The Courage of Paul in 2 Corinthians

I have enjoyed so very much our time as a church in 2 Corinthians. There has been much that I have learned and been challenged by as I have slowly worked my way through the epistle along with Pastor Ray’s sermons. One thing that has really struck me recently has been the courage displayed by the apostle Paul in the writing not only of 2 Corinthians, but also the other letters presupposed in the book, including Paul’s so-called ‘sorrowful’ or ‘difficult’ letter.

Last night I was watching the Helen Keller story with the kids and took particular interest in Helen’s teacher, Annie Sullivan. Despite tremendous opposition from Helen’s parents, siblings, and her own peers, Ms Sullivan never gave up on Helen and had the courage to say some very difficult things to her parents. She was able to put the good of Helen above her own concern for how she would be received and liked by everyone else. The result was a deaf and blind little girl who could interact with the world and others in way that no one thought was remotely possible.

That Jesus commands us to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ does not always translate into ‘being liked’ by everyone. Sometimes the best way to love someone is to speak the truth (with love) into their life because you love them to the point that you are willing to risk scorn, disapproval, and even a friendship for their sake.

Paul exemplifies this selfless love in all of his writings to the Corinthians. Can you imagine putting yourself in Paul’s position where you had to rebuke a fledgling church that you gave your life to get off the ground knowing that in so doing you risked your reputation and relationship with many whom you loved dearly? Paul did just this.

The apostle Paul had the courage to say the difficult things because he loved the Corinthians too much not to. This is especially true in chapter 7 of 2 Corinthians.

‘Though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it – for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while – I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance...’
-- 2 Corinthians 7.8-9

As I thought about Paul and then Annie Sullivan, I couldn’t help but think about how they are tremendous models for the Church. It is so easy to fall into the trap of trying to protect ones feelings only to allow them to retain patterns and behaviors that are detrimental to them and others. We think that we are being ‘loving’ to them, while in fact we are failing them, failing to love them.

The Christian life certainly demands courage to do what is right.

Giving from the Inside Out: Winter Small Group Study Guide 4

The latest small group study guide covering Pastor Ray's second sermon on 2Cor 9 can be downloaded here.

Just a reminder to the small group leaders, please don't feel pressure to get through this entire study guide during your small group session. These are meant to help the people of our church work through God's Word that was just preached on in order to help it go deeper into our lives and thus change us.

As a leader can you just pick out a few that really spoke to you or spoke to the people of your group.

Haha! God Loves a Cheerful Giver

To get the small group study guide for Pastor Ray's upcoming sermon on Feb 22, click here.

A Regretable Sermon: Small Group Study Guide, Winter Session 2

To download the small group study guide to go along with Pastor Ray's next sermon on 'regret,' click here.

I would encourage everyone to work through as much as this as possible prior to your next small group.

God bless!

The BFB - One Month or Two?

The aim of the men's ministry at Ambassador Church is to enrich the spiritual lives of men through a number of means:

• ESTABLISH men in their devotion to Christ.

• EVOKE the passionate worship of God.

• EQUIP men to use their Spirit-imparted

gifts.

•ENGAGE the world with the Gospel.

As a part of this, the men's ministry team was of the conviction that part of accomplishing the above aims necessitated a time for men to get together and consider topics germane to their lives specifically in light of the Scriptures. It was the BFB (Brown Food Breakfasts) which was going to serve as the primary means for that purpose. We do not intend to stay there however. In the next several weeks you'll be hearing of additional opportunities for accountability and discipleship in smaller settings.

In the meantime, we had planned on having the BFBs once a month, on the 4th week of every month.

The advantages of this are:

• Greater continuity and recall of the previous discussion as one BFB built upon another.
• Remember what was taught the time before.
• Maintain the momentum of such a great turn-out and impactful time together.
• A well-known small group writer once said that life-changing relationships are those which are frequent, long-term, and vulnerable. We felt that, at least initially, that a monthly meeting was the best way to get this philosophy rolling.

The disadvantages are:

• Men in our church are very busy and Saturdays are highly valued times with family.
• Taking one Saturday morning every off from family once every four (4) weeks is too often.
• Spreading out the meeting frequency would give serves and hosts some more down time between meetings.

The above points are just meant as conversation starters. Please leave your thoughts on the value, timing, content, frequency, ad infinitum, in the comments below and let's attempt a 'virtual' discussion.

While it is impossible to please everyone, I do want to proceed at a speed and place that will have the maximum impact for the men of our church.

The Right Tools for the Right Job

Sermon for Sunday, 2.8.09.

To download the small group study guide questions, click here.

Small Groups of Ambassador

Click here to view a map of the locations for all of Ambassador's Small Groups.

To contact a small group leader, click here.