2024
Let Nothing Move You
Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26; 35-44; 58
“For me it is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the resurrection which are the true laws of the flesh and the physical. Death, decay, destruction are the suspension of these laws. I am always astonished at the emphasis the Church puts on the body. It is not the soul she says that will rise but the body, glorified.”
— Flannery O’Connor, The Habit of Being
SERMON OUTLINE:
- Our Guarantee
- Our Glorified Bodies
- Our Gracious Savior
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
How have you seen something repurposed in a way that is helpful or delightful? Why can there be added value to something that is repurposed from what might be thrown away or considered useless?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-58. What encourages, surprises, or challenges you in this passage? What images or phrases stand out to you?
In verse 20 Christ is described as the firstfruits. This refers to a first sample of an agricultural crop that would reveal the quality of the rest of the crop to come. The first fruits were very important in ancient times in agrarian society. All of a town’s hopes were invested in the harvest. What is the significance of Jesus being described as the first fruits of the resurrection? What does Christ guarantee for us as the first fruits of God’s people?
What kind of waiting is described in this passage? Specifically what are we waiting for and what should our waiting be like? How can the church help us wait?
How does our hope in the reality of the resurrection impact our view of our physical bodies right now?
Pascal referred to all humans having a God-shaped hole. We all have longings that C. S. Lewis remarked are a sign of wanting something more than this world can offer. What are some of your deeper longings and how does resurrection hope satisfy these longings?
PRAYER
Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?
Therefore, my dear brother and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give you yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58