One More Last Thing

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Group meeting November 13 to study the last chapter of 1 Corinthians, sixteen.  This chapter is a typical concluding chapter of Paul's letters.  It's full of lots of housekeeping and last minute challenges, greetings, soft words, and hard words.

Read through it a few times, perhaps, if you're ambitious, read through the whole letter, and then through this chapter a few times.  Try and get a sense of what Paul is trying to make sure is not lost, what he is attempting to shore up or emphasize, and perhaps a view of his heart.  Jot down notes, observations, and questions to bring Thursday.

After reading through a few times, made notes, and questions, read through again with the questions below.

• The 'collection' is a new topic for the letter, but do you think it is new to the church in Corinth?
• What is the purpose of verse 2, why do you think he's giving this instruction?  Do you think it is a slight to the church in Corinth or a general suggestion/rule?
• The collection is for believers in Jerusalem.  Why would the church in Corinth be all that interested in the church in Jerusalem?  What would be their motivation for sending money?
• Paul's travel arrangements are simply details, but do you see a pattern of his travel?  What route is he following to get to them?  (see Acts 16 and 17)
• Why do you think Paul would want to spend so much time with a group with whom he seems to have so many problems?  What does his tone sound like to you?
• Timothy may come before he gets there.  Why do you think Timothy may have cause to 'fear' from the Corinthians?
• So, do you sense Apollos does or does not want to go see them?  What do you think about Paul encouraging him to go?  What do you thing that might mean for other comments made by Paul in the beginning of the letter (see chapter 3)?
• Verse 13 begins a 'staccato' stream of commands, what do you think of these?  Why do you think they would be necessary for the believers in Corinth?
• In verse 15, is a charge to submit to leaders, and Paul names one specifically.  Considering the problems he has sited throughout may have been with 'leaders' or household 'church hosts', what do you think of his 'short list'?  Why do you think naming this one is important?
• Now the named leader is also the one who, with some others delivered help from them to him.  So, what does that tell you about 'collections' in the church?  What does that tell you about Stephanas?
• Review Aquila and Prisca (Acts 18). What do you think of these two?  How does this greeting fit their depiction in Acts 18?
• Greetings like this seem odd to us in our culture, but aside from that, what do you think of the differences between the greetings from 'Asia' and how Paul says to greet each other?  Why do you think he may have used that term?
• Why do you think it is important for Paul to write something in his own hand?  Why the additional 'love' charge?  This term for 'love' isn't the normal 'agape' love normally used, it's more a 'friendship' sort, more emotional.  Why do you think that might be important here?
• In his own hand he says that his love is with them all.  Why do you think that is important for the church in Corinth to know?

 That should keep us busy for a few minutes anyway.  Remember to bring any notes and questions you've made in your own study!

To Become Other Than We Are...

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Group meeting November 6 to study 1 Corinthians 15:35-58.  This is the part we didn't get to last week.  So, I included the questions from last weeks study page for these verses, but also added a bit to them.

Read through the whole chapter at least once, then focus your attention on the final verses of the chapter.  Read them a few times, try to imagine what this means for our bodies, what will we look like?  Jot down observations and questions.  We had a good one last week, and I wrote a blog entry on it.  These questions are really very helpful for our discussion and understanding.

After reading through the passage and doing your own search for things, read back through with the questions below:

• In verse 35 is thought to be another break, but I suspect that actually it goes with verse 33 and 34.  So, I would break at 33 not 35.  What do you think?  How would it read if we started this paragraph at 33?
• From 35 through much of the rest of the chapter, Paul argues for the reality of the resurrection in more concrete terms.  Paul draws on imagery from plants and animals, but what do you think his main is point in verses 36 through 41?
• What do you think of his contrasting argument after verse 41?  Does this clarify or obscure your understanding?
• Why do you think it is necessary that if there is a physical 'body' there must then be a spiritual 'body' as he says in verse 44?
• Look up the term 'natural' used twice in 44, and then again in 46 in a Strong's Concordance (or click the link on the word).  It's related very closely to the Greek word normally translated as 'soul', and where we get the word 'psychology' from; 'psyche'.  If we translated the word as 'soul-ish', or 'pertaining to the soul', how would that change your understanding of what the 'soul' refers to in Scripture?   
• Paul uses contrast for his description of a resurrected body in verses 42 through 49, but then in 50 and to the end, he completely changes how he presents resurrection.  It's almost worship or prayer of praise, or something.  How does Paul's description in 50 through 58 give you hope personally?
•  Verses 50 through 57 are the depiction of the contrasts in verses 42 through 49 which will happen to us when Jesus returns.  What do you feel as you read this depiction?
• Rather than discuss 'when' all this will happen in relation to things in other letters and books, consider what will happen.  What do you think this will look like?
• The implication of verse 58 is that the Corinthians have not been steadfast so far.  What do you think happened to cause them to waver?  How do you think this has or does happen to us?

This will probably take up our whole time.  There's a lot in this passage, but I would like to avoid 'end-times' discussions as far as when-what-happens-to-whom sorts of stuff.  Let's try and confine our discussion to what it will look like.  But, as I said at the beginning, if it's about Scripture, it's a valid topic to discuss, so that has to include 'end-times' topics as well.