3. Brothers and sisters, God chose
you to be his. Think about that!
Not many of you were wise in the
way the world judges wisdom.
Not many of you had great
influence, and not many of you
came from important families.

4. But God chose the foolish things
of the world to shame the wise.
He chose the weak things of the
world to shame the strong. And God
chose what the world thinks is not
important—what the world hates
and thinks is nothing.

5. He chose these to destroy what the
world thinks is important. God did
this so that no one can stand before
him and boast about anything. It is
God who has made you part of
Christ Jesus. And Christ has
become for us wisdom from God.

6. He is the reason we are right
with God and pure enough to
be in his presence. Christ is the
one who set us free from sin.
So, as the Scriptures say,
“Whoever boasts should
boast only about the Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:26-31 – Easy To Read Version)

7. God uses ordinary people in
extraordinary ways for His glory.
Think of your favorite biblical
character or person from church
history. Before they were “well-
known” they were unknown.

8. The Lord takes nobodies
and makes them somebody
all by His grace. God took a
shepherd boy and made Him
King of Israel.

9. God used a donkey to deliver
a message. God uses ordinary
people in extraordinary ways.

10. God uses those who are
grateful because they
never forget all they
have been given!

11. I plead with you to give your lives
completely to God. Let them be a
living sacrifice, holy—the kind he
can accept. When you think of what
he has done for you, is this
too much to ask?
(Romans 12:1 – Living Bible)

12. God uses those who are
weak because they know
how much they need
God’s help!

13. God said, “I am with you; that is all
you need. My power shows up best
in weak people.” Now I am glad to
boast about how weak I am;

14. I am glad to be a living
demonstration of Christ’s power,
instead of showing off my own
power and abilities.
(2 Corinthians 12:9 – Living Bible)

15. God uses those who are
humble because they
want God to get all
the glory!

16. In the same way, you should be a
light for other people. Live so that
they will see the good things you
do. Live so that they will praise
your Father in heaven.
(Matthew 5:16 – International Children’s Bible)

17. God uses those who are
compassionate because
they want to help other
people!

18. Stoop down and reach out to those
who are oppressed. Share their
burdens, and so complete Christ’s
law. If you think you are too good
for that, you are badly deceived . . .

19. Right now, every time we get
the chance, let us work for the
benefit of all, starting with the
people closest to us in the
community of faith.
(Galatians 6:2, 10 – The Message)

20. God uses those who are
imperfect because they
boast about God and not
about themselves!

21. “Don’t let the wise brag of their
wisdom. Don’t let heroes brag of
their exploits. Don’t let the rich brag
of their riches. If you brag, brag of
this and this only: That you
understand and know me.

22. I’m GOD, and I act in loyal love.
I do what’s right and set things right
and fair, and delight in those who
do the same things. These are
my trademarks.”
(Jeremiah 9:24 – The Message)

23. God uses those who are
forgiven because they
know how blessed
they really are!

24. God is ready to overwhelm you
with more grace and more
blessings than you could ever
imagine so that you’ll always

25. be taken care of in every way
and you’ll have more than enough
to share with others.
(2 Corinthians 9:8 – The Voice)

26. God uses those who are
faithful because they don’t
give up when
things get hard!

27. And let us not get tired of doing
what is right, for after a while we will
reap a harvest of blessing if we
don’t get discouraged and give up.
(Galatians 6:9 – Living Bible)

28. God uses those who are
surrendered because
they want to give their
best to God!

29. So here’s what I want you to do,
God helping you: Take your
everyday, ordinary life—your
sleeping, eating, going-to-work,
and walking-around life—and place
it before God as an offering.

30. Embracing what God does for you
is the best thing you can do for
him . . . I’m speaking to you out
of deep gratitude for all that
God has given me . . .
(Romans 12:1, 3 – The Message)

31. Take a good look, friends, at who
you were when you got called into
this life. I don’t see many of “the
brightest and the best” among you,
not many influential, not many from
high-society families.

32. Isn’t it obvious that God
deliberately chose men and women
that the culture overlooks and
exploits and abuses, chose these
“nobodies” to expose the hollow
pretensions of the “somebodies”?

33. That makes it quite clear that none
of you can get by with blowing your
own horn before God. Everything
that we have—right thinking and
right living, a clean slate and a fresh
start—comes from God by way
of Jesus Christ.

34. That’s why we have the saying,
“If you’re going to blow a horn,
blow a trumpet for God.”
(1 Corinthians 1:26-31 – The Message)

36. Let’s Pray