Tell City Nazarene Church's Biblical Journey
With Pastor Charles Areson
Today's reading is Romans 16 & 1 Corinthians
I have noticed people tend to glorify the first-century church. People talk about returning to primitive Christianity like it is the cure for all the problems the church faces. If you move past the first few chapters of Acts, the church had lots of issues. The church was filled with people from various backgrounds, maturity levels and worldviews trying to figure out what it means to be a Christian in this world. Just like the church is today.
The conversation reminds me of people who talk about “the good old days” and how much better they were back then. My Grandma Drake used to say, “I remember the good old days, they weren’t that good. They were hard.” She would then talk about how bad it could be no air conditioning, poor pest control, no modern medicines.
What does this have to do with 1 Corinthians? As you will see Paul is dealing with a very immature church. In many way, the worst modern church is spiritually miles ahead of Corinth. The problems they face are huge.
Paul looks at them and says, “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus” (verse 4). Thanking God for these misfits? Yes, because these broken, flawed, immature people, were his family and God wasn’t done with them yet.
For u,s today as we look at a church which we may feel is nowhere near what it should be let’s be reminded this isn’t a new problem. It’s a people problem and God loves these people and so should we. We should also be thankful for them, even when they drive us crazy.
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