“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 

 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 

 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.“

1 Corinthians 15 :1-11 

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September 26, 2025

As we’ve been reading this excerpt from 1 Corinthians repeatedly, did you notice different aspects of our own response to the gospel as Paul describes them in verse 1? The gospel is something that we receive. It is something given to us as a priceless gift, but we have to open our arms and receive it! The gospel is a thing on which we stand, the unshakeable ground under our feet as we battle through our days. The gospel is the method by which we are being saved, sanctified, and restored to our true selves in God. The gospel is doing the work in us as we partner with the Spirit!  

But what does the last part of the verse say? “If you hold firmly…”. We must hold on as tightly as we can to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must hold on!  

I was reading a book recently in which the author reflected on contemporary times, noticing that we may be in a time of falling away. People are falling away from the church. They are letting go of their grip.  

While there are many reasons for this, I’ve personally heard comments like:  

 

  • Christianity is too divided 
  • Churches are hypocritical, they judge others harshly but don’t do anything about their own sin 
  • The Bible is too hard to understand and everyone has their own interpretation and no one agrees 
  • I don’t want to go to church because the church just seems “off.” Like it’s more concerned with money and politics than with growth according to Scripture.  

The world is fatigued from Christian scandals, hypocrisy, and all kinds of behavior that doesn’t reflect Christ or any teaching in the Bible. And because they can’t find Christ in Christians, they are walking away from Christ.  

The gospel is our only hope. It is the only hope for us as believers, and it is the only hope for the world. Our mission, as the body of Christ, is not to gain political power or “change culture” through angry protests, but to allow the gospel to radically change us. 

 

Questions for reflection and discussion:  

  • Have you ever struggled to hold on to the gospel? What helped you to hold on?  
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray for those who are struggling to hold on to God.  
  • Instead of angry ranting and complaining, we need more listening to one another. How can you be a present and alert listener this week to someone who is struggling? Invite Jesus into that conversation.  
  • Spend some time in confession before God. Confess your own sins and confess the sins of the Church that you are aware of. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in repentance and grief.  

 Church Reading Plan:

  • Today, September 26: 2 Samuel 22; Galatians 2 
  • Saturday, September 27: 2 Samuel 23; Galatians 3 
  • Sunday, September 28: 2 Samuel 24; Galatians 4