Bible Reading Plan: March 15-21
We invite you to join us in reading through the Bible together. We're not trying to complete it in a limited time frame like a month or a year; but rather, we want to create a habit (or discipline) of getting to know God's heart through what He's told us about Himself.
We are studying the Letter to the church in Corinth. It’s Paul’s corrective letter to a divided and morally compromised church. He confronts disunity, immorality, misuse of spiritual gifts, and confusion about worship and the resurrection. His purpose is to re-center the church on Christ crucified and risen, calling them to holiness, unity, and love.
When reading, ask yourself the following questions:
We are studying the Letter to the church in Corinth. It’s Paul’s corrective letter to a divided and morally compromised church. He confronts disunity, immorality, misuse of spiritual gifts, and confusion about worship and the resurrection. His purpose is to re-center the church on Christ crucified and risen, calling them to holiness, unity, and love.
When reading, ask yourself the following questions:
- What does it say about God?
- What does it say to/about me?
- What can I learn from this reading?
- Sunday: Psalm 147 “His delight is not in the strength of the horse …the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him … who hope in his steadfast love”
- Monday: 1 Corinthians 5:1-7 Paul condemns sexual immorality – where is it happening? In the church! Solution? See vs 6-7. Why is it these days you rarely hear pastors and Christian leaders calling out sin in the church while very vocal of the sins outside the church?
- Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 5:8-13 How easily we identify sexual immorality, but Paul includes a few others in this group – ‘greedy, swindlers, idolaters, reviler (i.e. loose mouthed, insulting), drunks, etc. How do we respond to these in the church – throw them out (vs 13b)! vs 12-13a: we have no business judging ‘outsiders’, don’t play God
- Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 6:1-10 Paul shames (vs 4) the church for not reconciling issues within the Church, but taking it pagan outsiders, i.e. the courts. He then suggests a radical solution: vs 7!
- Thursday: 1 Corinthians 6:11-20 Sexual immorality is sin! Notice that it is a ‘sin against your own body’ (vs 18). Those who support sexual immorality make the argument that ‘as long as it is consensual …’: the Bible does not support that concession
- Friday: 1 Corinthians 7:1-9 There is clear teaching on “marriage” – it’s between a “man” and “woman”. Secondly, whether married or not, “self-control” with sexual desires is a spiritual discipline (vs 5). Thirdly, celibacy is an honorable calling (vs 6-8)
- Saturday: 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 A clear teaching on divorce and remarriage [read also Malachi 2:16, I Cor. 7:39, Rom. 7:3; Matt 5: 32, 19:9]. The overwhelming encouragement is to stay in the marriage and reflect Christ. Note: for infidelity, violence and abandonment (Mal. 2: 16, Exod. 21: 10-11), divorce is permissible.
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