9/6/2026 | Unity in the Body (SERMON) | Pastor Josh Call

Paul opens his letter to Corinth by appealing, urging, and exhorting the church, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, toward unity. The church in Corinth had begun to crack apart around favorite leaders, with people saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas.” Paul answers their little factions with three heavy questions: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” The answer is a big fat no.

The church belongs to Christ because Christ alone was crucified for sinners, Christ alone paid sin’s debt, and Christ alone rose to bring dead people to life. Baptism publicly identifies believers with Christ and with his global family, not with the person who happened to baptize them. Paul’s relief that he baptized only a few Corinthians shows how quickly even a beautiful thing can get made weird and dysfunctional when people turn it into a badge of status.

The word “brothers” keeps showing up because believers are family. Family can be messy, annoying, and prone to conflict, but family is still meant to go to the mat for one another. The church is supposed to be a true cross section of the kingdom of God, not black church and white church, young church and old church, rich church and poor church, or one theological tribe against another. Labels such as Calvinist, Arminian, charismatic, cessationist, Republican, Democrat, Presbyterian, or non-denominational can become tools for cutting up the body Christ died to make one.

Crispus pictures the other side of this call. His faith in Christ likely cost him his place, influence, and respect as a synagogue ruler, yet he publicly joined a people regarded by the world as weak and low. Christ’s call unites his people to one another, but it also divides them from every rival master, worldly allegiance, and comfortable identity.

Paul’s mission was to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom that builds his own reputation, but in weakness, fear, and trembling so the cross would not be emptied of its power. The cross does not need a slick salesman. Christ uses weakness to prick hearts, bring sinners to repentance, and build his kingdom rather than somebody’s little empire. The church’s present uncertainty therefore becomes an inflection point: Satan loves division, but Christ calls flawed, faithful, Bible-believing, Spirit-filled people to love the body and guard its unity.

##

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ alone creates Christian unity. Christ was crucified for his people, and Christ alone gives them their deepest identity. Human leaders may serve faithfully, but no leader can bear sin, conquer death, or claim the allegiance that belongs to Jesus. The church becomes divided whenever secondary loyalties become louder than the name of Christ. [18:34]
• 2. Family love refuses easy division. Paul calls the Corinthians brothers and sisters precisely while confronting their quarrels. That family language does not excuse sin or pretend wounds are small, but it does make reconciliation more important than winning. Christ’s people should not casually write off those whom Christ has received as family. [11:41]
• 3. The cross exposes tribal Christianity. Labels can describe real convictions, but labels become idols when they make fellow believers look suspect. Christ gathers one body from different backgrounds, traditions, political instincts, and preferences. The blood of the Lamb creates a deeper bond than any theological camp or cultural tribe can offer. [15:54]
• 4. Weakness can display Christ’s power. Paul did not trust polished speech or personal confidence to create faith. Christ’s power often becomes clearest where strength runs out and dependence becomes real. Weakness can become the place where pride dies and the power of the cross rests most visibly on a believer. [31:50]
• 5. Unity must be guarded in uncertainty. Church transition creates real discomfort and gives the enemy an opening to sow discord. Christ calls his people to love the body even when leaders disappoint, plans change, and conversations get hard. Faithful unity means standing up and saying, “This is my family. This is my home.”
  
  ## [33:16]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:27] - Corinth’s Conflict and Paul’s Purpose
• [04:00] - One Lord, One Church, One Family
• [05:13] - Paul’s Appeal for Unity
• [08:42] - Same Thing, Same Mind, Same Judgment
• [09:41] - The Damage of Church Division
• [11:03] - Brothers and Sisters Act Like Family
• [13:43] - Factions Around Paul, Apollos, and Peter
• [15:54] - Labels That Divide Christ’s Body
• [18:11] - Is Christ Divided?
• [20:25] - Baptism Cannot Become a Badge
• [22:45] - Crispus and Costly Allegiance
• [24:53] - The Gospel and the Power of the Cross
• [27:32] - Weakness, Not Eloquent Wisdom
• [31:24] - Two Questions on Power and Unity
• [33:16] - Guarding Unity in a Season of Transition

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 1:10–17
“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
[05:13] [18:29] [20:25] [24:53]

1 Corinthians 1:2
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, 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.”
[03:39]

2 Corinthians 12:9
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
[32:24]

Matthew 10:34
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
[23:11]

Observation questions

1. What three requests does Paul make in 1 Corinthians 1:10, and how do those requests show how seriously he views the divisions in Corinth? [08:40]
2. What were the names around which the Corinthian believers were forming groups, and what does Paul ask to expose the problem with those groups?
3. Paul calls the quarreling believers “brothers” more than once. What does that family word add to his correction of their conflict? [10:49]
4. In verses 13–17, what reasons does Paul give for why believers should not make a human leader or the person who baptized them the center of their identity? [18:54]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul calls the church to have “the same mind and the same judgment.” Does this mean Christians must have identical opinions about every theological, political, or cultural question? What kind of unity is Paul protecting?
2. Why is it possible for even a good label—such as a denomination, theological conviction, preferred leader, or political identity—to become a source of sinful division among Christians? [15:54]
3. Baptism is a beautiful act of obedience, yet the Corinthians were turning it into a status marker. What might it look like for believers today to treat a good spiritual practice as a badge that makes them feel superior to others? [20:25]
4. Matthew 10:34 shows that following Jesus can bring division from the world, while 1 Corinthians 1 calls for unity within the church. How can a believer tell the difference between faithfulness that brings necessary conflict and pride that creates unnecessary conflict? [22:45]

Application questions

1. What labels or loyalties are most tempting for you to put ahead of your identity in Christ—politics, church background, theology, age, race, social group, favorite teacher, or something else? How might that temptation show up in the way you speak about other believers? [15:54]
2. Is there a believer you have begun to regard as an outsider because they hurt you, disappointed you, or practice their faith differently than you do? What would it look like to take one honest step toward forgiveness, apology, conversation, or reconciliation? [32:47]
3. When you disagree with someone in the church, what is your usual instinct: avoid them, gather supporters, complain privately, confront harshly, or seek peace? What would it look like to treat that person as family while still being truthful about the disagreement? [11:41]
4. Baptism identifies believers publicly with Christ and his people. If you have trusted Christ but have not been baptized, what is keeping you from taking that step of obedience? If you have been baptized, how can that identity shape the way you receive other Christians? [25:23]
5. Where do you feel weakest right now—speaking about Jesus, relationships, health, anxiety, energy, work, or another area? How could you ask Christ to show his power there rather than trying to hide or overcome that weakness by yourself? [31:43]
6. Seasons of change can make it easy to complain, withdraw, or treat the church as disposable. What would it look like for you to say, in concrete ways, “This is my family; this is my home,” especially when plans change or leaders disappoint? [34:05]
7. This week, how can you help guard unity in the church through one specific action—refusing gossip, encouraging someone, praying for leaders, welcoming a person unlike you, or addressing a strained relationship directly and graciously? [33:40]