Thursday, August 14, 2008

1 Corinthians 1 -- Thursday, 8/14

Have you first read all three parts of the introduction to this blog?

Let's get started...

Read 1 Corinthians 1 on your own at least one time. As you read, make notes in a notebook or in the margins of your Bible. Record all of the insights God gives you. Don't read my remarks until you have first done this yourself.

Here are the insights I wrote down along with the verses they go with...

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1:3 (NKJ) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that grace comes from God and God alone, but we need to be reminded that the source of real peace in life is also God and God alone.

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1:3 (NLT) May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

We need grace to die. We need peace to live. Grace makes it possible for us to die without fear and anxiety. Peace makes it possible to live without fear and anxiety.

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1:7 (NLT) Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has given my church every spiritual gift we need. I must learn to help people discover their gifts and then get them to use them. When we have a deficit of servants in some area of the church, it is caused not by a lack of people, but by a lack of use of already present spiritual gifts.

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1:8 (NLT) He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.

Thank you Lord for keeping me strong and faithful. Thank you for the eternal security I enjoy.

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1:9 (NLT) God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank you Lord that you are a God who keeps your promises.

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1:10 (NKJ) Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

I need to look for ways that I can build unity among those in our church. It is a priority.

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1:11 (NKJ) For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.

Lord, please don't let me ever be a person who is known for bringing division in your Kingdom or your church.

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1:17 (NLT) For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.

My role as pastor is not to impress people with clever speech, but to exalt Christ and tell the story of the cross.

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1:21 (NKJ) For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

While preaching God's Word may not be in vogue and may not seem relevant or hip to some, it pleases God to work through the preached Word.

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1:23 (NLT) So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

Preaching on Christ and His crucifixion has never been popular.

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1:30 (NLT) God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

Thank you Lord for salvation. Thank you that you have made me right with God... that you have made me pure, holy, and free from the power and penalty of sin.

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Don't forget to spend time in prayer... CHAT...

Pastor Noel

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