An infusion of mongrels, merchants, athletes, advocates, freedmen, faithful, hucksters, holy.
They had it all. They did it all. Immorality. Betrayals. Stealing. Murder. Idolatry.
Yet, this Paul.
So very gracious.
He knows these people through-and-through, thick-and-thin.
Yet he prefaces his letter with careful thought and endearing kindness:
"Called to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those
Sanctified in Christ
Saints by calling
With all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
Their Lord and ours
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I Cor 1:1-2.
Look how many times he reminded them of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul knew their depravity.
Paul willingly served these harried hucksters.
This church.
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 1Cor 2:3-4.
This Paul.
He knew that it was the Power of God accompanying the Word.
COME BOLDLY: Timeless Prayer
Our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, hear our hearts. Within the walls of our home, may we acknowledge our dependence on Your Power in all our weakness. This church could have looked hopeless to Paul. No such thing. May we have that attitude toward our families and friends.
PHOTO: "I send my heart up to Thee. All my heart." In this my singing. In this my preaching. In this my writing. Taken at Elizabeth Barrett Browning Library in Waco, Texas.
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