EpiphanyYear A

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Sunday, February 1, 2026

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Second Reading

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1644 illustrations

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UniversalClassic

81:1, 10-16 anchors us in God’s character: He speaks, acts, and calls us to faithful response.

Arminian/WesleyanPastoral

18:9-14 whispers hope: prevenient grace is already at work, drawing you toward life—today, not someday.

PentecostalEdgy

18:1-8 exposes our control; the Spirit refuses to be managed—today, not someday.

Movie Analogy

Arrival: Choosing Love Knowing the Cost (Romans 8:18)

Louise Banks learns the alien language—and it changes how she experiences time. She can see her future: the joy of her daughter's birth, the agony of her daughter's death. Knowing the end, she still chooses to begin. She embraces a...

Everything Everywhere All at Once: Love in the Multiverse (1 Corinthians 13:8)

Evelyn Wang can access infinite versions of herself across the multiverse—every choice she didn't make, every life she could have lived. At first it's overwhelming chaos. But she discovers the secret: in a universe where nothing matters, the only thing...

1 Corinthians 13:8Universallovemeaning

Character Profile

Biblical Profile: Corinth

Corinth Corinth was one of the oldest cities of Greece, with evidence of settlement going back to at least 3000 BC.

1 Corinthians 1:1-16:24Universalbiblical_peopleworship

Movie Analogy

Coco: The Sacred Act of Remembering (Luke 22:19)

In Coco, the dead truly die only when no one living remembers them. Héctor is fading because his daughter Coco, now elderly, is forgetting him. Miguel races to restore her memory before it's too late. "Remember me," the song pleads—a...

Luke 22:19Universalmemoryfamily

Historical

The Spirit's Presence: Foundation of the Eternal Church

This distinguishes His Church from every other society—without Christ present, there is no Church.

1 Corinthians 10:11Universalthe Holy Spirit's role in the ChurchChrist's promised presence

Historical

The Lord's Supper: Commemoration of Christ's Dignity and Love

The striking agreement between Paul's report and the eyewitness accounts of those present stands as evidence of Scripture's truth.

1 Corinthians 10:24UniversalChrist's sacrificecommemorative worship

Historical

Thunder Followed by Gentle Rain: Terror and Tenderness

Throughout this epistle, Paul has wielded the rod of remonstrance, irony, and indignation.

1 Corinthians 16:21-24Universaldivine judgment and mercythe nature of Christian love

Historical

Christ the First-Fruits: Resurrection as New Phenomenon

When Socrates drank hemlock in Athens and Caesar fell upon the Roman senate floor, their deaths remained final.

1 Corinthians 15:20UniversalChrist's supremacy over deathbodily resurrection as eschatological hope

Historical

Eating and Drinking Unworthily: Discerning the Lord's Body

To eat and drink unworthily means partaking of the sacramental bread and wine contrary to Christ's institution, not discerning the Lord's body in the ordinance.

1 Corinthians 10:29Universalself-examinationsacramental worthiness

Historical

From Dumb Idols to the Living Voice of God

This verse captures the great change and its obligations.

1 Corinthians 10:2Universalconversion and transformationcontrast between false worship and true faith

Historical

Christ's Resurrection: The Earliest Written Testimony

Writing approximately thirty years after the event itself, Paul enumerates five distinct appearances of the risen Christ, including His manifestation to James, which aligns with the *Gospel of the Hebrews* and demonstrates an independent historical source.

1 Corinthians 1:7Universalhistorical reliability of Scriptureapostolic testimony

Historical

The Church as Christ's Body: Presence, Mind, and Instrument

True Christians manifest Christ's personal *presence* among men.

1 Corinthians 10:27Universalecclesiologyincarnational presence

Historical

Memory as the Treasurer of the Soul's Salvation

The Apostle Paul identifies five essential components: man's utmost happiness (salvation itself), the means to attain it (the gospel), the grace required (believing), the faculty necessary (memory), and the relationship binding them together.

1 Corinthians 15:2Universalmemory and spiritual retentionthe soul's faculties in grace

Historical

God's Faithfulness: The Foundation We Can Trust

Upon this eternal, self-existent fidelity we can repose with safety.

1 Corinthians 1:9UniversalGod's unchanging characterhuman weakness versus divine strength

Historical

The Word of the Cross Speaks for Itself

Paul renounced the "wisdom of words" because human eloquence veils the gospel's truth.

1 Corinthians 1:18Universalthe sufficiency of Christrejecting human eloquence for divine truth

Movie Analogy

Big Fish: Loving Neighbors into Legend (Matthew 22:37-39)

In Big Fish, Edward Bloom tells fantastical stories his son Will dismisses as lies. Only at his father's deathbed does Will understand: the stories were how Edward loved—transforming ordinary people into giants, witches, and mermaids because that's how he saw them.

Matthew 22:37-39Universallovestories

Historical

The Grave in the Garden Becomes a Prophet of Resurrection

In Palestine, the Passover coincided with harvest's first fruits—*aparche*—ready for Temple presentation.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4Universalhistorical fact as foundation of faithnature as witness to redemption

Movie Analogy

Interstellar: Do Not Go Gentle (Psalm 23:4)

Dylan Thomas's poem echoes throughout Interstellar: "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." It's the anthem of humanity refusing extinction.

Psalm 23:4Universaldeathhope

Movie Analogy

The Avengers: Many Members, One Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

In The Avengers, a god, a super-soldier, a genius billionaire, a rage monster, and two spies must work together—or the world ends. Each has unique gifts; none can succeed alone.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27Universalbodyunity

Movie Analogy

Oceans Eleven: Every Member Essential (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

In Oceans Eleven, Danny Ocean assembles eleven specialists—pickpocket, acrobat, hacker, demolitions expert—to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously. No individual could do it; together, they're unstoppable. Each person's specific gift is essential.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27Universalgiftsdiversity

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