SURPRISED BY ENCOURAGEMENT | Pastor Jay Rice | We are the Body series | 8.30.26

Paul opens First Corinthians like a real letter, naming himself first and calling himself “called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.” Paul was uniquely built for the work God gave him. His Jewish training let him speak in synagogues, his Roman citizenship opened doors in Gentile places, and his life as a tentmaker connected him with everyday working people. God used all of it to carry the gospel into a world that was flipped upside down by Jesus.

Sosthenes standing beside Paul gives a little glimpse of what the church can be. Sosthenes was a synagogue leader, a man who should not have been partnered with Paul in a Gentile city. Christ brought together people from different races, languages, backgrounds, education levels, and social classes. The church becomes one of the few places where people who would never naturally hang out can break bread, carry burdens, and meet around Christ.

Paul calls the Corinthians “sanctified in Christ Jesus” and “called to be saints.” Sanctified means set apart for something holy and sacred. Corinth was known for wickedness, sexual immorality, and chasing whatever it wanted. To call somebody “a Corinthian” was an insult. Yet Paul tells Christians living in that mess, even when people hate them for being different, that they are saints and need to live like it.

Paul then does the unexpected thing. Paul does not begin by unloading on Corinth for its division, drunkenness, immorality, and fighting. Paul says, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.” God had enriched this broken church in speech, knowledge, and every spiritual gift. God was not holding out on them, even though God knew every bit of their mess.

Christ, Paul says, will sustain them to the end. The picture is that one more mailbox when there is nothing left in the tank. Christ gives strength to keep going when temptation is loud, the fight is long, and the road feels impossible. Christ will also present them guiltless on the day of judgment. Guiltless means no rap sheet, no accusation, no charge that can stick.

Grace makes that possible. None can earn forgiveness, sustain themselves, or stand innocent before God by being good enough. Christ’s grace makes scarlet sins white as snow. Paul could thank God for Corinth because Paul had taken his own violent, murderous past to the foot of the cross and heard forgiveness. Grace-filled people become quick to extend grace because they know what it is to need it.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The church gathers unlikely people together [40:43] Christ does not merely gather people who already think alike, vote alike, or live alike. Christ makes family out of people separated by race, class, culture, and history. The church loses something important when comfort with people like oneself becomes more valuable than fellowship around Jesus. [40:43]
• 2. Saints are called to be different [43:51] Sanctification means being set apart for a holy purpose, not simply blending in with the world around them. Corinth’s believers were surrounded by a culture that celebrated what God called destructive. Their identity as saints called them to live differently, even when difference brought rejection. [43:51]
• 3. God does not hold out on sinners [52:06] God knew Corinth’s failures and still poured grace, gifts, and blessing into that church. Grace is not a reluctant handout given only after somebody gets every detail right. God’s generosity exposes the lie that His love must be earned through flawless performance. [52:06]
• 4. Christ sustains one more mailbox [53:58] Christ’s sustaining power meets people at the end of themselves, not merely at the beginning of their strength. When endurance feels spent and temptation feels stronger than resolve, Christ supplies what is needed to keep going. The promise is not that the race is easy, but that Christ does not abandon His people in it. [53:58]
• 5. Grace creates people who forgive [58:23] Grace leaves no room for boasting, judgmental superiority, or looking down on another sinner. Those who struggle to extend grace may need to remember again how much grace they themselves have received. The foot of the cross levels every rap sheet and makes forgiveness possible.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [28:07] - Getting Older and Forgetting Things
• [29:39] - Beginning First Corinthians
• [32:39] - First Corinthians Was a Letter
• [35:07] - Paul Called as an Apostle
• [39:02] - Sosthenes and the Church’s Unity
• [42:32] - Sanctified and Called Saints
• [46:08] - Thankful for a Messy Church
• [50:55] - God’s Generous Grace
• [52:58] - Christ Sustains to the End
• [54:28] - Declared Guiltless Through Grace
• [60:22] - Taking Grace to the Cross
• [60:44] - Communion and Forgiveness

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 1:1–9

1. “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,” [30:33]

2. “To the church of God that is in Corinth,” [30:38]

3. “to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:” [30:41]

4. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,” [30:56]

5. “that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—” [31:01]

6. “even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—” [31:06]

7. “so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” [31:06]

8. “who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [31:06]

9. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” [31:06]

Ephesians 2:8–9

8. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” [57:33]

9. “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” [57:43]

Isaiah 1:18

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” [58:12]

Observation questions

1. In 1 Corinthians 1:1–3, what words does Paul use to describe both himself and the Corinthian believers? What do “called,” “sanctified,” and “saints” have in common? [42:32]
2. What does Paul say God had already given the Corinthians in verses 4–7, even though this church had serious problems? [50:02]
3. According to verse 8, what are the two promises Christ gives believers as they wait for His return? [52:31]
4. In Ephesians 2:8–9, what does Paul say salvation is, and what does he clearly say it is not? [57:29]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul calls the Corinthians “saints” before correcting their sinful behavior later in the letter. How can a believer’s identity in Christ shape the way he or she faces sin without pretending that sin does not matter? [46:08]
2. Sosthenes and Paul came from backgrounds that would not naturally have fit together. What does their partnership show about the kind of fellowship Christ creates in the church? [39:11]
3. If Christ sustains believers “to the end,” how should that promise affect someone who feels worn down by a long struggle, repeated temptation, or discouragement? [53:58]
4. Paul says believers will stand “guiltless” before Christ, and Ephesians says salvation is not earned by works. How can a person take sin seriously while resting fully in Christ’s grace? [54:46]

Application questions

1. Think about the people you naturally choose to be around—people with similar backgrounds, opinions, income, education, or lifestyle. Who in the church might you need to know better as a brother or sister in Christ? What is one simple step you could take this week to move toward them? [40:43]
2. Being sanctified means being set apart for God’s holy purpose. Where do you feel the strongest pressure to blend in rather than live like a saint—at work, school, online, in relationships, or somewhere else? What would faithful difference look like in that specific place? [43:51]
3. Is there an area of your life where you have begun to believe God is holding out on you unless you perform perfectly? How does Paul’s description of God’s generosity toward Corinth challenge that belief? [52:06]
4. Where are you currently at the “one more mailbox” point—emotionally, spiritually, relationally, or in a fight against temptation? What would it look like to ask Christ for strength to take the next faithful step rather than trying to carry the whole road at once? [54:05]
5. Is there a person whose failures, opinions, or behavior make it hard for you to extend grace? How might remembering your own need for forgiveness change the way you speak about or treat that person? [58:32]
6. What guilt, shame, or “rap sheet” do you still carry as though Christ’s grace has not fully reached it? What would it mean to bring that honestly to the foot of the cross and receive the promise that, in Christ, you are forgiven and free? [01:01:28]