God Really Does Love You

In one paragraph

This message worked through 1 Corinthians 10:1-22, with Pastor Ray using a string of Old Testament examples to show why God warns His people against ignorance, sexual immorality, and idolatry. The thread running underneath all of it was that God's warnings come from love, not restriction. He also stopped at verse 13 to correct a common misreading that has taken root in church culture. Pastor Ray...

Read together

1. 1 Corinthians 10:31 quoted as the premise for the song: whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God
2. Colossians 3:3 came to mind during the hymn: for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God
3. 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 the main passage preached through, covering the Old Testament examples, temptation, and fleeing idolatry
4. Exodus 32:6 quoted directly as the source of the people sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play
5. Numbers 25:1-9 identified as the passage about sexual immorality and the 23,000 who died in one day
6. Numbers 21:6 identified as the passage about testing Christ and being killed by snakes
7. Numbers 14:2 listed as one of several passages about grumbling and the destroying angel
8. Exodus 12:23 listed as one of several passages about grumbling and the destroying angel
9. Numbers 14:37 listed as one of several passages about grumbling and the destroying angel
10. Numbers 16:30 listed as one of several passages about grumbling and the destroying angel
11. Romans 15:14 read aloud near the close of the service as a benediction-style passage about being full of goodness and knowledge
12. Romans 15:5-6 spoken as the closing benediction: may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded toward one another

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray used the safety meeting illustration to explain why Paul gives Old Testament examples of failure. What is one of those examples that landed with you, and what does it tell you about what God was trying to protect his people from?
2. Pastor Ray said the tagline from the previous week's passage was 'who you love is more important than what you know.' How does that idea carry forward into what Paul is saying in this passage about participation with idols?
3. Pastor Ray was direct that 'God won't put more on you than you can bear' is not what 1 Corinthians 10:13 is saying. What do you think he said the verse is actually promising, and how does that change the way you would use it with someone who is struggling?
4. Pastor Ray described an idol as anything we set up in front of God, anything we adore and cling to more than God. What are some things in ordinary life that can quietly take that position, and how do you notice when that is happening in your own life?
5. Pastor Ray closed by saying that the power described in that word 'stronger' in verse 22 is always and immediately available from the Lord to help us withstand temptation, and that Jesus proved it could be done. What does it look like practically to reach for that power when temptation comes, rather than trying to handle it on your own?