Paul probably came to Corinth in the fall of A.D. 50, after having preached the Gospel to the highly intellectual Athenians. The story of this initial visit is described in Acts 18. Paul ministered a year and a half in Corinth before he was brought by the Jews into court before the new Roman Proconsul, Gallio.

Paul lived with two expatriates from Rome, a husband and wife, Aquila and Priscilla, who had been forced to flee because of a persecution under the Emperor Claudius. All three of them were Jews. All three of them were tent makers. Each Sabbath, Paul would go into the synagogue telling about Jesus being the Messiah. This created considerable controversy. Ultimately, Paul left the synagogue. He ministered increasingly to the Gentiles as well as Jews for 18 months to two years before moving on to Ephesus on the Turkish coast. Word came to him in Ephesus of some of the problems at Corinth. Apparently he wrote them a letter which has been lost. Apparently they misunderstood some of the things he said. Now he writes to clarify his message.

A study of the Corinthian letters is one of the most relevant a church can make today. It was a church in an urban setting. Wherever there is a port, money, cultural diversity and good weather, you'll find people with problems. The church had divided into factions. There was sexual immorality. There were lawsuits between Christians. There were Christians hooked on alcohol, to the point that they disrupted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. There were struggles over the charismatic gifts. The Lord's Supper was beginning to be a cliquish event. There were persons with false notions about the resurrection. Then there were practical matters involving the women's issue. And there were some who were denying the resurrection. Paul had to speak to all this.

And there was a somewhat obscure issue to our modern mind about whether or not a Christian could eat meat offered to idols -- obscure that is until one begins to deal with the whole matter of how does a Christian live in a pagan culture. So Paul, writing between A.D. 54 and 56, deals lovingly but firmly with this group of believers, so similar to those of us living in the "fast lane" yet needing God's stabilizing influence.

As I step back and look at 1 Corinthians, and particularly at today's text, I am struck with the reality of the importance of thanksgiving in our lives as believers in Jesus Christ.

Let's concentrate on two kinds of thanks.

First, you and I are privileged to give thanks for the way God has called us into relationship with himself and with each other.

In spite of our weaknesses as individuals and as a church, the fact is that you and I are called people.

Paul was called by the will of God to be an Apostle in Christ Jesus. He was to be an ambassador, a representative of the Lord. He did his job well.