The Daily RootedHome StoriesGradesChurchesWhat's NewAbout
Bible:
Answer key (separate)‹ Back to chapter 3

Prints on letter paper in black and white. No answers are printed on the student sheet.

1 Corinthians 3 · Grade 5

Building on the One Foundation

Name Date

Read and Think

Paul wanted to give the Corinthians deeper teaching, but their behavior kept him on milk. Jealousy, strife, and factions revealed that they were thinking in merely human ways. Spiritual maturity is measured not by knowledge or gifts, which they had in abundance, but by love and unity. Their slogans about following Paul or Apollos showed they had not grown up.

Paul reframes the role of leaders. He and Apollos are servants through whom the Corinthians believed, each doing what the Lord assigned. In the agricultural image, Paul planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. In the architectural image, Paul laid the foundation as a wise master builder, and others build on it. There can be no other foundation than Jesus Christ.

The building materials represent the quality of each person's ministry. Gold, silver, and costly stones last, while wood, hay, and straw do not. The Day will reveal each person's work, and enduring work will be rewarded. Paul then shifts from individual builders to the whole church: they are God's temple, and God's Spirit lives in them, so damaging the unity of the church is serious. Since all things belong to believers in Christ, and they belong to Christ, boasting in human leaders makes no sense.

Show What You Know

  1. According to Paul, what reveals spiritual maturity?

  2. What do the farming and building images teach about leaders?

  3. What do the different building materials represent?

  4. Why does Paul say boasting in human leaders makes no sense?

Crossword

4123

Across

  1. He has taken the ____ in their craftiness
  2. But God gave the ____

Down

  1. But if anyone ____ on the foundation with gold
  2. If any man’s ____ remains which he built on it
  3. For you weren’t yet ____

Think About It

  1. Paul says the quality of our work for God matters. What kind of lasting work could you build on the foundation of Christ?

  2. The whole church is God's temple. How does this truth make divisions in a church so serious?

Memory Verse

“For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3:11 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for making Your church grow. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

  • What would help you grow more like Jesus this year?
  • Why is unity in a church so important?
  • What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org. © 2026 The Daily Rooted. Free to print and copy for church and home use; not for resale. Original line art.