Worship is constructive and edifying and done for the good of all the church.

How does God perceive our worship? Are we engaged, orderly, respectful, gracious, accountable? Ask God what he thinks of your worship.

1 Cor 14:26, God wants us to engage and participate in worship. Employ our gifts.

What then is the right course, believers? When you meet together, each one has
a psalm, (sing)
a teaching, (Deut 31:21, songs teach, we remember) Col 3:16 singing  is powerful
a revelation (disclosure of special knowledge),
a tongue, or an interpretation.

Let everything be constructive and edifying and done for the good of all the church.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:26 AMP

1 Cor 14:27-28,29, orderly
Not confusion but peace.

1 Cor 14:33, respect not sexism see 1 cor 11:11

Respect, Grace, Accountability 1 Cor 14:40

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God's love should be our primary motivation, not gifts (1 Cor 13:8-13)

Love leads to effective ministry

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:12 NASB

Define true Christian love.
- Expects (faith), sees (hope), and desires (love) the best for everyone, bringing God praise, joy and glory. 

What is meant about what is "perfect" 
 - Jesus on the Day? Our departure from earthly body?
- Not canonization of Bible (Isaiah 55)

Spiritual gifts are temporary 
- pursuing God's gifts and not his love is childish
- Faith (Heb 11:1) and hope () are greater than spiritual gifts, they are needed for salvation.

Faith, hope, and love sums up perfection on earth, love is perfection in heaven. Love lasts forever.

2 cor 5:7
Romans 8:24

Church is judgmental and not loving?
Church is against people?
We should show unconditional love of God throughout the world.

Jonathan Swift: "We have just enough religion to hate but not enough to love"

Love and Truth together are necessary.
- love without truth = powerlessness to change
- truth without love = "clean the fish before we catch it"

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Love leads to effective ministry (1 Cor 13)

Love in context (1Cor 13), busy people without love. They needed a corrective word about gifts used to serve in ministry.

If you wrote a letter, "we ate hot dogs, shot the breeze and chilled till midnight", then someone from another time and culture read it. They could come up with confusing translations without understanding our context. Therefore translators seek to translate words in context to culture. Simply, "we had meat sandwiches, talked with eachother in a relaxing place late into the night"

Thought for thought, not word for word.

Verbs of love, regarding people (in relationship) to win people: patient, long-suffering, kind, active good-will,

Love doesn't have these attitudes and mannerisms: not envious (desire for or against), not boasting (boasting in what someone can't have), not arrogant (proud people don't listen), not rude (good manors, please and thank you), not a bully, not irritable, not grouchy, not holding grudges,  not keeping score

Love is true and truthful, bears all things, not joyful in catching people

Love believes the best in people, favorable outcomes, hopes all things, keeps on hoping after faith. Love is optimistic.

Love endures all things. It's a strong hold. Refuse to stop loving. Love is tenacious, has grit. Bullet proof.

Love leads to effective ministry.

Love should inform every gift and relationship.

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Run from Physical sin (1 Cor 6:13-20)

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19‭-‬20 NLT

Arguments that contradict God's word:
It's legal (God's plan is higher than mans plan)
It's biological (You're not an animal, you're an image bearer) 1 Cor 6:13
- desires are man made
- God changes our desires, comforms us to Christ
It's my body, (It's God's 1 Cor 6:13-14)
- you didn't create it, you steward your body
It only affects me
- 1 Cor 6:15,16 - sex is more than physical
- see family and community impact
- we are never alone, God knows us completely (Psalm 139, 1 Cor 6:19-20)
- we drag Jesus reputation through the mud. We carry his name in vain. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
1 Corinthians 6:18 NLT

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19‭-‬20

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Purge sin from within self and church (1 Cor 5)

1 Cor 5

1. Grieve over sin, don't celebrate it
- bring to God in simple prayer
2. Get serious about Christian trafficking in sin
- goal, decision, commitment:empowered by Holy Spirit. Grace empowers what truth demands
3. Get serious about so it doesn't spread
- passover, new bread
4. Get serious about sin in the church (kind, compassion to those outside the church)
- be honest with eachother
- admit to God and eachother
5. Get serious about your sin, SPECK
6. Get help if you are stuck in sin
- pornography is killing people in the church
- get better? Or life change? Away with the leven from Egypt. Passover.

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Besetting sin of boasting in a leader

So don’t boast about following a particular human leader.
1 Corinthians 3:21 NLT

https://benlorence.blogspot.com/2017/10/tasteful-sunny-disposition-brings-glory.html

The values ifound in the cross
- humble
- love
- purpose
- sin's impact

Embrace the wisdom of God, through cross of Jesus. You'll grow in maturity and get a
1. Proper view of the church (1 Cor 3:16-17, y'all the temple of the living God)
2. Proper view of you (we belong to Christ, bought a price)
3. Proper view of others (they are valued by God,  proven at the cross)
4. Proper view of life, death and future (1 Cor 3:22-23)

When we unite on the Gospel we make a difference in our culture.

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Unity in the Church: People of God together (1 Cor 10-17)

What is the church?

• Matt 16, Jesus promises to build church gates of hell not against it
• John 17. Jesus prays for Christian unity in the church 
• 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, the church is everyone who calls on Jesus as Lord and Savior is the church.
• Jesus changed Paul, to lead the church for non-Jews
• Paul built a church in Corinth for a year and a half. But it began to fall apart.

AUGUST 19, 2018 | TROY DOBBS 

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Scripture Outline:
10-12) appeal in Jesus name for unity,
heard about division (from Chloe) around teachers (Paul, Apollos, Peter, Christ).
13-16) Christ is not divided into other baptisms
17) called not to baptize but preach
Application: intimacy with Jesus doesn't mean maturity in faith. Maturity comes with serving in unity with people. No lone ranger Christians

Principle: know your role as a Christian. It's about Jesus on the cross for our sins reconcile us to God, who changes our hearts.
For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]--not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].
1 CORINTHIANS 1:17 AMP

In other words: Christianity works because Jesus is really God, really died for our sins, and really makes a relationship with God possible through the Holy Spirit he sent after the resurrection and ascension.

Message Outline:

1. Unity doesn't mean absolute tolerance
- sin, error, false teachings should not be tolerated in the church
- we maintain our conviction without losing compassion
2. Unity doesn't mean uniformity
- we don't have to look the same,
- diversity is good
3. A difference doesn't need to become divisions
- Basics of Gospel we all agree
- Drums, vs hymns, are differences. Spiritual gifts, style, end times we allow different perspectives
- we are like  a multi-lane highway, with a bike lane and walking lane

Bottom line, let's respect each other in preferences, embrace unity around our need for Jesus Christ

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Christ crucified, the power and wisdom of God revealed by Holy Spirit (1 Cor 1-2)

Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?
    Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? Isaiah 40:13
1 Cor 1-2
Apostle Paul confirms God's will of holiness, granted through faith in Jesus Christ and prays for grace and peace (1-3). He affirms the gracious, spiritual gifts given through Jesus Christ proving God's faithfulness to his promises. He proclaims God will keep them strong to be free from blame on the day when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. God is faithful, he invites us into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (4-9).

By authority of Jesus Christ, he appeals to them to live in harmony with each other.
 - Let there be no divisions in the church. Instead be of one mind, united in thought and purpose (10)
 - Authority of "let there be" like Genesis 1
 ? Is it a matter of program that leads to uniting in thought and purpose? So that what is happening in the nursery, should be happening in the "classics" groups. Is it a matter of doing away with "small church" that is focused on individual life stage and have one big group (like mega-church)? Or is it a matter of vision and mission statements with core values (why, what, how)?
A: The division is regarding quarrels over human leaders/teachers (11-12), Christ crucified for you is the message not "who baptized who" (13-17).

My thoughts on vision, mission and purpose and authority:

Seek the kingdom of heaven first every day, Love God Love People, Spiritual Gifts opened and used. "Discover spiritual gifts, motivated by love brings life change" start with why.
 * I was drawn to the statement, "By the authority of Jesus Christ"
 - Authority is transferred from God to us, from us to others (Genesis 2:15,3:17-19, Psalm 8:6, Numbers 27:20, Matt 28:18-20, Romans 1:5,12:3), but ultimately we obey God not man even when obeying man (Acts 5:29, Romans 13:1-7, Romans 14:14)
 - Authority is power (Psalm 89:24, 118:10,11,12, Matt 8:9,9:6,9:8,10:1)
 - Godly authority leads to people rejoicing, wicked authority sin flourishes (Proverbs 29:2,16)
 - Authority is understood in speaking (1 Kings 4:33, Matthew 7:29) proven in fulfillment "sign of Jonah/death/resurrection (Matt 12:38, 16:1-4, 28:1-9)
 - Prophets may speak authoritatively (in God's name), but if it doesn't come to pass you'll know that have spoken not from God's authority (Deuteronomy 18:22)
 - Father God alone has authority reserved for himself (Acts 1:7, 1 Cor 15:27,28)

The message of the cross is foolish to those headed for destruction, but it's the very power of God to those being saved (18-19). Perceived foolishness because it seems to lack heavenly sign and human wisdom (20-23). Those called by God to salvation understand Christ is the power and wisdom of God (24-25), because of the work he's accomplished in their lives (26-28). God united us to Christ, wisdom itself, made right with God, pure and holy, freed from sin - we can't boast in ourselves but God alone (29-31).

Lofty words and impressive wisdom wasn't used in revealing God's secret plan - simply "Jesus Christ crucified" a simple message, plainly stated in the power of the Holy Spirit (2:1-4). So you can trust in the power of God rather than human wisdom (5). Yet with mature believers, we go deeper revealing previously hidden plan of God since the beginning (6-8). We can't imagine what God has in store for those who love him, but God reveals these things to us by his Spirit so we can know what God freely gave us (9-12).

Words of human wisdom aren't used, instead, Spirit's words explain spiritual truths. people who aren't spiritual can't understand what the Spirit means. They aren't receptive to Him, therefore it sounds foolish because they don't hear it (ears that hear).We understand because we have the mind/heart/new birth in Christ (13-16).

Paul talked with them as though they belonged to the world because they weren't ready for bigger things as evidenced by control they gave their flesh, proved through behaviors (3:1-4).

But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV

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