Who’s Feeding Your Feed? | November 1 Hour of Power

Pastor A’s Nugget
“Everybody has a platform. That doesn’t mean everybody has wisdom.”

Start with this question

Who gets the most access to your attention? Your feed can introduce you to helpful voices, but every confident opinion needs examining. This week, Paul brings us back to the cross and challenges the standards we use to recognize wisdom.

Your aim: Recognize God’s wisdom in Jesus Christ, examine the voices shaping your thinking, and give God the credit for His grace.

Golden Text • 1 Corinthians 1:25, NKJV
“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

What makes it golden? Paul captures the lesson’s central truth: what people dismiss about God’s saving work surpasses human wisdom and strength. God is neither foolish nor weak; our judgment is limited.

Read the Word right here

1 Corinthians 1:18–31 • New King James Version

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

²⁰Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

²²For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

²³but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

²⁷But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

²⁸and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

²⁹that no flesh should glory in His presence.

³⁰But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

³¹that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

Know the background

Who & what?

Paul writes an epistle—a letter—to believers in Corinth. The church was divided over leaders and influenced by status and persuasive speaking. See 1 Corinthians 1:10–17.

When & where?

Approximately A.D. 54–56, following the lesson material. Paul wrote from Ephesus to Corinth; see 1 Corinthians 16:8. He redirects their confidence toward Christ.

Explore the Scripture

1. The cross changes our perspective • vv. 18–20

The same message receives different responses. The cross reveals God’s saving power, even when people dismiss it. Paul challenges the idea that human learning or a polished argument can provide salvation. Learning is valuable; proud self-reliance needs correcting.

Pastor A’s Nugget: “Knowing how to explain a Scripture and allowing it to correct you are two different things.”

2. Christ is God’s wisdom • vv. 21–25

People bring expectations about how God should prove Himself. A crucified Messiah challenged those expectations. Paul keeps preaching Christ crucified, because Jesus is God’s power and wisdom.

Pastor A’s Nugget: “We can become so attached to how we expect God to work that we miss what He has already done.”

3. Grace leaves no room for boasting • vv. 26–31

Most of these believers lacked impressive social standing. God’s choice overturns human measures of importance. Our life in Christ comes from God, and our confidence and gratitude belong in Him.

Pastor A’s Nugget: “Tell the testimony so people can hear what God did.”

Take a closer look: verse by verse

Verse 18: One message, different responses. Some reject the cross; believers recognize God’s saving power.

Verse 19: Paul quotes Isaiah 29:14: God overturns proud claims to wisdom.

Verse 20: Expertise and debate cannot accomplish the salvation God provides.

Verse 21: God saves through the gospel people dismiss. The point is the message’s perceived foolishness, not careless preaching.

Verse 22: Paul describes people seeking signs or wisdom as their standards of credibility.

Verse 23: A crucified Messiah challenges those expectations. Paul keeps Christ at the center.

Verse 24: Across backgrounds, those called recognize Christ as God’s power and wisdom.

Verse 25: God is neither foolish nor weak. Paul challenges how people judge His work.

Verse 26: Most of these believers did not have high social status. God’s grace is not reserved for the influential.

Verse 27: God’s choice of those considered foolish or weak exposes human pride.

Verse 28: God receives the lowly and despised. Our measures of importance need examining.

Verse 29: No one can claim salvation as a personal achievement.

Verse 30: Our life in Christ comes from God. Jesus is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Verse 31: Give the Lord the credit. Paul draws on Jeremiah 9:23–24.

Words worth knowing

Wisdom — sophia (Greek): Paul contrasts human judgments with God’s wisdom revealed in Christ.

Stumbling block: An offense or obstacle to accepting the message.

Righteousness: Being made right with God through Christ.

Sanctification: Being set apart for God; Christ is the source of our holiness.

Redemption: Deliverance through a price paid; our freedom is secured through Christ.

Boasting: Finding pride or confidence in someone or something. Paul directs it toward the Lord.

Supporting Scriptures

Open each passage to read it here. All passages below are NKJV.

Isaiah 29:14

Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.

Jeremiah 9:23–24

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

1 Corinthians 2:1–5

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Colossians 2:2–3

that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Ephesians 2:8–9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

This week’s devotional

Would you have chosen the cross?

If we were designing a rescue plan, we might choose a public display of strength that nobody could question. God’s saving plan brought Jesus to a cross.

Think about that before you let appearances make your next decision. A large following does not settle whether a message is true. A polished presentation still needs examining. And someone with very little recognition may have something valuable to teach you.

Paul brings us back to Jesus. At the cross, our confidence in what we can achieve gives way to gratitude for what Christ has done. We receive salvation by grace through faith. We cannot earn it or use it to claim superiority over someone else.

This week, take a closer look at the voices you allow to shape you. Open your Bible. Ask questions. Stay teachable. When a message makes you feel impressive but leaves little room for Christ, pause and examine it.

Pastor A’s question: “Have you ever been impressed by how someone sounded—then realized you needed to check what they were actually saying?”

Pray: Father, give me discernment about the voices I follow. Keep me humble and willing to receive Your Word. Let my confidence rest in Jesus, and let my life give You glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My reflection: Which voice or influence do I need to examine in light of Scripture?

Your writing saves in this browser on this device. It is not sent to Pastor April.

This week’s music soundtrack

Help Me Believe — Kirk Franklin

A listening invitation to bring your questions to God. Pair this song with 1 Corinthians 1:18–25: the message of the cross challenges human expectations, and our confidence rests in Christ.

Listen on Kirk Franklin’s official YouTube channel

Listen & reflect: When the world’s opinions challenge my faith, where do I turn?

November Wisdom Challenge • Case file 01

Wisdom Detectives: Who gets the credit?

Investigate five claims. Read the passage, choose the Scripture that answers each case, and collect a clue word. Solve all five to reveal your message for Pastor April.

0 of 5 cases solved

For a paper challenge, read verses 20, 29, 24, 30, and 31. Explain how each answers a claim about impressive speech, deserving salvation, the cross, life in Christ, and giving glory. Bring your answers to class.

Bring it into your week

Your weekly challenge: Share a brief testimony with one person. Explain something God has done in your life and why you trust Christ.

Bring this to class: How can we celebrate accomplishments while remembering that salvation is God’s gift?

Lesson Book Questions • Write Your Responses

All ten questions below are from your lesson book. Read the Scripture above, then write your responses. Your answers save on this device.

1. What is one reason Jesus’ crucifixion was such a stumbling block to the Jews?2. What Old Testament passage did Paul quote in 1 Corinthians 1:19?3. Why did Paul specifically mention scribes and disputers?4. How did the Jews’ desire for signs correspond to the life of Jesus?5. Why did Paul highlight that the Greeks sought wisdom?6. How did Paul talk about God’s foolishness and weakness?7. What does God’s use of weak and unlikely people demonstrate?8. What does “no flesh should glory in [Jesus’] presence” (vs. 29) mean?9. What does Paul mean when he said that God made Jesus wisdom unto us?10. Why is no one able to boast before God?