Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• The passage for this Sunday will be 1 Corinthians 7:1-5, returning to the regular exposition of 1 Corinthians. If possible, read 1 Corinthians 5-6 to refresh the context for chapter 7.
• Verse 1 starts with "Now concerning...", how does this relate to the prior context? Looking at the beginning of chapter 5, Paul indicates he is responding to reports delivered to him. Who is bringing these new matters to Paul? What is the issue brought to Paul?
• Paul responds to the question that man and wife should have one another to avoid what?
• The emphasis in verses 3 indicates that a husband gives conjugal rights to his wife and the wife to her husband. What is the reason for this as described in verse 4?
• Verse 5 starts with a command to not deprive one another, except for short periods. What can be the outcome of the deprivation if it goes on too long? Who is the one doing the tempting? What activity replaces conjugal rights during the short period of abstinence?
• The Sermon Study equipping class notes are available online for anyone wanting to dig deeper.  Please review this week's notes to help study this passage.  Click here for the notes. 

Prayerfully Meditate

• Why would the Corinthians think it is good not to have sexual relations with a woman? How does that compare with their praise of a man having sexual relations with his mother-in-law in chapter 5? How does this mixed mindset regarding sexual union inside and outside of marriage find itself in our culture today?
• Why would Satan be interested in marital conjugal rights? Review Genesis 1 and 2 and Ephesians 5 to find what is at stake when marriage is attacked. What must we do to protect marriage unity and intimacy?
• What do you think of when you have to submit husbands to wives AND wives to husbands in the matter of conjugal rights in marriage? Does this strike against any pre-conceived notions of roles in marriage that you might have?
• In what ways do you hinder sexual unity in your marriage based on what is found in this passage?  
• How should married couples help prepare those who are single and desiring marriage?
• If you are single in what ways are you preparing for marriage and the spiritual attacks that can come inside of your marriage?
• If you desire to remain single are there any ways you can encourage and strengthen others in the church who are in marriage?