We now pick up where we left off in Galatians, in chapter 2 verses 1-10. As we focus in the beginning of 2020 on “seeing Christianity clearly“, we see the Apostle Paul fighting to defend the idea/truth that acceptance by God is based on a willingness to trust Him and not adherence to tradition, as important as tradition may be. Every age has its spiritual battles to fight. In our own day the church is being tragically divided over same sex marriage and homosexualtiy. In the earliest days of the ...
Feb 03, 2020•38 min
This is one of those passages I have been looking forward to preaching. What a pleasure to help people see what is in God’s Word! Paul spends the rest of chapter one—and all of chapter two—defending the basic message of the Bible using his personal experience with Jesus and with the apostles. Question: Do you trust the message of the Bible? Can we know that Jesus really lived and died and rose from the dead? Is the Bible just a made up story that has been changed over the years? I think it will ...
Jan 12, 2020•36 min
Given that this new year we are starting is “2020“, it is hard to avoid the visual theme. It is in that spirit that the theme for our study through Galatians will be “Seeing Christianity Clearly”. After having been with the Corinthians for about the last two years, I think you will find the “pamphlet sized” letter to the churches in the region of Galatia a welcome change of pace. The issues in the church that prompted Paul to write this letter have given the church through history a basic primer...
Jan 05, 2020•40 min
Today’s message brings our 2nd Corinthians to a close by covering all of chapter 13! Paul has finished defending himself and his foolish boasting. Emotionally exhausted, he takes a breath and discusses with this church a future visit before he closes the letter. If you remember, Paul has been scrutinized and criticized by the Corinthians. But—wait a second—in verse 5 Paul uses the word “yourself” three times in an emphatic way. He tells them they should be scrutinizing themselves and taking a lo...
Dec 08, 2019•44 min
We will start off today’s continuation of our study in 2 Corinthians with a lighter view of parenting. Why? Although 2 Cor 12 is not a passage about parenting, Paul uses parenting as an analogy to discuss his relationship with the Corinthian believers. And it is ever so appropriate! They are a church of spiritual babies! Paul has been forced into foolishly boasting and now he is winding down. He continues to defend himself against their cultural view of an accomplished pastor and their cultural ...
Nov 24, 2019•37 min
This week we enter chapter 12 of 2nd Corinthians covering verses 1-10. This passage is packed with both curiosity and familiarity! Curiosity? In being forced to brag a bit, Paul meets the false teachers on the field of spiritual revelation and vision! Paul had his share of visions—you can read more about this in the book of Acts. It is curious that Paul talks about himself in the third person—as if he is speaking about someone else. And he tells of a vision of Paradise that is impossible to expl...
Nov 17, 2019•41 min
Continuing this intense section with Paul arguing against the false teachers in Corinth, this week we finish up chapter eleven, where Paul focuses on his suffering for the gospel’s sake. No one can disagree that Paul has withstood unbelievable trials and hardships for the gospel, and surely the church at Corinth could see the vast difference between the false teachers and the true devotion and love of their apostle Paul. While Paul still is frustrated at the need to argue “in the flesh” with cre...
Nov 10, 2019•42 min
As we continue this intense section of 2nd Corinthians, we open chapter eleven where Paul finds himself being forced to meet his arrogant opponents with some of his own bragging and self defense. These chapters are filled with comments about bragging and boasting, and it makes Paul very uncomfortable! Last week we discussed tearing down the stronghold of comparison—Paul refused to even try to even be in the same class with people who brag about what they have done and accomplished. Paul would ra...
Oct 20, 2019•40 min
Personally, I believe that God’s people should be the wisest on planet earth! “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Yet, in some ways Christians can be the most susceptible to being taken advantage of! Why is that? Christians who have the wrong perspective are easily led astray to their own destruction. Those who are enamored with the miraculous, focused on appearances, and believe someone is legit just because they carry a Bible and say they speak for Jesus, are ripe fo...
Oct 14, 2019•40 min
How many times have you been confronted with arguments like “The Bible is full of contradictions.” Or how about “God is just a myth created by man to explain the world.” With the growth of social media and the global internet, you can watch someone make a very convincing argument for the flatness of the earth or the fact that the lunar landing was a hoax! Some people are just really good at making a convincing argument—but does that mean they are right? The next three chapters in our 2nd Corinth...
Oct 06, 2019•36 min
As we cover 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 today, we finish the discussion of Paul’s relief offering for the hurting Jerusalem church. That means one final week talking about generosity. We have a generous God and it is really impossible to appreciate His grace to us and to not express generosity to others. Paul is going overboard to make sure he doesn’t flex his pastoral muscles by using guilt or manipulation to coerce the Corinthians to give. I appreciate that, and I bet you do too! In chapter nine...
Sep 29, 2019•37 min
If you have been around the church scene for any length of time, I would imagine you have experienced “pressured giving”. Have you? Have you, or someone you know, been turned off because the church is “just after our money?” I am so thankful that I don’t have to present to you a “law and rules” based generosity. In other words, it might sound like, “Be generous…or else!” “Or else what,” you ask? Or else…you are disobedient, a bad Christian, God won’t bless you, and so on. That’s what you might h...
Sep 15, 2019•41 min
Have you ever made a financial decision you looked back on regretfully? Sure you have! I think we all have! When it comes to financial management how we handle money can be emotional. It can be driven by sin, identity issues, discontentment, and fear. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul uses the discussion of Titus’ visit to switch gears. He begins to discuss the giving of a relief offering he is gathering to take to the struggling church in Jerusalem. They said they would help, and now it is time to...
Sep 08, 2019•39 min
A few years back Helga and I had an interesting experience on one of our Florida trips! Cruising along, mile after mile, we had to take an exit for a different road near Ocala. The problem was that we weren’t really paying attention, so we took the exit that seemed right without thinking about it and spent about an hour going the wrong direction! We began to feel a little funny inside—like something was wrong but signage was minimal and we just weren’t sure—but then we saw it! A sign for a city ...
Sep 01, 2019•43 min
As me move into 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, we find ourselves in a short chapter that we will cover in one message, but as usual, this chapter includes some real gems of wisdom for us. Paul, desperate to see the Corinthian people’s lives changed by God’s message, is still battling against those that are negative toward him. He pleads with them not to reject him, and therefore not to reject his message of reconciliation! Like a parent desperate for relationship with a rebellious, hard-headed child...
Aug 25, 2019•43 min
Have you ever heard the expression, “Can a leopard change its spots?” Did you know that comes from the book of Jeremiah chapter 13? Basically, the idea is that a leopard has spotted skin and that is what identifies it as a leopard. No matter how hard the leopard tries, it is stuck with spotty skin! The idiom means that people generally don’t change. I would imagine you can think of a time where someone you knew seemed to really have changed, only to revert back to the old ways, dashing hopes and...
Aug 19, 2019•40 min
If you have been around CCF for any length of time, you know that I often engage people in conversation by asking, “What do you think happens when you die?” Now most people will want to talk about almost anything else—largely because people spend most of their waking hours trying not to think about their inevitable death. Some are simply trying put the whole thing off as long as possible with the latest “life extension” plan or even having their bodies frozen! (It’s called “cryonics”.) Interesti...
Aug 04, 2019•41 min
After making a start into chapter 4 last week, we will finish the chapter this week. Twice in this chapter, Paul has said, “Therefore…we do not lose heart.” We will look at the second occurrence the week (verse 16), and how it relates to our own way of thinking and where our focus is. I think you will discover why chapter 4 has encouraged and strengthened so many people for so many years. Sure, it is easy to be encouraged and strong when things are going well. But when you are being bombarded yo...
Jul 28, 2019•42 min
After a three week break, we are back in 2 Corinthians tomorrow, picking up in chapter 4, verses 1-6. We are getting into some real “meaty” stuff here in the next two chapters! I don’t want your brain to overheat, so I will keep this simple and brief. Paul talks twice in the next section about “not losing heart” — 4:1 and 4:16. Evidently, this is really on his mind! It is easy to think that Paul is just a ministry machine or robot. He just goes and goes and never struggles with being discouraged...
Jul 22, 2019•34 min
As we continue in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3, and continue to be exposed to important truths we need to remember an important foundational fact about what we learn each week from God’s word. The Bible was authored by the creator of the universe and the creator of mankind. He just knows how things work because He designed things to work a certain way! For instance, “God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble”. This is a consistent and trustworthy principle! Another well-known and clearly ...
Jun 23, 2019•39 min
It was the apostle Paul who said to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 4: "For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel." Paul had sacrificed and labored so they could be saved. And now, in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, they are demanding appropriate letters of reference from Paul. “How do we know we can trust you? Who is endorsing your ministry?” Unbelievable! They are forcing him into a place he does ...
Jun 16, 2019•38 min
We pick up in 2nd Corinthians chapter 2, verse 5 as we make our way through this very personal and very revealing exchange between Paul and the people in Corinth. This next section offers a “case study” of sorts. Paul discusses a very specific situation involving an unnamed individual in the Corinthian church. The person’s behavior was causing issues and effecting everyone in the church! Too often people think their behavior is their business and just affects them. That couldn’t be more wrong, e...
Jun 09, 2019•42 min
Continuing our opening message in the letter of 2nd Corinthians, we find that reading this letter, like many of the New Testament letters, is like listening to one side of a phone conversation. What we hear in the conversation is a response to what the person on the other line said, and we try to infer what was said based on the answers given. Well then, based on Paul’s comments, we can make some assumptions about what the Corinthians said about him. Remember, there was a faction in Corinth that...
Jun 02, 2019•40 min
As we continue our journey through the New Testament, today we open up to the first chapter of 2nd Corinthians and get started into this very personal letter between the Apostle Paul and the Corinthian church. One very common misunderstanding is that God, in His infinite power and love, would never let His children suffer; but that is not a biblical truth. In fact, we learn that pain and discomfort are really important in our lives. Some of the most valuable life experiences are the painful ones...
May 26, 2019•43 min
How many of you grew up with a mother who insisted upon you finishing everything on your plate before you left the table? I heard a story about a family where this was the case, and at least one of the kids would fall asleep at the table, determined not to finish the green beans! Maybe many of you can relate and have memories of such a dinner time dilemma! You might be saying, “Steve, what does this have to do with the Mother’s Day scripture??” Well, after much prayer and consideration, I decide...
May 12, 2019•37 min
Having just spent the past five weeks mulling over and pondering the heavenly reality of resurrection, we now take the truth of 1st Corinthians 15:58 — our labor in the Lord is not in vain — and put some skin on it! In chapter 16 Paul gives some personal and practical insight into church life. Paul has instructed a number of the churches to alleviate the poverty in the church in Jerusalem–many, many miles away! To get the full picture, we need pieces from Romans and 2nd Corinthians. But for now,...
May 05, 2019•39 min
As we finish 1st Corinthians chapter 15, Paul brings his discussion of resurrection to a victorious crescendo and climax! Death and the grave do not have the last word! Like a lion with no teeth, a snake with no venom, or a bee with no sting, death has been stripped of its power and the grave has been forced to give up its prisoners. Jesus will lead captives out of captivity at the resurrection. Our old, earthly bodies will yield to new heavenly ones. But this raises a question. If it is death t...
Apr 29, 2019•24 min
On this Palm Sunday we continue in our study of 1st Corinthians 15 – The Resurrection chapter – with Part III in our series. As we would expect, this next section is packed with essential truth. How we think and how we understand really does dictate how we live. Our true theology is evident in the story of our lives, decision, emotions, attitudes and behaviors. That was true for the Corinthian Christians and it is still true for us! The next section is filled with “kingdom battle” words — power,...
Apr 15, 2019•39 min
You have heard it said that some things are a “matter of life and death”. All month, as we discuss resurrection, we will be discussing life and death. At the end of the day, when the smoke clears and people stop long enough to turn off the stimulus and think, it all boils down to life and death. And the Bible is so clear and simple about these things. Let’s ask that a very basic question: “Why do people die?” Death is our universally shared human experience. It transcends color and race and econ...
Apr 08, 2019•32 min
Paul picks up a super-important (and timely) topic as we enter 1st Corinthians 15: resurrection! This is a long chapter, and will take us right up to Easter, so we will be well prepared by the time we gather for Resurrection Sunday. The Corinthian issues with bodily resurrection, and the fact that Paul had to set the record straight, has given us the most comprehensive and practical chapter on resurrection in the Bible! It seems that there were some powerful persuaders in the Corinthian church. ...
Apr 01, 2019•44 min
