Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis
The Prodigal Church Pt. 3: Why People Believe What They Believe | Rev. Paul
Why does the message of the cross seem foolish to so many—and yet life-changing to others? Discover the surprising answer in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and what it reveals about belief, grace, and divine wisdom.
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Paul’s letter to the Corinthians unpacks why some people embrace the gospel while others reject it. The message of the cross sounds foolish to those perishing, but it’s the power of God to those being saved. Salvation isn’t a product of intellect or status—it’s divine revelation. The gospel defies human logic, and God deliberately uses what the world deems weak to reveal His strength. Faith comes not by reason alone, but by God’s mercy and calling. Believers are those whom God has drawn, anointed, and awakened to truth.
[0:17] May I encourage you to settle in. And as you do, the scripture teaches we all have different gifts of the Holy Spirit. You do, I do, we all do.
[0:29] And I'm affirming that because one of the gifts of the spirit is the gift of teaching. And we've got, I'm very thankful we have a deep bench of teachers at Christ Church. But I'm sharing that to say that the teaching of God's word is not, doesn't begin with us. It begins in the heart of God. This is one of God's ways of being the church, coming together and having the word of God taught. That transcends me, whether it's me or another member of our teaching team. So I want to invite you, as we're in this study of the book of 1 Corinthians, to open to chapter one of the book of 1 Corinthians, and we're going to read verses 18 through 31.
[1:12] And these are some verses that may sound a little confusing to you. We'll unpack them. Again, that's why God has placed a teaching gift and teaching gifts within his church. So I invite you, hear the word of God, beginning verse 18, chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.
[1:40] Where is the one who is wise? Where is the one who is a scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who were called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you are wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world. even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, let the one who boasts.
[2:55] Boast in the Lord. Let's pray for just a moment. Now, Father, Over these emerging minutes You are so aware Because nothing ever occurs to you, that we're about to worship you through your word, just as we've worshiped you through song and liturgy and giving. And we pray that you would take these moments, set them apart and bring revelation to the power of your Holy Spirit. And we pray it in Jesus' name, amen.
[3:23] So many of you are aware as we're in the early days of this series that the Apostle Paul is deeply concerned about the state of the church at Corinth. That's why we've titled this series, The Prodigal Church, because this church is drifting from relationship with God and all kinds of problems have been stirred up. But as we open this section this morning, Paul plays on some contrast, the Apostle Paul, why some people accept the wisdom of God and why some people do not accept the wisdom of God. Why some people receive Christ, they grow in Christ, they feed on the Word of God, they grow, they're developed. And while others reject Christ, the cross, the revelation of God, the nature of Jesus, and his will and desire for their life. And so what Paul does in this section is he does some contrast. And the contrast running throughout these verses is the difference between divine wisdom that comes from our creator and earthly foolishness.
[4:29] And so Paul opens our eyes to see why Christians receive the gospel of Jesus Christ and why non-Christians don't. And so what we're going to do for a moment is we're going to follow the direction of the Apostle Paul here and ask the question, why people don't believe? Because he actually outly, he unpacks that right here. So let's dive in. Here's the first reason that he touches on. The message of the gospel sounds foolish. This is why Paul says in verse 18, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Now, I want you to notice a couple of things. Notice the phrase, those who are perishing. It's very sobering for your pastor to say this, but I'm being faithful to scripture here.
[5:19] That is their condition. And then again, I say that with tenderness, but it's not unfamiliar to us because probably the most famous verse in the Bible is John 3, 16. And Jesus alluded to this. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, whoever believes on him will not perish. And so Paul's picking up on that theme, and it shouldn't be unfamiliar to us. But he says, for the word of the cross is folly. Some of your Bibles translate that foolishness. The word of the cross sounds like foolishness. And Paul picks up on this theme again in verse 25. Let me quote that again. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The weakness of God is stronger than men. Now, we all know there's no foolishness in God. There's no weakness in God. Paul's being a.
[6:13] He's just being real. He's a human being, right? So he's using some sarcasm to make a point. The word for foolishness here is the root word is the Greek word moriah. It's where we get the word moron, moronic.
[6:28] And so what Paul's doing here is saying that the message of the cross to those who reject it, it sounds moronic. It's like, how bizarre can you be? This is unsuitable to human reason, that salvation, your eternity, that new life is predicated upon a crucified God hanging on a cross. And many people reason like this. I know before I came to faith in Christ as a young adult, I would say things like, I mean, I would say I was never militant. I just graciously, as I engaged in conversation with believers, I would say, okay, I get that Jesus died. I cannot wrap my head around what that has to do with me. I couldn't wrap my head around the work of the cross somehow forgiving my sin, drawing me to Christ. It just doesn't make sense to those who are perishing. And these verses tell us that the world, through its wisdom, cannot come to know God, which is one of the points Paul's making here. It is impossible by any means of human wisdom to come to know God. And this is why Paul, he does something very subtle here that it's easy to miss. He quotes Isaiah 29.
[7:54] Now that's very strategic. If you're reading along in your Bible, you notice that this verse is suddenly separate, verse 19, suddenly separated from everything else. And the reason Paul is quoting Isaiah 29 in verse 19 is that he is pulling from an episode where Sennacherib was advising the people of God as a nation was oppressing them, that your deliverance, your salvation is not going to happen through our wisdom. It's not going to happen because our leaders are gifted. It's not going to happen because sages are giving us advice. Sennacherib shares in Isaiah 29, the only way that we will experience a salvation, a deliverance, is by the power of God. And Paul uses that verse strategically because what he's emphasizing is that human wisdom will not get you to God. It doesn't mean that you don't exercise wisdom. We'll get to that in a moment. But only God can draw you to himself. This is why Jesus said in the New Testament, we put that verse on the screen, tech team. Thank you. Notice this verse. Let's just camp here for a moment. No one.
[9:12] Think about that. Let that sink in. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. This is the theme that the Apostle Paul is teaching right here. You cannot get from here to there unaided. You cannot get in Christ without the aid of God. This is why John Wesley talked a lot about prevenient grace. The grace of God that goes before, that draws you into relationship with God through the Son. But what Paul's emphasizing here is he's reminding the Corinthians that you begin with the power of God drawing you to Jesus. That's part of the problem in the Corinthian church is they've lost sight of that. But the reason there are people who don't believe is that the message sounds foolish. Now, there's a second reason he outlines here. Not only does the message sound foolish, but the message sounds like fiction.
[10:15] Now, in a moment when I call for it, the tech team is going to put one of my favorite cartoons on the screen. I want you to know it went over like a lead balloon at 830, okay? And so I just want you to know I'm psychologically and mentally prepared for the lead balloon in this room, all right? So just want to validate that. But one of my favorite cartoons is an old cartoon called The Far Side. And it was usually illustrated by a guy named Gary Larson.
[10:44] And I will admit that sometimes people don't get The Far Side. And that happened at 830. So here we go. So here, this is my favorite Far Side. All right. So there's a guy with a peg head and a guy at a bar sitting to him next to him with a peg leg. And the guy with the Peg Leg says, well, I guess that ain't a bad story, but let me tell you about the time I lost this. Okay. All right. So here, listen, the reason I share this because I want to move on quickly, is because sometimes when we hear Jesus died on a cross, it sounds mythical or fictional. Like, really? And this is why Paul says in verses 22 and 23, for Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. And again, he's saying, illustrating that we recognize that in the culture, this is just not a message that sounds very palatable, but we preach Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. And what he's emphasizing is that the reason many don't believe is because the message sounds mythical, fictional, cartoonish, like something unbelievable.
[12:09] And then the third reason is that the messengers are unfashionable. Listen to this verses one and two. And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And so notice this phrase, lofty wisdom or lofty speech or wisdom. And what he's talking about is the fashion of the age, because when people spoke in public in that era of history, they were great orators. They had a great way of engaging the crowd with story and narrative. They also utilized the best of Greek philosophy and the philosophers. Paul didn't come in that fashionableness. this. I remember when, after I came to know Jesus and I began sensing this inward voice, it wasn't audible, just this inward draw to give my life to vocational ministry. And that created some tensions in my family. I won't go into all of that, but one of them was my grandmother. I had a grandmother, feisty, five foot, four inch, feisty woman. I used to invite, When I was about 14, 15, I would invite friends to go to my grandmother's house to arm wrestle her. Feisty woman, okay?
[13:35] Feisty. But she, for sport, was always running down her pastor. Didn't matter what pastor she had. That was just part of how she rolled. She just critical, okay? Vehement. I mean, like, do you have issues? Okay, that kind of thing. And I remember thinking, God, you're drawing me to this, and I'm going to have to put up with people like my grandmother who just do that for sport because what you're called to is not fashionable.
[14:08] I remember when I was about 18, when I got home from my senior beach trip after graduation, my stepdad meets me at the door and shares about something going on in the family company and asked if I could help for three months. He said, could you move to another neighboring city and help for a few months? I've already talked to your mom. She said yes. And so I moved to Decatur, Alabama to help run part of a family business for the summer. And when I was there, there was this guy I ran around with. His name was Lyle Holland. And we became real good friends. But yet we both did not know Jesus.
[14:53] And so we didn't always make the most God-honoring choices. So years pass. And I've got a friend now. I've come to know Christ. I'm growing in the Lord. I'm actually in my, I think, getting ready to start seminary. And I've got this friend who's going, I've got a friend I want you to meet from North Alabama. And she just goes on and on about what an awesome guy he is. You guys would hit it off. And we're at a Christian conference. And my friend says, Paul, come here. I want you to meet law. I don't make any connection that it could be the law from years ago. And we stand at this conference. And when we look at each other, we both say verbatim at the same time, pointing fingers at each other, the words, what are you doing here?
[15:46] But God had reached him. And he was the son of a NASA engineer, a, Law is to this day very bright, exceptionally bright.
[16:02] Every academic award, his name was on that plaque. And I processed that now that he's not going to live a life of where the world delights and all the fashionableness of the accomplishments that were ahead of him. Now he will be a steward of a word, of a message that's not fashionable. I think about Missy, my wife. She has three brothers. Two of them are pastors. Be careful marrying into this family. But two of them are pastors. One of them, Mike, was a high school coach into his mid to late 30s. Very good high school basketball and baseball coach. And had done very well. And God began speaking to him and drawing him to himself. And God began to speak to him around a call. And he laid that down. And I process, now my brother in Christ will steward a message that's not fashionable. Which is why when I fly on airplanes, when I have someone sitting next to me that can be excessively talkative and they finally get to the question, what do you do for a living? If I want to talk, I say I'm in public relations. If I don't want to talk, I say I'm a preacher.
[17:25] Shuts conversations down. All I'm illustrating is that what was true then, that the message of the cross is unfashionable. It's true now. Which is why Paul writes in verses 26 and 29, for consider your calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. Because we recognize God's chosen a message that sounds foolish to shame the wise.
[18:15] I even think about many of the missionaries that are serving around the world that I know personally.
[18:22] Some of them are in their 20s and 30s. Some of them are older, but I'm going to—some of these missionaries that I know that are in their 20s and 30s, I'm so aware of how exceptionally bright, intellectually astute they are, translating the Bible from its original language into the heart language of people, having to learn languages that are not written and the sophistication that it takes to accomplish these tasks. I'm aware that many of these could be working at Fortune 500 companies and making lots of money, but they've given their heart, their life, their gifts, their grace has yielded to the King of kings and Lord of lords. And many of them are humble, hidden, and unknown. In fact, many of them will spend their life serving Christ, die, and be forgotten until the day we stand before Christ. And so we're aware that as we hear the message of the gospel, it sounds foolish. The message sounds like fiction to the world. The messengers are engaging in unfashionable presentation of a gospel. And you begin to understand why the unregenerate reject the gospel. The message itself is offensive, in addition to sounding fictional, foolish, and unfashionable. I've said this to you before, but I can't back off.
[19:49] Think about it. A young couple finishes school, and they get married. They buy a house. They have a couple of cars, have a couple of kids. And then you look at them one day, and you say, let's go out to the garbage dump on the edge of town. You see that man hanging on a cross and bleeding? Suffering?
[20:11] He is your only hope.
[20:19] It's not a fashionable message. And the human mind and the heart cannot get there on its own. And the only way you can get there and I got there is because God had mercy on you and brought revelation of himself to you through his pervenient grace that drew you to Jesus. Which is why Paul now in verses six and seven makes a shift when he says, yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom. He's referring to the church, the Corinthian church. Although it is not a wisdom of this age or of rulers of this age who were doomed to pass away, But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. And so he's declaring that as the gospel is shared, it is not of this age. It's not a message that comes from the rulers of this age. It is unknown to the world's best minds. Paul says we're speaking a mystery. It is a wisdom that has been hidden but has now been revealed that emanates out of the birth of a confidence in Jesus and a confidence in the Word of God.
[21:36] Loved ones, I'm not saying that there aren't intellectually substantive reasons to believe in the Bible and to believe in God and to believe in what Jesus Christ has done. There are many. The Bible is verifiable down to the details of archaeology. The Bible is verifiable by doing just applying the historical method. The Bible is unique in the context that it was written by over 40 authors on three different continents in three different languages over a period of 1,600 years with an astounding continuity that stirs one to process how does this happen. But those are not the reasons personally that my faith awaken.
[22:18] Ultimately, it's because of what the Apostle Paul says here, right here, that God imparted a secret and hidden wisdom of God through the new birth in my own life, if I have liberty to give testimony, which God decreed before the ages, and the scripture says, for our glory, glory that we find as our lives are in Christ. And Paul describes it in this way in verse 24, but to those who are called, that is everyone, that the grace of God is available to every man and woman, those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, how does it happen? It happens by looking at the remainder of the verse. Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God working, drawing us to the person of Jesus Christ.
[23:02] Everybody in this room may not know the name John Newton, but John Newton lived in the 18th century. His mom, I want to mention this on Mother's Day, his mom poured the scriptures into him as he was growing up. And so he learned the Bible. His mom had him in church every Sunday. And yet when John hit adulthood, John raised Cain. He lived on the edge. And as he did, he was involved in shipping and traveling on ships, and he got involved in the slave trade. That's how dark things became in John's life. Now process for a moment. This is a kid who's grown up with a mom pouring scripture into him, praying with him, praying for him. And yet, John didn't turn out the way you would hope.
[23:55] In fact, I would submit this to you. I say this to encourage someone. Oftentimes, when children turn out the way we hope, we take too much credit. And when they turn out the way maybe we hadn't hoped, we take too much blame. And I'm saying that to help you. Because this mom is in a predicament when John is gone, he's gone off the rails. And this is not what mom and dad had hoped for John. And so John, when he's in his mid to late, I think it was late 20s, ends up experiencing the drawing of God. And many of you know that John Newton wrote the song Amazing Grace, where one line says, I once was, say it out loud. That's right. That's true. That's not the one I was looking for, but that's true. I once was lost and now I'm found. You're right. You're ahead of me, class. Class.
[24:52] But I also once was, I'll give you a hint, blind, but now I see. But the point is, is that John Newton experienced the drawing of Almighty God. His mom could not put him in Christ. Only God could draw his life into Christ. You know, one of the great moms of history was Susanna Wesley. In fact, not only is she a great mom, she's a great human being. Many of you may know that Susanna Wesley led a Bible study in her home in the kitchen, and the attendance at Susanna Wesley's Bible study was larger than the attendance on Sunday morning in her husband's church. And this created some tension in their marriage at times. But what I'm trying to illustrate is that she was a very special person who poured into her children, discipled her children.
[25:47] But yet you all know John Wesley did not know Jesus until he was in his thirties. And the same was true for Charles Wesley. But when Charles Wesley experienced the prevenient grace of God, the grace, the power, the presence of God that was actually drawing him to the sun, it was out of that experience that Charles wrote these words, long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night, Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. Do you hear his poetic description of the drawing power of God? That the eye of God was upon him, drawing him. I woke the dungeon flame with light. This is a description of his own human heart in his fallenness, like a dungeon. But as God drew him, oh, it flamed with the light of God. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed thee. no condemnation now I dread, as he quotes Romans 8. Jesus, and all in him is mine, alive in him, my living head, and clothed in righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne, as he pulls from the book of Hebrews chapter 4, and claim the crown through Christ my own. Church, be mindful. John Newton was taught the scripture. Charles Wesley was taught the scripture, but it took God to draw them into relationship with Jesus Christ.
[27:16] I was getting ready to do a wedding. It was actually a rehearsal dinner, and there was a gentleman there that had not been in church. I hadn't seen him in about a year. And that person used to be in software sales and had done very well. And then 2008 hit, and he lost everything. I remember there were many weeks he would sit in my office and we would talk and pray together because he was just at his end and he was just at his end.
[27:49] And then, as we all worked our way out of the economic crisis of 2008, he attended a seminar on annuity sales, and he became a marketer, a seller of annuities. Now, he's a very gifted communicator, and he began to do very well. In fact, he started a radio show, started a TV show, very likable, and he began to make money hand over fist, a lot of money. And I hadn't seen him in about a year.
[28:23] And I was like, brother, you okay? Well, by the time he had had three glasses of wine, he comes over, he puts his arm around me. You know, he's kind of at that buddy phase. Sorry, I did. There was a time I didn't know Jesus, okay? So just give me some grace. But he's at that buddy phase. Paul, I love you. I just love you, Pastor Paul. I go, yeah, I love you too. He goes, I know you hadn't seen me at church in a while. I said, yes, it's been a minute. And he said, I just want you to know I've worked out my own spirituality. Now, I want to share with you, as much as I love that man, care about that man, what does the scripture say about that? John, 1 John 2, 19 through 20, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they are all not of us. I say that tenderly, loved ones. It's not said with a mean spirit. It's said with a tender heart. I quote that scripture with a tender heart. But this is the next part is what I want you to catch. But you...
[29:42] Have been anointed by the Holy One. What John's referring to there is that in the grace of God, God's revealed himself to you. That's your anchor point, Jesus being your anchor point. You've been anointed. The Spirit of God lives in you, and you have knowledge because of this. You've had a revelation of the love of God for you. You've had a revelation of the wisdom of God that in Christ has saved you and redeemed you. You're not going anywhere. And I'm not saying you can't change churches. I'm not a control person. I'm not saying that.
[30:16] What I'm driving at is you don't leave the body of Christ because you know that you've been redeemed, that you're in Christ. You have anointing from the Holy One. You know the truth and no lie leads you astray. Church family, if I'm honest, if I could give personal testimony for a moment, the Apostle Paul does this in scripture. So I trust that that's legal for me to do so from the pulpit as well. I don't believe the Bible or the revelation of God or the wisdom of God because there are intellectually substantive reasons for doing so. And I do believe that. If you do a little apologetics, you find that there's a lot of rational reasons for believing in Scripture, believing that it's authoritative. But ultimately, I believe because when I came to know Christ and Jesus filled my heart with his presence and his illumination, I noticed that every time for months after my conversion, that when I read the scripture.
[31:14] My heart would burn with the witness of God burning in my heart. Can anybody else testify to that? If you can, raise your hand. I'm looking for that. All right. But all I'm trying to illustrate is that when God draws us to himself and we're awakened, our spirit knows what is true. We have an anointing from God that teaches us. That's the word of God for the people of God. But note this. Before we close, it's 1158, so we've got two whole minutes, church family.
[31:48] But notice the way Jesus would talk to people who had revelation of Scripture, but they didn't have the revelation of Jesus. He was in a conversation with Pharisees once, John 8. I'll just read part of the verse. If God were your father, you would love me. For I came from God, and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. Think about that.
[32:19] Cannot hear. Cannot listen. Now contrast that with what Jesus said about those that are his. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Do you hear that, church?
[32:36] That one of the ways we know we belong to Jesus is that we're listening to him. God, let me hear you through your word. What are you saying to me? Speak to me, your servant listens, oh God. His name was Charles Finney. And Finney, who founded Oberlin College, was invited to speak at the chapel on a Sunday. And he was asked to speak on the topic of family. And when Finney got to the pulpit and was preparing to speak, right in the middle of the worship gathering, Finney went to his knees and he began to weep and cry out to God in prayer. That was awkward. People were looking at one another, what's wrong? What's up? Only Finney stayed there a while to the point where the awkwardness only became all the more awkward because of the time he was spending. It's not like he was praying and then getting up to preach. He just kept praying. Here's what was going on. Finney had five adult children, and none of them knew Jesus. And it broke his heart.
[33:46] That would be easy to reason that as Finney that day did not preach and he's on his knees, on his face, praying, some of us would reason, well, obviously that was a fail. That would be the way some people would reason. But I would submit to you that's earthly folly to reason that way. You see, Finney was doing what the Apostle Paul is encouraging this prodigal church to do. Remember where the power is. Remember where the wisdom of God comes from. Remember that it was only the grace of God that drew you into the family because God moved on your heart. And what Finney was doing as he hit his knees is he was remembering where his true help came from. He was remembering that it was only God that drew him out of being a full-time lawyer into full-time vocational ministry. in the way that God had converted him. Finney was drawing on that reality as he's praying, knowing that it was only the power of God that would have wrought the work in his own heart, and it was only the power of God that was going to reach his five children. And many of you know that all five of his children came to know Christ, but not in Finney's lifetime.
[35:13] Beloved ones let us to learn from the prodigal church let us to learn from charles finney, that we recognize that we were birthed in the power of god and we will only be sustained by the power of god through the foolishness of what the world describes as what jesus did at the cross but we recognize, is not foolishness to those who believe. It is the wisdom of God that Christ has taken your sin and my sin and bore it there and shed blood so that you and I are forgiven and cleansed and reconciled to a loving God who not only births you into a new life, but the way he describes it is a new life that goes on into eternity. And as we proclaim that truth, it is a truth that should always be proclaimed. But only God can draw us to the Son as we humble ourselves before him and ask him to work in our hearts and lives for his glory. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's pray. Let's pray.
[36:24] And so, Jesus, we come to you not to pray, as I have often said, transactional prayers, but God, prayers from the heart. And I encourage you as we take a moment, and I'm leading us in prayer, just take your heart and let your heart rest before the Father.
[36:47] And understand this is not a place to strive. This is a place that God's invited you. He said, come before my throne to receive mercy and grace in time of need. And Jesus, we bless you and praise you that you took our sin. If you want to word it in the first person, praise you that you took my sin. Every thought, every word, every deed at the cross.
[37:11] And I thank you for this wisdom in which I'm a clean vessel because of your work, Jesus. And I put my faith and my trust in you to grow me and develop me and protect me from the choices that were made at the church at Corinth. So deliver me and strengthen me. We pray for your glory and your grandeur, Lord, In Jesus' name, amen.