Main Study Lesson 5 – Are My Standards High Enough?
Teaching Passages: 1 Cor. 3:1-3, 1 Cor. 5
Memory Passages: 1 Cor. 13:1-4
This week's lesson in Journey hits on a sensitive subject. One of Paul's main concerns about that church was its' immaturity and worldliness. So, in chapter 3 he teaches them about the judgement every believer (especially leaders) will face apart from their salvation and in chapter 5, he underscores this concern by pointing to a situation involving a male church member who was sleeping with his own father's wife. Even worse, the church was proud of their open-mindedness and tolerance.
Sound familiar? To me it does. Study after study tells us that Christian teenagers don't seem to live much different than their non-Christian peers. Why is that? I believe the roots of the problem can be found in our understanding of sin and of what it means to call Jesus both Savior and Lord.
You may want to talk about these things with your youth or discuss why the way we live matters even for those saved by grace. Of course, it's important to be sure they understand that works don't produce faith (we can't earn salvation), but true faith always produces works.
In His Name,
Pastor Allen
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