When we read any of the letters in the New Testament–to the Romans, Galatians, etc.–we are actually reading somebody else’s mail, Richard Hays says. By reading the mail of the ancient Corinthians, a group of new Christians in ancient Greece, we learn what we can’t miss if we’re going to learn who God is and who we are with God. 

Paul, the writer of the first letter to the Corinthians, says, I don’t want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. In other words, I don’t want you to miss spiritual gifts. Paul believed that discovering spiritual gifts, discovering and embracing the Holy Spirit, in general, was what these new Christians needed to grow and unite in God for the common good. Paul believed that the more we listen to the Spirit and come alive in our diverse giftedness, the more we will be one around God’s mission.

Message from Sunday, June 22, 2014.