The Corinthian Correspondence

The Faithful God

May 21, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 2 Corinthians 1:12–22

In the second half of this 2 Cor. 1, the apostle Paul defends the integrity of his ministry from accusations prompted by changes in his travel itinerary. He answers those accusations, in part, by grounding his work in the steadfast foundation of the gospel itself. In this message, Pastor Ben calls us to consider some practical issues of Christian character that emerge in this text, before closing with reflections on the unshakeable nature of the gospel.

The God of All Comfort

May 7, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 2 Corinthians 1:1–11

In 2 Cor. 1.1-11, the apostle Paul celebrates the shared comfort we have in Christ and in His church. In this message, Pastor Ben leads us to contemplate and celebrate the love of God, the comfort the church shares in Christ, and the gospel hope we have past, present, and future.

Final Thoughts

April 30, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 16

In 1 Cor. 16, the apostle Paul closes the letter with practical matters concerning travel plans and future ministry. But in this final chapter of the letter, Paul returns to themes he dwelt on at length throughout. In this message, Pastor Ben traces these gospel themes as vital to the health of a Christ-honoring, gospel-embodying church.

Spiritual Power in the Church

April 16, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 14

In 1 Cor. 14, the apostle Paul provides corrects the Corinthians' abuse of spiritual gifts in the church's worship service. In this message, Pastor Ben explores both the nature and uses of the gifts of tongues and prophecy as gifts of the Spirit for building up the church.

The Dead Come Alive

April 9, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 15

Responding to those who denied the doctrine of bodily resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15 is the apostle Paul's magnificent, multi-dimensional exposition of bodily resurrection as central to the Christian faith. In this Easter message, Pastor Ben urges Calvary believers to both celebrate, and embody, the glorious mystery of resurrection hope in every facet of our lives

The Greatest of These is Love

March 26, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 13

In 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul here crowns his long argument for unity in the church by declaring sacrificial love to be the essential virtue of Christian faith that covers and governs the exercise of whatever gifts individual believers happen to have. This passage is one of the most magnetic and majestic expositions of love ever written. But it was not written in isolation. Paul specifically wrote this chapter to expose where the Corinthian believers have been falling short throughout the letter. The failure to love well is at the heart of everything that’s wrong in the Corinthian church. And modern churches would do well to suspect that it might be a lack of love that’s at the heart of the challenges and failures we experience in church life today. In this message, Pastor Ben leads us to meditate on three features of Christian love in order to remind us of the centrality of love both in the motivation and the manner of exercising spiritual gifts in the church.

Spiritual Gifts

March 19, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 12

In the next message in our series on Corinthians, Pastor Ben will cover the twelfth chapter, focusing on spiritual gifts to help the church understand its mission and how the Spirit equips her to accomplish it.

Correcting Corinthian Confusion

March 12, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 11:2–34

In 1 Cor. 11, Paul is concerned to correct two very serious behavior errors in the context of corporate church gatherings. The first half of the chapter addresses inappropriate behaviors regarding the blurring of conventional gender distinctions. The second half of the chapter addresses inappropriate divisions in the context of the church's observance of the Lord's Supper. In this message, Pastor Ben explores the implications for today's church in light of the issues Paull addresses.

Idolatry & Its Associates

March 5, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 10:1—11:1

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul revisits the issue of idolatry by pointing to the example of Israel's repeated failures in the wilderness in order to caution Corinthian believers about the dangers of idolatry and all its accessories. In this message, Pastor Ben aims to trace the flow of Paul’s warnings to help us evaluate the potentially idolatrous issues we face today in a biblically-informed and spiritually-mature way.

Liberty & Charity

February 26, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 8—9

Chapter 8 marks the introduction of a new issue addressed by the apostle Paul. It is the question of whether Christians should eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols in pagan temples. The issue of eating meat raises the more important, underlying issue of how we should exercise our Christian liberty in those cases where Christian liberty conflicts with Christian love. In this message, Pastor Ben traces the contours of Paul’s guidance to help navigate the gray areas in our own lives in a way that will bring glory to King Jesus, maturity to His people, and unity to His church.

Marriage & the Gospel of King Jesus

February 19, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 7

Paul’s overarching purpose in chapter 7 is to give the Corinthian believers a Kingdom framework through which to think about new situations and difficult circumstances that can arise in the life of the church and individual believers. He isn’t giving us an exhaustive checklist or decision tree. He wants us to grow in Kingdom maturity and be able to think and deliberate on life issues in a way that honors King Jesus. In this chapter, Paul offers instructions on marriage, sexual intimacy, and singleness, as well as instructions on the delicate and divisive matters of divorce and remarriage. These instructions are balanced, nuanced, and profoundly Kingdom oriented. In this message, Pastor Ben guides us through this lengthy and complex chapter with courage, confidence, and with conviction that God’s purpose is good and that we can trust His Word through it all.

Corinthian Distortion

February 12, 2023 • Tristan Edens • 1 Corinthians 6

In 1 Corinthians 6, the apostle Paul turns to address a new source of division in the church--public lawsuits--before closing the first major section of the letter by returning to the danger of sexual depravity in the life of the Christian believer. In this message, Calvary Student Pastor Tristan Edens, summons the church to fully embody its high calling of embracing purity and exercising responsibility and authority over its members as a prelude to the cosmic judgment God's people will aid in executing in the day of the Lord.

Remove the Wicked Man

January 29, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 5

From chapter 4 and into chapter 5, Paul shifts his attention from divisions in the church to depravity in the church. In chapter 5, Paul confronts the Corinthian church. He scolds the church for its toleration, and even celebration, of flagrant sin. 1 Corinthians 5 is a famous chapter dealing with the delicate issue of church discipline. But in this message, Pastor Ben addresses this issue head-on. He challenges us to real, authentic, holiness. And he challenges the church compassionately, but also courageously, confront sin within the fellowship. We don’t cover it up. We don’t ignore it, just hoping it will go away. We confront it with confidence knowing that Jesus is with us, and His power will be demonstrated through our obedience in calling sinners to repent.

The Firm Foundation

January 22, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 3:5—4:21

In 1 Corinthians 3 & 4, Paul is, again, calling Corinthian believers to see and understand the nature of the gospel as centered on Christ, and that every servant of the gospel is working toward the same goal. In other words, we are all on the same team! Every servant, and particularly every church leader, will give an account to King Jesus for both the materials and the methods of their labor. In this message, Pastor Ben follows Paul’s lead by continuing to drive home the gospel vision for how we live individually and how we labor corporately to build God’s church.

The Wisdom of God

January 15, 2023 • Ben Kimmell • 1 Corinthians 2:1—3:4

In this passage, the apostle Paul shows the Corinthians that the conflict in their church is the product of natural wisdom, not the Spirit-given wisdom of God. Paul wants Corinthian Christians reject the values and vision of the unregenerate world. Instead, Paul calls believers to live in light of the Lordship of Christ and embody the peace of God's Kingdom. The the bottom line is that their problems are the direct result of a lack of spiritual maturity. In this message, Pastor Ben traces out Paul's argument and calls Calvary Christians to pursue spiritual maturity and reject the vision and values of this broken world.

Calvary Baptist Church | Perry, FL

The Corinthian Letters