October 05, 2025
Greetings and blessings to all of you. The Word says in Eph. 5:25-27 “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish.” After understanding this; it is difficult to hear so many people speak against His church. Some say the church is man’s ideal. Some see the church as people meeting together voluntarily without accountability like in a health club or a coffee shop and thinking the church as a building. The word church means an assembly or “called out ones” from the Greek word ecclesia…which Christ is the head. Apostle Paul (the church planter) refers to the church being a Body of Believers. The people would meet together with other like-minded believers in a commitment to Christ. However, we must understand that there are all types of people in church today, such as the unregenerate Corinthians. Paul founded this church on his secondary missionary trip. The most serious problems of the “people called out” was worldliness, an unwillingness to divorce the culture around them. Most of them could not consistently separate themselves from their old, selfish, immoral, and pagan ways. Their behavior got so bad that Paul had to command the faithful ones not only to break fellowship with the disobedient and unrepentant members but to put those members out of the church. The Corinthians also felt the preaching of the cross was foolishness or nonsense. The people of Corinth were blind to Christ crucified and what it meant. To them His death in this manner was foolishness. They were proud and boastful and thought the wisdom of the world was the most important investment. Another problem they had was the allowing the culture to enter into the church. Since they were living in a sexual permissive culture, they were okay with incest and other forms of sexual sins. They also had an issue focusing on the head of the church which is Christ- instead their focus seemed to be on Paul, Apollos or Peter. And because some had certain spiritual gifts and others did not; that led to ‘spiritual superiority’ over others which caused more division in the “people called out”. Today we have similar problems. Christ. Jesus will return and what will He find? Please pray for the Body of Christ…the remnant.
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC