Identity, Giftedness and Hope

Case Studies in Corinthians

Sunday 18 January 2026

Text: 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9

Call to Worship (from Isaiah 49: 1-7)

Listen, all you peoples; hear, you who are far and near.
The Lord has called us by name and formed us for His purpose.
Before we knew Him, God knew us;
before we spoke, God gave us a voice of praise.
The Lord says, “You are my servant, in whom I will be glorified.”
Even when our labour feels hidden, God’s work is not in vain.
Our hope rests in the Lord,
our reward is held in the hands of our God.
The Lord is our light and our salvation,
calling us to shine grace to the nations.
We come to worship the Holy One of Israel,
faithful, redeeming, and worthy of all praise.
Let us worship the Lord.
 
In Acts 18 we get the picture of Paul’s visit to Corinth. He stayed there for 18 months, making many converts and setting up a lively and energetic church community. But there were big problems. Paul wrote 4 letters to try and address the issues, of which only 2 survive. This letter, 1 Corinthians, is the second letter, the first letter having not gone down well! So it is back to the drawing board for Paul! What do I say to get things back on track? And so this letter comes to them at a delicate time, and Paul draws the attention of the Corinthian church to 3 areas which needed addressing.
 
Watch the recorded sermon here: https://youtu.be/1JVbi-WV6nQ