Fellowshipmtz

James 4:1-10

Brian Baker is guest speaker this morning!  For those who don not know him, Brian grew up in our church; he currently serves as a Regional Director with Word of Life Student Ministries in Schroon Lake, New York.  You can find out more about their ministry here: http://www.wol.org/

Today's message from James provides answers to two key questions:

Why do we struggle?

What should we do when we struggle?

Who were the wise men who came from the east looking for the one who had been born "King of the Jews"?  What is the significance of the gifts they offered?  These questions (and several others) are addressed in this Sunday message two days before Christmas.

Matthew 2:13-18(NOTE: Unfortunately the first message from this Advent series "Love & Hate" on December 9, 2018, did not get recorded.  Apologies!)This week's message juxtaposes the JOY of the wise men with the SORROW of the mothers in and around Bethlehem who are grieving the loss of their own babies/toddlers.

2 Corinthians 11:21-33Paul's Boast levaes the false teachers/apostles in the dust!  There is no comparison!  R. Kent Hughes, in his PREACHING THE WORD COMMENTARY on SECOND CORINTHIANS writes:"Today we too find it easier to interpret the gospel in terms of our received culture rather than interpreting the culture by the gospel. We need to be wary of our Christianity becoming a Christianized version of our own culture . . . We must not write our resumés after the example of Caesar but after that of Paul. As Christians we must avoid boasting about our education and training and successes and bank accounts and vacation homes and honors as if it is these things that give us our value. As Christians we must acknowledge and embrace our weaknesses, because as we give them to Christ, they become occasions for his strength and glory. Can we embrace our weaknesses? Will we embrace our weaknesses? The answer to that question has everything to do with the authenticity of the gospel and the church and its mission."

2 Corinthians 11:5-21

PAUL's gospel emphasized the CROSS OF CHRIST: First, Jesus' suffering, Jesus' crucifixion necessarily followed by His resurrection.  Then (accordingly) Paul's suffering -- as an apostle of Christ, as a follower.LESSON: You can be wrong about a lot of things in life, but you had better be right about the Gospel!

2 Corinthians 11:4ffIn verse four, Paul warns the church of a troubling sequence of events (a downward spiral)...

It BEGINS with the church's tolerance, acceptance, patience with wrong, false teaching and false teachers

It LEADS to the church being deceived -- their thoughts led astray from what they previously accepted

It RESULTS in the church not being single-heartedly devoted to Christ (verse 3)

Today's message exposes the alternate (and dangerously misleading) gospel that was being proclaimed in the Corinthian church!

Guest speaker (and my son!), John Davis opens the Word to our church today.  John is a student at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.  This is his first preached message.

2 Corinthians 11:3Paul warns the Corinthian church that what happened to Eve is what will happen to them if they do not intentionally guard their thinking.  The narrative of Eve (and Adam) in the Garden of Eden Genesis 3:1-7 is generally well known.  Eve was deceived by the serpent (Satan); Adam knowingly trespassed, and the world was plunged into sin.  Today's message features a five minute audio excerpt from Dr. James Grier!

Chapter 11 of Second Corinthians opens with Paul apologetically preparing the Corinthian church for what he is about to do -- namely, he is going to boast of his apostolic credentials!  He provides three reasons for his boasting.  The first reason (which we look at today) is his godly jealousy for the church.

2 Corinthians 10:8-18  Today's teaching actually begins in 1 Samuel 16 (Samuel's anointing of a king who will replace Saul).  Afterward, we apply some of the principles regarding what/who the LORD values compared to what/who the world values.

From Preaching the Word Commentary by John Woodhouse: "A man after God's own heart" has been taken in popular Christian jargon to mean a particularly godly man, a man with a heart like God's. But I do not believe that the words can mean that. "A man after God's own heart" means a man of God's own choosing, a man God has set his heart on. "A man after God's own heart" is—if I can put it like this—talking about the place the man has in God's heart rather than the place God has in the man's heart.