Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 7:1-9.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 7:1-9 (NIV)
1  Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
2  But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
3  The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4  The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.
5  Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6  I say this as a concession, not as a command.
7  I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
8  Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.
9  But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul replies to a question that his church in Corinth had written him concerning being married, being single and having sex.  The question was probably something like “Is it better for a Christian to stay single or to get married?”  From reading Paul’s question we can learn a few important truths about marriage, singleness and sex:

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 6:1-11.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 6:1-11 (NIV)
1  If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?
2  Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
3  Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
4  Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!
5  I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?
6  But instead, one brother goes to law against another–and this in front of unbelievers!
7  The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?……

On verses 1-11:  In 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Paul tackles another problem in his church: apparently some of the Christians in his church at Corinth were having such severe conflicts that they were suing each other in court.  Paul writes (and I’m paraphrasing here), “Why do that?  Why air out your dirty laundry in front of others and give Christians a bad name by suing one another — and in front of a non-Christian judge no less!  If you couldn’t resolve this matter between yourselves as Christian brothers, could you not have at least found another Christian brother or sister whom you trust to help mediate this situation?  Shouldn’t you as a Christian rather be wronged and cheated by your fellow Christian than to be suing them in court and dragging Christ’s name in the mud in the process?”

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 4:9-21.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 4:9-13 (NIV)
9  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.
10  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
11  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
12  We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
13  when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

On verses 9-13: Ironically, while the Paul groupies and Apollos groupies were using their alleged connection to Paul and Apollos to boast about themselves to others, Paul and his fellow apostles were themselves suffering a great deal for the gospel – going hungry and thirsty (v11), being treated brutally (v11), working tirelessly (v12) and often being insulted (v13) and persecuted (v12).  It’s as if on one hand you have Paul and his fellow apostles who are the real deal, serving Christ and suffering for it, while at the same time there are a bunch of apostle wannabees who are more focused on making a name for themselves, talking about themselves a lot and doing a lot less for the kingdom.  In some ways Paul is showing how different these groupies actually are from Paul, Apollos and other apostles.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 3:1-9.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 (NIV)
1  Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly–mere infants in Christ.
2  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
3  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
4  For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
5  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
6  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
7  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
8  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
9  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 12:28-13:3. Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 12:28 (NIV)
28  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

On 12:28:  Here Paul lists a number of roles and spiritual gifts that God has given various individuals in His Church.  Looking at the first three that Paul mentions, an apostle is someone who is gifted and commissioned to start new churches and ventures and oversee their development.  A prophet is someone who senses when the Holy Spirit is giving a message to strengthen, encourage or comfort other people and communicates that message effectively to the people.  A teacher is someone who teaches God’s people by interpreting, explaining and applying the Bible in a way that causes them to learn.  The teaching role can also involve the ability to equip and train other believers to serve God effectively.  Truly it takes different types of individuals and different abilities and gifts to build God’s church.