It’s not always an easy thing to practice what you preach. Sooner or later, someone will point out your hypocrisy. After telling the church in Corinth to put the law of love over the principle of freedom and liberty, the Apostle Paul found it necessary to let the believers in Corinth know that this was a principle that he himself had already put into practice. In 1 Corinthians 9:1-18, as Paul defends his ministry and his actions, he makes it clear that he was one who ‘practiced what he preached’. Could the same be said of you?

Full service

00:00 Welcome
Song: O Worship the King
00:16 Introduction
00:43 Prayer
06:12 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: Jesus, Strong and Kind
9:52 Ministry Focus – Chris and Naomi
13:18 Bible reading: 2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Song: O Lord My Rock and My Redeemer
15:11 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 9:1-18
18:23 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 9:1-18
Song: This Life I Live
41:26 Closing

It’s pretty fair to say that everybody likes food. Not all the same kinds of food of course, but it’s rare to find someone who isn’t interested in what they eat. At Corinth, as we are told in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, the believers were having some issues with food, especially food that had been offered to pagan idols as part of their pagan worship. Now that they were Christians, the question they wanted to ask Paul was ‘should we or shouldn’t we eat food that has been offered to idols?’ Paul’s answer was a solid ‘yes’, but also a cautious ‘no’. How can he say both and be right both times? Because Christian liberty means we can eat anything, but Christian love means that we ought not to!

Full service

00:00 Welcome
Song: He Will Hold Me Fast
00:16 Introduction
00:43 Prayer
06:46 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 (Let Him Who Boasts)
10:03 Ministry Focus – Rochester Presbyterian
14:37 Bible reading: Romans 14:1-12
Song: Nothing Can I Boast In
16:49 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
18:44 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Song: May the Mind of Christ
42:15 Closing

Relationship advice is everywhere on just about any topic you can think of in relation to relationships, especially marriage! But the advice that the Apostle Paul gives to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 7:25-40 is advice that helps put all relationships into some kind of perspective. See, no earthly relationship will last, no matter how good it is! Once this world is done, only that which God has decreed will live on and unfortunately, earthly relationships aren’t in that grouping. But God’s Word will go on forever, and so the best advice for any relationship is this – use it for the sake of the gospel!

Full service

00:00 Welcome
Song: At the name of Jesus
00:15 Introduction
00:51 Prayer
05:48 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: The Greatest Treasure
09:02 Ministry Focus – Persecuted Church
12:24 Bible reading: 1 Peter 3:1-7
Song: There is a Higher Throne
13:31 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 7:25-40
16:18 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 7:25-40
Song: Live for the Kingdom
39:31 Closing

There’s no doubt that the world we live in offers little in the way of contentment. This applies not only to possessions but also to our relationships. Some say ‘if you don’t like the bed, change the sheets’, ie get a new partner! Some TV shows even throw 2 strangers together and expect them to be happily married.  It doesn’t work like that! Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 7:12-24 to urge them not to find that elusive contentment in their relationship status, but in Christ. And what he writes is a game changer in regard to contentment in all of life!

Full service

00:00 Welcome
Song: Crown Him With Many Crowns
00:18 Introduction
00:50 Prayer
06:30 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: You Are Not Your Own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
10:32 Ministry Focus – Eaglehawk Presbyterian Church
13:28 Bible reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Song: Only a Holy God
14:46 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 7:12-24
17:35 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 7:12-24
Song: My Worth Is Not In What I Own
41:43 Closing

Relationships. According to the way the world thinks, they’re everything. The best that life can offer. In some ways that is true…but what happens when relationships go sour?  In 1 Corinthians 7:6-11, Paul gives some answers towards those questions. Not everyone will end up in a relationship. Not every relationship will stay together. Singleness is a gift of God. Divorce needs to be thought about in the light of the Word of God. If we do not allow God the control of our relationships, then the idol we make them into can surely crumble.

Full service

00:00 Welcome
Song: Behold Our God
00:18 Introduction
00:50 Prayer
06:08 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: Be Careful Little Eyes
10:46 Ministry Focus – Reforming Church
14:19 Bible reading: Malachi 2:10-16
Song: My Hope Rests Firm
15:41 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 7:6-11
16:40 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 7:6-11
Song: O Jesus I have Promised
40:21 Closing

It seems that the believers at Corinth were having trouble (as often happens) with sexual issues. We learned something of this in chapters 5 and 6 when we noted how Paul had to address both incest and promiscuity. There was also another extreme view at Corinth which Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 7:1-5. Some, even those who were married, held to the view ‘no sex please, we’re Christians’. Naturally, Paul had a bit to say about that view and in doing so put marital sexual intimacy into the place that God intended it according to His design.

Full service

00:00 Welcome
Song: And Can It Be
00:16 Introduction
00:50 Prayer
Song: And God Said
06:15 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise; see also Big Picture Bible Crafts #1)
Song: God Our Father
08:07 Ministry Focus – Gideons
16:03 Bible reading: Genesis 2:18-25
Song: Only A Holy God
17:11 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 7:1-5
19:50 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 7:1-5
Song: O Great God
32:29 Closing

It seems the members of the church in Corinth, very much like the culture of the people of that city, held to wide ranging views about the place of their ‘bodies’ within the Christian life. Some held the view that it was immaterial what you did with your body, and so, a visit to a Temple prostitute was of no concern. Others held to a much more stricter view (also known as asceticism) that any contact with the body was purely sinful. in 1 Corinthians 6;12-20, the Apostle Paul finds a middle ground between these two extremes, reminding his readers and therefore us, of what God has to say about our bodies, which in the end, belong to Him!

Full service

00:00 Introduction
00:44 Prayer
Song: Come Praise and Glorify
05:21 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
09:49 Ministry Focus – Prison Fellowship
Song: Galatians 2:20
12:56 Bible reading: Romans 13:8-14
Song: Grace Unmeasured
14:04 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
15:29 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Song: Jesus Paid It All
40:07 Closing

It must be a terrible thing to have amnesia – not being able to remember (among other things)  your name or your family! It is a terrible thing to have ‘gospel amnesia’, that is, to belong to a church, but not be able to remember how the gospel of Jesus affects your whole life – especially how you treat your fellow believers! But in 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, this was what was happening at Corinth. They were taking each other- their own brothers and sisters in Christ – to court, rather than deal with each other in love. Was Paul angry? You bet he was, but he also gave these forgetful Christians (and us) some great truths to remember!

Full service

00:00 Introduction
00:46 Prayer
Song: To God be the Glory
06:14 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: Ephesians 4:32
09:46 Ministry Focus – Bible Society
Song: God’s Love is Strong Love
13:33 Bible reading: Matthew 5:17-26
Song: The Servant King
15:30 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
16:57 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
Song: Jesus Thank You
39:40 Closing

It’s hard to be a parent when the time comes to discipline your children. You need wisdom, persistence and a strong love, knowing that discipline, (though painful at the time) when applied in the right measure will produce the desired outcome. As far as we know, the Apostle Paul wasn’t a parent, but he knew a thing or two about parenting believers in fledgling churches, and sad to say, the believers at Corinth were desperately in need of a good dose of it. In 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, we see how Paul did just that and how he did it for the health and growth of the people at Corinth he loved.

Full service

00:00 Introduction
00:45 Prayer
Song: 10,000 Reasons
05:00 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise; see also Big Picture Bible Crafts #16)
Song: Titus 3:5
09:30 Ministry Focus
12:54 Bible reading: Matthew 13:24-33
Song: O Lord My Rock and My Redeemer
14:28 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
16:43 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
Song: Amazing Grace
38:34 Closing

So far in his letter to these Corinthian believers, the Apostle Paul has had to tackle many things head on. The church was clearly divided with a party spirit and wrongly paid too much emphasis to the flashy skills of gospel preachers at the expense of the gospel itself. But at the root of all this was the sin of pride. In 1 Corinthians 4:6-21, Paul seeks to expose this lack of humility for what it is – as something that would continue to cause the church to unravel and something that needed to be urgently dealt with. There is no antidote for pride like the cross. It’s only when we come back to the cross that pride gets put back into place.

Full service

00:00 Introduction
00:49 Prayer
Song: Beautiful Saviour (All My Days)
04:33 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise)
Song: Tax Collector & the Pharisee
09:53 Ministry Focus: Canavans
12:00 Bible reading: 2 Corinthians 11:16-33
15:25 PYV Spring Camp
Song: This Life I Live
16:30 Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 4:6-21
19:40 Sermon: 1 Corinthians 4:6-21
Song: When I Survey
43:41 Closing