Sunday Bulletin October 27 2024

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Sunday Bulletin October 13 2024

Sunday Bulletin October 6 2024

Craig A. Brittingham, Pastor
Hillside Baptist Church
October 27, 2024

“An Introduction to I Corinthians”

New Testament Epistles
– Epistles in the first century Roman world began with a greeting which included both the name of the sender and the recipients.
– Paul’s letters sometimes included a giving of thanks concerning the recipient, his expression of well-wishes and sometimes the assurance of his prayers for them.

The City of Corinth
– Corinth was a city in the Roman providence of Achaia located on an isthmus between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas.
– The society at Corinth it was extremely pagan.
– Dotting the city were temples, shrines and altars to false gods or idols.
– Immorality was so rampant in the city that its name was used synonymously with gross immorality.

The Epistle of 1 Corinthians
– The lion’s share of the material found in 1 Corinthians is related to concerns, problems, or situations existing in the church at Corinth.
– Paul seems to have learned of these problems or concerns in at least two ways.
– At least one of the problems, division in the church, he learned from Chloe’s household (1:11).
– Other concerns he learned through a letter which the Corinthians had sent to him (7:1, cf. 7:25, 8:1, 12:1, 16:1).
– Chloe’s household may have informed Paul of other problems, including the church’s failure to deal with immorality (1Cor. 5), church members taking each other to court (1 Cor. 6), improper conduct at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11) and the fact that some among the Corinthians denied the resurrection (1 Cor. 15).

A General Outline of 1 Corinthians:
Greetings, thanksgiving and well-wishes (1:1-9)
Divisions and unity in Christ (1:10-4:21)
Immorality in the church (5:1-13)
Lawsuits against fellow Christians (6:1-11)
Sexual immorality and the temple of the Holy Spirit (6:12-20)
Marriage, divorce and remarriage (7:1-40)
Idolatry and food offered to idols (8:1-11:1)
Head covering and worship (11:2-16)
Conduct at the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34)
Spiritual gifts and love (12:1-14:40)
Resurrection and Christ’s resurrection (15:1-58)
Collection for the saints, and final plans, exhortations and
greetings (16:1-24)

Questions…
1. When and where did Paul write his first epistle to the Corinthians?
2. Was it, in fact, the first epistle he wrote and sent to them?
3. By what two ways did Paul learn of the problems and concerns of the church at Corinth?
4. What were those concerns or problems?
5. How might society have contributed to their problems?
6. In what way is I Corinthians especially relevant to churches today?