2 Corinthians: In Christ
3 Jul 2011
This sermon series that goes through Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth has been called "In Christ." This seems to be the major theme that runs through the entire letter. It's a very emotional letter written by the Apostle Paul who loves the Corinthian church deeply and is thus hurt deeply by their treatment of him, under the influence of his opponents who played both the ball and the man. The criticism of Paul as weak and foolish and a fake broke the heart of the Apostle who had loved and nurtured these people into the faith. In this letter Paul explains himself and works through the issues of what it means to live a life "in Christ", with his heart on his sleeve.
Paul versus the false apostles
21 Aug 2011
The people that we ought to value in our churches, the people we ought to aspire to have as our leaders are not the up front, showy, super-talented people who are screaming "look at me". The people we ought to be valuing as leaders and models for our churches are the humble, obedient servants of Jesus. People motivated by love. This is what the Apostle Paul wanted the Corinthian church to understand and it is a message just as necessary for us today as for the church in Corinth. The message is not to be led astray by the surface so that you ignore the substance.
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Generosity in Christ
14 Aug 2011
Gary speaks about how we all should be generous in Christ, how we should not treat it like a chore or a boring task. Being generous is something that comes from the being united with Christ.
Using the letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Gary shows that there are some concrete principals contained in it that we can use to apply to our lives today.
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The Aroma of Christ
10 Jul 2011
In this section, Paul is drawing a line in the sand to delineate between life and death: those in Christ and those not. There are a few contrasts: new vs old covenants, true teachers vs false peddlers (written letters vs lives as proof of life), life vs death, aroma of life vs stench of death. I can think of nobody better to preach on aroma than Keith!
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Paul & the Corinthians
3 Jul 2011
2 Corinthians opens with the assurance that God is sovereign. He is sovereign over the life of the Apostle Paul, and is sovereign over all life. In this Paul encourages us to find comfort. We also get the great encouragement that all of God's promises find their 'yes'
in Christ.
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