Start Where You Are

In one paragraph

This message came out of Acts 18, Paul's time in Corinth, and it carried an extra weight because the congregation was saying goodbye to Pastor Carl, who was leaving after fifteen years to serve a church near Huntsville, Alabama. The passage gave a frame for talking about what it looks like to faithfully carry the gospel into a place, stay as long as God keeps you there, and trust that He has gone...

Read together

1. Acts 18 Primary text for the sermon, Paul at Corinth
2. Romans 1:16 Quoted to explain Paul's practice of going to the Jew first, then the Greek, and the power of the gospel unto salvation
3. Romans 1:17 Quoted alongside 1:16, the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, the righteous one will live by faith
4. Romans 1:25 Cited to define blasphemy as exchanging the truth of God for a lie
5. 1 Corinthians 1:1 Referenced to identify Sosthenes as named alongside Paul in the opening of the letter
6. 1 Corinthians 1:14 Paul thankful he baptized none except Crispus and Gaius, used to confirm names of early Corinthian converts
7. 2 Corinthians 11 Referenced as containing Paul's list of sufferings including beatings, shipwreck and snakebite
8. Philippians 1:6 Paraphrased by Carl: God who began a good work will finish it to completion

Talk about it

1. The pastor described blasphemy as being slow to call something good that really is good, or calling wrong right and right wrong. Where do you see that kind of thinking show up in conversations you have about the gospel, and how do you respond to it?
2. Paul took a slower, more patient approach in Corinth before he came right out and declared that Jesus is the Christ. When you share your faith, how do you decide when to reason gradually with someone and when to speak plainly and directly?
3. The pastor said his two passions on his application were God's word and God's people, and he expected the word to be the harder part. What has surprised you most about the cost of loving people well in the context of the church?
4. God told Paul not to be afraid and not to be silent because He already had many people in that city. Can you think of a time when you sensed God had gone ahead of you into a situation? What did that look like?
5. The pastor pointed out that after Sosthenes was beaten, the world just kept on turning, unconcerned, and that widows often feel exactly that way. How does the body of Christ step into that gap, and where have you seen First B do that well or fall short?