This week’s devotionals are from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ (1 Corinthians 2:2)
Recently I was in a city centre and I saw a man walking up and down the pedestrian zone holding a sign on which was written, ‘without Jesus you will burn in the lake of fire.’ Let’s be clear, how we present the gospel is important! We could easily misunderstand and fail to put 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 into the teaching and example of Paul in the rest of scripture. Paul is not teaching that the gospel is like some kind of magic spell that has power regardless of comprehension. How we say it is important. The aim is to make the gospel - Jesus Christ and Him crucified - as clear as possible to the people to whom we are speaking.
Paul ‘resolved to know nothing…except Jesus Christ and Him crucified’. We must not misunderstand this to mean that Paul was not interested in speaking about anything but the gospel - that would be weird! He is simply making the point that the simple gospel, simply presented should be our emphasis in personal counselling and witnessing as well as being the emphasis of the church’s teaching.
However we present ourselves or the message, the spotlight is to be on the message. If you go to the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels, it’s the Jewels and not the housing that is on display. The Jewels are not more attractive and valuable if we put them on gold-plated stands. We are to get ourselves out of the way as much as possible so that we present the Jewel of the gospel. Like John the Baptist, we are to say, “I must become less, he must become more”.
OVER TO YOU - PRAY AND WORSHIP OUT OF THE BIBLE
I’ve made a few comments. However, it’s more important that you engage with the text yourself. Take a moment to pray and listen to God’s voice out of today’s text.
‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ (1 Corinthians 2:2)
Use the following questions which are based upon The Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13).
1. Praise - What does this text teach me about God? What can I praise Him for?
2. Petitions - What does this teach me about His will for me and others? What could I pray for from this text? This is a good time to pray for our non-believing. friends. It’s good to ask, Is the Holy Spirit leading me in any specific response?
3. Peace-making - Is the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin for which I need forgiveness? Do I need to forgive others?
4. Protection - Ask for God’s protection generally and for any specific areas of vulnerability. Am I believing lies regarding the truths in this text?
COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
Let's be praying and actively preparing to invite friends to our carol service on 5th December. Please make sure this is in your diary
2. Icebreaker
How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week?
3. Recap of Sunday's message - please share in your group
Running up to our carol service on the 5th December we would like you to spend more time on the SIV (Serving, Invest and Invite) aspect of our time together. Therefore, there will only be fewer questions each week on the Sunday message so as to give plenty of time for praying and sharing about our mission.
On Sunday, we continued with our series in 1 Corinthians looking at 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.
‘And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.’ (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
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