Mere Men, God's Temple, One Foundation

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark worked through 1 Corinthians 3:1-23 as a single unit, arguing that the chapter only makes sense when read whole. The Corinthians were dividing themselves into camps behind their favorite teachers, and Paul's answer was to show them that those teachers are servants, not celebrities, and that the church belongs to God, not to any faction. Paul opens chapter three by calling the...

Read together

1. 1 Corinthians 3:1-23 main passage for the entire sermon, read and expounded section by section
2. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 Paul calling the Corinthians babes in Christ, fed with milk not solid food
3. 1 Corinthians 3:3 jealousy and strife as evidence of acting carnally like ordinary men
4. 1 Corinthians 3:4 factions claiming to belong to Paul or Apollos
5. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Paul and Apollos as servants, planting and watering while God gives the growth
6. 1 Corinthians 3:10 Paul as first builder laying the foundation according to grace given him
7. 1 Corinthians 3:11 no other foundation can be laid than Jesus Christ
8. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 building with gold, silver, precious stones or wood, hay, straw, tested by fire on the day of judgment
9. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 the collective body of believers as God's temple where His Spirit dwells
10. 1 Corinthians 3:18 warning against thinking oneself wise in this age
11. 1 Corinthians 3:19 wisdom of the world is foolishness with God
12. Job 5:13 quoted by Paul: God catches the wise in their craftiness, attributed to Eliphaz
13. Psalm 94:11 quoted by Paul: the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise are futile
14. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 conclusion urging no boasting in men, all things belonging to the believers who belong to Christ who belongs to God
15. Matthew 28:19-20 the Great Commission referenced twice, teaching people to obey all Christ commanded

Talk about it

1. The pastor described the 'carnal Christian' as a real category Paul uses, but said it was never meant to be a permanent or comfortable place to stay. Where do you see the pull toward living out of self-interest rather than faith showing up in your own life, and what does Paul's tone toward the Corinthians suggest about how God responds to that?
2. Paul says he planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the growth, and he makes clear that neither the planter nor the waterer can take credit. When have you seen someone, including yourself, act like Jimmy Stewart's character in Shenandoah, claiming the harvest as their own work? What does it take to genuinely hold that posture of being a servant rather than an owner?
3. The pastor said the things that survive the fire are eternal things, meaning people and their souls, while programs and methods and ways of doing things can all burn up. How does that change the way you think about where you are putting your energy as part of this church?
4. The warning against being wise in this age is a call to simplicity and humility rather than cleverness. The pastor connected this to the danger of 'craftiness' in how we present the gospel. Where do you think the line is between thoughtful communication and manipulation, and how do you try to stay on the right side of it?
5. Paul closes by telling the Corinthians that he, Apollos, and Cephas belong to them as servants, not the other way around. How does that picture of leadership and mutual belonging push back against the factionalism Paul has been describing, and what would it look like to live that out in a church with three different services and people coming from as far as Bondurant?