Feedback - RKF



Sermons - I Corinthians 1.10-18



SI:



1. "Name means being" from the poem is an interesting concept. I think this is a great tie in with Paul's texts because of his use of Christ's "name" and as I think, what that means to be part of the church that bears his name. From what you told us about the Korean culture and names, I think has great relevance for your audience, more so than many of ours.

2. Do most Koreans make the connection? I would assume many would. Does this then translate into an understanding for them of what it means to "be" the church?

3. I wish we could hear your sermons in your native language. I think we would benefit even more from a richness that we may be losing in the translation.



CJM:



1. I think you've grasped a key issue - baptism. This resonates with my take on this passage. I like the way basically walked us through this passage bringing out this key issue.

2. Your use of identity seems to be the core issue of the problems in Corinth. This too is what our people are dealing with. Do they really know their identity in the church?

3. You set us up by prefacing that you struggled with this text. I didn't see that in your sermon. I found it easy to follow and the issues were right on target, I think.



LRG:



1. I really enjoy your pastoral prayers. They are well thought out and tied to the texts. I struggled with the other issues that come up later in this letter, so I didn't mention them. You did this in a way that didn't detract from the text or sermon. Your questions raise important theological issues (theology is in part about learning how to ask the right questions).

2. Like with Sung-In, I wish we could hear your preach this in your own setting. I didn't connect with Brother Lawrence (forgive my ignorance on this). Could you expand the opening illustration a bit?

3. I wanted to see more of your humor that we saw in other sermons. I have a feeling much of this would indeed be unpacked in your own context.



RLD:



1. I appreciate your inclusive comments about other cultures and ethnic groups. I know this is a passion for you as it is for me. I also appreciate how each your sermons have been tied closely to your worship settings. You have a gift of tying these texts to your people.

2. I kept wanting to catch a glimpse of your delivery of the sermon. I think we've missed the aspect of your actually preaching it.

3. Where do you place the baptism in your service? Before or after sermon? I think this could be a key element for your sermon. I tend to believe that the sacraments have a life of their own in our services, i.e., in some ways they are the sermon for the day.



RKF:



My struggle with this text was how to actually tie this to our local settings in the church. My questions: how do we work through these conflicts? How can we lead people into an understanding of their calling as the church? This was autobiographical in some ways based on past experiences, and I felt frustrated then and now as to how such things can be resolved. I think this sermon would well lend itself to be part - maybe the first - in a series that goes through the letter. This too was struggle for me. I kept wanting to move ahead to talk about the first chapter. Chris, Larry, and Doug did this well without detracting from the sermon.



DPE:



1. A lot of good stuff in this sermon. You raise some very important questions both for your church and for all churches. It's always good to try and connect your people with history.

2. When you went to verse 13 and talked about Christ "being cut up into pieces," did you remember that this word for "divide" was different from the one used in verse 10?

3. I realized we all sermonize, but I noticed you made several comments like, nothing else, that's exactly it, it's very clear, etc. I know I preached about the simple aspect of preaching the gospel, but I hesitate to use over-simplifying language like this. I think with Paul, it's not just "nothing else," or "that's it." Perhaps it is both simple, yet also very profound.