One of the main reasons Paul wrote this letter was to urge the Corinthians to send money to impoverished Christians in Jerusalem. But his approach wasn't what you might expect. He doesn't scold them. He doesn't shame them. He just reminds them of God's grace to them.

Paul says the difference between godly grief and worldly grief is the difference between life and death. So what is godly grief? Why do we need it so badly? And how do we get it?

Deep in every human is a longing for more than what we experience in this world. In this text Paul pinpoints our longing--a longing for life. It's a longing only the risen Jesus can fulfill.

Paul confronts Christians with a direct challenge to be holy--set apart from anything that stands against God. But that challenge is rooted in a precious, mind-bending promise. God has promised to live among his people.

Are Christians supposed to be happy? It depends on what you mean by happy. If Paul's description of his life is our guide, we should expect our lives to be sorrowful. And we should expect to be always rejoicing.

The Bible teaches that we were all made for a relationship we have broken. Our deepest need is reconciliation. This text shows us how to get peace with God, and how to spread it.

"In Christ" is a phrase that comes up all throughout Paul's letters. It's easy to pass right over it without paying much notice. But what does it mean to be "in Christ"? And why is it so important?

Waiting is a basic Christian posture. We walk by faith, not by sight, until God?s promises come to pass. In this passage Paul clarifies what it is that we?re waiting for, and what we do while we wait.

Paul says the problems we face now can't compare to the eternal glory we're promised in Christ. He says we get this truth when we focus not on what we can see but on what we can't see. But how do we compare what we can see to what we can't see?

Because of Jesus, the world's greatest treasure comes hidden in jars of clay--common, unexceptional, even fragile and weak. That means, for the Christian, suffering is never what it seems.