispute breaks out, it's like opening a dam, you know, where you feel this pressure and this tension, and and and both of us can see it building, and it gets past one point and it's just on. And people get hurt and things get said and all that. If we could just stop before that before that happens. Um I should say, and I know Susan would want me to say, see, I used to really pride myself on not arguing, and because it was such a godly thing to not do. And uh, but the truth is I was also avoiding any discussion about everything. I didn't just not want to argue, I didn't want to face reality. And so I say that if any uh men or anyone are in that same kick camp, the point is not to discuss and work things out together and solve problems together. The point is that it just can't turn into an argument. Um, we used to have some of our biggest arguments on the way to church. You know, I imagine in this size group, some of you had arguments on the way to church this morning. The uh, and particularly when we had younger kids. And you know, you're trying to get everybody ready, and one of us wants to be early, and the other one likes to be late, and just it would always uh cause arguments. And uh, but thankfully God showed us a way that um that we can never argue on way on the way to church again, and it might be something that y'all can apply. But what he showed us is to drive separate cars. And we have not fought on the way to church since. A couple Saturday nights we've kind of got into it, but um in Proverbs 17, 19 it says, anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin. In Proverbs 23 it says, avoiding a fight is a mark of honor. Only fools insist on quarreling. Life is short. There aren't that many things worth arguing about. Besides, you can't win an argument. Arguing is kind of like uh my son Andrew and I when he was he was probably 16 or 17, he was already a little taller uh than I am, but we decided that it would be fun to box. You know, and so we went and got boxing gloves, we went down in the basement, and we started boxing, and I quickly realized that there was no way to win. There's only two things that could happen. One is he was gonna hit me in the face, which was no fun, and the other is that I was gonna hit him, which is no fun. You know, you can't win an argument with anyone, let alone someone you love. You win, someone else gets hurt, they win, you might get hurt. What God says is just avoid the arguments. Um, I just did something really funny I realized. I'm about to tell you, you may not think it's so funny, but um I've mentioned a book before. It's it's that it's um one that Dell Carnegie wrote. It's how to win friends and and influence people. He wrote it in 1936. And it's a lot of really biblical principles, and it's it's about interpersonal uh relationships. And for the last 20 years, any company I've led, no new employee can start till they've read this book. And there are there are four parts of the book. Part three is how to win um people to your way of thinking. And the first and most important point is you can is you can't win an argument. And the next thing on my point, on my notes says, read paragraph from book. The book's at home. So that's kind of funny. The um now what the paragraph talked about, the uh it's powerful too, but anyway. The uh maybe maybe I'll read it next week, maybe not, but anyway. But what he talked about is how he was such a big um big argue arguer and the same basic idea that uh that you can't win an argument, especially he's talking especially about in the business world. And and the way uh in instead of arguing is to look for points of agreement and and and build from that. And um it ends with the quote that uh uh a man convinced against his will is who knows the end of that quote? Something, something, something, something. And it's powerful. So I hope that was helpful to everybody. I will say that the best uh the best salespeople I've ever known are not arguers, they're not debaters, they're not convincers. Um, what they are is the best listeners. You know, they listen and they look for points of agreement and they figure out how to solve whatever uh the problem is in a way that's a win for both for both companies. Um Philippians 2 says, do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. So in this first section of this letter that Paul wrote to this group of people, just kind of started a church two or three years old in Corinth, we can take away a couple things. One is that as followers of Jesus, we want to value unity. And we want to realize how much we have in common with all believers. So much more than we have differences. And as people in our everyday lives, uh, we can be known for winning hearts, not for winning arguments. We really want to be like Jesus. In Matthew 12, it says, Look at my servant whom I have chosen. He is my beloved who pleases me. I will put my spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public, he will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally, he will cause justice to be victorious, and his name will be the hope of all the world. And that's what this whole letter is about. It's about Jesus. It's about how a group of people together and individually like us can grow to be more and more like him. And so if the worship team will come up, we'll stop uh there this morning. We read in 1 Corinthians 1 9, God who got you started in the spiritual adventure shares with us the life of his son and our master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. And that's what this is. You know, this is following Jesus is not a belief system, it is a relationship. It is an adventure with God, and he will never give up on us. And the adventure starts by connecting with our Father, and that happens through a belief in Jesus. And there's no formula, there's not an aisle to watch walk, there's not a prayer you necessarily have to repeat. It's it's a relationship. And the best way for a relationship to start is for you, in your own words, in your own way, to talk to Jesus. Just whatever it would be. You know, I believe in you, I want to follow you, I need you. I'm sorry, help me is uh how it how it often starts, how it started with me. But it's connecting with Him for the first time that way. You can do that this morning. And then one of the things we're gonna talk about next week is just how the Holy Spirit kicks in and jumps in and how he fills us and he changes us and he strengthens us from the inside out. So let's uh let's finish with the prayer. If you want to stand, we'll get ready to sing this last song together. We all look good this morning. You're all scrubbed up and smiling and and looking happy, but but I know that that it's also a tough time, you know, in a lot of people's lives. I know of some things that some of you are going through, health things and finance things and and uh relationship things. And and so I just want to uh finish this morning with a with a prayer, just asking God to give you everything that you need. So, Father, we praise you and we love you, and we thank you for everyone here. We thank you that that you love each of us, that you've adopted us as your children. And Father, I pray for every single person here. Um you know what we all need, even more than we do. And so I ask you, God, to bless each person, to help them if it's finances or health or relationships or friends or or whatever it may. Maybe it's just more faith, maybe it's maybe it's energy, whatever it is, God. Would you please just give us each of us everything that we need? That we'd have a great coming week with you. We praise you and thank you, and it's in your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen.