1 Corinthians 1:17-31 | Sermon Resources | 19 October 2025
Summary
The message of the cross runs counter to everything the world celebrates. To some it seems weak or foolish, but to those who believe, it is the very power and wisdom of God. The cross exposes our pride, silences our boasting, and shows that salvation comes not through human strength or wisdom, but through the crucified Christ alone.
Discussion Questions
- Paul warns that it’s possible to “empty the cross of its power.” What might that look like in your own life or in the church today?
- According to this passage what are some ways the cross was seen as offensive? In what way is cross still offensive today? Why do you think this is?
- How do we, even as believers, sometimes try to make the gospel more appealing or “respectable”?
- Paul says God chose the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the strong.
- How does that truth humble and encourage you personally?
- In what ways has the cross changed how you view success, power, or greatness?
- Verse 31 says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” What would it look like for your life and words this week to reflect that kind of boasting?
- How can we individually and as a church stay centered on Christ crucified in everything we do?
Quotes
“I could accept Jesus as a martyr, an embodiment of sacrifice, and a divine teacher, but not as the most perfect man ever born. His death on the cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it, my heart could not accept.” – Gandhi: An Autobiography, p.113
“[Crucifixion is] a most cruel and disgusting punishment…To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him an abomination, to kill him is almost an act of murder: to crucify him—What? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed.” – Cicero, Against Verres
