2 Corinthians 7
Today's Passage: 2 Corinthians 7
A Belgian Draft horse is one of the strongest horses. It has the ability, by itself, to pull up to 8,000 pounds! That’s crazy. How much weight can two Belgian horses pull? In our minds, they would be able to pull 16,000 pounds. It makes sense, but it is actually wrong. When the two horses are raised and trained together, they can actually pull 32,000 pounds together. The unified pair can pull four times as much as the horse by itself.
Where am I going with this? Why does Brice keep talking about horses? The point is that when people are unified, remarkable results can be accomplished.
In our passage, Paul points out about the hardships he had been facing. Amid hardships, he was able to have joy. Why?
1. Titus (v. 6). Titus brought a renewal to the soul of Paul. First, because of his character. Second, because of the report he brought back to Paul about the church in Corinth.
2. Their repentance (v. 9-11). The church at Corinth had made some mistakes. Paul called them out for it, and their response could’ve gone one of two ways. They could’ve been mad at Paul and wanted nothing to do with him (not their response). Or they could’ve repented for their wrongdoings and changed (which they did). They had a godly repentance.
3. The Corinthian Church (v. 13-16). Their faith refreshed the soul of Titus because he was able to see their love and obedience to God. Titus brought a good report back to Paul causing him to have joy.
Paul had to do what was difficult – he called out their wrongdoing. He sent Titus to them to help and see how things were going. In the end, the faith of the people at Corinth grew and Titus and Paul were able to rejoice in them.
We need one another. We need people to call out our wrongdoings. We need people to challenge and encourage us. God has built us for community. When the church is unified, be expectant for God to move.
Written By: Brice Stockton
A Belgian Draft horse is one of the strongest horses. It has the ability, by itself, to pull up to 8,000 pounds! That’s crazy. How much weight can two Belgian horses pull? In our minds, they would be able to pull 16,000 pounds. It makes sense, but it is actually wrong. When the two horses are raised and trained together, they can actually pull 32,000 pounds together. The unified pair can pull four times as much as the horse by itself.
Where am I going with this? Why does Brice keep talking about horses? The point is that when people are unified, remarkable results can be accomplished.
In our passage, Paul points out about the hardships he had been facing. Amid hardships, he was able to have joy. Why?
1. Titus (v. 6). Titus brought a renewal to the soul of Paul. First, because of his character. Second, because of the report he brought back to Paul about the church in Corinth.
2. Their repentance (v. 9-11). The church at Corinth had made some mistakes. Paul called them out for it, and their response could’ve gone one of two ways. They could’ve been mad at Paul and wanted nothing to do with him (not their response). Or they could’ve repented for their wrongdoings and changed (which they did). They had a godly repentance.
3. The Corinthian Church (v. 13-16). Their faith refreshed the soul of Titus because he was able to see their love and obedience to God. Titus brought a good report back to Paul causing him to have joy.
Paul had to do what was difficult – he called out their wrongdoing. He sent Titus to them to help and see how things were going. In the end, the faith of the people at Corinth grew and Titus and Paul were able to rejoice in them.
We need one another. We need people to call out our wrongdoings. We need people to challenge and encourage us. God has built us for community. When the church is unified, be expectant for God to move.
Written By: Brice Stockton
1 Comment
Nice summary and even better halftime speech