Episode 2804 - Lesson 1 - Saturday - June 27 - Paul's Ministry in Corinth

Sabbath AfternoonRead for This Week’s Study: 1 Cor. 1:1, Gal. 1:1, Acts17:16–34, 1 Cor. 5:9–11, Acts 18:4–10, 2 Cor. 2:4.Memory Text: “One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, ‘Donot be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you,and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are manyin this city who are my people’ ” (Acts 18:9, 10, NRSV).The great English missionary William Carey used to say that hecobbled shoes to pay his expenses, but his real business waswinning souls.Likewise, Paul worked as a tentmaker for a living (Acts 18:1–3), buthis real business was, of course, winning people to Christ.This week, we will get a glimpse of Paul’s ministry to the church inthe city of Corinth. The church, as we will see, was full of problems,many that were not unlike what our churches face today, almost twothousand years later. Indeed, anyone who has been in Christianity forany length of time, or who has been involved in church work, could askthe question: Have you ever found a Christian group that doesn’t haveany problems? The answer is, of course, obvious.Paul faces challenges in Corinth but does so with the message ofthe Cross (1 Cor. 2:2). Faithfulness to this message is also the way toface the challenges that we have today. As we will see this week andthroughout this quarter, the message of 1 and 2 Corinthians applies toour lives, as well.* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 4.