1Corinthians

Session 6: Chaos in Worship – Part 2

1 Cor 11-16

Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong

1. Why do you think the Corinthian church was plagued by so many problems and was so resistant to change/transformation?
2. Why is Paul so concerned that the Corinthian church must be different from the prevailing culture of the world?
3. What are some of the lessons can we learn from the Corinthian church? Share one or two lessons that strike you the most in our 6-weekly Bible study.

Session 5: Chaos in Worship – Part 1

1 Cor 11-16

Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong

1. When you partake the Holy Communion, what does it mean for you:
   a) to “do this in remembrance of me”?
   b) to eat the bread and drink the cup in “an unworthy manner” and by “recognising the body”?
2. What are some of the spiritual gifts with which your church has been blessed by God? How are you to exercise these gifts so that the body of Christ can be built up and be encouraged? Please share and provide some concrete examples.

Session 4: Lifestyle: “I refuse to give up my rights”

1 Cor 8-10

Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong

1. In 1 Corinthians 8-10, Paul focusses on the ethics of love and the stumbling block principle in exercising our freedom in Christ to ensure that we do not stumble our weaker brothers and sisters. What are some of the possible freedom we have in Christ or our actions that could be a stumbling block to others? Is there an experience where your actions that may be neutral to you have stumbled someone?
2. How should “a strong brother/sister” demonstrate love toward “a weaker brother/sister” in the church today by giving up his/her right to freedom? Share some practical examples and concrete steps.

Session 3: Lifestyle: Sexual immorality and court cases

Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong

Paul devotes four chapters in 1 Corinthians addressing the issue of disunity in the church.

1. Do you think the issues of sexual immorality (a kind that pagan even could not tolerate is taking place in the church) and lawsuits among the Corinthians would have compromised the witness of the church in the world? Why do you say so?
2. Think about our church today. What are some of the sins you think the church is tolerating today that may have compromised our Christian witness to the world?
3. Paul instructed the Corinthian church to carry out church discipline towards the brother who sinned sexually. Do you think there is a place for church discipline today? If yes, how should the church exercise church discipline? If no, how can the church correct what is morally wrong in the lives of the brothers and sisters in Christ?

Session 2: Disunity

Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong

Paul devotes four chapters in 1 Corinthians addressing the issue of disunity in the church.

1. Why did Paul place so much emphasis on unity of the church, to the extent that he devoted 4 chapters to address this issue?
2. In what ways can the “temple of God” be destroyed today (see 1 Cor 3:16-17)? What are some of the causes of divisions in the church today?
3. Have we taken heed of the seriousness of causing divisions in the church today and the strong warning of Paul that God will destroy those who destroy God’s church in 1 Cor 3:16-17?

Session 1: The City of Corinth

Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong

Paul’s founding mission in Corinth is recorded in Acts 18:1-18. According to Acts 18:11, he stayed there for a period of a year and a half. We can assume that during this period, Paul would have instructed the Corinthians believers in this new-found faith in Jesus the Messiah.

Discussion

1. What do you think Paul could have taught the church during this period of time?
2. Do you think Paul’s teachings were well received and put into practice by the Corinthians? Why or why not?
3. If there is any particular teaching of Paul that the Corinthian church found it difficult to put into practice, what do you think it is most likely to be? What about your church?