Welcome to Good Shepherd Church

As Paul finishes talking about running our Christian race with discipline and self-control, he then immediately warns the Corinthians about being overconfident in their own strength. To illustrate, he points to Israel's journey through the desert, where they "were baptized" in the Red Sea crossing and "ate spiritual food and drink", but still fell into idolatry. In the same way, the Corinthians (and us) who have been baptized and take part in the Lord's Supper, still have to be on guard, lest we fall into the same trap of idolatry. The good news, however, is that God has provided a "way out" - and that way out is Christ himself.

As we finish chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, Paul compares the Christian life and our Gospel mission to an athletic event. In order to race well and finish well, we are called to live disciplined lives. We are called to be willing to give up things that we are actually free to do. However, the beauty of this race is that as we sacrifice - and as we point people to the ultimate sacrifice - more and more people win.

As Christians, we have freedom and we have rights. As Americans, we have freedom and we have rights. In our text for this Sunday from 1 Corinthians, Paul is going to be talking about his rights. But as he does, he's going to let us know that sometimes the most important thing we can do is to give up our rights - both for the sake of our neighbor and for the sake of the Gospel.