In his sermon 'The Message We Preach', Steve Kittle explores the challenges faced by the Church of Corinth, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The church was divided over loyalty to various leaders and other issues, prompting Paul to remind them of the central message of the Gospel. Kittle emphasizes the priority of the Gospel over other matters, such as the act of baptism, which is important but separate from the Gospel itself. He discusses the role of preaching, which should be clear and straightforward, focusing on Christ crucified. The sermon addresses the paradox of the Gospel, perceived as foolishness by some, yet it is the power of God for those who believe. Kittle concludes by encouraging believers to seize opportunities to share the Gospel, emphasizing that while humans cannot convince others to be saved, God uses the Gospel message to call people to faith.

Alright, good afternoon. It is afternoon, isn't it? Yes it is. Good afternoon to you. Good to be with you here.

Be turning to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 1, please. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. My dad is fond of saying before I preach I'd like to say something and we'll try to keep the extraneous remarks to a minimum but I do want to bring you greetings from the First Baptist Church of Harrison, Ohio. Brother Ronnie Wolf is my pastor. I'm on staff there.

Somebody asked, what do you do on staff at First Baptist Church? Well, they just formed a committee to investigate that very question because they're not sure. But I'm thankful for my church, for my pastor, and I am thankful for this conference and mainly for this church and pastor. I have admired and been thankful for this church and pastor for many years. I appreciate Brother Hobbs so much.

He's faithful, he's consistent, he's gracious, and all those other things that he paid me to say. But I would have set him for free anyway because I do thank the Lord for such a man as brother James Hobbs. I was here last Saturday I was working on the sound system which is not working right now but that's not the part that I worked on hopefully but brother Hobbs said I'd like to have you come and speak. And that's the first time I had heard of that. So I was sort of a late addition to the conference schedule.

It was already set and they rearranged it to put me in. And you might ask, well does that bother you? No, it doesn't bother me at all. See originally, think about this now, the original schedule was made up by Brother Hobbes. And God Himself intervened to get me on the schedule.

And so I'm thankful for that. And this is the honest truth. I did not know that the conference had a theme until one of the speakers mentioned it this morning and preached the word. And the title of my message today is the message we preach and so God leads even you know in ways when we don't know it and I'm thankful for the leadership of the Lord aren't you I mean I'm glad that God is guiding us through this whole world and that his wisdom is far above ours. So we want to get right into the message and try to stay on time and not keep you a terribly long time.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 1 we begin reading now in verse 12 it says Now this I say that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I have baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanus, besides I know not whether I baptized any other.

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, and pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified. Under the Jews a stumbling block, and under the Greeks foolishness but under them which are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Father I pray that you'll bless the reading of your word and help me Lord to proclaim it in a way that is helpful to the people and pleasing to you and we lay it all in your hands in Jesus name we pray amen. The message we preach if you know anything at all about the book of first corinthians or the church at Corinth you know that this particular church had problems they were divided over loyalty to various leaders They were living in a carnal manner. They were spiritually immature concerning doctrine.

They had open fornication in the church. Members were suing one another in court. They were abusing the Lord's Supper. Women were acting out of their place, and they were doubting the resurrection. That's sort of a summary of the problems of the church at Corinth and on and on it goes.

And in fact, most of us in independent Baptist churches up to today, we probably would have removed their candlestick by now, don't you think? But thankfully that's not up to us. That's God's business. There are some churches and pastors and preachers that think they know exactly when a church ceases to be a church. I think we need to leave that to God and just go on and be faithful our own selves.

But anyway, Paul writes this letter to Corinth to take them to task concerning all of these foibles. And he lays the foundation here at the beginning of the book by reminding them of the message that was preached to them that brought them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. As we observe the religious scene today, as we observe the state of churches today, both true churches and those so-called, it's not hard to discern that the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has taken a back seat to the proclaiming of a social gospel that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the message of Christ and the Apostles and faithful Baptists of various names down through the ages. And I dare say that the martyrs of the Dark Ages would turn over in their graves if they could hear some of the stuff that is being preached and taught today in the name of the Gospel. I mean, they stood firm on what they believed, and they suffered shameful treatment and torture, and many died being persecuted for their faith.

And then these Yehud's come along and getting rich off of preaching prosperity and popularity and psychology and pie in the sky and calling it quote unquote the gospel. It's an insult to that great cloud of witnesses that we read about in Hebrews chapter 12. What I want to preach to you today is not anything new and startling. I don't have anything like that. Everything that I think has been said before and probably by better people and more eloquently than I.

But I want to simply call you as God's people to walk in the old paths and not to remove the ancient landmark. We want to talk about the gospel. That's the message that we preach. Number one, the priority of the Gospel. The priority of the Gospel.

Paul opens this book and the verses that we read beginning in verse 12 and talks about how these Corinthians were caught up in debating who had, the way I read this, they were debating about who had the most prestigious baptism. Apparently some had been baptized by Apollos. Some had been baptized by Peter. I don't know exactly when Peter visited there or whether they visited where Peter was, but Cephas being Peter had baptized some of them. A few had been baptized by Paul himself.

And Paul asked them the rhetorical question in verse 13, is Christ divided? Well obviously not. But these proud misguided Christians were dividing the assembly over the question of who had won them to Christ and or who had put them beneath the baptismal waters. And the Apostle Paul reminds them in so many words that baptism is not an act that is performed at differing levels. If you have scriptural baptism, you have it.

If you don't, then it doesn't matter where you went under the water or who put you under the water. It's not valid. There's only one Lord and there's one faith and there's one baptism. And so he's saying you're being foolish dividing the congregation over who baptized. No one has a better baptism than another.

Anyone who receives scriptural baptism is identifying with Jesus Christ, not the one who dunks them in the water. And then Paul makes this very definitive statement. Look in verse 17. Very thin pages in his Bible. Hard to do there.

It says, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel. Look back at verse 14. Paul said, I thank God that I baptize none of you, but Christmas and Gaius. Look at verse 16. And I baptized also it's like he sees sort of remember that yeah I said say that vaguely remember that I baptized the household of stephaness and besides I know not what baptized any other now folks if baptismal regeneration is a doctrine Paul sure missed out on it somewhere.

He didn't get the memo. If it so be that you must be baptized in order to be saved, why in the world would Paul make such statements as these? And the truth is that Christ's Gospel is completely separate from the act of baptism. Now we know that baptism pictures the Gospel, but it's not part of the gospel. Now let me hasten to say I do not minimize the importance of baptism.

Many of our forerunners among Baptists stood and gave their lives over this very doctrine. And it's an important doctrine. And I'm not minimizing that it's important and what it means to the Christian, because over and over and over in the Word of God, it shows us folks being saved and immediately submitting to baptism. Now I have known people who claim to be saved, and yet they refuse to be baptized. I have to wonder about that.

I have to wonder if they're really saved. That's not for me to say. That's between them and God. But the Bible commands us. Remember what Peter said.

They came to him on the day of Pentecost. They said, what shall we do? And Peter says, repent. And then be baptized. Now, they didn't say, the question is very specific.

They didn't say what must we do to be saved. They said, what must we do? And Peter said you need to repent, get saved, and you need to be baptized. Now you go over to the book of Acts, chapter 16, and the Philippian jailer came to Paul and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And that's when Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

The Bible is very specific. Every word is important. That's why I don't like paraphrases. I don't like when somebody purports to be saying, now this is what God meant to say. I believe God said what He meant and He meant what He said.

But the priority of our preaching and witnessing must be the message of the gospel. Look at chapter 2 and verses 1 and 2, and I brethren, When I came to you, this is Paul doing pioneer mission work in Corinth. He said, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." He said that's the message you needed at that hour. Why? They're lost.

As our brother priests, they can't respond to anything. The only thing that will do any good for them is the message of the Gospel preached to them, and the Holy Spirit taking that and using it, and quickening their dead soul and spirit, and bringing them to life that they might receive it. Often, I have tried to encourage Christians to be witnesses for Christ. And so many times they have said, oh, preacher, I just don't know how to answer all their questions. And I don't know how to debate their false doctrine.

Let me tell you something. You don't have to be able to answer all their questions. And you don't have to be able to debate the lost. You just need to know the Gospel and tell them what Jesus has done for you. It's the priority of our preaching.

Now I'm glad for other subjects that are taught, and I'm glad I was taught at some point, and learned these things, the doctrines that we hold dear. But a lost person needs the Gospel. That's the priority message right there. Number two, let's talk about the preaching of the Gospel. In verses 17 through 21, Paul again is talking here, he says, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.

He was sent to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. He said if I flower up my speech and use those two dollar words, then He said it's going to obscure the message. I love that song and the hymnal that we bought several years ago. Unfortunately, it doesn't have. It says, Christ receiveeth sinful men.

And in the chorus it says, make the message clear and plain. I like that. I like for the message to be clear and plain. Now look at verse 18, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God." Now let me stop right there. If there's anything we ought to do we ought to do what pleases god my precious worry about faith without faith it is impossible to please god so we need to exercise faith we need to plant the faith and as see the faith in let it grow it says it please god whatever was that please god that's what I want to do That's what I want to be found doing. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now look at verse 23. But we preach Christ crucified.

The gospel of course is the good news of Jesus Christ. You know that, you've heard that. I think literally the gospel, it's something that casts a good spell over people and we're not talking Harry Potter here anything like that but it's the good news of Jesus Christ at the end of the book first he sort of bookends the book of 1 Corinthians with the Gospel. Look at chapter 15. This is perhaps the most definitive definition of the gospel that we have.

And it says in chapter 15 verse 1, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved. If ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." Now let me point something out. That doesn't mean that, well, according to the Scriptures, Christ died for our sins. No.

He died for our sins according to scripture that was already in place. He fulfilled the scriptures. He died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That's the simplicity of the gospel right there. The death, the burial, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, those things certainly bring in a lot of other thoughts. And it's not preaching the gospel just to tell someone, hey, Jesus died and was buried in the roads again. They need to know they're a sinner. They need to know that they're dead in sins and that their only hope is Jesus Christ. They need to know all that.

But this is the Gospel in the nutshell. It's the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ. And That is indeed good news. And generally when we've got good news, we want to share it with someone. You get a promotion at work, you want to tell somebody.

Somebody gives you a new car. That's sort of far-fetched, isn't it? But If it ever did happen, you'd want to tell somebody. The gospel is the best news ever for sinful man that Jesus Christ went to the cross in place of sinners, suffered our hell, and imputed His righteousness to those who repent of their sins and believe on Him. Why would we want to keep that to ourselves?

And yet, somehow, for some reason, it seems like we're reluctant to witness to the loss. And you know something, that's nothing new. You go back to the Old Testament, there was a fellow named Jonah, and everybody knows about old Jonah. God, in a nutshell, God came and said, alright, I want you to go preach to Nineveh. Now, in fact, He didn't say, I want you to go, he said, go.

God doesn't make suggestions, God just commands, you know, He tells us what to do. And he says, Jonah, go to Nineveh and preach. And Jonah said, I'm not going. In fact, He said, I'm going to go the other way. And so you know what happened.

God put him through the whale university and he spent three days and nights running around in the bottom of the ocean. The first submarine ever. And eventually he caused that whale or fish or whatever was enough indigestion that the the whale spit him up out on the dry land and god said all right now let's try this again he said go to Nineveh and preach and Jonah in so many words I'm sure read between the lines a little bit but Jonah's he said this he said I'll go you can make me go but you can't make me want to go. Because Jonah went to Nineveh with a very very bad attitude. He went in there he preached and said yet forty days and then about will be overthrown he didn't he didn't preach a a message of of hope and of grace he didn't give them any hope that they were going to get he he basically said forty days minimums can be overthrown and I can't wait.

Yeah. He did that, went out on the hillside, sat down under the little booth that he made, and waited to see what God was going to do. And you know what happened. In spite of His attitude, and this is just a blessing that God uses the message more than the messenger. I mean, He was definitely in the wrong frame of mind, and yet God used that message and the whole city repented.

I mean, the whole bunch repented in sackcloth and in ashes. And you know what happened? Jonah got angry. It says the thing that the Lord did displeased Jonah exceedingly. You know you're backslidden if you're unhappy with God.

But the point I'm trying to make is that Jonah didn't want to go and preach to these folks. He had his reasons and that's another sermon. And admittedly, Jonah was an extreme case. But you know something, when we refuse to witness, when we have the opportunity, we're no better than that backslidden prophet. God gives us opportunities.

I'm not sure that, you know, I've seen people that are out on the street corners with a megaphone and yelling, you know what, I'm not going to put those people down. That's not my thing. And I'm not so sure that's really the right way to go about it. But at least they're doing something. And if they're preaching the truth, then I'm not going to put them down.

And if that's the way God leads them, then that's fine. But God opens doors for us. God gives us opportunities to share this wonderful message that we have. And it doesn't matter if they're elect or not, because we don't know. Has God ever sent you all a list?

If so, please email that to me. But we know. No. You see, we don't know. And that's why we're told, go preach the gospel to every creature.

And as God gives us opportunities, then I think we ought to seize those opportunities to preach the gospel. See, Not all preaching is done up here. The word preach just means to proclaim. And that's what we are to be doing as children of God. Let's move on to the third point.

That is the paradox of the gospel. One of the speakers already today used that word. I didn't think that I would hear that from anyone else, but use the word paradox. Paradox is like two things that don't seem to go together, or things that are seemingly at odds with one another. Look at verse 22.

Let's go back to our text. I'll get there in a minute. First of all, here's the condition of the Jews and the Greeks. Verse 22. For the Jews require a sign.

You know, they were always looking for a sign Jesus said you know you all time looking for a sign then no signs gonna be giving except the sign of the prophet Jonah there's Jonah again but the Jews require sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. So you got two kind of categories that people fall into. You got some that are looking for a sign and then you got some that are looking for wisdom. It seems that man inherently has a spiritual void in his soul and so many today are running to the psychologists and the psychiatrists and the analysts and the gurus and the shamans and even religions trying to fill that void, trying to make sense of it all, trying to discover quote unquote the meaning of life. That's what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2 and verse 3.

He said, I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly. I tried it all, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under heaven all the days of their lives. So you see, it's true men are searching. Men are looking for something. But the problem is they're not looking for the Gospel.

When they hear the Gospel, with natural, depraved understanding, they don't like it. They don't gravitate toward it. They try to ignore it. Why is that? As our brother said, they're dead.

They're dead. Spiritually dead. So what do we do? Alright, here's one course of action. We become seeker sensitive.

You all know that term? Surely you've heard it at least. You know, basically it means give people what they want. Tell them what they want to hear. Let's appease the Jews with signs and wonders and miracles and speaking in tongues?

Or you've got this other group, you see, that like the Greeks, they're looking for something that makes sense to them, that fits their logic, that sounds scholarly and wise. Should we attempt to twist and mold and shape the Gospel message into something more palatable to the educated masses? Well, obviously not. God forbid that we become men-pleasers instead of God-pleasers. Remember that Paul told Timothy, he said Timothy, the time will come when sound doctrine is not going to be tolerated.

And the religious sector will heap to themselves teachers, and they'll have itching ears. Religion is a big thing. Religion is a big business. Let me throw in a few thoughts here. I can meddle as well as preach.

I don't know how many quote-unquote Christian radio and television stations you have in this area, the area where you live. In most places though, you can sit and watch or listen to so-called Bible teachers 24 hours a day, if you want. And while there are some good ones out there, for every sound preacher or teacher, there's probably 20 or 30 or more rancarotecs. And my point is this, for what little fish you get out of that mess, there's a whole lot of bones to be spit out. And I encourage you to make sure that your first and foremost source of biblical instruction is the pastor that stands in the pulpit week after week after week and gives you what he has prayerfully studied and bathed in prayer.

I'm not putting down Christian radio or television. I'm magnifying the office of the pastor that God has ordained and filled with the man of His choosing. Why? Because He's not going to give in to the temptation to scratch ears, to preach what people want to hear and to show them what they want to see. Those of you on Facebook, you may have seen that video that went around, I guess it was a Pentecostal church where the people were screaming and yelling and jumping down running up down the aisles one guy came up he did a forward flip on the platform jumped up walked up to the baptistry and dived in.

And I watched that the first time and I laughed, and then it occurred to me how sad that is. How sad that is. You've got to Do that kind of thing in order to keep people's attention. And it's like the Jews always looking for a sign. Do a miracle, Jesus.

We want to see something miraculous. Or they're like the Greeks. Well, we want education. We want erudition. We want something that sounds good, that sounds wise.

We may not even understand it, but if it sounds good, then we'll Accept it. We need this preaching of the Word of God. Preach the Word. That's the theme of the conference. That's the theme of our churches.

Preach the Word. And number four, the power of the Gospel. In verse 23, it says, we preach Christ crucified. That's right after he said he said the Jews require sign the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified. See Paul goofed again.

He didn't pick up on the seeker sensitive movement here. He didn't give the people what they wanted to hear. We preach Christ crucified. No matter who the audience is, no matter What they've come looking for, we preach Christ crucified. And what are the results of that?

Alright, let's go on. Unto the Jews, a stumbling block. Now wait a minute. The Jews want a sign. A sign, think about a sign, a road sign, is something that helps you along.

It might be a speed limit sign. And you look at that and you look down and say, oh, I better slow down. And you come over the rise and yeah, there's a state trooper sitting in the median. And you say, man, I'm glad for that sign. It's something that helps you.

It says you need to turn here, or you need to turn there. A sign helps us along. But the preaching of Christ crucified to the Jews is a stumbling block. It doesn't help them along. It causes them to stumble.

And unto the Greeks, it's foolishness. You see, they search for something they think is wisdom. We preach Christ crucified, and it sounds like foolishness to them. Now does that make sense for us to do that? Doesn't it seem like we're spinning our wheels?

Doesn't it seem like we're wasting our time in doing that? Now wait a minute, he's not done. Now I'm glad he's not done. But! Well there's some great buts in the Bible, you know what?

But! Under them which are called. We'll get to that in a second but I tell you what now this is the reason why some preachers and perhaps many in their desire to see results and build a large congregation they tone down the message just look I don't think we need to be deliberately offensive. We don't need to have such an attitude as to make people mad. If the message makes them mad then that's fine.

Let's make sure that our attitude is not what causes them to be mad. We're supposed to dwell peacefully with all men as much as possible, but you've got pastors that see their churches going down. It's so tempting. It's so tempting to sort of change things, to ease off talking about sin. Robert Shuler said, one of the worst things that you can do as a preacher is to tell people they're sinners.

You know, that was his version of preaching the gospel. Maybe that's why we shy away from witnessing personally. Our message sounds foolish. I mean, we have to expect that and be ready for it. But the next verse gives us confidence in preaching that foolish message.

But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now what is it that makes the difference between a stumbling block and the power of God as it concerns the gospel message What is it that takes a foolish message and makes it wisdom in the eyes of the Greek? Well, he says it right there, but unto them which are Called It's the call that makes the difference. Now this is not merely an outward call. I'm rehashing some of Brother Wilson's points here.

It's not merely an outward call, although there is an outward call in the preaching, and that's important. How shall they believe on Him whom they've not heard? But when a lost individual hears the gospel, and instead of it being nonsense to him, it makes good sense. And he realizes his lost condition, and he trusts Christ as his Savior. That is something much more than just a preacher being good enough with words to convince him on a logical or intellectual level.

It's what we describe as the effectual call. It's not effective. You might have an effective ball player if he hits a third of his shots or gets a hit three out of ten times to the plate. That's effective. But the effectual call means he gets the job done.

We sometimes call it the irresistible call. Again, I'm preaching to the choir just like you other brethren, but God uses the gospel message to call or to draw sinners to Jesus Christ. In John 12, 32, Jesus said, if I be lifted up from the earth, that's the gospel message, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. Turn to Romans 10. I'm winding down here.

I'm almost done. Just back up a few pages to Romans chapter 10. And beginning with verse 13. You know these verses for whosoever. Shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.

How then? Shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. You see, here's where our stomach block comes in. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed every word? He said, I preach this stuff and it doesn't seem like they're listening.

It doesn't seem like it's getting through. Isn't that the way we feel? You try to witness to someone, try to give them a track, whatever it is that you present the Gospel to a person, and they say, I don't want anything to do with that. I'm good, I'm set. You go and visit someone, oh, I'm all set.

I get told that all the time. I'm all set. I'm all right. Lord, who hath believed that report? Verse 17, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

So he says Don't despair. Just keep on giving the message. And when we do that, then God is pleased with that because it's what He said. He said, please God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's our marching orders.

To preach or proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You may say, I don't think I could ever convince someone to be saved. You're exactly right. Exactly right. And neither can James Hobbs or Mike Prater or David Green or Steve Kittle or anyone else.

That's for God alone to do. But remember, He has chosen, this is a blessing now, not a burden, He has chosen to use you and me as instruments to get it done. He didn't have to. He didn't have to. He could make the rocks cry out.

He could ride it in the sky. He could do it any way that it pleased Him. But it pleased Him by the foolishness of us proclaiming the Word of God. Us proclaiming the Gospel message to bring souls to Christ. It's a privilege to be even a small part of God's work of saving the lost.

You know something? God can use you. Look at verse 25 of our text. And I turned away again. Verse 25, it says, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

You see, God at His worst, you don't have to forgive that expression, Let's just say that God at His most foolish is wiser than the best wisdom that man has to offer. God at His weakest is far stronger than anything that mankind can produce. We should never shy away from an opportunity to share Christ. We do shy away, but we should not. And we need not have confidence that God will use your witness.

Have confidence that His Word will not return unto Him void. He will either Use it to convert or He will use it to convict. His word does not return void. When Paul first visited Corinth, the city from which the book of tonight's text is taken, He was discouraged. They opposed His message.

They threatened violence against Him. And God told him in Acts 18-10, He said, Paul, don't be afraid to go preach in Corinth. I have much people in this city. I believe God has people in this city. I believe He has people in Harrison, Ohio, and up in Michigan, and down in North Carolina, and wherever it is that you happen to call home.

Let's go preach to them. Let's go proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. That's the message we preach. Hey, brother.