Kaleo Church Podcast

In I Corinthians 9 Paul goes to great lengths to stand up for his “right” to receive financial support from the church. However, where most people stand up for their rights in order to exercise them, Paul stands up for his right only to lay it down again? Why? What could possibly entice Paul to joyfully lay down something he clearly had a right to?

      How do you view Christian freedom? Do you think of it as the right to do what you want or do you see freedom as the opportunity to consider the impact your choices might have on the weak? In I Corinthians 8, Paul shows us which one he chose and why he thought it was so important.

Knowledge puffs up. In this passage Paul argues that it is possible to have good theology and to speak true and accurate things about God without ever really knowing him. So what is the difference between this imaginary knowledge of God and true knowledge? In this passage Paul warns us about the danger of having an imaginary knowledge of God and he gives us a picture of what true knowledge looks like.

Sometimes marriage seems like it will fix our loneliness and longing for intimacy. However, Paul urges the Corinthians that are single to stay fully devoted to the Lord if they can. What if the intimacy we all long for, singles and married, is found in the person and work of Christ? And what if that same intimacy is something we will enjoy for all eternity? Listen and hear how eternity shapes the way we singles can love for the glory of God.

      What if Jesus didn’t really rise again from the dead? Have you ever thought about that question? In I Corinthians 15 Paul gives us a picture of what life would be like if Jesus didn’t rise again. It’s a pretty bleak picture and it's meant to wake us up to just how important the resurrection really is.

      How many of you find that your joy in life seems to rise and fall with your circumstances? How many of you feel like “If only ____” would happen then everything would be better? In I Corinthians 7:17-24 Paul addresses our slavery to our circumstances and calls us to embrace the freedom that Jesus came to offer. If you are wondering how such freedom could be possible then this message is for you.

What does the Bible teach us about the purpose of marriage? What is Paul’s view of divorce and how does understanding the purpose of marriage help us make sense of his position? And what about those who have been divorced? What hope does the Gospel offer them and what healing can they find in Jesus' steadfast love? These are some of the questions we will consider in this sermon as we take a closer look at I Corinthians 7:10-16. 

      Anyone who has been married for long knows that sex isn’t always something that you and your spouse see eye to eye on. In fact, for many couples, sex can be the source of some significant conflict. In I Corinthians 7:1-5 Paul discusses the topic of sex in a way that helps us understand why it sometimes leads to conflict and how it is that this conflict might be resolved.

Most people are aware that the Bible prohibits sex outside of marriage, but what is often less clear is why. Why does God put so many restrictions on something that people desire so deeply? For many it can begin to seem like God might be holding out on us. But in this passage Paul shows us that God has actually offered us something far better than sex and its actually sexual immorality, and not God, that threatens to keep us from what we truly desire. 

A false view of freedom and spirituality will lead the church to adopt the same ethics as the surrounding culture where the free expression of inward desire is celebrated. Paul points us to the resurrection of Jesus to transform and renew our hearts and minds and give value to our physical bodies. He directs our love and all of who we are away from self and turns it to God and to others so that we may experience and live out of the true freedom that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Our culture tells us that the path to meaning is through the free expression of our desires, unless of course, those desires end up being harmful either to ourselves or others. In I Corinthians 6:9-11 Paul warns us about the danger of following many of the desires that our culture has deemed safe. In this passage we will see both the danger and the ensuing shame that comes from following our desires, as well as the redemption from shame and the freedom from our enslavement that the Gospel comes to offer us.

How are Christians supposed to respond when they have conflict with other Christians? Are we supposed to respond just like the rest of the world or is there a way to respond to conflict that is distinctly Christian? In this passage Paul lays out two right ways and two wrong ways for Christians to deal with conflict. 

       In this passage Paul tells us that another purpose of church discipline is the protection of the Church. After calling the Corinthians to live out the identity that God has given them in sincerity and truth Paul ends this section by giving us a few more details about the process of church discipline. In this message we will also consider the terrible carnage that has been left behind when this passage has been abused and we will talk about how our God has chosen to respond to it.

The Church is a family and one vital aspect of any healthy family is discipline. In this message we will discuss the purpose of church discipline and why it is that we often find ourselves so resistant to it. We will also consider the posture of church discipline which Paul tells us is mourning.

 In this sermon, we see how Paul continues to address and correct the Corinthians infatuation with eloquent speakers. While some of them have become arrogant towards Paul, his way of corrective discipline is with a fatherly gentleness that calls them to imitate the heart of Christ that Paul himself is imitating. Listen and hear how the Gospel forms us into gentle people.

The way up is down. That is what Paul is trying to help us see in this passage. And in order to make that argument Paul uses biting irony to help wake us up from our infatuation with the things of this world and to call us to follow him as he follows Jesus down the way of the cross. In this message we will see why Paul’s call is so extreme as well as what makes it worth the tremendous cost.

      Pride is a problem that all of us struggle with. In fact, the less someone struggles with pride, the bigger their problem actually is. Fortunately, in I Corinthians 4:7 Paul uses three diagnostic questions to attack the very roots of our pride. So for all us who happen to know some proud people, this message is for us. 

      Did you know that our attention is the most valuable resource that we have? And yet the truth is that we often give it away for nothing. In this text Peter tells us that we would do well to pay attention to God’s Word as if it were a lamp in a dark place. But it’s hard isn’t it? It’s hard because we live in an age of distraction. In this sermon we will consider why it is that we are so prone to distraction. We will also consider why it is that God’s Word is truly worthy of our attention and what it might look like for us to give our most valuable resource to the one who is most valuable.

      How is it possible to die in peace? I think many people assume that when death comes, they will somehow find peace and yet the reality is that most people go through life grasping at control and struggling with fear and anxiety when even one of the things they love are threatened. How could we possibly imagine that we might be ready to lose everything in death when we still haven’t figured out how to live in peace with the ordinary losses of life? In this passage Simeon shows us the secret to dying in peace which, we will find out, also happens to be the secret to a life of peace.

Have you ever felt like you just didn’t belong. It’s hard, isn’t it? In this message we will consider what the Christmas story has to say about rejection and our longing to fit in. Specifically we will consider why it is that the only person who got to choose when and how he was born chose to be born in a stable and laid in a manger.