Series: Reconciled Sermon Title: A great journey begins Passage: 2 Corinthians 1:1-2 Preacher: Dan Weyerhaeuser Date: 9.2.17 The beginning of a great journey is exciting. My first trip to India was like this… before it was over, we’d travelled on planes, trains, automobiles, and rickshaws to the other side of the planet. We’d met thousands of people, encountered beautiful orphans, and seen sights completely different from home. We witnessed God answer prayers and encountered Christian brothers and sisters who lived a dependence upon God that was breathtaking. Some of the best moments in my life have happened there. On THIS trip, not only did I get to share it with close friends from Lakeland, but my father came, who’d come to Christ the trip before. On this trip, he shared his testimony in front of 20,000 people, and ended many a night praying for people to come to faith.
Great journeys means sights you have not seen before and experiences you have not had before, and your life affected by what you encountered.
We begin a great journey this morning as we open Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth we call 2 Corinthians. In the days before us, we will see sights we have not seen before and have experiences we have not known and find our lives affected by God in ways we have not had before. I have spent many years soaking in passages in this book and am thrilled to walk through it together. The message of this book is this: Paul tells us that through the cross, Jesus “reconciled Christians to God.” It is fascinating that Paul put it this way because he writes to Christian brothers and sisters with whom HE needs to be reconciled. I’ll explain that as the book progresses. But Paul explains that in reconciling us to God, Jesus HAS also reconciled us to each other. We have access to an uncommon unity and fellowship BECAUSE of Christ that cannot be found in the world in which we live. And AS a reconciled people, Jesus has given us the ministry of bringing reconciliation to the people in our world. How is THAT for a timely book? You are going to love it! Open up to 2 Corinthians 1. 2 preliminary comments: 1) The Bible is a treasure! This book is one of the great gifts from God to you! Moses, who was the first leader of the nation of Israel and led 1,000,000 people out of Egypt towards the land God’s promised, read from the first books of the Bible to Israel. Deuteronomy 32…
Deuteronomy 32:45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you — they are your life.
When you open the Bible, believing it is your LIFE, you read it differently!
This last week, Mavis Wanczyk won the largest lottery in US History… 753 million dollars. On Wednesday she was a hospital worker. On Thursday, she was one no more.
Would you have wished to win that lottery jackpot? TRUTH: You have a treasure worth more money than Mavis! David who was the greatest king of God’s people said… Psalm 19:9-10 The ordinances of the LORD (His commands) are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
He would know! His riches were of no value to him compared to the value of the Bible. N ot only is the Bible true and reliable in what it tells us about God (like a road map to life that you can trust), but i t is His message to YOU. He stands behind it. When this book tells you that God loves you, that is GOD telling you HE loves you. When this book commands you to trust Him and obey, that is God telling you to trust and obey. MORE still, unlike any other literature ever written, this book is a conduit through which He still speaks today! Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica,
2 1 Thessalonica 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
The Word of God works in us who believe. It is through what He spoke, that He speaks today (Stott). I’m not saying that physically my ears have heard God’s voice when I’ve read the Bible. But I AM saying that when you and I read it carefully, out of a desire to meet with God, His Spirit uses His Word to enliven something inside of us! Henry Jackson’s book is free on Kindle and is simple and VERY good….
Studying the Word of God initiates a process in the human soul, out of which faith develops. It nourishes, satisfies a thirst that only God can quench, heals both physically and mentally, gives victory over sin and Satan, and cleanses. In a nutshell, the Word of God transforms the spiritually dead person to one who is alive in Christ and conforms them to the image of the invisible God (Rom. 8: 29). Henry Jackson III, Stop Reading, Start Studying: Inductive Bible Study Method Explained
Before I was a Christian, I would NEVER have believed the Bible would be this valuable to me. But when I did read it, something came alive in me, and it still does today! The author of H ebrews wrote: Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Where the Bible has gone, God’s church has been born. And we will see this morning He maintains, sustains, directs, cleanses, reforms and renews His Church by that same word (Stott)! PROMISE: You can meet God every time you open the Bible! We start a new book today! 2) Reading the Bible can be a challenge: If you’ve never read the Bible, you quickly discover it is big. That’s good… I wish there was more. However it can feel overwhelming. And pretty quickly when you start to read, you can encounter things that are confusing, which can discourage. But KNOW that the Bible WAS written for people to understand. I’m not saying anyone has ever plumbed its depths. But its plain meaning is available to everyone! 1) To people new to the Bible… your goal should not be to master every teaching of the Bible. That will come. It is to meet with God each time as you read and obey what He says today. 2) To people who have read the Bible many times… read each passage as if you’ve never read it before and you too… meet with God as you read and obey what He says today. HOW do you study the Bible? We are advocates of something called, “Inductive” Bible study. “Inductive” means “reaching a conclusion based on observation.” With inductive Bible study, you study a passage without bringing anything else to the passage. We do this by answering 3 questions: 1 ) What does it say? 2) What does it mean? 3) How does it apply? To answer 1) What does it say? (Observation) you just answer, “Who, what, where, when, why, how?” To answer 2) What does it mean? (Interpretation) you take what you have observed and draw conclusions. Observation is like excavating a piece of land, interpretation is building your ideas.
There are simple rules you follow: Your job is to discover author’s meaning (The author determines the meaning of a passage, not the reader). The plain meaning preferred… important meanings are not hidden. And context determines meaning. In other words look for clues in the verses surrounding. We don’t always do that. Have you ever heard someone quote, “Where two or more are gathered in my name I am in their midst.” Do you know the context of that verses in Matthew 18? Jesus is giving instruction to the church about expelling a sinning man in church discipline and he says, “Where two or more are gathered to do that, Jesus is present… in that confrontation.”
Interpretation is drawing conclusions that are timeless truths from what you have observed. 3 ) How does it apply? Application is the main reason for studying God’s Word. Anyone can read it, but it is those who read it and do what it says who are transformed by God (Jackson) I find it helpful to mark up a passage. I underline subjects, double underline verbs, circle connecting words, note each thought unit with a /, and then ask what the author’s flow is (what is he saying and how is he saying it?). MOST IMPORTANTLY, I remember that the Author is with me and that I am reading as a way to talk with, and listen to, Him. Let’s practice in our first two verses… R EAD. Then read and mark. Our passage in blue:
3 2Cor. 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
General flow, and 3 sections (who wrote, who received, and what Paul prays God would do among them.) Let me jump ahead and share that it is from these three sections that I draw my message for us today. Let me share it with you, and then show you where it comes from. Outline: 1 ) God saves people and sends them, 2) God’s people form His Church, 3) God’s Church needs His grace and peace. God saves people and sends them Paul introduces Himself by saying he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. He has become something he was not before because God made him into this! We are so accustomed to reading his letters, we can forget who this man was before Christ transformed him. When I can, I try to read letters like this in their context and that context is the Book of Acts. We are introduced to Paul in Acts 8:1 where he is “in hearty agreement” with putting the first Christian martyr to death. Paul was an up and coming zealous Pharisee looking to distinguish himself. As the Christian church began to grow, Paul seized the opportunity to advance in his career by LEADING the persecution against Christians. He jailed and even killed Christians because he was offended that we claimed Jesus was the Son of God who walked the earth and died for us as our substitute on the cross! Paul’s obsession led him to begin traveling to other towns to arrest Christians and bring them to Jerusalem to stand trial. NOT the person you’d expect to be the most prolific writer of the New Testament. Acts 9, a funny thing happened on the way to Damascus. Jesus (Who had recently been resurrected and returned to His state of glory) appeared to Paul and confronted him. Jesus said that in persecuting Christians, Paul was persecuting Jesus! Paul was physically blinded by the encounter and stayed that way for 3 days until Jesus sent a Christian named Ananias who prayed for his healing. That day, Paul the persecutor became Paul the Christian and was baptized. In 2 Cor 4, he will write of his experience by saying that “God made His light shine in Paul’s heart so that Paul could SEE the light of the knowledge of the (greatness) of God in the face of Christ.” Paul GOT what a treasure JESUS was! He was a transformed man! Where before Paul had been a narcissist only concerned about himself, NOW he cares about everyone… including the Corinthians. In our book we’ll read… 1.
6:11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.
This is a man who loves people well!
2Cor. 12:15 So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.
So that HERE, Paul describes himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus is a testimony to the fact that God saves people. This was by the will of God. Paul’s saving was God’s idea. God WANTED Paul to become his child, even while he was an enemy… as He does US! Paul wasn’t even looking for Jesus!
Just as water is ever seeking the lowest depths in order to fill it, so Jehovah is ever seeking out man’s need in order to satisfy it. Where there is need, there is God. Where there is misery unhappiness, suffering, confusion, and oppression, there is I AM, yearning to turn man’s sorrow into bliss. It is not the hungry seeking bread, it is bread seeking the hungry. It is not the sad seeking joy, but joy seeking the sad. It is not the empty seeking fullness, but the fullness seeking the empty… Roy Hession
I add here also that God “sends” them. Paul not only became a Christian, but an apostle. The word apostle means “messenger.” When Paul was saved by Jesus, he was simultaneously sent by Jesus into the world as Jesus’ messenger. Through Paul’s message to the people in Corinth, Jesus saved people! For sure, Paul’s mission was unique. BUT later in 2 Corinthians, Paul will say that when Christ reconciled us to God, He also gave us the ministry of reconciliation, and that through us, He makes His appeal to people to be reconciled to God. Just sharing the work He has done in our lives is how He reaches others.
Final note here… Paul calls Timothy, our brother. What IS a brother? A brother is a guy with whom you share a common father. In reconciling us to the Father, Jesus has simultaneously made us part of God’s one family… which he calls the church
4 God’s people form His Church Paul wrote to people in the city of Corinth, whom he called t he church. We are used to saying that a “church” is a building, but actually the word church refers to people… to an assembly… to God’s people who share God as their Father, Christ as their Savior, and His Spirit indwelling them. It is the church of God… because Christ died to purchase reconciliation to God that makes us part of His church! Where did the Church of God in Corinth come from? Paul planted it. Acts 18 on his second missionary journey, Paul travelled to Corinth which was a city in modern day Greece. Corinth was a notorious place… like Las Vegas, though more. So well known was this city for being a place people threw off moral restraint that it became a euphemism… “We were out ‘Corinth-ing’ around last night.” Paul went there and began to teach in the Jewish synagogue that Jesus was the promised Savior the Old Testament talked about constantly. Eventually he was expelled but then for 18 months shared with non-Jewish citizens of the city the message of Christ and planted a church with the people who had become Christ. God’s saved people formed t he church of God in Corinth. The church is made up of saints. A saint is a holy person, a person set aside from everything unclean and dedicated to God. Ok right there, most of us have a problem. If you have to be a “saint” to be in the church, then who of us is immediately excluded? (All of us). We think this because we know we are not perfect… far from it! 2.
Sometimes people who have not been in church for a long time are afraid to come to church because of they way they have lived their lives. I’ve heard people say, “If I walked into a church, I would immediately burst into flames.” Gratefully, we have never had that happen. But the truth is, the church is made up of forgiven people.
How could PAUL be considered a saint? He hated Christ so much he killed Christians! A: Christ Jesus. Christ is not a name, but a title. It means “anointed one.” Jesus was sent by God the Father as His promised one. His name Jesus means something. It is a compound word Je-sus. Je – is YHWH or “I AM” from the Old Testament. Jesus is, “I Am.” The one who Is. Sus is from the NT term to save (sodzo). Together Jesus’ name means, “The One who exists – to save.” This book will explain how, when a person becomes a Christian, God immediately sees them through the Jesus’ work on the cross… He sees us as clean and holy today. When WE look at the church, we just see each other. But when Jesus looks at us, He sees His future bride. He sees what God is forming in us. He sees us as clean today!
And THIS you share in common with other Christians! We aren’t perfect… but He is making us clean.
What does Paul want for the Corinthian Christians? 3. God’s church needs His grace and peace Paul is speaking to people who HAVE God as their father and Christ as their Savior. However these things don’t mean we don’t still need God’s assistance every day. Paul prays God would give these Christians His grace and peace. Grace is God’s goodness unconditionally expressed. I was up late one night and was flipping through channels on TV when I came to the Catholic Channel. While we share much in common with Catholics, there are things we do not. The person there was giving counsel about how to think about their relationship with God and they said… List of five things you do to gain merit including holiness and good works. We don’t “Gain merit” by our good works… He doesn’t love us because we are good. He loves us before we are good by grace! Because Christ paid for our sin, His love is a gift (costly gift) that is free to us if we receive Him.
Question: Who continues to need to know God loves us by grace. Peace is more than the absence of conflict… in the Bible peace is the presence of all that is good. It is wholeness… it is life as God created it to be. Day by day we continue to need His peace!
Every day, the Christian life is a one of ongoing dependence upon God for His grace and peace! He doesn’t change us and leave us… he opens the door to a life that He helps in constantly!
It is from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that we can receive this. The good news. God is our Father. We belong to Him and He to us in a fatherly relationship. (NOTE: This isn’t the Father you had who was imperfect. This is the Father you always been looking for and HAVE when you become a Christian). And our Savior Jesus Christ is THE Lord! HE is the One at work in our lives!
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Response 1) God saves people? Has He done this in YOU? He can bring a “before and after” to YOUR life! Do you need that? He will forgive you for what you have done. He will overwhelm you with how good HE is. Your restless heart can be brought to rest. He brings you purpose! He comes in as Lord to your life! How? Ask Him! POINT God saves people! Remember that you are sent. I love how much our church family cares about people outside of church… that is like Jesus! If we helped you, would you want to be Jesus’ agent of reconciliation to people in the world around you? 2 Corinthians will help you learn how He uses you! KEY today…. “I WANT to!” 2) Are you united to His Church? Are you connected? In reconciling us to God, He has reconciled us to each other. We NEED this! On our own, we tend to fall into disunity. We have wounds and hurts and let them get us into a bad place with each other! But if we have the same Father, the same Savior, are part of His one church, if we have the same Spirit in us all (we will see in 1:21-22), then we must be attached to other Christians. Is there someone you need to talk to because of disunity? In this book, Paul spends a lot of time talking about Christians’ relationship with each other for a reason… we have the opportunity as Christians to be a unified group like no one else in the world!!!!! 3) Do you need God’s grace and peace? Two ways you can experience that: 1) Read the Bible every day! Paul prayed this prayer for his friends, and then wrote them this book of the Bible! Soak your mind every day in Scripture, and you will be in a pace for God’s grace and peace to be at work in your life! 2 Corinthians Challenge: Read from this book every day! I’d encourage you to take the next passage every week and make it something you study inductively and pray through. Next week 1:3-11. 2) Remember Christ’s sacrifice! (LORD’s Supper) Ushers, prepare to serve us. It is because of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s promised Messiah and our Savior that we CAN be God’s children. On the cross, Christ paid for our sins, including ones we might have identified today. HE took what we deserved so that God’s disposition towards us is favor. On the cross, the Son became sin so that we sinners could become sons and daughters and receive from our Father the same love He has for Jesus. Jesus commanded us to remember the work He has done. This is the price Jesus paid so that you could be reconciled to God! This is the price Jesus paid so that we could be united to each other. This is the price Jesus paid for people he wants us to share Him with. As the ushers distribute the elements, let Nicole’s song serve as Christ’s invitation to you and speak with your Father about what He has done. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and broke it and said, “This is my body, which is broken for you. Eat this in remembrance of me.” And in the same way after supper Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Drink this in remembrance of me.”
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Small Group Leader Notes September 3, 2017 From Pastor Dan… Hello Small Group Leaders and anyone else using these notes, Welcome to the beginning of our study of 2 Corinthians. If you were with us today, you know we spent a good amount of time remembering what the Bible is and how we study it with inductive Bible study. You are in a great place to reinforce and help your folks grow in handling their Bibles… better than me since you can interact together about it. “Inductive” study means drawing conclusions from observations. 1) What does it say (observation)? 2) What does it mean (interpretation)? 3) How does it apply (application)? While I always try to base my questions on an inductive study, you may simply want to ask those three questions of your group and only reference my questions if you get stuck. Our partnership is important… thank you for service these folks for whom Jesus has died! John Stott said, “When God’s Word is read, God’s voice can be heard.” May your group hear God’s voice this week! Warmly, Dan Our Scripture Study… Series: Message #: Sermon Title: Passage: Preacher: Date:
Reconciled 1 A great journey begins 2 Corinthians 1:1-2 Dan Weyerhaeuser 2017-9-3
SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS Getting to know each other: What is one of your most prized possessions (non-living)? Why? Personal Study: As you study (read, reread, consider, ponder, reread) the passage, list observations you make from the text. What is the main point of this passage? How is the theme developed? What “Aha’s” come to you as you read? What questions come to mind? How do you respond to the God seen in these verses? Bring your observations and questions to your Small Group this week! —————————
Inductive Bible Study
1. What are words you would use to describe the Bible? Why? This is a group discussion question. In our message, we read from Deuteronomy 32:45-47; Psalm 19:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; and Hebrews 4:12. What do these passages tell us about the Bible?)
8 2. “Inductive” Bible study is “drawing conclusions from observations.” In our message we heard that we do inductive Bible study by answering three questions: 1) What does it say (Observation)? 2) What does it mean (Interpretation)? 3) How does it apply (Application)? How does studying the Bible with these three questions strike you? Personal application question.
2 Corinthians 1:1-2
Take a few minutes to prayer together. Ask God to bless your study. 3. What are things you observe in these verses? List as many as you see as a group. (eg: Paul is an apostle of Christ Jesus, this was by God’s will, etc.) Group discussion. 4. Does anyone remember who Paul was? See Acts 9:1-19 Who is he now? What does Jesus do in people? This is the story of Paul’s conversion to Christ. Now he is “an apostle of Christ Jesus.” While Paul’s conversion and calling were unique, every conversion and calling is unique and miraculous. 5. What does it mean that Timothy is “our brother”? Timothy is also a Christian. MORE, a “brother” is a man with a common father to someone else. In becoming a child of God, Timothy because Paul’s brother, and every Christian who has ever lived as well. 6. See Acts 18:1-11. Where did the church in Corinth come from? Paul came to Corinth after a short stay in Athens. He began speaking in the Jewish synagogue there about how Christ was the promised Messiah. He did find a few Christians there. Eventually, the Jewish synagogue leader kicked Paul out of the fellowship. For the next 18 months, Paul began a church in a home and preached to many Corinthians, from which the church in Corinth was born. 7. What does the word “church” mean? Assembly of God’s people. 8. What does the phrase “the church of God that is at Corinth” tell us? THE church… there is only one. The church of God… it is His possession. The church of God that is in Corinth tells us that while there is only one church, it assembles in multiple locations. 9. What is a “saint”? What does this tell us about Christians? The word “saint” comes from the word “holy.” A saint is a “holy” one. Of course knowing the Corinthian population, not to mention Paul’s past, one would not say Christians are “holy ones” on the basis of our own goodness. If we were, there would be no Christians. This is what Christ accomplished for us… making us “saints” in God’s eyes. 10. What is “grace”? What is “peace”? Where do they come from? Grace is God’s goodness unconditionally expressed. It is God’s active work in our lives, freely given. Peace is not only the absence of what is bad or wrong, but the presence of all that is good. Both come “from God.” He is the bringer of peace and grace. 11. How might the rest of this book be a way that God brings His grace and peace to the Christians in Corinth? After Paul prays this prayer for the Corinthians, he writes them 2 Corinthians. One source of the grace and peace of God is found in digesting His Word. How does reading and studying God’s Word help you?
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12. What are ways this passage applies to us?
