Scripture Reading : 1 Corinthians
Theme : Introduction to 1 Corinthian
The letter is named for the city of Corinth, where the church to whom it was written was located. The church was founded by Paul in his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1), where he ministered to them for a year and half (Acts 18:11) before leaving for Ephesus, and Apollos became their second pastor.
Unable to fully break from the culture from which it came, the Corinthian church was exceptionally fractional and worldly, showing its immaturity and carnality. It became necessary for Paul to write this letter to correct these issues, as well as to command the faithful believers to break fellowship with the disobedient and unrepentant members (1 Cor. 5:9-13).
The major issues covered in this epistle can be seen in the outline as followed:
- The calling and privilege of sainthood (1:1-9)
- Disunity in the church (1:10-4:21)
- Immorality in the church (5:1-6:20)
- Marriage in the church (7:1-40)
- Liberty in the church (8:1-11:1)
- Worship in the church (11:2-14:40)
- A hope of the church (15:1-58)
- A charge to the church (16:1-24)
Praying the Scripture
- Like many Christians today, the Corinthian believers had great difficulty in not mimicking the unbelieving and corrupt society around them. They usually managed to stay a little higher than the world morally, but were also moving downward together with the world. In short, they wanted to be in God’s kingdom while keeping one foot in the world; they wanted blessings of the new life while hanging on to pleasures of the old. Paul plainly warns that this is impossible (6:9-10). Let’s pray that our church will be united in faith and be separated from worldliness.
经文：哥林多前书
主题：《哥林多前书》的介绍
这封书信命名于哥林多市，即那地方教会的所在；这教会是由保罗在他二次宣教行程中创办的（徒18:1）。他在那里的侍奉为期一年半（徒18:11），才离开到以弗所去。之后，亚波罗成为他们的第二个牧师。
哥林多教会无法完全从他们世俗和分歧的文化中脱离，显示了他们仍不成熟，还属肉体。因此，保罗需要写这封信以纠正这些问题，并命令忠实的信徒要与悖逆和不肯悔改的人断绝相交（林前5:9-13）
这封书信所涵盖的主要内容包括：
- 教会的分歧（1:10-4:21）
- 教会中的淫乱（5:1-6:20）
- 教会中的婚姻（7:1-40）
- 教会中的自由（8:1-11:1）
- 教会中的敬拜（11:2-14:40）
- 教会的盼望（15:1-58）
- 予教会的命令（16:1-24）
用经文祷告
- 如今日的许多信徒一样，哥林多信徒为不效法周边不敬虔与败坏的社会中遇到极大的挑战。他们常常在道德上稍微比世人好一些，但仍与世界的道德趋势一同下滑。简单的说，他们想要属神的国度，但仍不想脱离世界；他们渴望新生命中的祝福，却不舍得丢弃旧欢。保罗直截了当地说那是不可能的（6:9-10）。让我们祈求我们的教会会在信心中合一，并脱离世俗。
