The Bridge Community Church | Bonne Terre

But Paul does something in this passage that stops you cold. When he finally lists his own credentials, he does not land on his accomplishments. He lands on his suffering. Beatings, shipwrecks, sleepless nights, a day adrift at sea, the daily weight of anxiety for the churches. And then, at the very end, almost as a throwaway, he tells the story of escaping Damascus in a basket lowered through a window. He is bragging about running away. He is bragging about being let down through a hole in a wall like a sack of grain.

A counterfeit Gospel will not save you, no matter how inspiring it sounds.

2 Corinthians 11:1-15

The weapons God has given us carry divine power. Not our cleverness. Not our willpower. His power. Paul says it plainly in verse 4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds". That is the ground we stand on.

Here is the thing. Paul is not just talking about an offering. He is talking about evidence. Your generosity, or the lack of it, is evidence of what you have actually submitted your life to

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Paul is introducing three men to a church that needs to trust them. What Paul keeps returning to is character, proven over time, under pressure, in the ordinary repetition of faithful ministry.

2 Corinthians 8:16-24

It is a question of the heart. It is a question of willingness. The Macedonians gave themselves first to the Lord, and then, by the will of God, they gave to others. That order matters. Generosity that flows from the Gospel is not reluctant duty. It is the natural response of people who know they have already received everything in Christ.

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 7:2–16, speaks about this very difference — the difference between worldly sorrow that destroys and godly sorrow that brings life. Big Idea: Worldly sorrow destroys and godly sorrow brings life.

God’s grace has been poured out on your life for a purpose. 

It’s producing something in you; walk in it, partner with God alone, let Him change you, and do so with courage.

The reconciling work of Jesus puts the love of God on full display.

2 Corinthians 5: 11-21

Though we are in a temporary home, we are to live by faith as we long for our eternal home.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10