United In Weakness Series

United in Weakness

1st Corinthians Series

CCCAG 7-13-25

Welcome to the start of our new sermon series on 1 Corinthians.

Introduction: The City of Corinth and Its Church

Today, we dive into Chapter 1.

1st and 2nd Corinthians are letters that were written by the Apostle Paul to a church wrestling with its identity and purpose in a bustling, complex world. To set the stage, let’s travel back to the first century and explore the city of Corinth and the church Paul addressed.

Corinth was a thriving metropolis in ancient Greece, a hub of trade, culture, and diversity. Strategically located on a peninsula connecting the Peloponnese Island to mainland Greece, it was a melting pot of merchants, sailors, and philosophers.

In our modern context, the closest city in our modern world that would be like Corinth is Las Vegas- a city of multiple cultures, high in entertainment and moral laxity. The one difference between the two is that Corinth was also a major port- so trade was a huge part of their life.

While wealth and opportunity abounded, so did temptation. Corinth was infamous for its moral laxity, with a temple to Aphrodite fueling a culture of sensuality and excess. Into this vibrant yet spiritually challenging environment, The Apostle Paul planted a church around 50 AD during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-18). This fledgling congregation was a mix of Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, slave and free.

This church wasn’t without its struggles.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians around 55 AD from Ephesus, addressing issues that threatened to fracture the community: divisions over leadership, moral compromises, and misunderstandings about spiritual gifts.

The believers were navigating a tension between their new faith and the pull of their city’s culture. Paul’s letter is a call to unity, holiness, and reliance on God’s wisdom over human pride. As we unpack Chapter 1 today, we’ll explore three key sections that speak to being filled with the Holy Spirit, overcoming division, and embracing God’s strength in our weakness.

Let’s pray and dive into the text.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, open our hearts to Your Word today. Fill us with Your Spirit, unite us as Your body, and humble us to receive Your truth. Speak through 1 Corinthians 1, and may it transform us for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Let’s start by reading verses 4-9 in chapter 1.

Section 1: Filled with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:4-9)

Paul writes, “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I want you to note something here that can be very helpful in your life. Even though there were a lot of issues in this church that Paul needed to address, Paul starts with gratitude, not criticism.

In fact, in typical Paul fashion, he gives the standard before he starts telling you how that standard is being strained or broken.

This is very instructive for us- because this is how the bible encourages us to handle these intense situations.

There is a lot wrong in Corinth and the temptation would be to dive right in with the correction, but instead Paul gives them the spiritual standard, and then spends the rest of the chapter and the book explaining that standard.

The standard is this- it is an absolute necessity to be filled with the Holy Spirit to live out God’s calling on our lives.

Yes, you have a calling on your life. It’s not just the pastor or worship leader- it’s everyone who has called on Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior. You all have a calling, and therefore you need an anointing of the Holy Spirit to equip and empower you to fulfill that calling.

The Holy Spirit is the lifeblood of the Christian life.

Without His presence, we’re like a car with an empty gas tank—shiny on the outside but going nowhere.

It’s a reminder that God equips His people for His purposes. The Holy Spirit is not a side show to get us whooping and hollering- it’s an empowerment for service.

This is why the Spirit empowers us with gifts—whether prophecy, teaching, discernment, or service—to fulfill our individual callings to build up the church and glorify God. But these gifts flow from intimacy with Him.

Intimacy with God is the foundation of a Spirit-filled life.