This morning we pause to celebrate our nation's birthday and to reflect on current events through a biblical lens. This morning we look at what the Bible has to say about justice and compare it to the two-tiered justice system which is clearly developing here in the United States.

When it comes to the subject of the resurrection, Paul has to confront the “what about” crowd. They have so many questions and misconceptions about the nature of our future bodily resurrection, that they have thrown the whole doctrine away.

The Corinthian church wandered from the belief in the bodily resurrection to a rejection of that belief.  Today Paul rebukes them for this and points out all the logical fallacies in dismissing a bodily resurrection.

Paul spends more time correcting the errors around spiritual gifts and speaking in tongues than he does any other mistake the Corinthian church is making.  Today, he walks through five reasons why speaking in tongues, even it were for today, would be of little to no value.

In the midst of discussing spiritual gifts, especially the gift of tongues, Paul pauses to discuss the main ingredient of the Christian walk that surpasses all gifts and must be the fountain from which those gifts flow.

Paul offers up three mistakes around spiritual gifts that we must avoid -- devaluing our own, devaluing the gifts of others, and devaluing the more important gifts.

Today we enter a section of First Corinthians devoted to spiritual gifts.  In a day and age where there is much confusion over this subject, let's see "what sayeth the scriptures" and base our understanding on it.

We know with certainty that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. We also know with certainty that one day, we will too.  How are we to act while between these two resurrections?

As we celebrate Palm Sunday, let's see how the Israelites in Jesus' day welcomed Him and compare it to the way Christians today welcome Him, too.

Paul addresses the very thorny (and relevant) topic of gender roles in the church and how we as believers glorify our spiritual head by aligning with God's design for men and women.

Christians can be hard-headed, can't we?  Rather than learn the easy way, by the mistakes of those who've gone before us, we insist on repeating those mistakes and learning the same difficult lessons our ancestors learned.  Today, Paul tries his best to prevent us from learning hard lessons the hard way by describing the four main ways believers go off the rails.

Is it okay for a Christian to drink?  Is it okay for a Christian to get a tattoo?  Is it okay for a Christian to dance, or go to a movie theater, or to smoke?  In Paul's day, the big question was, "Is it okay for a Christian to eat meat offered to idols?"  From Paul's answer to this cultural question of his day, we can find the answer to the cultural issues of our day.

Conformity is one of those unnecessary cancers that can affect a church.  Women and men feel intense peer pressure to alter their outward appearance so as to conform to the church's expectations.  Paul says that it is not necessary to change the outside; it is necessary to change the inside. You be you, so long as you are keeping the commandments of God.

Paul answers questions from the church at Corinth about marriage, singleness, widowhood, and divorce.  The short answer is: your choices must be in harmony with the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus, but other than that, you have freedom to choose whether or not to marry.

As we pick back up on our series through First Corinthians, we come to a passage that challenges us to remain pure in a culture that is anything but. 

Our guest speaker, Pastor Bob Butler, walks us through this powerful psalm which reminds us to let the victories of the past help us overcome the discouragement of the present.

I'm not great at giving gifts, but God is excellent at it.  He gave us what we needed the most. The question is: have you accepted His free Christmas gift?

What are some of your favorite things at Christmastime?  You're welcome to have a long list of "favorite things," but the number one favorite at the top of your list had better be Jesus Christ.

In this passage, the Apostle Paul rebukes the carnal Christians of Corinth for taking each other to court over the most trivial matters.  Their inability to settle petty disputes within the church is another indication of their carnality and immaturity. 

Many liberal mainline churches today not only tolerate but extol the virtues of sexual sins that are clearly forbidden by God.  Is this a sign of their advanced Christian maturity?  Or is it a sign of their immaturity and carnality? Paul has the answer.