Don’t Disgrace God’s Grace
God’s grace is His unmerited, undeserved favor toward us. We are the recipients of God’s grace in various forms. Someone once defined “GRACE” with the acronym: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. In 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul warns us that it’s possible to receive God’s grace “in vain.” In other words, we can treat God’s grace with disgrace or contempt […]
Reconciliation
The word “reconciliation” means “to restore harmony.” We typically use the word in regard to either accounting practices (reconciling financial statements) or, more commonly, in regard to relationships. Whenever a friendship or marriage becomes strained or broken, but then an effort is made to repair the relationship, we say there has been “reconciliation.” Paul used this word to […]
Why Women Hurt Twice as Much as Men
An in-depth study of John 8.
Judgment is Coming
The Bible tells us that there are three occasions of judgment from God. Which one you will face depends on who you are and what you have done (or not done), but the Bible says “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). The three Judgments to come are (1) […]
Trading Up: Earth to Heaven
It’s always important to keep an “eternal perspective” in life. As Christ-followers, we must remember that this life is only temporary. We are only passing through. Our ultimate reward is heaven, where we will trade our earthly bodies for glorified ones, our present sufferings for future glory, and our earthly dwellings for a heavenly home! In today’s […]
Step into the Light
There is a lot of metaphorical language in the Bible about “light” and “darkness.” Paul uses that language in 2 Corinthians 4 to describe the Gospel of Christ as light that came to shine in a dark world. Jesus even said about Himself, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall […]
Spreading the Fragrance
In 2 Corinthians 2:14–17, Paul compares our life in Christ to a Roman victory parade honoring a general after a successful military campaign. Such a parade in the first century A.D. would have included priests carrying censors with burning spices to fill the streets with a wonderful fragrance. In this analogy, Paul says Jesus is […]
Suffering Well
If you have ever felt so discouraged that you despaired even of life, you are not alone. That’s exactly what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1. Hardships had taken a toll on Paul, and he felt despondent. Yet he revealed his secret to “suffering well” and wrote about God’s comfort in the midst of his […]
In the Fullness of Time
God brought forth His Son, Jesus Christ, “in the fullness of time” the Bible says in Galatians 4:4-5. That means that everything about the first Christmas was planned and executed by God at just the right time. God orchestrates times and seasons to bring forth His perfect plan—even in our lives too. Perhaps God is […]
God’s View of Money & Giving
For Christians, everything about our lives should be submitted under the lordship of Jesus Christ, including our money and material possessions. All that we have comes from the hand of God, so everything we gain and everything we give should be done to honor the Lord. In today’s study, Pastor Gary teaches from the last […]