1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16:22: Love, Paul

Sun, 23/12/2018 - 10:00 -- James Oakley

Being a Christian changes so many things. It affects every area of your life.

What is the single most important thing we do? What’s at the heart of what it looks like to live as a Christian?

Is it our church services: the songs we sing, the prayers we say, the bread and wine we share?

Is it our charitable work, helping the needy as best we can?

Is it the community we build, the way we look out for one another, and take others under our wing?

These are all good and important things. Maybe one of them chimes with you in a particular way.

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1 Corinthians 16: And finally

Sun, 16/12/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

Do you ever read something and think, “I’ll pretend I didn’t see that”?

Some homework set by a teacher at the last minute that you’d rather your children didn’t have to do.

An email sent at 5.25pm inviting you to some drinks after work.

A new “no-right-turn” sign on a route you drive every day.

We all get tempted to put our fingers in our ears from time to time. Pretend we didn’t hear something that is somewhat inconvenient.

At times, the Bible can be like that. Sometimes, God says things to us that we’d love him to unsay.

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1 Corinthians 15:35-58: New Bodies

Sun, 09/12/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

Last time we began to think about the question: What happens to us after we die?

Many people are plain confused about what waits for us after death. And with confusion comes fear. The Bible doesn’t answer all our questions, but it does have a lot to say. It addresses the future of those who do not know the Lord Jesus. And it addresses the future of Christians who do know and love him. And 1 Corinthians 15 is one of the places where it does.

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1 Corinthians 15:12-34: Us Risen

Sun, 25/11/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

Most of us wonder at times, what happens to us when we die.

Often the answer is that we just don’t know.

So we make something up that would make us feel a bit better if it were true. Many a parent has told their children that granddad has just become one of the stars in the sky, and if you look up you can see him looking down on us. We know it isn’t true, but we just don’t know what else to say.

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1 Corinthians 15:1-11: Jesus Risen

Sun, 18/11/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

We all struggle to remember things at times. To remember, and not to forget.

It’s why we have Remembrance Day every year. In 1919, every community in Britain resolved that we would never forget what had just happened.

In fact, there are two ways to forget, to fail to remember.

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1 Corinthians 14:26-40: Prophecy

Sun, 28/10/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

Does God still speak today? That’s the question asked by our Bible reading.

If he doesn’t, we’re in the dark.

We’ve just baptised Andrew. He’s got to chart a path through life, and his parents have just signed up God to be his guide.

Well, our boys love mazes, and maybe Andrew’s brother and sister do too. If you’re a bit lost at Crystal Palace or Leeds Castle, you’d love to have a birds eye view. Someone who can look down and see the whole maze and tell you which way to turn. They could then shout down directions: “Left. Left. Right. Not that one – it’s a dead-end”.

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1 Corinthians 14:1-25: Tongues

Sun, 14/10/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

Introduction: Christian Worship

What are we doing here this morning?

What happens when Christians come together, for what we call “church”.

It’s always good to have visitors with us. Maybe you go regularly to another church elsewhere. But if you don’t, I wonder what you think gets Christians to come here. As opposed to stay in bed. Play football. Go shopping.

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1 Corinthians 13: Love

Sun, 30/09/2018 - 10:00 -- James Oakley

I take it we all agree that love is important. If I told you that I’m going to try to convince you that love is important, you’d probably switch off. We know that already.

What’s not so obvious is what we mean by this. What is love? How is it important?

Nearly every world religion teaches that love is supreme. Whether it’s one of the 5 Sikh virtues. Whether it’s required by Allah to enter paradise. Or whether it’s the ancient religions with many gods – including Aphrodite, Cupid, Eros and Venus.

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1 Corinthians 12: Gifts

Sun, 23/09/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

Churches can easily become competitive places. People jockeying to be noticed, treated by others as the significant ones.

Or you get a two-tier system. There are the keen members, the spiritual ones. And then there’s everybody else, who feel less part of things.

Competitive. Elitism. We get enough of those two attitudes in the wider world. We don’t need it here as well. And yet it so easily happens.

This morning, we continue our journey through 1 Corinthians. The second half of this letter tackles some issues in a letter they’d sent to the apostle Paul.

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1 Corinthians 11:17-34: Christ's Body

Sun, 16/09/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley

Just imagine the shock as 1 Corinthians chapter 11 was read out loud on Sunday morning in ancient Corinth. Verse 17: “In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.” “More harm than good”. In other words, the world would be a better place if you weren’t meeting together. Ouch.

What were they doing? They were holding services of Holy Communion, the biblical name for which is the Lord’s Supper.

How could Communion do more harm than good? Read on. Verse 20: “So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat.”

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