Questions from Corinth: Real Questions, Practical Answers for a Healthy Church

Week 1 · Reminders · 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Warm-up

Think of a reminder you rely on, like a calendar alert, a sticky note, or a phone notification. What is something you forgot even though you had written it down?

Teaching recap

Paul begins 1 Corinthians the way a wise parent or pastor might. Before he corrects the church, he reminds them who they are. Corinth was a city known for its moral corruption, and the church there had been planted in that atmosphere, with many new believers still pulled toward the world’s ways.

The church’s core problem was not a lack of anything from God. It was that they had forgotten who they were, what they had been given, and what was coming. Their immorality and divisions grew out of that forgetting.

Paul’s reminder is built on three truths. First, we are set apart in Christ Jesus and called to be saints. Second, we have received God’s grace and the testimony of Christ, and each of us has been gifted by the Spirit. Third, we are waiting for Jesus to return, and God is faithful to bring us to that day.

Our churches face the same temptation. When we try to keep one foot in the world and one in the church, we lose sight of who we are. Paul’s answer is not a new program. It is to let God remind us of the riches we already have.

Big idea: Church problems grow when we forget who God has made us, what He has given us, and what is coming.

Scripture (ESV)

Discussion questions

1. Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-9. What does Paul call the church in Corinth, and why does he say they were set apart?
2. Corinth was a city known for moral corruption. What pressures in your daily life pull you toward “straddling the fence” between the world and the church?
3. Paul says these believers were “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” What does it mean to be set apart, and how should that change the way you spend your time or money?
4. Paul calls the Corinthians saints even while they are living in sin. How do you hold together “already set apart in Christ” and the failures you see in your own life? Wrestle
5. Paul thanks God for the grace given to the Corinthians (v. 4). Where have you seen God’s grace in your own story, and how does that shape the way you see other believers?
6. The Corinthians ranked each other by gifts and status. Where do you notice that kind of comparison in your church, and which gift has God given you to use for others, not for your own standing?
7. Verse 6 says “the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you.” How do the way we treat one another affect what outsiders think about Jesus?
8. Paul praises a church that is splitting into factions, saying they are “not lacking in any gift.” How do you think about a church that is both gifted and divided? Wrestle
9. Verses 7-8 point to waiting for Jesus to return. How does the certainty of that day change the way you think about the conflicts that currently fill your attention?
10. Verse 9 says God is faithful. Think of a time God seemed slow to act. What does this verse tell you about trusting Him in that situation?
11. Paul reminds us that we will give an account to God for what we do now (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). What one change in how you live this week would you want to be able to show Him?

Go deeper

Cross-references: 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 and Ephesians 3:20-21.

Closing prayer

Close by naming one way this week you forgot who you are in Christ, and ask God to remind you of His grace.

Share nudge

Tell one person outside the group one thing you were reminded of this week about who God has made you.