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The American church is tepid, boring and flat because it doesn’t sacrifice for anything. The Evangelical mega-church realizes this and produces endless programs for stimulation, which just continues to make it irrelevant. Paul argues in this passage that as Christ suffered and received comfort, so did Paul suffer and received comfort and so does the church suffer and receive comfort. As the church has the opportunity to suffer so does it have the opportunity to receive the comfort of God in Christ. As this happens, the church becomes interesting and relevant.
Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 40:1 -5
Many Churches today emphasize what Christians must do. Christians, to be sure, have responsibilities but they never operate in a vacuum. This is especially true when Christians fall into heinous sins. Christians must repent and turn to God but that happens only when God works repentance in them.
Scripture Lesson: Romans 8:26-30
In this introduction to 2 Corinthians we’ll understand that true churches are needed to draw God’s people to Himself and to cause them to grow in their faith.
Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 49:8-10
God will preserve you even when you fall into serious sin.
Scripture Lesson: Psalm 51
You can rest now in this life because full and perfect rest or comfort will be known in the new heavens and earth.
New Testament Lesson: Revelation 21:1-4
Christians sin and will sin until the day they die, therefore, they need God to preserve them to the end.
Scripture Lesson: Romans 7:7-25
God’s people are so sinful and weak that not only does Christ need to work salvation for them but He rejoices on their behalf.
New Testament Lesson: Luke 4:14-30
The Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word does not take away the will but makes the will alive.
Scripture Lesson: Romans 1:16-25
The New Covenant in which you have a relationship to God is stable and permanent because Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd.
New Testament Lesson: Galatians 4:21-31
Often, in evangelistic presentations today, the Gospel is presented as something you can choose to accept or reject. That is, the facts of the Gospel are presented as something for a person to weigh on their own and then, if they act on faith, they can accept it (or if they don’t act on faith, reject it). To be sure, the Gospel is presented in the Scriptures as something to accept or reject but the faith to accept it is not something that a person exerts on their own. No, the Scriptures teach that faith is a gift of God received through the preaching of the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. Only God can give a person faith to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Scripture Lesson: Ephesians 2:1-10
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