MINISTRY BY MERCY After last week's passage, this week we come to six verses: 2 Cor 4:1-6. And while I think we'll find them to be fairly simple, the task they propose is indeed filled with difficulty. At the heart of today's text is the question of what drives us when we talk about Jesus. It's easy to say only what other people want to hear, isn't it? But if you're up for it, I think we'll find strong reasons to (as the kids song tells us) "let our little light shine." 2 COR

ONE DEGREE OF GLORY Welcome to a tough passage! 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 is filled with lots of repetition, with lots of OT references, and with plenty of challenge. But like anything worth doing, it's challenging and rewarding. Once we get to the end, I think we'll find that our trivial battle in life with our temper (or struggles with laziness or overeating or whatever) are actually far from trivial. Instead, they're cosmic. Intrigued? Well let's dive in to 2 Cor 3:7-18. 2 COR

THE PULPIT WITHOUT A CHURCH In our day, there are no shortage of online preachers. And whether or not that's your "thing" - it didn't start with "this generation" - TV preachers came before that, Tent meeting revivalists before that ... all the way back to Paul's day. That's where Paul's opening question in chapter 3:1 comes from. And because there are so many preaching without the benefit of a Christian community that knows them, it's vital that we hear how Paul addressed it

DEATH OF THE SALESMAN For Paul, the gospel always seems to be communicated on 2 fronts: the "talk" and the "walk". Clearly, Paul was radically opposed to a false gospel message, but today's texts of 2 Cor 2:12-17 shows us his burden for HOW that pure gospel message is communicated. There's lots for us to learn from him, so let's open 2 Cor 2 and study Paul's example ... 2 COR 2:12-14 12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me