VISION: Joy & Money
As the Apostle Paul writes this fund raising letter to the Corinthians, he points out in Chapter 9 that our generosity is uniquely connected to the level of joy in our life. He illustrates that generosity is not a result of wealth or plenty by the telling the story of the Macedonians being incredibly generous not because of law or obligation, but because of the grace of God. Fundamentally, the gospel should be our motivation and purpose for our giving, so it’s Jesus that we look to and cling as he was generous on our behalf.
The Advance of the Gospel
In this text, Paul joyfully boasts in Christ’s work that he’s done through Paul among the Gentiles. God had powerfully worked through Paul in the power of the Spirit through word & deed and through signs & wonders in the past. Paul’s goal for the future is to proclaim Christ where has yet to be named and this should be our goal as well. Whether we send missionaries and church plants or reach out to peoples here in our own city, our ambition should be to proclaim Christ where he has not been named.
Gospel Essentials: Results
In Romans 10:9-13, Paul shows us how we access righteousness through faith, who may access this righteousness, and the result of such a righteousness. We become righteous through faith by believing on a heart-level that Jesus rose from the dead and confessing Him as Lord. Access to this righteousness is not limited, but it available to all. And the result of this righteousness is that we get what we need most—God Himself in Christ Jesus.
The Church at Ephesus: Big Heads, Shriveled Hearts
Jesus’ first letter in Revelation 2 is to the church in Ephesus. Through testing and trial they have maintained sound doctrine, but in the midst of it they abandoned their love of Christ. While their heads had grown large, their hearts had shriveled. Are we prone to the same shriveled hearts? Are we more concerned with knowledge for knowledge’s sake than we are for knowledge that reveals Christ and gives depth to our love? How can we remember the love we had when we first met Christ?
Sins of the Phony Person
Paul has spent the past chapter and a half showing that we are all in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It would be really easy to argue that we’re exempt because of all of the good, religious things that we have done. We go to church, we’ve been baptized, we take communion, we read the Bible, we listen to sermons, but do those things on their own change our hearts? Are we transformed by reading words on a page? Or does the transformation that God requires happen on a much deeper level?