Women, Men and Servanthood

Dennis McCallum

Galatians 3:28

Paul wanted the Corinthian church to maximize their witness within their culture, so he called for certain cultural gender norms to be followed as to increase the spread of the Gospel. God and Paul both taught equality for men and women, as different but equal beings. God called men to lead in sacrificial love in the context of marriage.

Giving Up Our Rights for Others

Dennis McCallum

2 Thessalonians 3:7-9

Paul made a point to not let any non-moral cultural barriers affect his preaching of the gospel. Paul took strong stands on truth and religion, but he would learn and practice different cultures' dress, art, poetry, and music.

Jesus the Healer

Jim Leffel

John 9:2-3

Throughout his ministry, Jesus makes bold claims about who he is. To back up these claims, he performs many miracles, often in the presence of hostile religious leaders or in the midst of large crowds. From these miracles, we see that Jesus has unique authority. He is able to meet not only the physical needs of people, but our deeper spiritual needs as well.

Sexuality and Spirituality

Dennis McCallum

Genesis 2:24

Paul warned the Corinthian Church that sexual sins are sins against their own body. God's plan for sex in the context of a monogamous heterosexual marriage is given to us for our benefit. Sex in the context of a committed marriage is the best sex, and sexual promiscuity leads to an unquenchable sexual appetite.

Temptation

Jim Leffel

Deuteronomy 6:13

After Jesus' baptism, he went into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan for 40 days. Satan offered him food, tried to force him into testing God, and promised him all the kingdoms of the world if only Jesus would worship him. Jesus denied Satan every time, creating a model for his disciples to follow. There will always be things that tempt us away from God, and Satan makes them sound legitimate, but God's provision and timing are always best. The decision we face is whether to trust in God and follow Him or be pulled away from doing so.

Love in Community: Setting Limits

Dennis McCallum

2 Corinthians 2:5-8

The cultural view of love and God's view of love are quite different. Our culture views love as an emotional connection while God views love as a choice to act for the benefit of someone else. God's love includes discipline which we do in order for the good of a brother or sister in Christ.

Spiritual Radicalism vs. Mediocrity

Dennis McCallum

Galatians 3:28

Paul gave up a comfortable lifestyle in order to serve God with his whole life and share God's love with other people. When we approach our relationship with God in an attitude of self interest we will often become lukewarm. God's love and truth is meant to be shared and when we go out and share this message, as Paul did, we can experience God powerfully working through us.

Applying the Wisdom of God: Egocentrism

Dennis McCallum

1 Corinthians 4:5

God's love is sacrificial and serving rather than a selfish emotional fulfillment. The things of this world are less important when we take on God's perspective and see that what truly matters is our eternal identity. When we view this world from God's perspective we are able to appraise things as they really are.

Mental Transformation (Part 1)

Dennis McCallum

Acts 17:23-28

God made it clear that Christians are called not to conform to this world as we search for truth. God's truth is not relative but universal. However, we are able to conform to our culture on non moral and non truth based cultural norms. We are called to be in our culture, but not shaped by it.