Passage: 1 Corinthians 10
Notes: The overarching principle in relationships in the church is: be considerate of
others first, even if you're just not sure of where they stand.
Yet:
inanimate objects are not inherently evil, and while you may avoid something for
the sake of another Christian, you have the freedom to eat/use when there's no
danger of offending another's conscience.
Mind the negative example of those
who have gone before us, and live holy lives.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Today's Devotional Thought
Passage: 1 Corinthians 6
Notes: Lord, that we would have the gentleness and courage to create a true Christian community that avoids worldly courts of law among ourselves, and lives pure lives. May we be authentic witnesses to your demands, but even stronger witnesses of your good news. Please give us the courage to not modify your gospel to suit the desires of our culture, yet have the wisdom to not pointlessly drive people away from you with sound bites and decisive speech.
Notes: Lord, that we would have the gentleness and courage to create a true Christian community that avoids worldly courts of law among ourselves, and lives pure lives. May we be authentic witnesses to your demands, but even stronger witnesses of your good news. Please give us the courage to not modify your gospel to suit the desires of our culture, yet have the wisdom to not pointlessly drive people away from you with sound bites and decisive speech.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Today's Devotional Thought
Passage: 1 Corinthians 5
Notes: Accommodation is exactly what the spirit of this day would have us do...and don't we have a lot of leaven leavening the dough of the Church today. Yet, how do we avoid legalism on the other hand? Who has the spiritual wisdom and the guts to correctly lead a congregation so that church discipline heals rather than destroys? How will an entire community have the spiritual discernment to differentiate between a 'wicked person' and the one who is genuinely desiring to follow God, but still battling the fleshly nature (as in progressive sanctification)? How would a pastor even broach this subject in a culture that looks to cultural values ("live and let live") over biblical teaching? Yet, how do we avoid abuse in so fleshly a Church if the church attempts to practice church discipline? On the other hand, in a large and more anonymous church, how many people does it take so that "the Church" is making a decision - or will anonymity shield any but the most obviously wicked person? "Not associate with" - where we're not sure, may we err on the side of love and associate, or will we then just ignore this teaching, not really knowing anyone well enough?
Notes: Accommodation is exactly what the spirit of this day would have us do...and don't we have a lot of leaven leavening the dough of the Church today. Yet, how do we avoid legalism on the other hand? Who has the spiritual wisdom and the guts to correctly lead a congregation so that church discipline heals rather than destroys? How will an entire community have the spiritual discernment to differentiate between a 'wicked person' and the one who is genuinely desiring to follow God, but still battling the fleshly nature (as in progressive sanctification)? How would a pastor even broach this subject in a culture that looks to cultural values ("live and let live") over biblical teaching? Yet, how do we avoid abuse in so fleshly a Church if the church attempts to practice church discipline? On the other hand, in a large and more anonymous church, how many people does it take so that "the Church" is making a decision - or will anonymity shield any but the most obviously wicked person? "Not associate with" - where we're not sure, may we err on the side of love and associate, or will we then just ignore this teaching, not really knowing anyone well enough?
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