2 Corinthians 5: 16 - 21
As Christians, we are “new creation[s].” Jesus has given us a new identity. The challenge is to keep walking the path of reconciliation in the redeemed identity. Pastor Scott unpacks the complex themes in 2 Corinthians 5: 16 - 21 about being reconciled to God, what it means to take sin seriously and walk toward righteousness, especially in a contemporary culture that’s normalized lukewarm faith.
2 Corinthians 5: 9 - 15
What motivates us to do the things we do? In Corinthians 5, Paul highlights that his motivation for doing good, sharing the gospel, and working for God’s kingdom is that he will be rewarded by Christ after death. There is an underrated theme of divine reciprocity in the Bible. What Christians do with their lives to honor God is accounted for by God and will reap a reward. This is in the context of paradoxes. Because Christ died for our sins, we must die to ourselves; Christians no longer live for themselves but for Christ’s motives, and living for Christ alone is rewarded. Listen to one of our elders Mark Skilllin as he unpacks these multi-faceted themes in 2 Corinthians 5: 9 - 15.
2 Corinthians 5: 1 - 10
Who we are in our bodies is a reflection of who we are in our souls. On the day of judgment, the way we conducted ourselves in our real bodies will give an account for the way we stewarded our spiritual vitality. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor 5:10).
Speaker Chris Waugh analyzes three idols in our culture today that are related to the body, and he offers their spiritual antidotes. These idols are: the body as an object of worship, the body as a form of personal identity, and the body as a means of sacrifice. Listen in on these topics related to pornography, body image, health habits, and trauma, and how Jesus has a redemptive say to these important issues.
2 Corinthians 3: 12 - 18
We know that the fullness of Christ is meant to dwell within his believers, and yet we all sin, even after coming back to Christ. Through this struggle between sin and freedom, what is required of us to further pursue the fullness of Christian life? In this message, Council leader Vicky Griffiths clues us in on practical applications for transformation, the ways in which beholding the glory of God and embracing His Spirit will change us from one degree of glory to another.
2 Corinthians 3: 7 - 16
There’s a strange tendency as Christians to not realize what we have in Christ and to not take full advantage of all that is available to us. We settle for less than what God has for us. This malnourished approach to the Christian life has become the norm in this western corner of the world.
Passages like 2 Corinthians 3: 7 - 16 spur believers to refocus on what we truly have with Christ within us! He is true satisfaction. Everything else pales in comparison. But we must chase it, hunger for it, surrender fully to God’s life to embrace the fullness of Christ within us.
What people have had the most theological influence on you? What is the criteria you look for to trust the person’s spiritual expertise? Whether we’re aware of it or not, we tend to be on the lookout for people to emulate, and it’s important to discern the level of truth we hear from different teachers.
The 1st century Corinthian culture was no exception to sifting out false teachers, and in the mess some challenged Paul’s validity. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 looks at the relationship between Paul and the Corinthian church and how the good fruit from the Corinthians bears witnesses to God’s true transformation and the good gospel message which Paul delivered to them.
2 Corinthians 2:17
What habits do Christ followers fall into that turn them into “peddlers of God’s word,” that cheapen or distort the gospel? How can we better understand and walk in the righteousness that Christ declares over his followers? Chris Waugh walks us through what gets disguised as Christ’s authority and Christ’s authority actually looks like.
2 Corinthians 2:12 - 16
What does it mean to be “the aroma of Christ to God?” The aroma refers to the fragrance of a sacrifice burning up to the heavens. Imagine a person’s heart, marked by the sacrifice of Christ, set ablaze by the Holy Spirit, with smoke reaching up to please the Father—this is the pleasing aroma to which Paul in 2 Corinithians refers. Chris Waugh challenges some of the common habits we have, such as letting savviness for knowledge get in the way of the heart, or putting on our best self at worship services like we put on perfume. But God wants to purify the heart and set it ablaze. This is what pleases the Lord.
2 Corinthians 2:5-11
How should a church respond to scandal within its community? Because the church is made of people who still sin, Christians need to prepare for how to disciple repentance and how to respond well to people’s sinful behavior. Pastor Scott talks about when to respond with tough love and when to respond with mercy by studying how Paul advises the Corinthians about a situation within their church community where they needed to call out the sin, confront, and restore the person back into the community.
2 Corinthians 1:23 - 2:6
In 2 Corinthians 1:23 - 2:6, Paul refers to the grief he felt when addressing the corruption in the Corinthian church community. The portrait of Paul in the Corinthian letters brings us up against this question: do we possess this kind of abundant love for the Church, that her condition intensely produces deep grief or joy? How much are affected by the state of the Church? Or affected by the people around us who are spiritually lost? Pastor Scott challenges us to let God’s grief for the spiritual condition of people to hit our hearts.