Dillon Community Church

Day 1: When Faith Meets Real Life

Devotional

It is easy to keep faith in the comfortable spaces, Sunday mornings, quiet moments, familiar routines. But what happens when faith collides with the messy, complicated, sometimes painful realities of everyday life? That is exactly where Paul takes us in 1 Corinthians 5. He does not let theology stay abstract. He pulls it right into the middle of a real situation involving real people making real mistakes. This matters because Jesus was not a distant, untouchable figure. He was fully human. He experienced hunger, grief, friendship, and betrayal. He wept. He got tired. He knows what your life actually feels like. And because of that, the gospel is not just for Sunday. It is for the hard conversation you are avoiding, the relationship that is falling apart, and the habit you keep returning to. God did not design faith to be a separate compartment of your life. He designed it to be the foundation of all of it. When we understand that, everything changes. We stop asking, "What would Jesus do in church?" and start asking, "What would Jesus do right here, right now, in this?" You are not alone in the messy parts. Jesus is already there, and He is not surprised by any of it. That is genuinely good news.

Bible Verse

"For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building." - 1 Corinthians 3:9

Reflection Question

In what area of your everyday life have you been keeping Jesus at a distance, and what might it look like to invite Him into that space today?

Quote

"It may be because we magnify the deity of Christ and minimize the humanity of Christ. And so our gospel has almost no humanity in it. It's transcendent, but not imminent. It's high and lofty, but not in the everyday stuff of life."

Prayer

Lord, help me stop separating my faith from my real life. Remind me that You are present in every moment, not just the polished ones. Amen.

Day 2: Don't Look Away

Devotional

There is something deeply human about looking away when things get uncomfortable. We tell ourselves it is not our place, or that things will work themselves out. But sometimes, silence is not kindness. Sometimes, it is the most harmful thing we can do. Paul was troubled not just by the sin happening in Corinth, but by the community's response to it. They had done nothing. Worse, they were proud of themselves, perhaps believing their tolerance was a sign of grace and maturity. Paul corrects them sharply. He says they should have mourned, using the same word for grieving the dead. That is how seriously sin should be taken, not because God is waiting to punish, but because sin genuinely costs us something. When we become comfortable with things that are slowly destroying us or the people we love, we are not being gracious. We are being passive. And passivity has consequences. This is not a call to become harsh or judgmental. It is a call to care enough to pay attention. To take seriously what God takes seriously. The people around you are worth that kind of love. You are worth that kind of love. Do not look away from the things that matter.

Bible Verse

"So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking." - Ephesians 4:17

Reflection Question

Is there something in your own life, or in the life of someone you care about, that you have been quietly tolerating instead of honestly addressing?

Quote

"An easygoing attitude to sin is always dangerous. It has been said that our one security against sin lies in our being shocked at it. When we cease to take a serious view of sin, we are in a perilous position."

Prayer

God, give me the courage to take sin seriously without becoming harsh or self-righteous. Help me care deeply about what You care about. Amen.

Day 3: Grace That Actually Costs Something

Devotional

We live in a culture that loves the idea of grace, forgiveness without consequence, acceptance without expectation, love without any real demand. And while grace is absolutely free, it is never cheap. The grace Jesus extends came at the highest possible cost. His life. And while it welcomes everyone in, it does not leave us unchanged. In Corinth, a man had convinced himself that freedom in Christ meant he could live however He wanted. Grace would cover it. But that kind of thinking is not grace at all. It is a counterfeit. And counterfeits always cost more in the end. Paul's instruction to remove the man from the community was not punishment. It was an act of love. The hope was that, outside the warmth and life of the community, he would begin to feel the weight of what he had walked away from and find his way back. Real grace restores. It does not simply excuse. You have been welcomed into something extraordinary. The life God offers is abundant, joy-filled, and genuinely different from anything the world can produce. Do not trade it for something cheaper. You are worth far more than that.

Bible Verse

"For it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" - 1 Peter 1:16

Reflection Question

Where in your life might you be settling for a cheaper version of grace, one that feels comfortable but is not actually leading you toward the life God intends for you?

Quote

"Cheap grace, it never stays cheap. Eventually, it will cost you and your community something. Because when we begin calling destructive things harmless, when we repeatedly make peace with things that are actually tearing us apart, they don't just sit quietly in one corner of our lives. They spread."

Prayer

Jesus, thank You for a grace that cost You everything. Help me never take it lightly, and help me live in a way that reflects how much it is worth. Amen.

Day 4: What Your Community Becomes

Devotional

You have probably heard the saying that you become like the people you spend the most time with. There is real truth in that, and it works in both directions. A community shapes its members, and its members shape the community. Paul uses the image of leaven working through dough. A small amount of yeast, left alone, eventually affects the entire batch. Sin works the same way. What a community tolerates, it eventually normalizes. What it normalizes, it eventually celebrates. And a church that looks exactly like the world around it has lost the very thing that makes it worth belonging to. But here is the encouraging side of that same truth. Holiness is contagious too. When a community is genuinely committed to grace and truth together, when people are willing to speak honestly and love courageously, something remarkable happens. Lives change. Hope spreads. People who are searching for something real find it. You are not just an individual believer. You are part of something larger. The health of your community matters, and you have a role in it. Your faithfulness, your honesty, your willingness to love well, these things ripple outward in ways you may never fully see.

Bible Verse

"By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?" - Matthew 7:16

Reflection Question

What is one specific way you could contribute to the health and distinctiveness of your church community this week?

Quote

"What Paul says is that sin never stays isolated. It always creeps out into the lifeblood of the community and impacts the community and influences the community."

Prayer

Lord, make our community something genuinely different. Use each of us to build something that reflects Your grace and Your holiness together. Amen.

Day 5: Speaking Truth With Love

Devotional

Truth without love is just criticism. Love without truth is just comfort. But truth spoken in love? That is one of the most powerful forces in a person's life. It is also one of the hardest things to do well. Paul's entire approach in 1 Corinthians 5 is rooted in this tension. He is not writing to condemn the man in Corinth or to shame the church. He is writing because he loves them and because he believes they are capable of something better. His words are firm, but the goal is always restoration. Speaking truth in love means you care more about someone's actual wellbeing than about keeping things comfortable. It means you are willing to have the hard conversation, not to prove a point, but because you genuinely want to see that person flourish. It means you speak the gospel into real life, not just in theory. This is what the church is called to be. Not a place of judgment, and not a place of empty affirmation, but a community where people are truly known and truly loved. Where honesty and grace walk together. That kind of community changes lives. And it starts with each of us being willing to show up that way for one another.

Bible Verse

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." - Ephesians 4:29

Reflection Question

Think of someone in your life who might need a word of honest, loving truth. What is holding you back from having that conversation, and what would it take to move forward?

Quote

"Speaking truth in love isn't like, hey, man, at Bible study, I just wanted you to know that not a lot of people like you. That's not truth in love. Truth in love is speaking the gospel reality into the everyday experience of life."

Prayer

Father, give me the courage to speak truth and the wisdom to do it with love. Help my words build people up and point them toward You. Amen.

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*Devotionals written from sermon given by Pastor Ryan Leeds and compiled using Sermon Shots.