Beautiful Mess: You Fool!

Wisdom, Foolishness, and Our Beautiful Mess

Life is messy, but it's also beautiful! In this series, we’re exploring a letter from the Apostle Paul to the early Christians to see how God works in and through our imperfections. Check out Sunday’s message above, then, continue the conversation with the reading plan and resources below.

Once again,  we want to encourage you to read the entire 1 Corinthians letter this week. Each reading should teach you something fresh! It will take about an hour in total.

  • Monday: 1 Corinthians 1-3

  • Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 4-6

  • Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 7-9

  • Thursday: 1 Corinthians 10-12

  • Friday: 1 Corinthians 13-14

  • Saturday: 1 Corinthians 15-16

Check out the resources used in this week’s teaching, as well as books you can explore if you’d like to dive deeper into our conversation.

  • Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, NIV

  • First-Century Study Bible, NIV

  • Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians, Part 1, by N.T. Wright 

  • Creating a Scene in Corinth, by Reta Halteman Finger

  • Conflict & Community in Corinth, by Ben Witherinton III

  • Apostle of the Crucified Lord, by Michael J. Gorman 

  • The First Epistle to the Corinthians, by Gordon D. Fee 

  • First Corinthians: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, by Richard B. Hayes 

  • A Week in the Life of Corinth, by Ben Witherington III

  • St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology, by Jerome Murphy O’Connor

    Check out The Bible Project’s summary video of 1 Corinthians.: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/1-corinthians/ 

    Also, check out this free masters level class from The Bible Project with  nearly 14 hours of digital content: https://bibleproject.com/course/1-corinthians/

  1. What were some of your big takeaways from Sunday’s message?

  2. In a culture where we are constantly bombarded with information, how do you differentiate between wisdom and foolishness?

  3. How does the way of Jesus challenge the cultural values and expectations of our society today?

  4. The message of Jesus is one of love, self-sacrifice, and reconciliation. Many find these values to be foolish endeavors. Why?