Sunday Sermon, 18 January 2026

Second Sunday of Epiphany, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

A reading from St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 NRSV

You can listen to the sermon here, or read below:

We are very fortunate here in Sedbergh to have an amazing Youth Group called Ignite, which is run by a team of dedicated leaders. Occasionally I will visit in order to join in and lead a short Bible devotion at the end of the evening. I am always impressed by the way that the leaders encourage the young people, and especially the way they show patience and care when behaviour gets trying. I asked one of the leaders, Joe, about some of the more challenging behaviours they encounter:

• when one hits another, they’ve got to hit back “as thats only fair”

• sneaking off into the loos or upstairs not knowing where they are

• NOT BRINGING BACK parent slips to say they’re officially part of youth club or slips for trips

• eating all the food so there’s none left for leaders 🤣

• sneaky back chat but I do like a bit of banter with them

We know that young people often test boundaries and push things too far. That is natural! They’re trying to work out who they are in the world. They’re also dealing with a sudden rush of hormones which means that judgment is sometimes lacking.

When I see the Ignite leaders caring for our young people, I see love at work. Here is a group of people in their twenties, who are giving up their Tuesday evenings in order to come alongside, care for, and encourage young people. At times it can be exhausting. But the glue that keeps our Ignite leaders coming back each week and supporting them is love – a love for the young people, and a desire for them to catch a glimpse of God’s love.

* * *

Over the next five weeks leading up to Lent, we will be working our way through the first three chapters of St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. This is a church that Paul founded during his second missionary journey, about twenty years after the resurrection of Christ. The book of Acts suggests he spent about eighteen months with them before moving on to the next stop, Ephesus. His letter was probably written three or four years after this.

The reason I give this background is that it is important to understand that the Corinthian church was a very young church when Paul wrote to them. We will see in chapter three Paul famously tells them he has given them ‘spiritual milk’ because they are still infants in Christ and are not ready for mature food. It’s as if they had only just blown out the candles on their sixth birthday cake!

And so, just as young people are sometimes prone to do, the Corinthians are playing up. We will see that there are some big issues they face: divisions in the church, spiritual pride, and plenty of immoral and destructive behaviours. This exasperates St Paul at times.

But, like a good youth group leader, teacher, or parent, Paul does not give up on the Corinthians and wash his hands of them. No, Paul perseveres and reaches out in love, because he wants to see them mature in their faith and established in their relationships.

* * *

You sense this in Paul’s encouraging opening words to the Corinthians. He does allude lightly to some of the issues the Corinthians face – issues of purity, unity, and spiritual pride – but mainly in this introduction he wants to reassure them that they have been called by God, and God is faithful. The same God whom they came to know when they first believed is the God who equips them in the present, and will strengthen them in the future.

Paul is writing to a young, scrappy church that was in need of plenty of direction but eager to learn and to grow. Just as a good youth leader looks upon a group of rascally teenagers, and can see the good people they are growing into, so Paul can see a good future for this wayward church he loves so much.

* * *

This all happened 2,000 years ago. In many ways, it feels quite distant to us now. The church building we are worshipping in was built around 700 years ago. John Wesley began his preaching ministry almost 300 years ago. Many of us here this morning have been worshipping in Sedbergh for decades.

When God looks at us, does he see an old church or a young church? Does he see a mature church, or a church in need of guidance? Does he see a united church or a divided church?

It depends a bit on how you understand ‘church’. When we look at our local church here in Sedbergh and the Western Dales, there is much to give thanks for – a desire for unity, and to work and worship together for the common good.

But when we take a broader view, it can sometimes feel as though the church hasn’t learned anything over the years. The global church is divided into denominations and traditions, and even within our denominations there is much bickering and fighting. We also see spiritual pride in the way the church has so often put its own reputation before those who have experienced abuse at its hands. Watch the recent Channel 4 documentary on John Smyth, ‘See no evil’, for a particularly harrowing example of this.

And when we look into our own hearts, in our more honest moments, we can recognise that adolescent struggle between doing the things that will satisfy us, at the expense of what will benefit others.

* * *

2,000 years certainly seems like a long time. It can be tempting to think that we are older and more mature than the Corinthians. But in the light of eternity, two millennia is like the blink of an eye. I think we are still a very young church, being born anew every generation, and always in need of guidance.

But although that means there is a lot to take on and learn, it is also an exciting place to be.

Like the Corinthians, we are a work in progress. And so, like the Corinthians, we need to be reminded that God is faithful. He looks after us and watches over us. We have been saved and called by his grace, and he will faithfully equip us with all we need for the present and the future.

Over the next five weeks, let us listen in carefully to the Apostle Paul as he instructs the young church in Corinth – and let us remember as well that we are not so old ourselves, in the grand scheme of things, and there is much for us to learn also.

Amen.