Application to our lives today Lesson 1 1 Corinthians Application to our lives today Lesson 1

About Corinth Located on the isthmus between mainland Greece and Peloponnese (Achaia)

About Corinth As such, it was a major trading crossroads between Italy and the western side of the Mediterranean and Asia and the eastern side of the Mediterranean Ships would put in at Lechaio and the goods would be walked the 5 miles across the isthmus and reloaded on ships in Isthmia – and the Corinthians got their cut! A very wealthy city A temple to Venus (the goddess of love and licentiousness) was built on the Acrocorinth It employed 1000 prostitutes Many men lost everything they had “worshipping Venus” An ancient proverb: “It is not for everyone to go to Corinth”

About Corinth They held the Corinthian Games every 2 years Much like the more well known (today) Olympian games Paul refers to these games in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Typically, the contestants in the games were soldiers who made their way to Corinth to compete for national and personal glory Lots and lots and lots and lots of people came and went through Corinth pretty much constantly Very much like a cross between modern day Las Vegas (“Sin City”) and New York or Los Angeles They lacked technology, but otherwise remarkably similar to our lives today All of this led to a church that had some very significant problems

Paul’s Missionary Journeys to Corinth Paul first arrived in Corinth in ~ 51 AD (Acts 18:1-18a) Established a thriving church there Stayed around 2 years in Corinth (18 months minimum) Most likely returned during his 3rd missionary journey (all the maps show that he did) – Acts 20:1-6, 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 – but it wouldn’t have been for very long at all; probably during the winter of 56 AD He wanted to be back in Jerusalem for Pentecost, 57 AD

Our study of 1 Corinthians Rather than take an exegetical view of 1 Corinthians, we are going to look at it in chunks and ask one very simple question (to ask, anyway!): How does this apply to our lives today? An important note: While what Paul mentions may not really seem to apply (meat sacrificed to idols, for example), we must dig deeper into the tenet or principle upon which his words are based

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 What is Paul recording in these 6 verses? Move beyond the text … What is Paul really trying to get the Corinthians to understand? How does this apply to our lives in 2017?

1 Corinthians 1:10-17 What is the main issue that Paul is addressing here? Does this directly apply to the Church today? How do we apply it to our Christian walk?