Wisdom That Looks Like Foolishness
Summertime Sermon Series: 1-2 Corinthians
June 2026
The Corinthians thought they knew. They lived in a culture that prized eloquent speakers, impressive credentials, and clever arguments. Successful people in Corinth had a particular look (very Roman toga-ish, very Greek cosmopolitan). They were (very!) well-dressed, well-spoken, and well-connected. Many Corinthian Christians were quietly trying to import that same look into the church. They sorted themselves into cliques and factions and styled themselves on their favorite influencer-teachers. They boasted about which baptisms counted, which pastors were the most articulate, which spiritual gifts were the most spectacular.
But Paul says the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Paul wants these sophisticated people to embrace a crucified Messiah, a Jewish criminal who was given the Roman death penalty. That is the wisdom of God. That is what saves the world.
June's Sermons at a Glance
This June we will walk through the first ten chapters of 1 Corinthians and watch Paul apply this strange “cross-shaped wisdom” to one practical question after another:
June 7 — Powerful Wisdom for a Foolish Age (1 Cor. 3–4): What real Christian leadership looks like, and why churches nurture servants and stewards rather than celebrities.
June 14 — The Not-Good Stuff People Do (1 Cor. 5–6): Hard words about hard things, but especially about the church's responsibility to deal honestly with its own sin.
June 21 — Practical Advice for a Godly Life (1 Cor. 7–8): Marriage, singleness, conscience, and the everyday decisions where the gospel meets real life.
June 28 — Freedom Is Not Moral License (1 Cor. 9–10): What we are free for, not just what we are free from.
A Thought to Carry With You
If there is a single insight from June worth carrying into July, it is this: the gospel gives us a new way of measuring everything. As Christians, we learn new ways of measuring success, leadership, freedom, marriage, money, and even new ways of measuring ourselves. The Corinthian church is sinful. Every church is sinful! But nothing will change if they do not stop using Corinth's measuring stick.
We do the same thing more often than we'd like to admit. Twenty-first-century America has measuring sticks of its own. We reflexively measure worth by wealth, productivity, influence, optics, followers, and the like. (Our world’s definition of strength!) Paul's letter asks us chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse to set our yard stick down and pick up one that is shaped like a cross.
Looking Ahead to July
July brings us to chapters on the Lord's Supper, the body of Christ, the great love chapter (1 Cor. 13), and the resurrection chapter (1 Cor. 15). Then on July 26 we will turn the page into 2 Corinthians, where the tone shifts from instruction to something far more personal. The second letter is written in tears.
Mark your July Sundays:
July 5 — Coming Together as a Church (1 Cor. 11–12) Communion Sunday
July 12 — Love and Consequences (1 Cor. 13–14)
July 19 — The Very Best Really Great News (1 Cor. 15–16)
July 26 — Yes and No (2 Cor. 1)
A Simple Practice for the Month
Try this. Some evening this month, sit down with 1 Corinthians 13. It is the wedding chapter, the LOVE chapter. This time, try to read it slowly without the automatic connection to romantic love. Read it as a description of Jesus. Substitute his name everywhere you see the word "love." Jesus is patient. Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy. Jesus does not boast. That is who Paul is asking the Corinthians to become. That is who God is asking us to become. It is the strength that looks, at first glance, a lot like what we define as weakness.
See you Sunday.
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