We explore Paul’s teaching on singleness and marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, seeing that neither is an inferior way to live, but each can be received and lived out in service of Christ. We consider the opportunities and challenges of singleness, the pressures shaping how we think about finding a spouse today, and how the church can support both those who are single and those who hope to marry in…
We explore Paul’s teaching on divorce in 1 Corinthians 7 and ask what it means to take the Bible’s vision of marriage as a lifelong covenant seriously. Along the way, we consider difficult questions about separation, adultery, unbelieving spouses, abuse, reconciliation, and remarriage—and see how God calls us to faithfulness, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and to the careful support of one…
In this episode of Behind the Sermon, we ask what Paul means when he says, “If the unbeliever leaves, let it be so.” Does he mean temporary separation, abandonment in a broader sense, or something more definite in the first-century world?
We explore Paul’s striking teaching on marriage and sexual intimacy in 1 Corinthians 7, which challenges both our culture’s tendency to make sex ultimate and the Corinthians’ desire to reject it as unspiritual. What emerges is a richer Christian vision: intimacy as a good gift from God to be received with love and generosity, while remembering that our deepest identity and ultimate goal are found…
In this episode of Behind the Sermon, we examine a few small words in 1 Corinthians 7 that make a significant difference to how we understand Paul’s teaching on marriage, intimacy, and singleness. By considering what Paul means when he says, “I say this as a concession, not as a command,” we see why he is unlikely to be treating marriage as a reluctant concession, but is instead responding to the…
We open our new series on The Household of God by walking carefully between two truths: family is fundamental to the way God reveals himself and the gospel, but it is not our ultimate goal. From marriage as a picture of Christ and the church to parenthood as an echo of God’s fatherly love, we see why family matters deeply without becoming the measure of a faithful Christian life. Whatever our…
James takes us through Psalm 21, first showing that it is talking about Jesus and then looking at how we can celebrate Jesus's victories, past and future, through the Psalm.
We bring our series to a close by exploring how each of us is gathered to Christ to serve his mission through the power of the Holy Spirit. Looking at Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, we see that service is not about finding our one special spiritual gift, but trusting that God has equipped us to serve the needs of his church for the common good.