Amos and 1 Corinthians

Amos 3-9
Amos tells what will happen to Israel. Several time God tells of tests of the people, but they "did not return to me." It is easy to hear the saddness in God's voice at the wandering of the people. Amos tells the people that God promises, "Seek me and live." How can they seek God, "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts will be with you...... Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate." 5.14-15a

Amos declares that God will allow hard things to happen to the people. Including a time of silence, "The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD." I wonder what this meant to people who did not listen to God voice. Not hearing God's voice is a dry time spiritually for those who need to hear the LORD.

But Amos ends with some hope, God will allow a remanant of people to survive and God will raise them up from the ruins.

1 Corinthians 6:1-11:16
Paul's letter to the Corinthians is a teaching letter of how to live as new Christians in a pagan world. He affirms that in Christ we are free, but that freedom should not be abused. "All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial." 6.12 "All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other." 10.23b-24

He reminds us that to be a Christian is to reflect Christ. "do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." 6.19-20

Paul discusses relationships both within the community of faith and with others.

He also teaches about the Lord's Supper. He corrects bad behavior that was surrounding the meal and affirms the real intention of the meal. "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." 10.16-17 Paul reminds us that The Lord's Supper is remembering Christ's sacrifice, experiencing Christ's presence, and becoming Christ's body in the world.