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1 Corinthians [chapter 16]

12/9/2022

Young Adult (College/Post-Grad) Life group
THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
My Love be with You All in Christ Jesus [chapter 16]
MY LOVE THROUGH THE COLLECTION (16:1-4)
(Question #1) The final chapter of 1 Corinthians is filled with expressions of the apostle Paul’s love in Christ for this church. In final words, the topic of a “collection for the saints” – the poor saints in Jerusalem – is addressed. Paul shows his love for the Corinthian Christians by asking them to participate in this collection to help the poor with this monetary gift. How does the apostle Paul ask the Corinthians to take up this offering, and how will it be carried to give to the poor in Jerusalem?
**[REFLECT #1] One of the best ways to express our love for one another in Christ is to give sacrificially in our tithes and offerings to sustain the church and its ministries, especially to the poor or those in need/struggling within the congregation. How are you expressing Christ’s love for you by participating and being faithful in the area of sacred giving? When is the last time a needy church member has burdened you to the degree of helping them in any way you can – small and large ways?
MY LOVE THROUGH VISITING YOU (16:5-9)
(Question #2) The apostle Paul’s expression of love wasn’t just through financial means, but through his physical presence. Paul showed his love in Christ for the Corinthians by his earnest desire to visit them and spend time with them. How did the apostle Paul plan his visits strategically, and what caused him to stay or depart a certain location?
[REFLECT #2]** How can we cultivate a greater desire to visit one another and spend time with each other as an expression of Christ’s love for us? Whether an introvert or extrovert, how can I intentionally become more spiritually active to meet others or more spiritually sensitive to listen to others before myself? How can time spent with one another not just be for purposeless fellowship, but for “a wide door for effective work” even if there be “many adversaries”? In our visitations with each other, how can we help each other on the journey with Christ, wherever we go?
MY LOVE THROUGH FELLOW CO-WORKERS (16:10-18)
(Question #3) Not only did the apostle Paul see his own visitations as expressions of Christ’s love, but also the visitations of those who represented his message and work, his co-workers and co-laborers in the gospel. Paul didn’t see himself as the main figure in gospel leadership. Rather, he upheld a shared leadership so that whether it be him or his faithful co-laborers who visited the Corinthians, they would minister in the same faithful way. Who were some of Paul’s faithful co-laborers, and why did Paul rejoice over them?
**[REFLECT #3] Do you have faithful co-laborers and co-workers in the gospel that you can call by name today? Are you one of them for someone else? How can we express Christ’s love for one another by introducing others in need of ministry to faithful, watchful, firm in the faith, strong men and women of God in our lives? If we must be absent and unable to minister to a particular person or situation, how is introducing him/her to fellow co-workers in the gospel an act of love for them in Christ?
MY LOVE THROUGH GREETINGS (16:19-24)
(Question #4) The apostle Paul closes the letter with final greetings from other churches, alongside Paul’s own greeting by hand. In place of their absence, they sent heartfelt greetings. Who were they? What did the greeting – by writing or by holy kiss – speak of to the Corinthian Christians?
[REFLECT #4] How can your greetings to each other speak of the love and grace that Jesus has for you?
HOLY SPIRIT MOMENT
(APPLY #1) Spend two minutes inviting and listening to the Holy Spirit to show expressions love in Christ we can give to each other.
(APPLY #2) Write two ways you can express and show Christ’s through you, as the apostle Paul showed to the Corinthian Christians.
(1) _________________________________________________________________
(2) _
(APPLY #3) Share one of them with the group, and a first practical step you can take to accomplish it.
(APPLY #4) Write a sentence-prayer for it: _________________________
(APPLY #5)** Share spiritual life – How are you? What is one thing about Jesus that carried you through this week? What is one thing you prayed for today? How has God answered in prayer, or asked us to keep requesting in prayer?

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1 Corinthians [chapter 15]

12/2/2022

Young Adult (College/Post-Grad) Life group
THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
He was Raised on the Third Day [chapter 15]
REMINDER HE WAS RAISED (15:1-11)
(Question #1) We arrive at one of the most important chapters in our Bible. 1 Corinthians 15 is the central text about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There was a problem in the Corinthian church – some were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead (verse 12). Why? Perhaps because even after Jesus rose from the dead, Christians kept dying and the graves were filling up. No one was being raised back to life. Certainly, that is true today – death is still universal, and no one has come back to life, yet. In times like this, just like the Corinthians, our hearts can stray to doubt the resurrection. What does the apostle Paul do to not only remind them of the reality, but also the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection?
**[*REFLECT #1]** How do I need to be reminded about the resurrection of Jesus Christ today? What experiences of death (family, close friends) have caused me to doubt Christ’s resurrection? How can I fight my doubts with the evidence the apostle Paul lays out for Christ’s resurrection in the many people who witnessed it and Paul’s own transformed life? How can my transformed life be the best evidence of the resurrected Jesus living within me?
REASON HE WAS RAISED (15:12-34)
(Question #2) The apostle Paul entertains the idea – if Christ has not been raised, what are the results (verse 12-19)? On the other hand, if in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, what are the results (verse 20-28)? Even using a godless-pagan practice of being baptized on behalf of the dead and other godless attitudes, how does Paul prove his point that there must be a resurrection even for them (verse 29-34)?
**[*REFLECT #2]** If Christ has been raised, are we still in our sins? Apostle Paul says, “Bad company ruins good morals” (verse 33). What are the bad company people/places/practices we are surrounding ourselves with that is ruining our faith in Christ’s resurrection? How, like Paul, do we need to die every day to live into the resurrection, and lay aside the lies that Jesus is dead and that death is king?
BODY HE WAS RAISED INTO (15:35-49)
(Question #3) The earthly body must die to be raised into the imperishable-resurrected body. The Corinthians thought they were one in the same body. Paul says that is foolish thinking. Both are bodies, but different in every respect. How is the earthly body different than the resurrected body?
**[*REFLECT #3] How are we living for the earthly body? What perishable, dishonorable, weak, and natural things do we idolize over the resurrected body to be gifted to us – imperishable, glorious, powerful, heavenly, and spiritual? Is the resurrected body to come like a ghost, or a reality of an imperishable gift? How can you hope in it more today?
VICTORY HE WAS RAISED FOR (15:50-58)
(Question #4)** In Christ, what must we put on at the sound of the last trumpet, in a twinkling of an eye (verse 50-57)? Therefore, what ought we be doing (verse 58)?
**[*REFLECT #4]** We will all be instantly changed to an imperishable body. How does this produce an inexpressible joy in you? How does it encourage you to always be abounding in the work of the Lord until then?
HOLY SPIRIT MOMENT
(APPLY #1) Spend two minutes inviting and listening to the Holy Spirit to show you the joy of Jesus raised on the third day.
(APPLY #2) Write two ways Christ’s resurrection can change your body, your hope, and your work of faith for Him.
(1) _________________________________________________________________
(2) _
(APPLY #3) Share one of them with the group, and a first practical step you can take to accomplish it.
(APPLY #4) Write a sentence-prayer for it: _________________________
(APPLY #5) Share spiritual life – How are you? What is one thing about Jesus that carried you through this week? What is one thing you prayed for today? How has God answered in prayer, or asked us to keep requesting in prayer?