Over the next few months we will be exploring 1 Corinthians together under the series called “Becoming the Church.” The premise of the series is simple and searching: we do not become the church by escaping the mess. We become the church by bringing the way of Jesus into the middle of it.

1 Corinthians is a letter to wrestle with. Paul writes to a church that is real: gifted and divided, Spirit-filled and immature, theologically alive and quietly shaped by the values of its city. Corinth is a mirror. The church was in Corinth, but much of Corinth was still in the church. Every generation of Christians has to ask the same question: where have the values of our culture been quietly baptized with Christian language?

Paul's answer is not to clean the church up before God can use it. He names the Corinthians by grace before he corrects them with truth. Grace grounds formation. That is the shape of this series — and it is the shape of what we hope Tables will experience this month.

This month, the invitation is not simply to read about the church, but to let the Scriptures form us as the church. Throughout July, Tables will read through 1 Corinthians in its entirety and practice studying Scripture together — carefully, curiously, and with attentiveness to the Spirit. Read it like a novel, listen to it on the bible app, let the words get into you as you hear, wrestle, and let the Spirit speak.