Set Something Aside

In one paragraph

This message came from First Corinthians 16:1-4, four verses where Paul answers a question the Corinthian church had written to him about giving. Pastor Ray walked through the Greek closely to show what Paul was actually commanding and why, and he connected it to the unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians that runs through the whole letter. Paul's letter to the Corinthians shifts in chapter...

Read together

1. 1 Corinthians 7:1 Paul's pivot to answering questions from the Corinthian church, the peri de formula
2. 1 Corinthians 7:25 another peri de section, concerning the unmarried and widows
3. 1 Corinthians 8:1 peri de section concerning meat offered to idols
4. 1 Corinthians 12:1 peri de section launching three chapters on spiritual gifts
5. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 the main text, Paul's instructions on the collection for the saints
6. 1 Corinthians 16:12 peri de section about Apollos at the close of the letter
7. Acts 9:1-2 Saul requesting letters of authority to arrest believers in Damascus, parallel to Paul's use of letters of endorsement
8. Romans 12 referenced as a favorite passage about giving ourselves to the Lord, pleading to offer bodies as a living and holy sacrifice
9. Ephesians 3:20-21 spoken as the benediction, God able to do far more abundantly beyond all we ask or think

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray talked about gratitude for having a church family to share faith with. How does being part of a community change the way you think about giving, whether of money, time, or anything else?
2. Paul commands each and every person, regardless of their financial situation, to set something aside regularly. What makes consistency in giving harder than a one-time gift, and what would help you be more consistent?
3. The phrase 'as God may have prospered you' was described as meaning according to how God has led you along a good road. How do you personally recognize when God has prospered you, and how does that recognition shape what you give back?
4. R. G. LeTourneau eventually reached a point where he was giving 90 percent of his income to the Lord's work. Pastor Ray used him to illustrate a graduated scale of giving. What do you think about that idea, and does it challenge or encourage you?
5. Paul's instruction about the collection was rooted in the unity of the whole church, Jewish and Gentile Christians together. How does giving to people or ministries outside your immediate circle build that kind of unity, and where do you see that happening today?