Calvary Church

Over the next several months we are going to teach through the two letters that Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth. We will go through these letters like you would read a letter from a loved one or friend, straight through paragraph by paragraph. We will not only learn the story of these Christians, but, even more, what their story has to speak to us now. These were people very much like us who lived in a culture similar to ours and with many of the same issues we face in our marriages, families, relationships, trials and temptations. One historian says Corinth was like the New York, Los Vegas, and New Orleans of the ancient world all rolled into one, and we could probably add Chicago in there. Like our own society, Corinth was a city built out of immigrants from Rome who had come looking for opportunity to improve their lives. And many had succeeded in building good lives for themselves. It was one of the few cities of the ancient world with a large middle-class. The population was 500,000. It was a seaport city thriving economically. The city was big into philosophy, arts, sports, entertainment, and bargain-shopping. It was very political. And, it had a reputation in the ancient world for indulging the senses, especially in sexual immorality. At the same time, it was a highly religious city with at least 26 different shrines to different gods that have been dug up from the ruins. This was the city the Apostle Paul entered in 50/51 AD bringing the gospel and planting a brand new church. 

These letters that Paul later wrote back to the church are full of wisdom for followers of Jesus on how to live their personal lives as well as on how to be a congregation staying on mission for Christ. The letters show how Christians are to live together working through differences of opinion while keeping unity, how to grow from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity, how to encourage someone who has a sexual addiction to conquer it, how married couples are to balance their spiritual lives and their sex life, dealing with divorce, living as a single adult, being careful that our actions don’t discourage younger Christians, how a church is to worship, the function of miraculous spiritual gifts, how to be a Christian at work, being generous, how to handle abuse, going through suffering, how deep change really happens, on getting a second chance in life no matter what your past has been, on false religions, what happens when we die, what happens when Jesus comes again, what will our resurrected bodies be like, and above all, living a life of love. In the first letter, Paul answers the question, “What does it really mean to be spiritual, a mature Christian?” In the second letter, he answers the question, “What is a life of true integrity?”

I encourage you to read and re-read these two letters. Jot down notes, insights, and questions. And above all, allow the Holy Spirit to speak deeply to your heart in these two letters He inspired not only for the “church of God in Corinth”, but also for “the church of God in Lemont.”