Join us for this 6-week sermon series on 2 Corinthians as we discover what the Apostle Paul has to teach us about living our faith amid the challenges of life. In 2 Corinthians we will discover that Christ followers are invited to live in a way that is upside down compared to the ways that people typically live.
The Apostles' Creed provides the basics of our faith in a concise statement. Legend has it that the Apostles themselves wrote it, even assigning specific articles to specific Apostles, but during the Reformation that notion was generally lost. A better way to view this creed is as Apostolic teaching. This series explores the deep truths contained in these short statements.
Genuine community and fellowship in Christ: we all want it. Do we know how-and are we willing-to cultivate it? Scripture guides us with many "one another" commands: love one another, encourage one another, speak truth in love to one another, etc. How might these commands deepen your relationship with God and with others?
A lot of us suffer of arrhythmia in life. We succumb to the tyranny of the urgent, which pushes the important aside. Instead of resolving to crowd more things into your life in 2015, resolve to
restore more rhythm, making room for important spiritual practices.
Jesus is Lord of all things, not just some things. Remembering this can help us keep life's struggles in perspective. As Dutch theologian Abraham Kyper put it, "There is not one inch of the world that Christ does not claim, saying, 'That is mine.'"
Suffering for the Christian faith, in various forms, is inevitable. Persecution happens because of who people are, not what they do, so even though Christians may sometimes act stupidly, we don't "have it coming" because of the actions of some. Jesus warns us that, just as he was persecuted, we will be persecuted for our faith, even in a comparatively protected country like the U.S.
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness but did not give in to temptation. Still, he understands our temptations in a very personal way. He calls us to resist temptation, but he also forgives when we fall short, urging us to do better next time.
