Posts Tagged ‘2nd Corinthians’
Improvement is the Goal
As I shared yesterday for the Ecclesiastical New Year, we have been given another chance from God to grow closer to Him and to ‘do better’ in our spiritual lives. While it is important to focus on ‘self-evaluation’ on New Year’s Day, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t evaluate every day. Brethren, you desire proof that…
Read MoreReconciliation Is Victory
Wouldn’t you just love to be in an argument and there were no losers? What if I told you there was a way that every disagreement could be resolved without us vs them or me vs you? There is a way, and it is blessed by God. Brethren, Christ died for all, that those who…
Read MoreJudgment Cannot be Avoided
From the time we are small children, we try to hide from judgment. Even an only child will hide from his parents when they discover the broken lamp. “No. It wasn’t me.” We do all sorts of things to avoid judgment, but experience teaches us that it still comes. Brethren, we must all appear before…
Read MoreChurch Growth
Church growth isn’t what you think it is. It isn’t about numbers of people in the pews. It isn’t about collections. It isn’t even about how large a temple the Church needs on a Sunday morning. Although these are all indicators of church growth. Actual growth is different. With so much attention given to the…
Read MoreWalk the Walk and Talk the Talk
You see it every day, around every turn. You see people that don’t live the way they talk. We all do it at some level. We say one thing and then do another. For Christians this can drive others away from Christ. That’s because all others see is our hypocrisy. Brethren, our boast is this,…
Read MoreBlessing Others
Hard work pays off in ways we can never fully appreciate. We work hard and are rewarded by others. Being rewarded by other people is only part of our blessing. All good things come from God and He is always blessing us, but the blessings are never just for us. Brethren, he who sows sparingly…
Read MoreAuthority is for Building Up
We live in a world built by powerful people for powerful people. Just open any news source and read of the battle for power. One side claims the other side doesn’t deserve it. One side uses it to rule over the other. For many people life isn’t about working hard for the sake of hard…
Read MoreAlways a Chance
In my more than thirty years of ministry I have met too many people who have given up on God. They have given up on their ‘chance’ for a better life. They have decided they are not worth anyone’s time, let alone God’s time. In each of those moments in the past thirty years I…
Read MoreJudgment for All
We all fear judgment. As Christians we live in constant fear of being judged either by others, or especially by God. We fear judgment because we know we fall short of righteousness every day. If we are judged, we know we will surely die, so we panic. Today’s lesson from Saint Paul is more than…
Read MoreAroma of Christ
It might be tempting to think that salvation vs condemnation is a matter of action. If we sin, we are condemned. If we do not sin, we are saved. What if our condemnation was a matter of how we feel in Christ’s presence? What if our salvation isn’t because we were perfect? It is easy…
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