What Happens to a Church When Christ is No Longer Central? World of Diversity Without Christ Acts 18 Corinth

What Happens to a Church When Christ is No Longer Central?

World of Diversity Without Christ

Acts 18 Corinth

Corinth at the time of Paul the Apostle was being rebuilt

A land of wealth and opportunity

Great diversity of beliefs and values flourished there

Many have compared it to Las Vegas 

Paul was in Corinth for one and a half years before moving on to Ephesus

Imagine Las Vegas with no church, no believers

Imagine your city with no church, no believers

Imagine America with no church, no believers 

How would you introduce Jesus where there were no believers?

How would you handle the diversity?

Diversity that is opposed to the Gospel, the Good News of God

What would a year and a half of your life look like

In a land of wealth and diversity and no Christ?

World Diversity Without Christ

What happens to a church when

Christ is no longer central comes

from seeing the Church at Corinth.

Before we look at the Church in Corinth,

 we should look at how the Church got started.

To find its beginnings we

need to look at the Book of Acts.

Acts is the acts or development of the Church

from the time of Christ assenting into heaven.

In the 18th chapter we discover

Paul had left Athens to go to Corinth.

Paul meets a couple Aquila and Priscilla.

Aquila and Priscilla had also

recently come to Corinth from Italy.

Claudius was the Roman emperor

and ordered all Jews to leave Rome.

Aquila and Priscilla were tent makers.

Imagine all the goods passing through Corinth

on the short 4 mile road between the two sea ports.

Many set up tents to sell their items at this passing.

Corinth was not only a place to run

your business through, but a place to visit.

The beginning of the Olympics started in Corinth.

Every other year athletes from

around the world came to compete.

All this made tent making

and tent repair a big business.

Paul also being a tent maker

joined Aquila and Priscilla.

Image Paul, we think of him

as this great apostle and he was.

But think, he was working in

the market place like most of us.

He connected with a Jewish husband and wife.

We later find their faith and relationship

with Paul so strong that when Paul leaves

Corinth to Ephesus, they go with him and

then remain there with the Church in Ephesus.

   Paul continued in the tent business and

building relationships in the synagogues and

among the people, until Silas and Timothy arrived.

At this time Paul was supported to a point he

can devote himself exclusively to preaching.

 At some point, Paul was rejected by the Jewish leaders.

At this point, Paul focused on the Gentiles.

Remember Corinth is different than

any other place on earth at the time.

The old Corinth was destroyed

 and under Roman rule was rebuilt.

On the top of the hill is still the old Greek

temple of Aphrodite with her shrine prostitutes.

But the rest of Corinth filled with wealthy people

coming to make a claim and the common people.

You could think of it like Las Vegas.

Las Vegas has its reputation and

everybody knows what that is.

  There was a diversity of culture ideas.

Although there were different religious

temples most were there for the money.

Imagine being a church in Las Vegas

or trying to start a church there…

That is Corinth.

The Jews took Paul to court and they

were rejected from the court so the Jewish

leaders beat Paul up in front of the court.

After the rejection of the Jews, Paul

went next door to the Synagogue.

   

Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door

to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 

Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his

entire household believed in the Lord;

and many of the Corinthians who heard

him believed and were baptized.

Acts 18:7-8

Here we see the start of the Church in Corinth.

Titius Justus must have been a man of wealth as he

had a house where Paul could stay and teach believers.

One of the believers was a synagogue

ruler and his whole family.

Paul was in Corinth for one and a

half years before moving on to Ephesus.

Imagine Las Vegas with no church, no believers.

Imagine your city with no church, no believers.

Imagine America with no church, no believers.

  

How would you introduce Jesus

where there were no believers?

How would you handle the diversity?

Diversity that is opposed to the

Gospel, the Good News of God.

What would a year and a half

of your life look like in a land of

wealth and diversity and no Christ?

Scripture Reading

 Acts 18:1-22 NIV

18:1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.   6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city."  11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. 13 "This man," they charged, "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law."

14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law — settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things." 16 So he had them ejected from the court. 17 Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.

18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken. 19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, "I will come back if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.