Sermons on 2 Corinthians
Waiting on God
Most of us don’t enjoy waiting, but it’s interesting how God seems to think it’s an important part of the walk of faith. How long did Abraham and Sarah wait for Isaac? Jacob waited for Rachel. Joseph waited for years in Egypt, and of course the Hebrews waited in slavery for 400 years. Throughout centuries of struggle, Israel longed for the anticipated Messiah. And we wait as well. In the text above, Paul says that “in this tent we groan,” and…
Do Not Lose Heart
Depending on our particular situation, we can probably relate to Paul’s reminder that the “outer self is wasting away” and that “the tent that is our earthly home [may be] destroyed.” And we, like Paul, sometimes “groan” while we “are still in this tent.” We feel the effects of aging, we get bad results from an MRI, we hear the news of a good friend’s death . . . and we’re reminded again about the brevity of this life as…
Ambassadors of God’s Kingdom
Nic took Paul’s use of “ambassadors” in 2 Corinthians 5 and illustrated how Christians are ambassadors of God’s kingdom in the world today. Just as different cultures have different values and different ways of prioritizing their values, so God’s kingdom has a structured value system. Christians go into the kingdom of this world and spread the cultural values of God’s kingdom. Nic listed three of these values: (1) We value truth. This is a bedrock value—it undergirds the Christian faith.…