EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

This was a sweet book to study. I really enjoyed it. The main idea was to that true spirituality is realized by making love the aim of everything.

In this letter Paul talks about lot and lots of issues in the church. Every issue though when you get to the heart of it is for the reason of love. Women should cover their head in church out of love for the men (this was immodest in their culture to have their hair down). Paul preaches the gospel so that he will receive a reward. What is that reward? Paul says it is simply seeing people get saved: he does it for love of unbelievers. Why should people prophesy in church instead of speak in tongues? So that people could understand and be encouraged by their message.

The famous ‘love chapter’ (chapter 13) is found in 1 Corinthians. In the context though the message is so much more powerful. Every action needs to be done in love, otherwise it doesn’t count in the kingdom. Someone could be healing thousands of people but without love they aren’t really spiritual. Someone could pray 10 hours a day and fast 6 days out of the week, but without these actions being done in love God sees them as worthless. Spirituality in Christianity is defined by how well we love. Let love reign in the church!

This book is a great book on church dymanics and can really speak to us about how we do church today.  The Corinthians were a fairly self absorbed bunch and this comes through strongly in the way they did church and how they treated one another.    They were suing each other over petty matters, leaving out the poor at the Lord’s Supper and using the spiritual gifts to promote themselves in church.

Paul’s solution for all of these challenges is love.  If they want the best for one another they will make sure that the poor in the church are included in the Lord’s Supper.  If they are considering each other they will use the gifts of the Spirit to build one another up.  If they love one another they will lay down their rights and be willing to be wronged from time to time.

There are some challenging issues in this book including the role of women in the church, without being baised because of my sex, I do think it seems clear that Paul wants women to pray and prophesy in church just to do it in an orderly fashion like everyone else.

Again and again I see how our cultures influence how we receive the gospel.   Their view of the world including the spiritual realm effected how they lived out their faith.  Their desire for knowledge at the expense of love meant people in the church were being excluded.  

How often do I want to be right at the expense of loving others?  

Am I willing to lay down my rights so that someone else can be built up? 

Am I being a spectator in church, what is my part? 

Once again the message is clear to me - Love God and love people

First Corinthians was such a GOOD book! It was so interesting! I loved learning all the historical background. It would be so cool to go to Corinth now! But the content was also very interesting, it dealt with so many practical aspects of Christianity and so many important things for life in the body of Christ.

Paul writes to the Corinthians to correct their thinking on some of the issues that they had written to him about and he’d heard through the grapevine of “Chloe’s people” (1:11). He addresses issues such as marriage, divorce, spiritual gifts, the resurrection, lawsuits, and the list goes on. Paul teaches them how to deal with issues within the church and how they need to live these things out in practical ways. The bottom line that Paul presents is that they need to love one another. The body of Christ is there to support, edify, and build up each other. If they do everything else right but don’t love, then it isn’t worth anything. Paul shows them over and over that in every situation what matters most of all, what is the “more excellent way” (12:31), is to love one another. Paul shows them how to do this practically and gives them examples of people who do this. At the end of the book he repeats again “Let all that you do be done in love” (16:14). This is the bottom line, if they do this then everything else will fall into place.

It was cool to see that this theme of love was not just in Chapter 13 but throughout the entire book. Paul shows them how to do this within the church with their spiritual gifts. It was cool for me to realize this amazing gift we have being a part of the body of Christ. The whole point of them having spiritual gifts was to build up the body. In the body of Christ we are supposed to be there for each other, not do things for our own pleasure, but for the benefit of others. This was so cool to see how God designed the body to work together. We are many individuals, but one body. We can’t neglect certain members, if we do we suffer as well. The whole body works together, if one member suffers, the other suffers as well; we are to rejoice together, and mourn together. We are to treat each other as if it was our own body, serving, building up, and supporting each other. Thinking of the body of Christ in this way makes me appreciate this gift God’s given to us, and helps me to see my role in the body. It is cool to see how we all need each other and God gave us this awesome gift to us for our growth and support. I am thankful for his body, how through it he has helped me mature, grow, and be built up.  I am also eager for him to use me in other’s lives as well.

I’ve always loved this book- but coming in to it, I had a lot of questions! I thoroughly enjoyed studying 1 Corinthians, trying to get into their shoes, and applying it to our everyday lives. Funny enough, the struggles of the church in Corinth were not too much different than America today! They, like us, were very egocentric, thinking of themselves first and foremost over anything. Paul wrote the whole letter to basically tell them to snap out of the self-centered living and to live life with love. Paul emphasized, in every issue, to love one another, not think of themselves as so much better than everyone else. True spirituality is loving one another, making love their aim. For God IS love! And love is an action, and do this so that they can build up the body.

Paul uses his famous body metaphor in this book, and it really is such an awesome illustration. Paul’s sense of unity is so much bigger- all believers make up ONE body- and this view should change everyone’s perspective of how to treat others. By looking at the Church as one body, it values each individual, for each person has a part to play and is equally important in the Kingdom of God. But the bigger thing is that we are all one! We have become so individualistic- but the point that Paul is making is that attached to the body, we all have a place, a purpose, a position. When the body is functioning like that, the body can flourish as God intended it- that’s how God designed us to living in community! We are one body- and if one member is taken out or disconnected, it will die and the body will not function as it was made to! Think about our actual bodies—if we have a hangnail- we try to fix it in every way because we value our finger. In Church today, we usually would just cut off the finger. So you can see how this view values each individual but keeps the larger perspective of ONE body. Sitting and thinking on this idea really brought it to mean so much- and I view the “body” differently now.

Other truths we learned were about the head coverings and women being silent in ministry. I’ll just let you know that, by learning about the historical background and looking at the literary context, in my opinion Paul does NOT say that head coverings are necessary and he does NOT condemn women in the church- I think he is a big supporter. If you’d like to know more- just ask me ?

But the biggest message I got from this book is- as Christians, we have freedom in Christ, but in order to build up the body, we may choose to give some of our freedom up in order to build up the body. I need to always think- are my actions, dress, words, etc affecting another part of the body in a negative way? If it will, I need to change so that it will be uplifting. This is true freedom- for I have the choice because both are acceptable, and if you can’t give something up- you’re obviously not really free from that if you can’t let it go. Always remember- the issue is people’s salvation, not our personal rights, freedom or knowledge. But as Christians, love is our aim. Let all you do be done in love.

This week we studied the book of 1 Corinthians with guest speak Dawn Masucci.  It was such an awesome week of learning and being stretched in areas that I had never been stretched before.  The major theme of the book is that love solves everything and Paul portrayed this by breaking down all the issues that the Corinthian church was dealing with such as sexual immorality, abusing the gifts of the spirit, wearing head coverings in worship, etc. and then showing them how bringing love into the equation will smoothe over the rocky surfaces.

Of the areas of conflict that Paul addresses, I learned the most from studying the abuse of the gifts of the spirit.  Through 1 Corinthians, especially chapter 12, my eyes were opened to how the Lord intends for everyone to have access to the gifts of the spirit and that we just have to earnestly seek them and God will grant them to us.  For me, I just always assumed that those people who had these spiritual gifts got them because they were special, but it is so special for me to understand that they can be for anyone.  This just reveals more of God’s character to me, how he ALWAYS wants the best for his children, He wants them to know him in the deepest way and He makes available channels by which they can get to know Him better.  He doesn’t just want us to get to know him and then expect us to figure out how we are going to have to do that. 

Another thing I learned about the spiritual gifts that was new to me and so eye-opening, was that they were meant to be used to build up the body.  They are a source of encouragement and affirmation within the body to keep the body close, to make them rely on each other and work together, just as God intends.  I do still believe that studying the word is a very important part of our walks but now I am beginning to understand that God designed our utilizing of the gifts of the spirit to be just as important in our walks of faith.  I am excited to begin to open myself up more to the power of the Holy Spirit so that I can see, in yet another way, just how powerful and intricate and compassionate our God is!

The book of 1 Corinthians taught me so many different things that it is hard to think of just one thing to mention about it. I learned about spiritual gifts, women in church, singleness and marriage, how the body of Christ should function, and above all, that everything should be done in love.

I think that each of these things is important, but the most important one is love. Love is the all-encompassing means of living them out; without love, they will be lived out incorrectly, and thus will be meaningless. The body of Christ cannot function outside of love, for God IS love. Therefore, using the spiritual gifts, functioning as a church body, being single or married, etc all must be done in love.

The whole book of 1 Corinthians discusses this theme of love and how it can be incorporated into every area of life. I really enjoyed seeing the order and effectiveness that everything had, when lived out of love, and not selfishness and pride. The way that God intends his body to function is through love; thus, when we are living in love, we are able to be effective and to edify others around us.

Paul discusses the use of spiritual gifts for the edification of the body, and says we should “strive for” them. Then, he discusses love as being the greatest spiritual gift, because it encompasses all the others, and must be used when any other spiritual gift is given or received. Therefore, he sums up not only the physical lifestyle, but also the spiritual lifestyle, with the need to do everything in love. To put it in his words: “Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)

Paul writes into a church that is fighting to prove its spirituality. Individuals are seeking to be super-spiritual, and in the process they are boasting in themselves instead of being concerned about others. He encourages them that everything they do should be done in love and for the sake up building up others. He argues that love is actually the most spiritual thing they can do.

What does it look like to everything in love? While Paul was addressing the issues in their day – eating food that had been sacrificed to idols and going to a pagan temple, the heart behind what he was saying is still the same; the issues have merely changed. In American culture, some of the issues lie in drinking alcohol, salsa dancing, going to parties in college, and celebrating holidays like Halloween. Paul says that decisions to participate in such activities should lie in who is affected by the decision. While none of those things are inherently wrong, some people still perceive them to be and thus, every situation that arises should be filtered through the lens of others – will this ruin the reputation of Christ for this person? Will this person be tempted to sin because I am engaging in this practice?

Although Christians are completely free, sometimes we are asked to lay down our rights for the sake of others. Real freedom comes with the ability to give it up. If you are proving you have freedom, you have no freedom. Therefore, if I am with someone who believes that drinking is wrong and that Christians should not do it at all – I should be willing not to have a drink that night. Paul never uses such circumstances as an opportunity to teach someone not to be legalistic. To me, their faith should be worth more than one beer. Or in Paul’s words, he says to “take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Cor. 8:9). Therefore, in every situation that we enter, we should be willing to lay down our rights for the sake of loving others.

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up

 
How do I discern whether my actions are in love or if they are done out of selfish gain? This question seems quite difficult at first glance, and it actually has many facets, but I believe the answer is closer than we think.

Ah, the Corinthian believers. There is a group of real winners. These people simply do not have a clue. They are caught up in fleshly living, quarreling, and whacked out uses of spiritual gifts. Heck some are so prideful they have even made the Lord’s Supper about themselves. They have gotten so bad that I almost wonder if they really are Christians. Paul has to writes a letter to explain their mess, and desires to help them grow past infancy in their walk. If they only could understand that in order to get to the meat of the Gospel they have to get past all this fighting and jealousy.

What they don’t realize is that this sword they yield is double-edged, and with every swath of the blade the pain that so wrongly destroys their brothers and sisters so subtly cuts into their own flesh. The reality, they are a body, designed to function together for a goal.

Do I ever find myself interacting like the Corinthians? The script may be different but the motives are the same. I am stuck in my selfishness. Left up to myself I will cause quarrels and dissention between myself and the rest of the body. Then what hope is there?

First, to understand that Sin is deceptive and the flesh loves to twist everything the Spirit is doing in our lives. I wanted to vilify the Corinthians, but I realize that I am in the same struggle. These are believers, just like the church today. The power source for change is the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of sins forgiven. The more I realize I have been forgiven so much, the more I forgive.  

The second step is to realize that if my actions do not build up others they probably are not done in love. This also could be stated if my inaction causes a brother or sister to stumble I am not living in love. How messed up I am.

My desire is to be intentional with my time here at the ESBS. I want to be a tool used by God for the building of his body and also his kingdom.

We are truly nothing without love. Love is the single greatest gift we have and the single most underused gift. I’ve always had a distinct problem with love, I guess from lack of faith in it. Love is elusive to us in today’s world and when it finally finds us our guards are so strong it often cannot break through. Without Love it is incredibly hard to lay down the rights we as people and as Christians feel we have, and in that we are often very immature and therefore cannot set a positive example for the new members just accepting the faith. It kills me to understand that without love we have driven ourselves into a hate-filed place where our emotional guards are always up, but it lifts me up to know that yet and still god loves us and loved us so much he gave up his most precious son to die for us so that we may be justified and receive righteousness through faith in him. What is love? We might ask and the answer is clear in chapter 13 of Corinthians, Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. 

In my life I can only apply this in letting go of my defenses and believing that it is possible for love to reach me without harming me, it is possible that I can love genuinely, it is possible someone can love me genuinely as well. God already does. I can identify with the Corinthians, their lustfulness, their search for wisdom, their judging, their interest in spiritual gifts, their greed, their misunderstanding of worship and marriage, its all there inside of me because its all here in the world where I’ve come to learn and grow. Even reading about how great love is causes my rebellious spirit to churn in dislike because it feels foreign, but I think if you look in the right places you can find love and it may not be so foreign after all it may be just outside waiting for your wall to crumble so you can reunite with it and feel the love of god shining. 

1 Corinthians was good! I thought it was neat how Paul tied everything they were struggling with back to love. and Love has so many different aspects to it, its nuts! To apply these truths i must first realize my need to love myself, which is weird b/c i love others but not as i love myself. crazy. anyways, seeing that love is the basis(foundation) of all we do in life…no more searching for “our calling”, it is to LOVE! our worth and hope is in Jesus that he will put the details together. Though this doesn’t give us the liberty to sit and wait on Jesus, nope, he is wants us to come join him. Paul told us that Christ has risen which means he is a living God!! He wants us, to love others as he has first loved us. and to do whatever b/c of that love.  He gives us gifts to express this love.

My title comes from a song and has become my prayer for us students/staff here:

“Yes you are God of love, Emmanuel, God with us…”~Tenth Avenue North.                          The whole song is good but thats the part i want us all to remember, though God is big and has many sides, he is a God of love!!

Overall Timeless Truth: Love is the most excellent way or the life of the church. (13:4-7)

 It is better to have love than knowledge. Knowledge only brings pride and arrogance, but love brings unity and encouragement. Love is the most excellent way for the church to live. Although there is a need and there is importance for all spiritual gifts, without love, they are nothing. We can prophesy and speak in tongues and heal people and speak words of knowledge over many, but without love it all sounds like noisy clutter. We can  reach out to our society and we can teach in our schools and churches and we can help others and gain knowledge and give and give and give. But without love, it is nothing and our efforts are in vain. Love is the foundation. Faith, hope and love abide well, but the greatest is love.

What does that look like to me? It means loving with my words. Speaking encouragement rather than insults and judgment. Loving with my actions, laying down my own rights for others. When I don’t feel like it and I’m tired and frustrated, loving means that I take the time to help someone with their charting, I am mindful of the time and do not show up late, I pick up after myself and put away things that I get out and mess up, I take the time to stop and ask someone how they are doing and pray with them, it means even when I am free in my convictions, if my brother or sister is not, I lay down my rights to keep them from stumbling. These are so simple, yet would make a big difference in the lives of my brothers and sisters around me who I love. I don’t have to wait until 9 months down the road to show love by going on missions trips and working with inner city homeless shelters and helping in my church. I start now, this is when it begins, living in close, CLOSE community with others and daily showing love to them, even in the things that seem so simple. When done with love, they can make a huge difference.  

 Let all that you do be done in love. ( 1 Corinthians 16:14)
             If all I ever do again is done in love. That would be amazing. Impossible because I am not Jesus, but cool. I think that God through the Holy Spirit can definitely help me get very close. If God is love, which He is, and Jesus lives within me through the Holy Spirit, I have Christ’s nature. His nature is love. I can love. I will choose love over quarreling strife and dissensions. I will choose love instead of fighting or being mean or rude or having a wrong motivation. I want to be more Christ like every day, knowing the character and will of my Father; I can do that through love!

            I plan to carry out the change of love filling up my life by praying without ceasing. That my whole life would be worthy of God. That I would believe and know and live faith in Jesus by Grace with righteousness and sanctification. That I am justified into the kingdom of Love. I am excited that love is a verb. I will change my thought process into loving others as much as I love myself, God loves me, and I want to be different than the rest of the world. I can change by thinking before I speak, quickly changing my attitude if it is poor, and looking at everyone through the eyes of Christ. All this seems like a lot but Christ did it and it is for sure a calling on my life to love my neighbor as myself. I want to have a soft heart full of love. One that is moldable and pliable for the Lord to change. I want to be ready to serve and sure every morning when I wake up I am in the exact spot God wants me! I choose love! Hallelujah.