Corinth, One Hot Destination Video
And if you don’t have a bible – buy one, or ask the
folk in the bookstore to give you one of our freebies!
11/22: I Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:34-35
“Paul hates women.” Some of us have painful experiences in our past that have led us to make that kind of statement. We read Paul’s words, such as these ones, and are convinced that he has a low view of women. Perhaps other people have told us what Paul says, and used that in ways that have left us deeply wounded. Once again, rather than avoid these difficult (and confusing) parts of the letter, we’re going to tackle them head on. As you read the letter this week, sit with these questions:
- Based on these parts of the letter, how do you picture the church in Corinth as it gathers together? What is going on?
- What feelings come up for you as you read these words? Are they attached to experiences in your (or someone else’s) past – maybe in a church, maybe in your family?
- How do these words affect the way you think about Paul? About the church?
11/29: I Corinthians chapter 13
This is probably the best known part of the whole letter. Chances are that even if you’ve never read it before, you’ve heard it read at a wedding. After all that Paul has said to this point, he takes time to remind the church in Corinth to keep the main thing, the main thing: love. For some of us, this will be a much welcome break! As you read this chapter, think about these questions:
- When you read Paul’s description of love, did you start to take inventory of yourself, perhaps asked yourself how you measure up to his list? If so – how did you do?!
- As you read the list, do you see any part of Paul’s description that connects directly to the life of the community that we’ve heard about over the weeks? Ways in which love addresses the issues they are facing? If so, which ones and why?
- “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love.” Why do you think Paul says love is the greatest?