Background to 1 Corinthians

For the next couple of Sundays, as we continue our new series looking at the 'I urge you' phrases in the New Testament letters, we're going to be in the letter known as 1 Corinthians.

This week we're looking at the theme of being united based on Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 1:10 

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Then next week we're looking at submitting and serving one another starting with 16:15-16 

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to submit to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labours at it.

An important part of working out what the Bible is saying to us now, is to know what it was saying then. Because these are letters - written by an actual person (Paul), to a group of actual people (the church in the city of Corinth), about an actual series of events (issues that had arisen in the church) it is important to know this background before we start to attempt to apply this letter to CBC in 2018.

We're not going to have much time to look at this background - but below is a great overview video from The Bible Project. There's also plenty of other great stuff on the Bible Project website including written content and access to a series of podcasts.