Sermon Tone Analysis

Week 1

Part I

1st Corinthians 1: 10-18

During the month of February we are going to be taking a look at our mission as a body of believers.

This is a series that will cover a bit of 1st Corinthians (this week), then, for the 3 remaining weeks we will be turning to the book of Acts.

My main goal for this series of sermons is to help us get our minds focused on the call that God has placed on Ottawa First.

As of today, I’ve been your pastor for 10 months, so we are coming up quickly on our 1 year anniversary together.

I’ve learned so much over these past few months.

The last time we spoke about our mission and vision was about 7 months ago (or so).

This series is intended to remind us of why we are here and what we need to do going forward to have an impact on our personal circle of influence, and then our community.

In week 1 (this week) we will talk about the idea of unity and some of the pitfalls that modern churches fall into when trying to reach the community at large.

In week 2 we will talk about the importance of evangelism; In week 3 we will look at the churches mission statement and I will be issuing a challenge to all of us, which will serve as our theme for the year.

Finally, in week 4 we will look at Acts Ch. 6, which serves as a model for us today.

PRAY

Today we are looking at 1 Cor.

1: 10-17, but before we dive into the text, let’s look a little bit of background first.

Why did Paul write the letters to the Corinthian church and what was his relationship with the people there.

About 146 years before Jesus Christ was born, the city of Corinth was looted and destroyed by the Romans.

The men of Corinth were brutally slaughtered and its women and children were sold into slavery.

The entire city was torched and it lay in virtual ruin for almost a century.

But then about 46 B.C. the "new" Corinth rose from the ashes.

Julius Caesar rebuilt the city and it became a seat of government for a province of Rome.The town of Corinth was very prominent city, the capital city in the Roman province of Achaia.

It was well known for its immorality, as a matter of a fact, a word was coined to describe the conditions: korinthiazomai, meaning to live immoral like those in Corinth.

In Bible times the New Corinth was inhabited by over 400,000 people.

Her population was mixed, including Greeks, Jews, Italians, and other foreigners.

Acts 18: 1-4

After this, he left Athens and went to Corinth, 2 where he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.

Paul came to them, 3 and since they were of the same occupation, tentmakers by trade, he stayed with them and worked.

4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

Yet, despite all of this sin and corruption, Paul, worked together with fellow tent makers Priscilla and Aquila and established a church.

Paul spent a considerable amount of time with them before needing to move on.

I believe that Paul knew that if he could establish a church in such an important city, it would help Christianity grow and expand…which it did.

But, because of the immorality of the town, the church really struggled with sin issues.

We see something similar in the town of Ephesus, except in that town, it was a different issue.

This is why his letters to the Corinthians sound like they do-there were new converts coming in or perhaps people who came to simply cause trouble.

Imagine today, it would be like starting a church on the Las Vegas strip, or downtown New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

So, taking all of that into account, let’s read the passage

1 Corinthians 1:10–18 (CSB)

10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.

11 For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you.

12 What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided?

Was Paul crucified for you?

Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else.

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.

There were a number of problems going on with the church in Corinth, including sexual immorality, but in the opening part of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul is addressing disunity.

Paul opens up by making sure to address everyone, unlike some of his other letters, in which he address one person, for example, in

1 Tim.

1: 2

2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, just as a side note, just because Paul only address Timothy doesn’t mean he didn’t want it read to everyone, but in this case Paul took extra care to address the men and women of the church ; Paul wanted to make sure everyone was paying attention to what he was about to say.

He says: Now I urge you, in other translations we see the word exhort.

Paul uses the word parakaleō, which is: to call to one’s side.

Paul was like, hey, all of you, come here, and listen up carefully.

That reminds me of times when Sam was young and he did something he shouldn't have, I would call him over, put my arm around him and instruct him…this signifies how much Paul loved the people in Corinth.

Paul did not like to see division of any kind going on…but especially when it’s fellow believers arguing over who is the better leader.

Paul wanted them to be united or joined together.

Barclay’s Bible Dictionary say that the term Paul uses for united is “A medical word used of knitting together bones that have been fractured, or joining together a joint that has been dislocated.

The disunion is unnatural and must be cured.”

Those of you who have ever broken a bone or tore a tendon knows exactly how bad it can hurt our physical bodies and how unnatural it is vs when all of our bones are in unity with one another, Paul relates this idea to the area of unity and division.

Apparently Paul had received word from someone associated with the church, that there was a rivalry going on.

We do not know how many people were involved in this drama, but it was enough to warrant Paul’s attention.

In other translations, contentious is used, instead of rivalry, people were being contentious with one another over who they preferred among the early church leaders.

One of the most prevalent aspects of Roman culture at the time was to attach yourself or identify with one of the popular teachers or philosophers.

Today we can somewhat compare it to sports fans, how one person will be a Bears fan, but another will be a Green Bay fan.

Depending on who you are, you take “your team” very seriously.

I grew up in a family of rabid Cubs fans.

When I followed sports, I was more into the Cincinnati Reds.

Pete Rose was my favorite player back when I was a kid.

I still remember watching the game where he broke the record for most hits in a career.

People become very loyal to their favorite player or team.

Well, this is what was going on back then, except it wasn’t sports, it was the celebrities of that day: well known teachers and philosophers.

Unfortunately, some of the people in the church brought that mindset with them.

As a result, they started arguing over who the better teacher was.

I’m sure it upset Paul a great deal that his name was getting dragged into all of this.

Paul was very careful to keep his name and reputation clear.

One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”

Of course, we know who Paul is, he is the one writing, many of you have heard the name Apollos, he was one of the leaders in the early church, Chepas was just another name for Peter, one of the original disciples, and then some of the people were saying “I belong to Christ.”

I think we all can recognise that it was improper for the people in the church to claim allegiance to anyone, other than God.

But notice that Paul also mentions those who are claiming to belong to Christ.

In a little bit, I will get to why (I believe) Paul also included the people saying “I belong to Christ.”

This type of strife was really bad for the moral of the church; it had nothing to do with sin or an error in what was being taught…it was simply fellow believers acting prideful and arrogant.

Romans 15:5–6

5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.

The remainder of our passage, starting in vs. 13, is Paul explaining the reasoning behind the correction.

1 Cor.

1: 13-14

“13 Is Christ divided?

Was Paul crucified for you?

Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,”

With all of the discord and division going on, Paul asks a very important question for the Corinthian church to ponder: Is Christ Divided?

What did Paul mean by this?

Think for a moment about the problem that Paul was addressing…the people were dividing themselves according to different teachers.

It appears as though the issue of baptism was front and center in this problem, because Paul addresses that directly.

Perhaps the people were pledging their allegiance to the leaders that baptised them.

Paul says, listen, in Christ, we are all under the authority of Christ, no one is better than anyone else.

The church is one body, with Christ as the head of that body, not Paul or Apollos or Peter.

Growing up, there were some very well known leaders and pastor that the people in our church looked up to.

Even today, pastors can draw huge followings, especially due to social media and the internet.