What are the expectations of paid church staff?
What are the benefits of being paid church staff?
How does Paul view his role in the ministry?
Verse 3-14: What rights does Paul have as an apostle?
Verse 15: Is there anything that you like to do that you would not like to be paid to do? What is it and why wouldn’t you want to get paid to do it?
Why does Paul not exercise his rights as an apostle as described in verses 3-14?
Verse 16: Do you view the preaching of the gospel as a necessity?
What would the world be like if we left be preaching of the gospels solely to the professionals? What role do we have to play?
Verse 17-18: What’s the best gift you’ve ever given someone?
What are some ways the church has blessed the community?
What are some ways you’d like to see the church/this group benefit the community in a way it hasn’t yet?
Verse 19: What’s the difference between how you approach a person to convince them you are right versus persuading them to change their behavior?
Why does Paul feel he had to make himself a servant to win others? Couldn’t he have also said he’d be a teacher, a philanthropist, a writer, etc. ?
Verse 20-22: Why does Paul feel like he has to work to fit in with everyone in order to minister to them? Why can’t he just preach the truth and let the Holy Spirit take over the rest? What does love require of us?
Read Ephesians 5:15-21. What are the hallmarks of someone who lives wisely? Have you ever considered that submitting to one another out of reverence for a Christ might be a part of living wisely? Why or why not?
Verse 23: Have you ever been a part of someone’s decision to make Jesus lord of their life? Was that a blessing to you? What is it worth to you to help more people make that decision?
Verse 24: What exactly is Paul racing toward? What are we supposed to be obtaining? What characteristics define the life of a person who is running a race for Christ?
Verse 25-27: What reward do we get for having self-control? What are we controlling ourselves against? In what ways we disqualify ourselves by a lack of self-control?
This chapter in 1 Corinthians starts with Paul setting aside his rights as an apostle, then he talks about becoming a serving to all, then he ends with talk about exercise and establishing self-control. Is Paul some sort of fun hater? Why is sacrifice a hallmark of the Christian walk?
At the end of the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella is disappointed with not being able to enter the cornfield with Terence Mann. He can’t understand why he was called to go through all of the trouble of building the ball field, finding Terence Mann, following the messages, being on the verge of losing his farm, only to be denied the privilege of going into the corn. Ray asks the pivotal question we all ask – “What’s in it for me?” Shoeless Joe’s response is that if he really wants a reward he needs to stay on the field. Unbeknownst to Ray, the reward, in the end, wasn’t to make money, to get in touch with his baseball heroes, or test his sanity, it was to be reconciled to his father. Describe times in your life when you felt God put you through a series of challenges or tampered your ego, causing you to ask what’s in it for you. Were you able to find reconciliation with your Heavenly Father in the end? Do you look forward to the day when you get to meet a Jesus face to face and finally find out what the true reward is on the other side?