Preparing for Sunday - 1 Cor. 4:6-13

February 10, 2017 by Sam Walker Preparing for Sunday

Prepare your heart for Sunday by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and tangibly putting scripture to action in your personal life and in our corporate body.

Carefully Think

Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-13. Read verses 6-13 to focus on the text this week. Skim through the sections of 1-3 to review the major sections and their focus.
What “things” would Paul be referencing in verse 6 that he has applied to Apollos and himself? What is the reason he has applied all these things? Look at the repeated word “that”. What is Paul referring to that has been written? His letter? OT? All Scripture? Something else?
Paul begins a lot of comparisons in verses 7-13. Look at the patterns to see who he is talking about and how he is contrasting and why.
Why is Paul exalting the Corinthians and putting down the apostles in verses 9-13? How would the Corinthians have reacted to this?
In verse 9, God is putting the apostles on display as a spectacle to the world, angels and men, for what purpose? Does verse 10 give any clues to the answer? Look for other references previously in the letter to "fool" and "wise" and see what is being addressed.
In verses 11-13, how do the apostles respond to their condition and how they are treated by the world? How are the Corinthians responding to any similar conditions so far in the letter?
Reading ahead to verse 14 what is the point of these verses that Paul states? What is the motivation of Paul?
The Sermon Study equipping class notes are available online for anyone wanting to dig deeper. Please review this week's notes to help study this passage. Click here for the notes.

Prayerfully Meditate

Prayerfully meditate on what puffs you up in in favor of one leader against another within the church and ask God to reveal to you the motif of your heart. Are you evaluating leaders based on criteria found in the Scripture? Are you causing divisions in the church when the Spirit and the Word seek to unify the body of Christ? Confess and forsake your sins before God.
How do you respond to trials that Paul is laying out? What/who is the source of these trials? Most would affirm God, but how does our response to trials reveal our hearts attitude and our faith in these circumstances? Ask God to forgive your lack of faith and seek the faith of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15.
Ask God to reveal how you are creating or contributing to divisions with the church in either in sins of commission (acting in sin) or omission (not doing something needed, i.e. discipleship, confrontation, church discipline)?

Intentionally Act

Seek humility in response to trials and criticisms against you. Prayerfully seek from the Word the response of Paul and the apostles to these trials.
Look for ways to build unity within the fellowship (partnerships in the Gospel) of the church body. Pray for opportunities to disciple one another.
Identify where you go beyond the Word in your life and do not trust the Scriptures to be sufficient for all things in your life. Pray for increased wisdom in the Scriptures so that they are trusted as fully true and fully sufficient for all things and you use them daily in your life in such a way. Seek others to grow in this as well that we see “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV)
How can the sermon from Sunday and the passage specifically assist you in praying for the church? For each other in your group? For your spiritual leaders? What would you pray for? How could you encourage others in our congregation based on this passage?
Click the links below to find the lyrics and recordings of the songs planned for our gathering this Sunday; practice the songs, study the lyrics and sing together.
Pray for those leading our corporate gathering this week and for the Holy Spirit’s work as the Word of God is further explained and applied: Dawson Bryant: music; Rob Stouffer: Elders' prayer and Scripture reading; Bret Capranica: teaching.

Songs for Sunday

Morning

Evening

Lyrics

Lyrics Morning Gathering - February 12, 2017 by Summit Woods Baptist Church on Scribd