Last Week's Sermon Summary and Discussion Questions

Sermon: What Will Hold Us Together? Our Purity
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 5:1-12

Summary: We've all heard of church scandals and know the damage they cause. The damage is felt not only in the church but outside as well. When believers fail to deal with sin in the lives of its members, sin multiplies and spreads. This destroys the church's witness to the surrounding culture and grieves God. Therefore we must learn not only to deal with our own sins but the sins of our brothers and sisters as well. There are three appropriate responses to the sins of other believers. First is mourning. We are called to care deeply for one another to the point where we grieve over their sins. Second, we're called to exercise judgement - not in a proud and condemning way - but judgement in the sense of right and wrong. We must not shy away from calling sin in the lives of our brothers and sisters for what it really is. And third we must act. If a brother or sister is unrepentant, we must do something. Doing nothing while a fellow believer sins is not an option. One thing that will help us to act is when we prioritize their future well-being over their immediate needs. Their immediate need might be acceptance and friendship but such things will never bring repentance. We must act by withholding our acceptance and friendship so they, seeing the the consequences of their actions, will come turn their lives around. While such an act may seem cruel, this 'cruelty' is really an act of grace in the bigger picture.

Discussion Questions:
1. How would you handle a situation in which your friend was clearly sinning? How would you respond?
2. Do you think you would ever withdraw your friendship from a friend who was unrepentant?  If not, why not?
3.  Do you think that you could ever come to a situation where you had to choose friendship with God over friendship with one of your friends? What kind of situation would bring something like this about?
4. In some cultures, an individual`s sin is blamed on the family or community (the rationale being that the individual is a product of his or her family). If there is a moral failing in the church, should the church be blamed?