If you have spent much time reading the Corinthian letters, you will notice how Paul intentionally places the famous “love” chapter ... chapter 13 ...smack dab in the middle of his conversation about the public use of the gifts of the Spirit. In chapter 12 he details what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are and then in Chapter 14 he establishes structure for the Corinthian church on their public use...basically saying... “Okay Corinthian church...this is what its going to look like when the spirit comes and speaks in when you are gathered together publicly”
As a pastoral and apostolic elder Paul establishes structure because he had received word that these people were abusing the gifts of the Spirit without any concern or thought for their fellow church-goer or especially the outsider who is visiting their worship environment.
With this series, we hope to cover over the next few weeks, topics such as:
What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
What is the phenomenon of speaking in tongues and what does it mean?
Are the gifts…like tongues, prophecy, working of miracles etc. even still for today?
If so, what is the biblical pattern of how they operate in a public worship service?
