Participants 113
Discussion Questions
-
In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul explains how he tries to be all things to all people. Describe, in your own words, what you think Paul is saying in this passage. How can we apply his teaching in this passage to our Christian walk? What precautions should we take in applying this teaching?
-
Paul is sharing that he is meeting people where they are at. We as followers of Christ, should meet people where they are at an not judge or look down on anyone. With that being said we should not partake of things that are not pleasing to God.
-
We shouldn’t become too rigid in how we present Christ to others. Once we free ourselves from single-mindedness, we can best allow Christ to work through us as needed.
-
Adapt to peoples different cultures and customs. Do not do anything that would go against your faith, but go to places and do or don’t do things so that people wont be offended by you and you can share the gospel.
-
I think Paul is saying that in order to be a witness for Christ, we cannot shy away from the world. If we are judgmental about things that people do in the world, we will not be able to have any influence for Christ. Everyone needs Jesus!
-
As a Christian, we need to share the gospel based on whoever we are speaking. We need to learn to adopt ourselves in a way that we are not sinning.
-
Write a one-sentence summary of the teaching of 1 Corinthians. Then, explain how your sentence summarizes this epistle.
-
Look at every area of your life through the lens of God’s word?
If we truly believe that the Bible is the true word of God then we cannot just live it when we feel like it. As believers we need to live every aspect of God’s word rather than pick and choose what we like. When doubts arise within us about how we should deal with a certain situation, we must pull out the Bible, and find how God would want us to handle things.
-
1 Corinthians is a book that shows us as the church how to love God and others well.
We see this because Paul is giving many instructions to the church. He explains why and what to do, and they all lead back to loving God and loving others.
-
First Corinthians more than anything is about Paul telling Christians how the church should function, and how Christians should function in the church with the Cross being the focus of Christian living and interaction with God and man.
-
First Corinthians discussed proper behavior as a Christian and what is acceptable belief and it isn’t believing in who educated; but what they taught us about the Lord and the love he has for each individual.
-
Love God, love others
This is the proper order. We should always put God first in our daily lives. By doing so, we will be able to remain humble and love others the way God intends.
-
Think of an area of conflict in your church or in the church at large today. Dr. Blomberg says that if we focus on the two doctrines of the crucifixion and the resurrection, the issues of Christian behavior will begin to fall into place. Explain how such a focus would affect a resolution of the area of conflict you have identified.
-
We had conflict when a new pastor was chosen, it lead to many people leaving the church. By having that focus, people would not allow someone’s style or way of speaking or personality to impact their commitment to their church. Is the gospel being preached, and we are focused on our and others salvation, then their should be no issue.
-
Our church went through a conflict with regards to how worship was led. If the church would stay focused on the true basis for worship being the cross and the resurrection, then all members can join in unity and not let the “specifics” or our personal preferences get in the way.
-
In our church today, the conflict is between the new system that the pastor is trying to change without asking the church members first and not having plan activities for the whole year round. But in reality, if we think about crucifixion and resurrection none of this this should matter. Yes, it’s hard to adopt on changes but in reality if we think of the cross and how Jesus died for our sins our main focus should be obedience and following God’s will.
-
If churches today would focus on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, more unity could be achieved. In the crucifixion we are reminded that we need to focus on doing God’s will over our own. In doing that we will put the needs of others over our own just as Jesus fulfilled what the Father wanted. In the resurrection we can see that our faith is in a risen Lord and not in vain. In understanding the reality and purpose of the resurrection, we should be more focused on sharing the Gospel with those that have not heard. This in turn will also bring more unity to the Body of Christ as we have a common goal rather than splintered churches over non-essential doctrines.
-
An area of conflict could be the role of women within the church and what they are / are not allowed to do. The bigger picture which unites all christian is not ‘open handed’ issues but the main themes of crucifixion and resurrection is where unity must be found as the fundamental doctrines of the faith.
