Faith in Focus #25

A reflection from Connection Church and other spiritual events from the week

Faith in Focus is a weekly reflection on what God has been teaching me throughout the week regarding my faith. Whether it’s personal interactions, reading, or the Sunday sermon, God speaks through it all, and I hope this helps you focus on His mission.

Follow Ben, and subscribe to Intellectual Dissatisfaction to receive next week’s edition.

Sermon Reflection

What if death is not the destruction of the body, but its transformation? In 1 Corinthians 15: 35-49, Paul invites us to see the grave not as an end, but as a planting.

Based on the sermon by Jonathan Land, Connection Church Sioux Falls, April 26, 2026.

Seeds in the Ground, Glory to Come

It felt a little morbid this week, but in a way that lingered with quiet hope rather than dread. We stepped into 1 Corinthians 15: 35-49, where Paul presses deeper into a question most of us avoid until we can’t.

What happens to our bodies after we die?

We live in a culture that swings between denial and obsession when it comes to death. We either avoid the topic entirely or pour endless energy into delaying it. But Paul does neither. He faces death directly, not to glorify it, but to strip it of its power.

Because for resurrection to mean anything, death has to be real. And yet, Paul insists that death is not the final word.

The World Behind the Text

Corinth was a city shaped by competing philosophies about the body. Some Greek thought treated the body as a temporary shell, something to escape. Others valued physical strength and appearance as ultimate markers of worth. Into that tension, Paul speaks a radically different vision.

In 1 Corinthians 15: 35, he anticipates the questions people are already asking. How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?

These are not abstract questions. They are deeply human ones. What will I be like? Will I still be me? Will anything of this life carry forward?

Paul doesn’t dismiss the questions. But he does challenge the assumptions behind them.

His response in 1 Corinthians 15: 36 is sharp, “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies."

Paul reframes death not as interruption, but as transformation. The fear of losing everything is met with the promise that something greater is coming, even if we can’t see it yet.

Walking the Passage

Paul reaches for an image that would have been familiar to everyone listening. A seed.

In 1 Corinthians 15: 37-38, he describes how what is sown is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel. And yet, God gives it a body as He has chosen.

A seed looks nothing like the plant it becomes. You could hold it in your hand and never guess the life hidden inside. But its future is not random. It’s intentional.

There is continuity between what is buried and what is raised, but also change. Our current bodies matter, but they are not the final version of who we are.

Paul expands the idea further in 1 Corinthians 15: 39-41, pointing out the diversity of bodies in creation. Humans, animals, birds, fish, even heavenly bodies all have different kinds of glory.

This matters because it breaks the assumption that there is only one kind of physical existence. God is not limited in what He can create or recreate.

Then Paul brings it home in 1 Corinthians 15: 42-44.

“What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”

Paul is not contrasting physical versus non physical. He is contrasting what is fallen with what is redeemed. A spiritual body is still a real body, but fully animated by the Spirit of God.
The brokenness we experience now is not permanent. Weakness, decay, and suffering do not define our future.

This is where the morbid tone shifts into something beautiful. The grave is not the end of the story. It is the planting.

Jonathan’s analogy of a seed captures this perfectly. You cannot look at a seed and imagine the full-grown plant. In the same way, we cannot fully comprehend what our resurrection bodies will be like. But Scripture is clear that we will have them.

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 15: 45-49 by contrasting Adam and Christ. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven.

And then the promise. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven

Resurrection is not just about restoration. It’s about transformation into the likeness of Christ. Our future is not merely improved humanity. It is participation in the life of the risen Jesus.

A Fair Counter-Reading

Some traditions interpret Paul’s language about a spiritual body as meaning a non physical or purely spiritual existence. This view emphasizes the soul’s immortality over bodily resurrection.

That perspective takes seriously the distinction Paul makes between natural and spiritual. It also resonates with long standing philosophical ideas about escaping the material world.

However, the broader context of 1 Corinthians 15 resists that conclusion. Paul anchors resurrection in the bodily resurrection of Jesus himself in 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8. If Christ was raised physically, then the pattern for believers follows the same trajectory.

The gravity of the passage leans toward continuity and transformation rather than abandonment of the body. Christian hope is not escape from creation, but renewal of it.

The Turn

This is where the passage presses into our lives now.

If our future includes a resurrected body, then our current bodies are not meaningless. They are not costumes we wear temporarily. They are part of God’s good creation, even in their brokenness.

At the same time, we do not place ultimate hope in them. They are sown perishable.

For those experiencing strength and health, it calls for humility in that these bodies will fade. For those experiencing weakness, disability, or suffering, it offers dignity in that these bodies are not the final word.

Because of the resurrection, suffering does not get the last laugh. Death does not get the final claim.

In 1 Corinthians 15: 54 later in the chapter, Paul will say that death is swallowed up in victory. That victory begins here, in the promise that what is buried is not lost.

It is being prepared.

Song of the Week: I Still Need Jesus - After Grace

After Grace has made a song that feels less like something you casually listen to and more like something that quietly confronts you. It’s the kind of message that doesn’t just sit in the background but lingers. It presses a little. And honestly, I think it’s something more people need to hear than they realize.

There’s a subtle drift that can happen in the Christian life. Not a loud rejection of faith, not a dramatic falling away, but a slow coasting. Things are going fine. Life is stable. Prayers get shorter, dependence gets lighter, and before long, faith becomes more of a backdrop than a daily necessity. It’s not always intentional, but it’s real, and I’ve seen it in myself even.

That’s why the lyric, “I can’t make it on my own, even at my best,” hits so hard.

Because it cuts through that illusion.

We like to think that our “best” versions of ourselves are enough. That if we’re disciplined, successful, emotionally steady, and making good decisions, then we’re doing just fine. But the truth is, even at our strongest, most put together moments, we are still completely dependent. Not just a little bit but entirely.

And that dependence doesn’t disappear just because life is going well. In fact, that’s where it becomes the most dangerous.

When things are falling apart, it’s obvious we need Jesus. It’s almost instinctual that we reach, we pray, we lean in because we know we don’t have control. But when everything seems to be working? When the job is solid, relationships are good, and life feels manageable? That’s when the lie creeps in of “I’ve got this.”

And maybe outwardly, it even looks true. But spiritually, nothing has changed.

We all still need grace. We still need guidance. We still need saving. Because no amount of stability, success, or material comfort can touch the deeper reality of who we are and what we ultimately need. You can build a life that looks complete on the outside and still be completely disconnected from the One who sustains it.

That’s the tension this song exposes so well, even if it’s not explicitly stated.

It reminds me that Jesus isn’t just for the hard seasons. He’s for every moment. Not just when I’m desperate, but when I’m confident. Not just when I’m broken, but when I feel whole. Because the truth is, what I call “my best” is still not self-sufficient. It never was.

And that’s not meant to discourage us, it’s meant to redirect. Because we’re not left to figure it out alone.

We have Jesus. Present, constant, and unchanging. Not waiting for us to fail so we come back, but walking with us even when we forget to acknowledge Him. That kind of faithfulness changes how we should view everything. It should shift our perspective from independence to intentional reliance.

The real tragedy isn’t just that people walk away from faith. It’s that some slowly convince themselves they don’t need it anymore because life feels full.

But fullness without Christ is temporary.

Everything we build, earn, or accumulate stays here. It doesn’t follow us beyond this life. And when all of that fades, what remains is what always mattered most all along. Our relationship with Christ.

So if there’s anything to take from this, it’s this: don’t let comfort dull your awareness of your need for Jesus. Don’t let success convince you you’ve outgrown dependence. Take a moment to actually reflect, not on what you have, but on what sustains you.

Because whether it feels obvious or not, the need is still there. And it’s still the most important thing you could ever recognize.

Carry It Into the Week

There is an invitation in this passage to rethink how we see both death and life.

First, we can learn to speak about death honestly. Not with fear, but with clarity. The Christian story does not avoid death. It confronts it with redemption and resurrection.

Second, we can care for our bodies without worshiping them. They matter because God made them and will redeem them. That shapes how we rest, how we endure, and how we honor the physical realities of others.

Third, we can anchor hope beyond what we can see. Just like a seed gives no hint of its final form, our current experience does not limit what God is preparing.

Hope is rooted in God’s promises, not our imaginations. Even when life feels like decline or loss, God is still at work bringing something to life.

Week in Reflection

This week has felt like a steady exhale after the rush of the past one. After days filled with travel, loud rooms, tight schedules, and constant movement, returning to something familiar has been grounding in a way I didn’t realize I needed. There’s a quiet kind of reset that comes with routine. The small, ordinary rhythms that don’t demand much from you but give a lot back in return. It’s been a chance to slow down, to reflect, and to actually process everything that just happened instead of immediately jumping into the next thing.

But even in the calm, something new has begun to take shape.

Outside of the much needed rest, another door has opened. This time within my church. For over a year now, I’ve had the privilege of serving as a team lead for our Welcome team. That role has already stretched me in ways I didn’t expect, teaching me how to be present, how to read people, and how to create an environment where someone can feel seen within moments of walking through the door.

Now, I’ve been invited into something deeper: the Get Connected team.

This role carries a different kind of anxieties. While the Welcome team often meets people face-to-face in a shared space, the Get Connected team steps into a more intentional, personal form of outreach. We become the first voice someone hears after they’ve made the decision, sometimes a small one, sometimes a significant one, to reach out. Whether they’re looking for more information, seeking community, or just curious about what Connection is about, that initial interaction matters more than we probably realize in the moment.

And if I’m being honest, that’s where the nerves come in.

There’s a real responsibility in being that first point of contact. One conversation, one message, one tone. It can shape how someone perceives not just the church, but their willingness to take a next step at all. That’s not something I take lightly. It’s easy to feel the pressure to “get it right,” to say the perfect thing, to represent everything well.

But the more I sit with that, the more I’m reminded that it was never meant to rest on my shoulders alone.

So before stepping fully into this next chapter, my prayer has been consistent: that it wouldn’t be me at the center of these interactions, but the Holy Spirit working through me. That my words wouldn’t just be well-meaning, but timely. That my responses wouldn’t just be helpful, but meaningful. That people wouldn’t just feel contacted, but genuinely cared for.

Because at the end of the day, connection isn’t about perfect execution, it’s about authenticity, presence, and a willingness to meet people where they are.

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and, if I’m honest, a little humbled by the trust that’s been placed in me. To be seen as someone who can help shape those first moments for others is something I don’t want to take for granted. It’s both an honor and a responsibility, and one I’m stepping into with equal parts anticipation and dependence on God.

If this past season has taught me anything, it’s that the doors worth walking through are often the ones that come with a mix of excitement and uncertainty. And if this is where I’ve been led next, then I trust there’s purpose in it.

Now it’s just a matter of stepping in and seeing what God does with it.

And remember, God loves you, and so do I!

Connection Church in Sioux Falls is a gospel-centered community committed to helping people follow Jesus through authentic relationships, biblical teaching, and everyday mission. Rooted in historic Christian belief and aligned with gospel renewal movements, the church exists to see lives transformed by Jesus. Learn more: https://siouxfallsconnection.com/who-we-are