SATURDAY, November 22nd, 2008

Hey guys! I hope you are having a great weekend! It has been quite a busy one for me and my family! But there is a wonderful light at the end of this busy tunnel! I am going to Jacksonville to be with my family for thanksgiving and THAT WILL BE SO MUCH FUN!! It makes it a lot easier to get through all of this other stuff between now and then!!

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

I Corinthians 1

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,
5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,
6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,
7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.
16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written: “ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—
31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

There are several great applications that jump out to me in this passage! Two of them I want to mention to you today... The first and probably most relavant application in mentioned in verses 10 - 13. Paul is writing to the people of the church of Corinth because they are fighting with each other... you could say there was "DRAMA!!!!!" going on in the church of Corinth...

One group of people would say "we are better than you because PAUL baptized us" and then another group would say :NO! WE ARE BETTER!!! because Apollos baptized us!"

Paul is telling these people!! WHO CARES!!!! Stop being divided with each other!! It is not about YOU!!! It is about Jesus Christ! Wow! It is unbelievable how applicable this is! I wish every teenager in our youth group did their devotions today!!

Just like the church of Corinth needed to understand that EVERYTHING WAS NOT ABOUT THEM... wee must also learn that lesson! When we are getting in arguments and conflicts with our brothers and sisters in Christ... it is because we are too focused on OURSELVES!! and not focused on Christ like we should be!

If we could get this lessons alone this would revolutionize our church and our youth group! People wouldnt come to youth group with something to prove anymore! Because they would know that the "show" is not about them, but it is only about JESUS CHRIST!!!

Remember that! We don't have church to worship you, we have it to worship our savior! Remember: Only by pride cometh contention!!! SO TAKE THE LOW ROAD!

well... I hope that came across to you like it did to me! We need that! Finally I want to talk about one more thing... verse 25 pretty much sums it up! The foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weeakness of God is stronger than men...

This brings an interesting question? God is foolish and weak? NO!! It is an illustration to show us just how strong and hoe wise GOD really is! If there were a speck of weakness or foolishness anywhere in God THAT SPECK would still be wiser and stronger than the wisest and strongest men in the world!! We have an incredible God! He is wise and when we try to explain him or understand Him no wonder it is easy to become speechless...

I have heard Pastor Chip say: If my simple mind can understand God then what kind of God would He be! That is wise! We don't need to understand everthing that God does... we just need to trust Him! He is wiser than anything we can comprehend!!