Sunday School Lesson: Trusting Promises

Purpose: To use Abraham’s experience to explore the covenantal relationship between God’s promises and our faithfulness.

Scripture: Genesis 17:1-22

When you think of covenant, what comes to mind?

Do you think of covenant as a type of contract or agreement where two parties agree to certain stipulations?

What happens if one party of the covenant agreement does not fulfill his part of the agreement?

Covenant in the Bible comes from the Hebrew word b’rith, which when translated into Latin was testamentum and became the English word testament. The two major divisions of our Bible, the
Old Testament and the New Testament could also be called the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. What are the major differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant?

The Old Testament is commonly portrayed as a legalistic approach to religion and faith. The New Testament is thought to teach that through Jesus the world is offered a new theology portrayed by grace and mercy. But are the two covenants really that different?

Did Jesus eliminate the moral laws of the Old Covenant?

Did Jesus’ offer of grace eliminate obedience and discipleship?

Was God’s covenant with Abraham offered without conditions?

Is Jesus’ offer of grace offered without conditions?

What are the conditions of the two Covenants?

The condition is faith.

Let’s read:

Gen 17:1-8 ESV
(1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
(2) that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly."
(3) Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,
(4) "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
(5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
(6) I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
(7) And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
(8) And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."

What did God promise Abraham?

God promised that the descendants of Abraham would not become a nation, but would become a "multitude of nations". Abraham would not be the ancestor of a king, but the ancestor of kings.

What were the conditions of God’s promise to Abraham?

Many Christians are of the opinion that God’s covenant with Abraham is unconditional. Some also understand God’s covenant of grace through Jesus Christ in this way. Yet, read carefully and see that God’s covenants come with some requirements.

The first condition is in verse 1: to walk before God and be blameless (perfect).

The second condition is that all the males of Abraham’s family were to be circumcised.

Gen 17:9-10 ESV
(9) And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
(10) This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

There were requirements of the covenant from Abraham’s side and certain responses that God expected Abraham to make. God’s offer to Abraham was a great act of grace on God’s part. God approached Abraham with the offer of covenant. The covenant and it’s promises were God’s idea, not Abraham’s.

Do you think Abraham’s faith was a response to God’s covenant of grace, or was God’s covenant a response to Abraham’s faithfulness?

Or, did God "know" before offering to covenant with Abraham that Abraham would respond in faith?

Abraham had demonstrated great faith long before God’s offer of covenant. God told Abraham to go and Abraham went. Throughout the story of Abraham, over and over, the faithfulness of Abraham is emphasized. Abraham many times responded to God’s initiative with obedience.

Is grace only offered to those persons whom God "knows" will accept it?

If that were true, then can’t we conclude that we are able to somehow earn or merit grace by what we do?

Eph 2:8 ESV
(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith...

Which comes first: God’s grace or our faith?
The rest of the verse:

Eph 2:8 ESV
(8) ..... And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Salvation is always a matter of God’s initiative and our response. For those of us who base our beliefs on Wesleyan teachings, God’s grace is always "prevenient"(prior) to our faith. God’s grace makes possible our faith. Our faith takes the form of recognition of our sinful state, confession of our sin, and repentance. Faith does not end at that point. Faith goes on to result in our growth in grace: sanctification. In other words, like Abraham, we walk before God and progress to the point of being blameless (perfect).

What is the relationship between God’s grace and our faith in Ephesians 2:8?

God’s grace, always prevenient, and always a gift offers us our only possibility of reconciliation. Faith is our acceptance of God’s offer. If God’s grace saved us - whether or not we wanted to be saved, whether or not we were faithful - it would be a great expression of God’s power, but not of God’s love. If grace were only offered in response to faith, then our salvation is contingent on our merit, not God’s mercy. Grace is always prevenient to faith.

God’s grace is offered to us freely. Does God have expectations of us, like He did with Abraham?

What are those expectations?

Like Abraham, we must respond with faith. Our justification requires repentance, commonly called the "new birth." Our sanctification requires "being blameless" and moving on toward perfection in love.

What is the relationship between baptism for Christians and circumcision for the children of Abraham?

Circumcision for the Hebrews stood as an act of initiation into a community of people who were in special relationship with God. Circumcision symbolized the removal of impurity. It signified entrance into the covenant relationship and served as an identifying mark of that identity.

In the New Testament circumcision is spoken of as a spiritual change of heart more than a physical procedure.

Rom 2:28-29 ESV
(28) For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
(29) But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

John Wesley’s Commentary:
But he is a Jew - That is, one of God's people. Who is one inwardly - In the secret recesses of his soul. And the acceptable circumcision is that of the heart - ......; the putting away all inward impurity. This is seated in the spirit, the inmost soul, renewed by the Spirit of God. And not in the letter - Not in the external ceremony. Whose praise is not from men, but from God - The only searcher of the heart.

This "circumcision of the heart" is also spoken of in the Old Testament.

Deu 30:6 ESV
(6) And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

The early Christians quickly divided on the issue of circumcision, but there is a very clear relationship between the Hebrew practice of circumcision as a symbol of relationship with God and Christian baptism.

Col 2:11-12 ESV
(11) In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
(12) having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

We can view baptism as "the circumcision of Christ". The function of baptism is the same as the function of circumcision for the Jews. It is a ritual that signifies the entrance into a covenant community and is a symbol or sign that we have aligned ourselves in the New Covenant of Christ.

The community of the old covenant was the Hebrew people and the people were initiated into that covenant by circumcision. The community of the new covenant is the Christian Church and we are initiated into this covenant by baptism.

Baptism is not something that a person does himself. Baptism is something a person receives.

Baptism bestows upon us an identity, a hope, and a mission. Baptism marks us as belonging to Christ and to Christ’s Church.

Just as infants eight days old are initiated into the covenant community of the Jews, so we, even as infants, are welcome to receive the sign of our covenant and become a part of the Christian community.

One quick word about names before we move on:

In verse one God says, "I am God Almighty" (El Shaddai or God of the Mountain). This is the name of God as known by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job. God was not known as Yahweh until Moses’ time.

Also notice that in this passage Abraham’s name was changed. The name Abram means "exalted father", ironic for a man who was not a father at all until very late in life. His new name, Abraham, means "father of a multitude". This name change signified that Abraham was entering into a new phase of life, that he was in a new relationship, not only with God, but with history.

In our next passage Sarah’s name is also changed. This change is more subtle, but says much about the new status of Abraham and Sarah. Sarai means "princess". Sarah means "Princess".

Moving on.......

Gen 17:15-22 ESV
(15) And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
(16) I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."
(17) Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
(18) And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"
(19) God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
(20) As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.
(21) But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year."
(22) When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Here we have further clarification of God’s covenant with Abraham. God had told Abraham many years before that he would have a male heir. With what amounts almost to a lack of faith, Sarah and Abraham attempted to help God’s promise of a son by arranging for Abraham to father a child with Sarah’s servant Hagar.

Now Abraham learns that Ishmael is not the promised son. The son that God had promised will be mothered by Sarah. Sarah was well past childbearing years thirteen years earlier when Ishmael was born, yet God again declares that Sarah will give birth to the child of promise.

Let’s read verse 17 again:

Gen 17:17 ESV
(17) Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"

Why did Abraham laugh?

How would you describe Abraham’s level of faith at this point?

How often do we see that both faith and lack of faith can reside in a human being at the same time?

Abraham displayed true piety by falling on his face, adopting the posture of prayer and worship. At the same time he laughed at the thought of a 99 year old man and an 89 year old woman conceiving and giving birth to a son. Abraham had a good enough understanding of biology to realize the practical impossibility of such a thing.

Wouldn’t it have been much easier for God to have given Abraham and Sarah a son much earlier, while still in the prime years for childbearing?

Why did God wait so long in fulfilling His promise?

It is sometimes very difficult for us to have patience even with God. We live in an instant, drive-through, microwaveable, just-add-water world. We want what we want and we want it now. We may even pray for patience. Our prayers may go like this: "God, please give me patience and give it to me right now!" When our expectations experience a delay, our faith may suffer.

Abraham at once displays faith and lack of faith. There is a story in the ninth chapter of Mark where a similar faith/lack of faith is displayed. In that passage a man brought his convulsing child to the disciples so that they could cast out whatever spirit was causing the seizures. Jesus shows up and asks what is going on and is told by the man that the boy has suffered in this way all his life. Then an interesting exchange takes place:

Mar 9:22-24 ESV
(22) ......But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
(23) And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible for one who believes."
(24) Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

Doesn’t this man sound somewhat like Abraham?

Don’t we often find ourselves with these same types of feelings?

The Bible is loaded with stories of people who find themselves believing and unbelieving at the same time. Over and over God did great things for the Israelites. Over and over their faith was shown. Over and over, sometimes very quickly, they forgot the great things that God had done.

The same is true for us. God does wonderful things in our lives. We respond in faith. Our faith may even grow and grow. Then something happens. Temptation may enter our life, or tragedy, or pain or sickness or boredom and our faith suffers.

Many times in Abraham’s life, he demonstrated great faith. Yet we also read that he laughed at God’s promise of a son for he and Sarah.

Most of us can relate to both Abraham and the father of the convulsing son in Mark. We believe. We really want to believe. Yet our faith falls short. Many times it is easier to speak of faith than to act in faith. Faith in God’s promises calls for faithfulness. Faith in the New Covenant requires us to respond in faith. We are told that faith that does not lead to acts of righteousness is not real faith.

How does our faithfulness relate to God’s promises?

Did God choose Abraham because he demonstrated his faith by his acts of obedience?

Or was Abraham faithful because he had already been chosen?

The covenants that God made with Abraham were meant to be transformational.

The covenant that God has made with us is meant to be transformational.

But....

How much must we be transformed before we can enter into the covenant?

What was required of Abraham before God chose him?

What is required of us before we take our place in God’s kingdom?

By the way, the man’s faith in the story from Mark was enough. Jesus healed his son.

What do these stories tell us about God’s grace and the relationship between God’s promises and our faithfulness?

God accepts our limited faith and nurtures it and makes it grow. God’s faithfulness to His covenant never fails. When we act on our limited faith, we find that God never fails us. Our covenant with God depends on the unwavering faithfulness of Gd. We can stray from our covenant with God, live in defiance of it, even reject the identity that the covenant offers us, yet the covenant still stands. God is ever faithful. We are all sinners, yet we can never be so sinful that God expels us from the covenant. God waits patiently for our conviction and repentance, to return and reaffirm our place in the covenant.

Living in covenant relationship with God demands our faithfulness. We may, like Abraham, think that our idea of how to live our life is better than God’s idea. We find it hard to imagine the marvelous things that God has in store if only we remain faithful. Faithfulness means believing in things that are as yet unseen, trusting God and responding to God’s call when all the evidence in our practical minds tells us that the promised results are not possible.

Let’s summarize this lesson:

1. When God enters into covenant with us, He forever changes who we are and who we will be.

God entered into covenant with Abram. Abram, exalted father, became Abraham, father of multitudes. Sarai, a princess, became Sarah, a Princess. Two elderly people challenged scientific beliefs and became parents.

The same things are offered to us in the New Covenant. In Christ, we are offered new identity. Through "new birth" (1 Peter 1:3) we become a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) with a "new self" (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10).

2. When God enters into covenant with us, He gives much more than He receives.

Abraham was offered kings for descendants until the end of time. All He asked in return was faithfulness symbolized by a minor surgical procedure. Jews do not consider circumcision to be minor. They see their symbol as a mighty work. How could such a minor thing ever earn the blessings that God has given?

3. When God enters into covenant with us His focus is on His grace, not on our worthiness.

The basis of Abraham’s relationship with God was grace through faith, not his own doing, but God’s.

The basis of our relationship with God is grace through faith, not our own doing, but God’s.

Sunday School Lesson: Reasons For Giving, Giving is a Witness

Purpose: To recognize that our giving bears witness to our experience of grace as we share God’s blessings.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Today’s lesson may seem like a repeat of last week’s lesson, but is really a continuation. Both passages deal with Paul’s effort to raise a collection from the Gentile churches in order to present a gift to the Jerusalem church when he returned there at the end of his third missionary journey. There was a real need in the Jerusalem church. The descriptions of the Jerusalem church in Acts tell of a church that lived almost communally. All the resources of the members was pooled for the welfare of all, but especially to care for the poor and the widows. The Jerusalem church had a large proportion of widows due to a custom among the Jews of the time to travel to Jerusalem to die. There is also some indication that the area surrounding Jerusalem was experiencing a famine at the time which would have stretched the resources of the church even further. Paul likely deliberately repeated his plea to the Corinthians to reinforce the need and also because the Corinthians seemed to be quite stubborn at times.

What does our giving say about the transformation of our hearts and the genuineness of our faith?

Which is easier: to make a pledge or to fulfill a pledge?

Do you think God is more concerned with our attitude in giving or with our actual giving?

In Chapter 8, Paul told the Corinthians about the wealth of generosity of the Macedonian church, a church described as suffering a severe ordeal of affliction and extreme poverty. He almost seemed to be attempting to shame the wealthy but miserly Corinthians with the example of poor but generous Macedonians. Let’s read and see how he turns it on the Corinthians yet again.

2Co 9:1-2 ESV
(1) Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints,
(2) for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them.

As we learned in last week’s lesson the Corinthians had made a pledge to give a large donation the year before. Paul writes to them a year later asking where the offering is. Poor Macedonia has already given generously. What’s the problem Corinth?

Now we read that one of the Macedonian’s reasons for giving was that Paul had told them of the Corinthians pledge. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to be generous by telling about the Macedonians and at the same time encouraged the Macedonians by quoting the Corinthians.

2Co 9:3-5 ESV
(3) But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove vain in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be.
(4) Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated--to say nothing of you--for being so confident.
(5) So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.

Ok, I’ve told the Macedonians about your generous pledge to help. They responded by giving much more than it would seem they could afford. How embarrassing it would be if some of those poor Macedonians just happened to drop by at the church in Corinth and learn that you haven’t done what you said you were going to do. I certainly don’t want my boasting about you to be as empty as your offering.

How would you feel if these tactics were used on us in our stewardship campaigns?

Would these tactics work on us?

What was Paul’s ultimate motivation in making his plea in this way?

Paul’s ultimate motivation was the welfare of the Corinthians and other Gentile churches. He truly did not wish to see them embarrassed and their standing in the Body of the Church suffer. If the Corinthians ignored the needs of the saints in Jerusalem, especially after public promises had been made, it could harm or devastate the effectiveness of future Christian missions and the unity of the church.

What are some methods that churches use to raise money?

What are some reasons that people give money?

Some wrong reasons:
People may give out of a sense of duty. There is no generosity in giving from a sense of duty. Giving from a sense of duty is no different than paying a bill that we owe.

People give as a way of finding self-satisfaction. These people are more concerned with the pleasant feeling that giving provides than with the feelings of the recipient of the gift. There are people who will give money to a beggar because of the satisfaction they get rather than from any real desire to help. These people are giving to themselves rather that to the needy.

People give with motives of prestige. The gift is given not to help but to glorify the giver. This gift probably would not be given at all if there was no chance of it being seen and praised. The source of this type of gift is not love but pride.

Are these examples wholly bad? At least the gift is given. If a gift is given with the wrong motives, is it better to not be given at all?

What is the one good way to give?

To give with love. To give because we can’t help giving. To give because the knowledge of a person or group in need wakens a desire that cannot be ignored. This is God’s way. It was because God so loved the world that he gave the greatest gift of all.

Another characteristic of the finest gifts is that they are made before they are asked for.

How do we match the methods of the church with the motives of the givers?

Why did it take the Corinthians such a long time to collect their gift? Why didn’t they just pass the plate one day and be done with it?

Apparently their pledge was for a very large amount. Most of us can only give a substantial amount if it is given over time. Paul had instructed the Corinthians in this matter:

1Co 16:1-2 ESV
(1) Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.
(2) On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.



Is Paul trying to get them to give as much as he can get them to give?

Read verse 5 again. He is only asking that they give what they had already promised to give.
Paul is teaching a lesson on consistency. Christians must practice what they preach. If we make a pledge, we need to follow through with that pledge. Repetition is a method that all teachers use to get their students to learn concepts. Actions become habits through repetition. If we give regularly and consistently, we become givers who don’t need reminders and manipulative tactics.

2Co 9:6-10 ESV
(6) The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
(7) Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
(8) And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
(9) As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."
(10) He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

The law of Sowing and Reaping comes up throughout scripture.

Do you agree with the following statements:
You reap what you sow.
You reap in proportion to what you sow.
You reap the same kind of stuff that you sow.
Give me some examples of each.

How does this law apply to our giving?

How literally can we take this? Do generous people get money back?

Do any of you have any experience of giving as a form of investment?

Is giving to God a good investment?

Will God give back with interest, what we give to him?

Those who give more will be greatly blessed for their giving. This does not mean that we should give more simply to get more from God. The blessings we receive from giving may not be material blessings at all. To give for the purpose of getting reveals selfish motives.

What is the greatest blessing of giving?

The greatest blessing of all could be the knowledge that we have helped others in their need and that maybe, just maybe they have seen the Gospel through our giving.


What are the rules that Paul gives us for giving?

Each person must decide for themself what to give. Giving should never be a matter of doing what is expected or what provides the least embarrassment for the giver. Giving is a personal decision between the giver and God.

If I feel reluctant to give or compelled to give, should I give or not?

Are my only alternatives to either give reluctantly and with a bad attitude or not to give and have a good attitude?

How can we apply the law of sowing and reaping to a bad attitude about giving?

Describe a cheerful giver.

Who here has everything they need?

Verse 8 says that God is able to provide for every need and that in our abundance we can share. What would be your response if I were to tell you that I have been giving and in fact had given so much that some of my needs had gone unmet?

This passage may teach us as much about what our true needs are as it does about anything else. How much do we truly need?

Most of what we say we need we could really live without. If I truly needed some of the things that I want, wouldn’t God have already supplied it?

2Co 9:10-15 ESV
(10) He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
(11) You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
(12) For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.
(13) By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others,
(14) while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.
(15) Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!



Paul gives us an outline of the principles of generous giving. Paul insists that there is no loser in generous giving. Giving is like planting a crop. The more seed per acre, the more plants to produce a healthy harvest.

Paul insists that it is the happy, cheerful giver that God loves. An ancient Rabbinic saying says that to meet a friend with a cheerful attitude and give him nothing is better than to give him everything you have grudgingly.

Paul insists that God can give us both the substance to give and the spirit in which to give.

When you think of witnessing for Christ what comes to mind?

We generally think of sharing the Scriptures or personal testimony. Another great method of witness is by doing what we have been taught. Meeting the needs of others and giving generously is a very effective witness. Both the giver and the recipient will receive many blessing through gifts given in the name of the Lord.

How does giving glorify God?

Giving promotes thanksgiving. Givers and recipients are reminded of and overwhelmed by the magnitude of God’s indescribable gift to them. By trusting the Lord to provide and minister to others, we are a witness to both believers and unbelievers. Christians who see us actively involved in God’s work will be encouraged to do so as well. Non-Christians will see an example of God’s love that might help them to believe.

The word translated as "glorify" in verse 13 is the same word we use for "doxology", an act of praise that glorifies God which we normally sing at our offering.

One Methodist form of giving is called "apportionments". The apportionment system and purpose is not always understood, so I would like to briefly touch on this subject. The apportionment system makes a remarkable statement about our connection as a community of believers, much the same statement that Paul was making with the gifts from the Gentile churches to the church at Jerusalem. The United Methodist Church is not just an organization that unites together many individual churches. Rather we as a local church are part of a larger whole. The apportionment system emphasizes our responsibility to worship and proclaim Christ throughout the world, not just in our own backyard and for our own self-interest.

I have here as a handout a document published by the United Methodist General Council on Finance and Administration titled "Why We Apportion: A Theology of Giving." (Available on the web at www.gcfa.org)

I invite you to take these home and read them and examine how the apportionment system is based on Scripture.

I’d like to close with a challenge.

I’d like to challenge this class to pledge an offering like the Corinthians did. Our challenge is to name the recipient, set a timeline, and follow through. This offering is not to replace our normal Sunday School offering, but to be in addition to it. Our regular weekly offering goes to various missions as selected by the Missions Committee of the church.

Everyone think about a group of Christians that need help and let’s decide next week on who to give to, how much to give, and when we will give.

I will offer the first suggestion. Last year our church made a "Barnabas" offering. There are many churches that are unable to make their apportionment payments. Barnabas Churches make extra apportionment payments in order to help and encourage less affluent churches to give. Our class could be a "Barnabas" class. Our class has more members than some churches. Even here in our own county there are churches with fewer members than our Sunday School class. We could probably raise enough money here to pay the apportionments for one of these very small membership churches.

Think about it and give cheerfully.

Sunday School Lesson: Giving Generously

Purpose: To inspire generosity as a response to God’s grace.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

How many of you think you have enough money?

Today we will study how the answer to that question relates to Christian stewardship: what we do with what we have.

How much is enough?

When I consider my own personal wants and needs, how much is enough?

When I think of the Church and it’s mission in the world, how much is enough?

When I think of my Lord and what He has given me and contrast that with what He desires of me, how much is enough?

In Acts 20:35 Paul offers an otherwise forgotten quote of Jesus:

Act 20:35 ESV
(35) In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

It is a great and wonderful thing when Christians enter into the grace of giving, when they really believe that it is more blessed to give than to receive. This is a very foreign concept in our materialistic society. This will never be the slogan for the "Me" generation. In today’s scripture passage, Paul gently scolds the Corinthian church for their lack of interest in taking part in giving to a special offering for the impoverished church in Jerusalem. There was a real need in the Jerusalem church. The area surrounding Jerusalem was experiencing a famine. The Jerusalem church also had a large proportion of widows in its care.

How can we tell when we are practicing "grace" giving?

Paul gives us several examples in today’s scripture:

1. We practice "grace giving" when we give in spite of our circumstances.

2Co 8:1-2 ESV
(1) We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,
(2) for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

The Macedonian churches that Paul used as an example had suffered great difficulties, yet they had given generously. They had not merely suffered affliction but had suffered a "severe test" of affliction. They did not merely live in poverty but "extreme" poverty. The word that Paul used to describe their poverty literally translates as beggar or indigent. This word describes a person who not only has nothing but also has no hope of getting anything.

We don’t know why the Macedonian Christian suffered so, but we do know that their situation did not hinder them from giving. They did not merely give but gave a "wealth of generosity" joyfully and liberally.

Does this formula compute in your mind: severe affliction + extreme poverty = abundant joy + wealth of generosity.

Something is missing from that equation. Do you know what it is?

Grace.

Severe affliction + extreme poverty + grace = abundant joy and wealth of generosity.

Do we use difficult circumstances as an excuse for not giving?

I think we often use not so difficult circumstances as an excuse for not giving.

I think we often use very ordinary, everyday circumstances as an excuse for not giving.

Yet with the addition of grace into our everyday or ordinary or even difficult circumstances we will not use our circumstances as an excuse for not giving.

Can our circumstances become an encouragement to giving?

"Grace giving" means giving in spite of our circumstances.


2. We practice "grace giving" when we give enthusiastically.

2Co 8:3-4 ESV
(3) For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will,
(4) begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints--

Do we ever give generously but not enthusiastically?

"The preacher says I should give till it hurts," said a miserly church member, "but for me it hurts just to think about giving."

The Macedonian churches did not need a reminder to give although by the evidence of this passage the Corinthians needed much reminding. The Macedonians gave "of their own free will." They even "begged earnestly" for the opportunity to give. Who is going to beg for us to take up the offering this morning in our worship service?

Their giving was voluntary and spontaneous. It was full of grace. They gave because they wanted to give and because they had experienced grace. Grace not only frees us from our sins, but it frees us from our former selves. The grace of God will not only open your heart, but according to Paul will open your wallet.

3. We practice "grace giving" when we give as Jesus gave.

2Co 8:5-9 ESV
(5) and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
(6) Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.
(7) But as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you--see that you excel in this act of grace also.
(8) I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.
(9) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Jesus is always the example for us to follow.

Some versions use the words "generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ." What is the "generous act" that Paul is speaking of?

What is the greatest example of giving in the Bible?

For Paul the sacrifice of Jesus did not begin at the cross, although taking on the sins of the world and dying like a common criminal was a sacrifice beyond our comprehension.

For Paul the sacrifice of Jesus did not begin at his birth, although being born in a stable is far from the best circumstances for the birth of the King.

For Paul, the sacrifice of Jesus began in Heaven, when the Son of God laid aside His glory to come to earth as a lowly human. He gave up His throne to become a servant. Can you imagine any man agreeing to become a monkey to bring salvation to all monkeys? Can you imagine any man agreeing to become an earthworm?

Jesus leaving the glory of heaven to be one of us must have been just as great a sacrifice as those examples.

Paul told the Corinthians of the great generosity of the Macedonians. In this passage he gives an even greater example of generosity. He seems to be saying: "With such great examples of giving in front of you, why are you holding back?"

Like Jesus Christ and the Macedonians, Paul calls on the Corinthian church and all Christians to give themselves to God and to others.

If we give ourselves to God we will have no problem giving our offerings to God.

If we give ourselves to God we will have no problem giving ourselves for our neighbors. It is impossible to love God and ignore the needs of our neighbors.

Jesus gave Himself for us. Should we not give ourselves to Him? His sacrifices were not made so that we could live for ourselves, but that we could live for Him and for others.

The Macedonians giving was, like Christ’s, motivated by love. We have spent several weeks learning of the great spiritual gifts and blessings of the Corinthian church. It seems that they may have been to concerned with the gifts of the Spirit and not nearly concerned enough with the graces of the Spirit, in this instance the grace of giving. The Macedonians gave even though impoverished. The Corinthians, although wealthy in spiritual gifts, lacked the love of neighbor which would have led them to give what they had promised to give the year before (see verse 10).

Do we ever use our gifts as a substitute for generous giving?

Do we ever fall into the habit of thinking that if we give our time and energies to the church that we don’t have to give our money?

4. We practice "grace giving" when we give willingly.

2Co 8:10-12 ESV
(10) And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.
(11) So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.
(12) For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.


There is a great difference between intentions and actions, between promise and performance.

The Corinthians had boasted to Titus a year before that they would provide their share of this special offering. Paul emphasizes here willingness, desire, and eagerness to give. Grace giving must come from a willing heart. It cannot be coerced or forced.

What good is willingness if it is not followed through with doing?

If the willingness is sincere, it must be followed by some action. Willingness is not a substitute for doing. The great tragedy of the human condition is not that we lack an eagerness to do good. It is that we lack the actions to do good.

An eagerness that remains an eagerness, an observed need that remains only observed, a desire to do good that never turns into a good deed is unfinished, uncompleted, worthless.

We have a popular saying: "It’s the thought that counts." I have to disagree. A good thought without following through with good action is no-account. It doesn’t count for anything. The gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. If the gift is thought of but not given then it is not acceptable.

Who is it acceptable or not acceptable to?

God sees what we give willingly. If we see a need and our heart tells us to give, but are unable to give because we truly can’t then God will see what was in our heart. If we could have given more but did not, then God sees that also.

Early Christian writers often called for action as a "proof" of the genuineness of a believers faith.

James is famous for his demand that the genuineness of a person’s faith manifest itself in deeds of kindness and mercy.

Jam 2:14-17 ESV
(14) What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
(15) If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
(16) and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
(17) So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

John also calls for love, if it is genuine, to show itself in acts of kindness and generosity.

1Jo 3:16-18 ESV
(16) By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
(17) But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
(18) Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.


Paul seems to agree with these other early Christian writers.

When we give willingly, according to what we have, we are practicing the grace of giving.

5. We practice "grace giving" when we give by faith.

2Co 8:13-15 ESV
(13) I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness
(14) your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
(15) As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."

Paul did not suggest that the rich become poor so that the poor might become rich. He was reminding the Corinthians that life has a strange but natural tendency to even things up. Far more often than not, we find that it is measured to us with the same measure as we measure to others. Life has a way of repaying generosity with generosity and miserliness with miserliness.
Our motive for giving is God’s spiritual blessing (grace) in our lives. Our measure for giving is God’s material blessing in our lives.

How much are we supposed to give?

Paul never mentions a tithe. Paul never gives any mathematical formula as a guideline to giving. Grace giving is not limited by any formula. Grace giving is not interested in only giving the minimum acceptable amount.

Paul speaks here of fair balance. This "fair balance" principal is Paul’s concept of stewardship within the Christian community. All we have, spiritual or physical, is by grace. We own nothing because God owns us. No system is acceptable that allows any person to take advantage of another person. If one prospers more than another, the "fair balance" principal must be applied. The "haves" must share with the "have-nots".

In verse 15 Paul is quoting from Exodus 16:18. The manna is an excellent example of the "fair balance" principal. The manna was a gift to the whole community, yet those who tried to hoard more than a daily share found that it spoiled. Those who could not gather enough for a day found that they had plenty. Lack of generosity destroys both the individual and the community. God’s grace, on the other hand, is inexhaustible. The more we share, the more we receive. Those who hoard do not find their lives overflowing with abundance. Many seemingly very wealthy people still feel the pressures of being in debt because their standard of living grows faster than their income.

Are we supposed to tithe?

What is the point of our giving?

What temptations do we face when we decide how much to give based on the guideline of "according to our means"?

Is obedience in giving any more or less important than other spiritual disciplines?

Stewardship has nothing to do with what we owe God, but about how we use the resources that God has blessed us with. All of our resources, physical and spiritual are gifts of God’s grace. Just like spiritual gifts our physical gifts are given to us for the benefit of the whole Christian community. We must not use our gifts for our own pleasure and enrichment at the expense of those in need.

Many of us may feel that we cannot afford to give much because of our own pressing needs. We all must pay for housing, food, clothing, transportation and other necessities. But I am afraid that an honest examination of our checkbook register or credit card statements will reveal that much money is spent on luxuries by some of us who claim that we have little or nothing to give toward God’s work.

If we wait until we have all we want before we give to God, we will never give much. We should not see giving as a financial decision but as a spiritual decision. Financially, it makes no sense to give away money in any circumstances. But if we believe as Jesus did that "it is more blessed to give than to receive", we will give generously.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Help us to overcome our greed. Lead us to recognize selfishness and not rationalize our financial behavior. Fill us with hearts of compassion, and give us the stewardship to manage the resources you have given us in a way that You will find pleasing and acceptable.
In everything we do, help us to imitate the example of Christ,
In His name,
Amen

Sunday School Lesson: Forgiving and Reconciling

Purpose: To teach us that forgiveness is the key to transforming broken relationships.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 and 7:2-15

There is evidence that Paul wrote to and visited Corinth more than what is recorded in Acts and in the two letters to the Corinthians as we have them. There is a possibility that (especially in 2 Corinthians) what we have recorded in the New Testament is actually a composite of portions of several letters. We know from our recent studies of 1 Corinthians that there was some conflicts in the young church at Corinth and that Paul’s purpose for the first letter was to correct the church. We can also read between the lines and conclude that sometime between the letters that we have that Paul visited Corinth, called the "painful" visit based on the language used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:1. We also conclude that Paul wrote again to the church a letter known as the "tearful" or "severe" letter. This letter is mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:4.

Paul began all his letters with a prayer of thanksgiving. Let’s begin this study of 2 Corinthians by reading Paul’s thanksgiving:

2Co 1:3-7 ESV
(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
(4) who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
(5) For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
(6) If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
(7) Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

What word is repeated most often in that prayer?

Depending on the translation the word is comfort, console, or help. These words are key to the entire letter of 2 Corinthians. Paul’s key words and ideas in this letter are comfort and consolation, trust and mistrust, and reconciliation and forgiveness. The main theme of 2 Corinthians is the healing of relationships and the restoration of community through forgiveness.

2Co 2:5-11 ESV
(5) Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure--not to put it too severely--to all of you.
(6) For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough,
(7) so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
(8) So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.
(9) For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.
(10) Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,
(11) so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

2Co 2:5-11 MSG
(5) Now, regarding the one who started all this--the person in question who caused all this pain--I want you to know that I am not the one injured in this as much as, with a few exceptions, all of you. So I don't want to come down too hard.
(6) What the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment enough.
(7) Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it.
(8) My counsel now is to pour on the love.
(9) The focus of my letter wasn't on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church.
(10) So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don't think I'm carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I'm joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us.
(11) After all, we don't want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief--we're not oblivious to his sly ways!


When Paul had made his "painful" visit there had been a ringleader to his opposition. This person had caused Paul and the church great pain. It is possible that this was the same man who Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 5, the man who was living in sin. This man had clearly personally insulted Paul. Paul had insisted that the man be disciplined by the church and disciplinary action had been taken, but some in the church felt that the punishment had not been severe enough.

The greatness of Paul can be seen in how he handles the situation. Paul never even calls the person's name in his letter. Paul essentially tells the church that enough is enough. The man has been chastised. Further discipline would only cause more harm. It might drive the man to despair, as the Message says: "you could drown him in his guilt." To do that would not be serving Christ and the Church, but would be offering an opportunity for Satan to take further hold of the man. The man needed forgiveness, acceptance, and comfort. Who would gain the most if this man were permanently separated from the Church?

What examples can we take from Paul of Christian conduct in the face of injury and insult?

1. Paul didn’t take the matter personally. It was the personal injuries that Paul had suffered that were of the most importance. Paul was more concerned with the peace of the church and the welfare of the troublemaker.

2. Paul’s motive in taking disciplinary action was not vengeance but correction. Paul didn’t wish to knock the man down, but to lift him up. Paul did not judge by the worldly standards of justice, but by the Christian standard of love. The purpose of church discipline is to restore a person to fellowship, not to banish them from the fellowship. The Christian duty is not to render sinners harmless by battering them into submission, but to inspire them to goodness.

3. Paul insisted that punishment must never drive a person to despair and never take the heart out of someone. The wrong kind of treatment is often the last straw that finally pushes a person into the waiting arms of Satan.

Have any of you ever witnessed a conflict in a church that caused deep rupture?

Did that situation find its way to forgiveness and reconciliation? If so, how?

One issue in most conflicts is that of personality. We find it difficult to focus on the issues of the situation and instead focus on the persons involved. Most conflict situations are either win/lose situations or lose/lose situations. How can a conflict be managed so as to make it a win/win situation?

When Paul wrote to forgive the offender, what seemed to be foremost in his mind?

Paul was not concerned with his own vindication, but was genuinely concerned with the welfare of the antagonist and did not want that person ostracized by the community. The welfare of the community was first in Paul’s mind.

Just As I Am

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidd'st me come to thee,

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind
Yea, all I need, in thee to find,

Just as I am: thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,
Because thy promise I believe,

Just as I am, thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be thine, yea, thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come.


What effect would these words have on an argument if in the middle of the argument those arguing were to stop and read or sing them before carrying on?

The context of this passage is church discipline, the church calling a person to task for some action. What situations might call for church discipline? We all sin every day. What sins are worthy of church discipline?

What is the ultimate purpose of church discipline?

Reconciliation.

Which would be more difficult, the discipline or the forgiveness?

What should be the guiding force in correcting a fellow believer?

Counselors say that unresolved guilt is one of the great destroyers of relationships. When we feel guilty, we have a spiritual malaise that can incapacitate us. Yet guilt is caused by recognition of sin, and we all have sin in our lives. How, then do we escape the debilitating effects of guilt.
The effects of guilt can only be released through forgiveness. God desires that we be people of forgiveness.

In the early days of the Methodist movement church discipline was at the center of every society or band meeting. In order to join a Methodist society, persons were required to demonstrate only one condition: "a desire to flee from the wrath to come, to be saved from their sins." Those who desired to continue in a society however, were expected "to evidence their desire of salvation, first, by doing no harm...secondly, by doing good... thirdly, by attending upon all the ordinances of God."

Society members submitted themselves to "examination" at every society meeting as to how well they were upholding these standards. If found lacking, they were removed from the society or placed in special bands for penitents.

Charles Wesley was especially adept at exposing those who lacked the discipline necessary to be included in the more experienced Methodist bands. In one instance, Wesley found it necessary to "put away" sixty-four members who did not "walk according to the gospel."

Here is their list of offences:

2 for cursing and swearing
2 for habitual Sabbath-breaking
17 for drunkenness
2 for retailing spirituous liquors
3 for quarrelling and brawling
1 for beating his wife
3 for habitual, willful lying
4 for railing and evil-speaking
1 for idleness and laziness
29 for lightness and carelessness

2Co 7:2-11 ESV
(2) Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.
(3) I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
(4) I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
(5) For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn--fighting without and fear within.
(6) But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
(7) and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.
(8) For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it--though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while.
(9) As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
(10) For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
(11) For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

2Co 7:2-11 MSG
(2) Trust us. We've never hurt a soul, never exploited or taken advantage of anyone.
(3) Don't think I'm finding fault with you. I told you earlier that I'm with you all the way, no matter what.
(4) I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.
(5) When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn't settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn't relax because we didn't know how it would turn out.
(6) Then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus.
(7) We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time!
(8) I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don't feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while.
(9) Now I'm glad--not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
(10) Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
(11) And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart.

This section of 2 Corinthians picks up where Chapter 2 leaves off. In the chapters in between Paul deals with the nature of the gospel and how it affects the way we relate to people. This "interlude" lays the theological foundation for the practical advice concerning reconciliation that Paul discusses in Chapter 7.

In verses 4-7 one word (depending on translation) occurs five times. Did you notice?

It is the same word that we noted in Paul’s thanksgiving prayer from chapter 1. The word is comfort or console. Why do you think Paul used that word here?

What can we learn from Paul in this passage that could aid us in our own church and personal conflicts?

How would you define repentance?

Is repentance a sincere "I’m sorry"? Or is it more than that?

Repentance literally means to turn around, to go in a new direction. Repentance involves a changed heart and the resolve to change one’s behavior and to live differently.

Is repentance essential for forgiveness?

Why is it necessary for the offended party to forgive?

Christians cannot afford to write off offenders. Although reconciliation takes two parties, forgiveness can be practiced by the offended with or without repentance on the part of the offender. This will result in spiritual growth by the offended and make it more likely that the offender will repent and be restored. One of Satan’s devices is to accuse believers who have sinned so that they feel their case is hopeless. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin so that we will confess it and turn to Christ for cleansing. Satan accuses us of sin so that we will despair and give up.

When an offending brother or sister is made aware of their offence and disciplined according to Biblical standards, then the church family must forgive and restore the member and if the member repents the matter must be forgotten and never brought up again. If the church family - or any person in the family - carries an unforgiving spirit, then Satan will use that attitude as a beachhead for new assaults against the church.

Paul spoke about "godly grief" and "worldly grief". What is the distinction between "godly grief" and "worldly grief"?

Godly grief results in a change of attitude and heart and changed behavior. Worldly grief is simple regret. Many people are regretful only for the effects of their sins or that they got caught. Worldly grief is self-centered and does not result in changed behavior.

Where is God in the process of forgiveness?

Forgiveness is only possible when we draw on a love greater than our own. We cannot truly forgive until we have accepted God’s forgiveness.

I would like for everyone present to take a sheet of paper. On that paper I want you to write a hurt that still wounds you. Write the name of the offender or the situation. Below that I want you to the words:
Forgiven. Forgotten. Forever.

Now join me in the prayer on page 75 in our Adult Bible Studies book:

Dear God,
Help us to be a people of grace who forgive and forget.
Give us strength and courage truly to repent when we sin against you and other people in thought, word, or deed.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen

Now one at a time let’s take these papers that we have written on and prayed over an place them in the paper shredder that I have placed in the center of the room.

Everyone experiences the pain of a broken relationship at some point. How can these relationships be healed and restored? Paul indicates that forgiveness is the key, and he rejoiced in his own reconciliation with the Corinthian church.

Sunday School Lesson: The Greatest is Love

Purpose: To assure us that God’s eternal love is the ground of everything good and lasting in the universe.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13

Last weeks lesson (1 Corinthians 12) covered spiritual gifts and their roles in the church. In chapter 12, Paul used the metaphor of the church as a body, functioning very much like a human body. Every part of the body must function properly and cooperate with every other part in order to maintain proper health. There has been a lot of press in the last few years on holistic medicine, an approach to healthcare that emphasizes the health of the "whole person". This idea seems to agree with Paul’s metaphor. The health of every part of a person affects the health of all other parts. The same is true in the Church. Every Christian is a unique part of the Body of Christ. Every unique Christian has unique gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Every Christian and every gift has a valuable and important role to play that contributes to the health of the whole Body. Every part needs all the other parts and every part aids all the other parts.

We were told in chapter 12 that all the individuals who make up the have a function in the Church. But what is the function of the Church?

Let’s make a list:

What is the function of the Church? What is the Church for?

Possible answers:
1. The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ
2. To proclaim the Gospel.
3. To seek, welcome, and gather persons into the Body of Christ.
4. To nurture persons in Christian living.
5. To teach persons to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, freeing the oppressed, being and becoming a compassionate, caring presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel.

(Note: these and many other functions of the church can be found on the "What We Believe" page at umc.org)

Of all the answers that we come up with for the function of the church, how many relate to things we do but not to why we do them?

In Chapter 12 Paul tells about who does what in the church. Verse 31 marks a transition:

1Co 12:31 ESV
(31) But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Paul is no longer talking about who does what. He now shifts his focus to why.

1Co 13:1-3 ESV
(1) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
(2) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
(3) If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

What point was Paul making about the use of our spiritual gifts in these verses?

Our gifts are only tools and have no value in and of themselves. The only value of our spiritual gifts is how they express love. Paul makes a very radical assertion in these verses. Without love no spiritual gift or any religious act has any lasting significance. Good acts, even sacrificial acts, have no value if they are not motivated by love.

Let’s talk briefly about the love that Paul is talking about. This passage is often used in wedding ceremonies. Does this passage have any relation with romantic love?

The covenantal love that Paul celebrates in this passage has little, if anything, to do with romantic love. This passage is directed at the church as a body and at the individuals that make up that body in how they function together as the church.

Is love just another of the many gifts of the spirit offered to Christians?

Love is not merely a gift. Agape love forms an essential part of our new nature in Christ. Love is the goal of the creator and the basis of all creation. It is the only foundation for eternal life. Love is the foundation on which we build the Body of Christ.

From Adult Bible Studies: Teacher :

One could argue that this text is imminently relevant to marriage. However, the sentimentality of most weddings vitiates the seriousness of Paul’s message, which was directed toward a church that was tearing itself apart.

It would be more faithful to Paul, and more effective for our faith, if we mandated the reading of 1 Corinthians 13 at church council meetings and annual conferences - indeed, at every meeting where Christians meet to settle scores or to keep them....

If we took its message seriously, this chapter would shake the church and its members to the foundations. How much of our activities, architecture, and attitudes would stand the scrutiny of the issue that Paul raised in this chapter? No matter how good it looks or makes us feel, if what we accomplish is not an expression of love, it stands for nothing.....

The founder of Methodism, like Paul, understood that the work of Christ was nothing less than to make us... "perfect in love". It is time to take 1 Corinthians 13 (like the family Bible) out of its case and to start living what we profess.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, understood the connection between grace and what he called "sanctification" or "Christian perfection." Early protestants had reacted strongly to the Catholic emphasis on "earning merit" before God and stressed the idea of salvation by grace alone. But salvation was often narrowly defined as "rebirth" or conversion, and the early Reformers had difficulty explaining how Christian conduct was informed by the Bible.

Wesley realized that Christians are not only "justified" or "born again" by faith through grace; Christians are "sanctified" or "perfected" by faith through grace, too. The goal of the Christian life is not merely to "get to heaven" ...but to be made "fit for heaven" by the work of the Spirit. This understanding lies behind the teaching about the Spirit, spiritual gifts, and the doctrine of love in 1 Corinthians 13.

Wesley wrote a tract (one of my favorites) that addressed this subject in depth called A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. Here are some excerpts from this tract:

"Q. 3. How, then, are we 'not without law to God, but under the law to Christ?' (1 Cor. 9:21.)
"A. We are without that law; but it does not follow that we are without any law: For God has established another law in its place, even the law of faith: And we are all under this law to God and to Christ; both our Creator and our Redeemer require us to observe it.

"Q. 4. Is love the fulfilling of this law?
"A. Unquestionably it is. The whole law under which we now are, is fulfilled by love. (Rom. 13:9, 10.) Faith working or animated by love is all that God now requires of man. He has substituted (not sincerity, but) love, in the room of angelic perfection.

"Q. 5. How is 'love the end of the commandment?' (1 Tim. 1:5.)
"A. It is the end of every commandment of God. It is the point aimed at by the whole and every part of the Christian institution. The foundation is faith, purifying the heart; the end love, preserving a good conscience.

"Q. 6. What love is this?
"A. The loving the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength; and the loving our neighbour, every man, as ourselves, as our own souls.

Is the Christian life only about getting to heaven?

How does Paul’s statement that the only value of our spiritual gifts is in how they express love relate to much of what we do in the church today?

What danger is there in doing religious activities or acts of piety out of obligation or habit?

All of our "Christian" acts mean nothing if we have not done them with love in our hearts for God and our neighbors. Service can easily become self-serving without this dimension of love. There is very little danger of not engaging in service if we have love. There is great danger that one can become very active in the church without love.

Can you think of any instances when we have used our spiritual gifts without love?

What should the church do about its positions, roles, and activities that are not motivated by or do not express love?

What love is and is not:

1Co 13:4-7 ESV
(4) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
(5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
(6) it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
(7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Let’s try something different. Let’s read verses 4-7 and every time we find the word "love" replace it with"Christ".

Christ is patient and kind. Christ does not envy or boast. Christ is not arrogant or rude. Christ does not insist on His own way. Christ is not irritable or resentful. Christ does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices the truth. Christ bears all thing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Does that still make a true statement?

Jesus has always set the benchmark for love:

1Jo 3:16 GNB
(16) This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others!

Imitating Jesus and being conformed to Jesus mind and heart is the essence of Christian discipleship.

Is it easy to recognize love in action?

Can we recognize where love is non-existent in our hearts, minds, and actions?

Is it safe to say that where love is non-existent there also Christ is non-existent?

1Co 13:8-12 ESV
(8) Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
(9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
(10) but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
(11) When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
(12) For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

What is meant by "love never ends"?

Love is not only eternal, but will eternally triumph. All of our spiritual gifts are tools to be used toward that end. The tools will (gifts) will one day become unneeded.

John Wesley’s notes on verse 8:

1Co 13:8 - Love never faileth - It accompanies to, and adorns us in, eternity; it prepares us for, and constitutes, heaven. But whether there be prophecies, they shall fail - When all things are fulfilled, and God is all in all. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease - One language shall prevail among all the inhabitants of heaven, and the low and imperfect languages of earth be forgotten. The knowledge likewise which we now so eagerly pursue, shall then vanish away - As starlight is lost in that of the midday sun, so our present knowledge in the light of eternity.

Is love merely an emotion or feeling?

Popular understanding of love is generally thought to be a romantic emotion, something that makes us feel special about another person. Paul understood love in a much deeper way. He based his understanding of love on the way God has shown His love for us. For Paul love was not merely an emotion. Love is a lifestyle. We love by doing, not by feeling.

What are some of the negative results of inaccurately defining love as a feeling?

Our feeling are in a constant state of change. Interpreting love as a feeling leads us to believe that we can "fall into" or "fall out of" love. Love is not temporary, but eternal.

In verse 3, Paul mentions generosity, or giving. What are some ways that our expressions of giving, even to the point of giving all we have, can be with an unloving attitude?

Many Christians practice charity. Charity is considered one of the defining marks of a Christian.

From William Barclay’s New Daily Study Bible:

There is nothing more humiliating that this so-called charity without love. To give as a grim duty, to give with a certain contempt, to take the moral high ground and throw scraps of charity as to a dog, to give and to accompany the giving with a smug moral lecture or a crushing rebuke, is not charity at all - it is pride; and pride is always cruel, for it knows no love.

How can we develop a mind-set that sees the worth of people and anticipates their becoming more than they currently are?

The best answer that I can come up with to that one is to practice love with open hearts, open minds, and open doors.

1Co 13:13 ESV
(13) So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.


John Wesley’s notes on verse 13:

1Co 13:13 - Faith, hope, love - Are the sum of perfection on earth; love alone is the sum of perfection in heaven.

Blame it on HGTV

Due to the filming of the latest episode of "Trick My Kitchen" on location in the East wing of my home, there will be no Sunday School Lesson this week.

Stay tuned for next weeks episode : "Perserverance Through the Trials of Remodeling" or "My Back Porch is Now My Kitchen."

Underdogs

230 years ago a group of delegates from the thirteen colonies met in Philadelphia and signed a document that marked the beginning of democracy in the world. These brave men and many others like them took a stand and delivered America from rule without representation.

To call the continental army and the new government of the United States of America an underdog would be an understatement. A ragtag, poorly armed, group of frontiersmen took up their squirrel rifles and fowling guns and stood against the most powerful military of the time. We all love stories of underdogs who rise up to a challenge and beat the odds and prevail despite the overwhelming odds. This week we celebrate the deliverance begun by those first patriots.

A much more unlikely deliverer in the pages of history is Moses. His reluctance to assume a leadership role in delivering his people from bondage is quite clear. After all he was just a shepherd, not a diplomat or army general. We don’t often think of great leaders as being especially humble. But perhaps Moses great humility is what led God to choose him for leadership.

Exo 3:1-12 MSG
(1) Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
(2) The angel of GOD appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn't burn up.
(3) Moses said, "What's going on here? I can't believe this! Amazing! Why doesn't the bush burn up?"
(4) GOD saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Yes? I'm right here!"
(5) God said, "Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground."
(6) Then he said, "I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.
(7) GOD said, "I've taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I've heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain.
(8) And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
(9) "The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the Egyptians.
(10) It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt."
(11) Moses answered God, "But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
(12) "I'll be with you," God said....

If we were to begin to think of some things in our world that require a "deliverer" or are in need of deliverance we would likely end up with a substantial list. You may think of something personal, a situation involving the church, our community, the nation, or the world.

Our world is in dire need of deliverance from terrorism, world hunger, cancer and heart disease, AIDS, devastating natural disasters. The list could go on and on.

Our world cries out for a deliverer. We may find ourselves or others around us crying out for a deliverer.

Who might God use to bring about the change?

Could it be you, or me? Could it some or all of us working as a team, much like those who served on the Second Continental Congress of 1776?

Most of us lead a fairly routine life. We all have routines, from the way we brush our teeth, to the route we drive to town or work, to the food we normally eat.

Our routines are important to us. They bring a sense of normalcy, they give us a feeling of balance and rhythm in a chaotic world. Routines can have great value. Our routines can keep us focused and on track, but if we become obsessive about them or locked into following them they can become harmful. They may make us so comfortable that we question God’s will for us. Just like Moses: "But why me? What makes you think that I can do anything great?"

What does it take to change a routine?
Moving to a new town, going on vacation, celebrating holidays, death or illness of a loved one, a deliberate choice to make a change, are some examples. We don’t all see God in a burning bush, but it doesn’t always take such drastic means to change our routines.

When our routines do change we can end up living different lives if the changes are drastic enough. Sometimes God will enter into our normal routines and when He does we may not be thrilled with the results. God may confirm or strengthen what we are already doing, or God may upset everything and change the direction of our life.

What does it take to get our attention? We spend the greater part of our lives not noticing most things around us. For instance very few of us could describe in detail everything we saw on the way to church this morning. Yes, we can list a number of things, but how many trees did we see? Which lawns were mowed? How many cracks are in the sidewalk outside? From sights to sounds to smells we roll them into life’s "background" unless something significant attracts our attention.

How many bushes did Moses walk by or see in his peripheral vision before he saw the one that was ablaze? It was in the middle of a very ordinary day that Moses encountered something that changed his life forever. The blazing bush captured his attention.

I ask, What gets your attention?

How does God capture your attention? Have you ever had any "burning bush" experiences? What kind of experience does it take to make you decid that it is critically important to "turn aside and look"?

Has God ever interrupted you when you were minding your own business?

Was there anything special about Moses’ bush? Or was it just an ordinary bush?
One writer said about this bush, "any old bush will do. A scraggly bush will do. A tall stately bush will do. A sick and dying bush would do."

What is true for the bush is also true for us. God can use ordinary bread and butter Christians like us.

Many times we are so stuck in our routines that we don’t allow God to capture our attention.
We are not always eager to hear that God wants our cooperation. It would be much easier just to sit back and let God take care of everything. We would be happy to sit on the sidelines and cheer God on, of course, but we would rather not be in the middle of the struggle. Yet here is another way in which God honors us, in that we do have actual freedom and responsibility. God works with us, but at the same time depends on us to do the things that we are capable of doing. God even expects us to learn from our mistakes.

God doesn’t need our help, but God wants our help.
God will do the "God parts" to deliver us. God does not do our parts for us.

Few people are called by God to be Moses figures. Most of us live on a smaller, less grand scale. This in no way means that we are not also called to play our part in deliverances, whether large or small. Mentoring a child through a church or other organization or driving one day each week for Meals on Wheels or working on a Habitat for Humanity home or working a potato drop for the Society of St. Andrew takes more effort than writing a check to those organizations, just as going to Egypt was harder for Moses than continuing to tend sheep in Midian. Many kinds of deliverance need human participation. The Meals on Wheels program, for instance, delivers much more that nourishing food, for many of the clients it also delivers them from loneliness and lack of companionship.

We may be more comfortable seeing ourselves primarily in the "Moses" position, as cooperating with God to help someone else’s plight. Can we also see ourselves in the "Israelite" position, being in deep trouble from which we can see no immediate way out?

Although we have probably not been oppressed as the Hebrews were, we all face situations that prompt us to cry out to God to save, rescue, liberate, or deliver us. The Bible promises us that God will be with us.

Yes Moses heard and followed God’s call. But note carefully what went before: the enslaved Israelites called out to God from their bondage. They had not given up all hope; they were willing to cry out to the Lord. What stops us from admitting our fears and needs to God?
Deliverance has two sides and we may be surprised to discover that as we do what seems our puny effort for a large cause, God is simultaneously delivering us from our own private bondages. How often do you hear people returning from mission trips proclaiming that they received so much more than they gave?

We all in some ways try to avoid God’s call. We are happy in our routines. Even some of the delegates at the Second Continental Congress in 1776 were indecisive. The Declaration of Independence went through many revisions before finding enough support. Even in it’s final form, the delegates of only 9 colonies signed it. Many colonists remained loyal to the king, even when the abuses were obvious.

We sometimes agree to change our routine only after much haggling.

When God is present, holiness abounds. Even though we may never see a burning bush we are even now standing on holy ground. We must always take our shoes off and show the proper respect due to God as we "stand on holy ground".

From the strut of the football player who just scored a touchdown to the sneer of the CEO defending unjust business practices, pride and arrogance are evident all around us. In the midst of such a culture, even Christians are sometimes tempted to "strut their stuff" as well. Bragging about church attendance, huge offerings, and square footage of buildings can deny God as being the giver of all of these things.


A few years ago a lady remarked with excitement in her eyes about the presence of a certain basketball star in her church’s worship services. An onlooker listened to her go on and on about the celebrity in their midst and quipped, "Well, you know God was there, too." Take time to stop and remember that after all is said and done, it is all about God.


Hulda Crooks began climbing mountains at the age of fifty-three. She climbed 11,500 ft. Mt. San Gorgonio in Southern Cal. twenty times. At age sixty six she made the first of twenty ascents of California’s 14,500 ft. Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Her last ascent was at age ninety one. She is also the oldest person to climb Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan.
Hulda started jogging when she was seventy two saying, "it made climbing so much easier." She also back-packed the two hundred twelve mile John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada, set a senior olympics world record in her age group for 1500 meters, and hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Before she died in 1997 at the age of one hundred one, Hulda, a Christian , expressed the guiding principle of her life: "When you have faith in a supreme power that you believe is alive and full of kindness and has a care for you, you’re not under tensions like other people. You develop a habit of trusting."

Trusting: so easy to say, so hard to do. At first Moses had trouble trusting God. He had questions about his ability to do what God asked. In the end, it was Moses’ trust in God’s promise, "I will be with you", that made the difference. When trust in God took hold of Moses’ life, he began to accomplish things he never would have imagined doing before. Do you suppose the same could be true for the rest of us?

Could one of us be the next underdog destined for great things in Christ?

Sunday School Lesson: Serving Responsibly

Purpose: To explore what it means to serve responsibly in the community of faith.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:1-13

Who are the ministers of the church?

One very "Methodist/Wesleyan" tradition is that of "The Priesthood of All Believers" or "The Ministry of All Christians". We all, as professing Christians, upon taking our Baptismal Vows are called into the ministry of the church. The ministry of the church is the responsibility of us all. The paid clergymen that we commonly call "ministers" are only a very small percentage of the ministry.

UMC Book of Discipline, Paragraph 220-

The Call to Ministry of All the Baptized - All members of Christ’s universal church are called to share in the ministry which is committed to the whole church of Jesus Christ.

Who are the ministers of the church? We all are.

What is the function of the ministers of the church?
Ministers are servants.

Continuing Paragraph 220 -

Therefore, each member of The United Methodist Church is to be a servant of Christ on mission....

Repeat after me: "I am a servant!" How does that make you feel? Do you like being a servant?

Are you treated like a servant? Is that how you want to be treated?

Think about this: Do others see you as a servant?

What is the limit to our servanthood in Christ? Can we serve too much? Is there ever a time that we should back off and let someone else serve for a while? Is there ever a time that we should be served?

Where is our mission?

Many Christians believe that "mission" means traveling to some underdeveloped nation or area of natural disaster and "winning souls for Christ." While that is a very laudable deed, that is not the mission of all believers. Our mission is wherever we happen to be at any particular place and time. Our mission is not a weekend excursion or something that we start and stop at different times and places. Our mission is not a "trip". Our mission is a never-ending journey. Our mission never leaves us, although we very often leave our mission.

Continuing Paragraph 220 -

This servanthood is performed in family life, daily work, recreation and social activities, responsible citizenship, the stewardship of property and accumulated resources, the issues of corporate life, and all attitudes toward other persons.....

Each member is called upon to be a witness for Christ in the world, a light and leaven in society, and a reconciler in a culture of conflict.

Some folks find their mission in the jungles of Peru or Indonesia. My mission is on the construction sites and industrial plants of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Where is yours?

I would be willing to bet that there are as many folks in need of ministry on my mission field and yours as there are on the foreign mission fields.

How do we demonstrate our servanthood?

When we unite as professing members of a local United Methodist Church we enter into a covenant with God and with the other members of the church to keep the vows which are a part of the order of confirmation and reception into the church.

Can anyone tell what some of those vows are?

There are seven of them:

1. Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?

2. Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

3. Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord?

4. Will you remain faithful members of Christ’s holy Church and serve as Christ’s representatives in the world?

5. Will you be loyal to The United Methodist Church, and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?

6. Will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service?

7. We join together in professing the Christian faith as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

That’s how we United Methodists demonstrate our ministry of servanthood.

1Co 4:1-6 ESV
(1) This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
(2) Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.
(3) But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
(4) I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
(5) Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
(6) I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.


What are the two identifiers of a Christian in verse one?

Servants and stewards. The word servant as used here is the reason I started this whole discussion on "ministers". If you read this verse in the King James Version and others the word used is "minister". This is not the way we always think of "ministers" in modern times. How often when you use the word "minister" would you feel it proper to substitute the word "servant"?

Let’s take it back to the Greek and see where we get the words minister and servant from. The Greek word translated here as minister or servant is "huperetes" (hoop-ay-ret-ace) and literally translates as "under oarsman". This word described the slaves who rowed the huge Roman trading ships. Paul, a minister, or servant, of Christ, loudly declares to the Corinthian church, "We are not the captain of this ship. We are merely slaves, obeying our orders, and by our united strength, are moving the ship forward as our True Captain wishes."

The other word Paul uses to describe the Christian ministry is "steward", another type of servant.

How would you define "steward"?

We modern Christians make too much of the relationship between stewardship and handling of money. We have stewardship committees and campaigns in the church whose sole purpose is to encourage folks to give more money. A good steward manages much more than finances.
A steward is a servant who manages everything for his master, but who himself owns nothing. Joseph was a steward in the house of Potiphar. The steward in the typical Greco-Roman household was responsible for the welfare of the entire household and that was their only responsibility. Stewards reported directly to the master of the house and to noone else. The steward had absolutely no interest in pleasing any other member of the household or the staff other than his master. If the master is pleased then he is a good steward. If the master is not pleased then he is not a good steward.

What is it that Paul says we are to be stewards of?

We are to be stewards of the "mysteries of God"; the Gospel. We are to manage the Faith and see to it’s welfare and cause it to flourish.

What should be our main goal as stewards of the Faith?

Our goal should never be to be, do, or say the right things according to popular opinion, but to be, do, and say the right things according to the work that God has assigned us. If a servant of God is faithful in his personal life, in his home, and in his ministry, then he is a good steward and will be rewarded by a pleased Master. The position of steward is an important position, but one that exists only for the sake of serving the masters wishes.

Paul mentions three types of judgement for the servants of Christ. What are they and how do they rank in importance?

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.

1. Man’s judgement. The opinion of our peers. Did Paul get upset when people criticized him, his message, or his methods? Not at all. The opinions of others meant very little to Paul. Paul, and we, as stewards answer to only one Master. The Corinthians were evaluating the ministries of Paul, Apollos, and Peter based on cultural criteria. The Corinthians basis for judgement was on the effectiveness or charisma of the preachers. As a steward, Paul told the Corinthians that he cared not at all about their expectations and criticism.

In fact, I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.

2. The servant’s own self-criticism. Paul was pretty certain that he was being a faithful servant, but acknowledged that if there was any fault he would be judged accordingly. We must constantly and diligently search our consciences. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits and a clear conscience is a good sign of faithful service, but we must beware: there is a fine line between a clear conscience and a self-righteous attitude.

It is the Lord who judges me.

3. The most important judgement of all is God’s judgement. To serve responsibly in the community of faith is to be concerned with the judgement of God, not the judgement of humans. What counts for the steward is that the Master finds him faithful and reliable in carrying out his duty. The faithful steward is not swayed by the opinions of the other servants.

How much of our ministries today are the direct result of opinion polls, surveys, or market research?

Churches these days are resorting to all types of gimmicks and different styles of worship just to attract people. Churches try different styles of music to attract younger visitors. Churches try to make their Vacation Bible School as "cute" as possible so that parents will bring their kids. They've got video games, DVDs, Happy Meal-esque prizes and connections to major movies.

"Times have changed, and we have to keep up with our kids and we have to go along with some of the things they like," said one mother who will send her two sons, 7 and 14, to vacation Bible school this year. "If not, we're going to lose them."

One church in Sioux City, Iowa gives first time visitors vouchers good for free gasoline. Says their pastor:

"We are so confident that our worship service will be the best hour of your week, that we are willing to pay for your gas to get here and back. ..."

Churches are now high tech. They have all the latest electronic gadgets. Hymnals are being replaced by overhead projectors. Our sound systems rival those of great concert halls. We have web-sites and chat forums. Some churches now have several physical locations served by one Head Pastor whose sermons are broadcast to the remote locations in such a high tech fashion that it almost seems live.

These examples are all pandering to whose judgement?

These all are seeking the approval of our fellow workers.

Should we totally disregard the polls, surveys, and research? Should we pronounce judgement on the high tech market driven church simply because their methods are new and unproven on a long-term basis?

The final judgement is not ours and will not be on our time table.

In verses 5 and 6 what are three things that we are doing wrong when we judge God’s servants?

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time

1. We are judging at the wrong time. The time for judgement is when Jesus returns. We cannot see into the hearts of others. We cannot even begin to judge the motives of others. Only God can do that. The Corinthians were "playing God." We should always guard ourselves against assuming for ourselves the privileges that only God has. Suppose we misjudge one that God judges as a faithful steward?

not to go beyond what is written

2. We are judging by the wrong standards. The Corinthians were judging Paul and Apollos according to their own personal preferences and prejudices. They were even comparing ministers to one another! Imagine that! That could never happen in this day and age. Could it? There is only one basis for evaluation: "that which is written", the Word of God. The Word clearly reveals the kind of life and service that is required of all of us. What are we doing when we add to or take away from the standards as written?

that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another

3. We are judging with the wrong motives. The Corinthians were tearing down preachers in order to make their favorites look better. Their motive had nothing to do with legitimate complaints. They promoted division in the church by playing "favorites". Their judgment was based solely on personal pride, not based on the standards of Christian stewardship. There is one key test to faithful stewardship: Have they been faithful to obey and teach the Word of God? Not just what they preach, but also what they practice.

1Co 4:7-13 ESV
(7) For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
(8) Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!
(9) For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
(10) We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
(11) To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless,
(12) and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
(13) when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.


1 Corinthians 3 detailed the differences between mature and immature Christians. This is another passage that is directed straight at the immature Christians in the Corinthian church. Immature Christians often seek a theology of glory and personal blessing. Mature Christians know that trials and tribulations go hand in hand with faithful servanthood. Some Christians are reluctant to accept humility and powerlessness for the sake of the Gospel. But that is what we are called to do. Jesus told those who wanted to follow him that they must "deny themselves and take up their cross daily" (Luke 9:23).

This is what tradition tells us happened to the eleven original apostles: Andrew, Peter, and Simon were crucified (Peter upside-down); Bartholomew was flayed alive; James the son of Zebedee was beheaded; James the son of Alphaeus was beaten to death; Thomas was killed by a spear; Mathias was stoned; Matthew died by a sword; Thaddeus was shot dead by arrows; and Philip was hanged. Only John is believed to have died a natural death. How’s that for a prosperity gospel?

Fools for Christ is what Paul called Christians. By worldly standards one would have to be a fool to accept that kind of fate.

Paul was using language that anyone living in the Roman Empire would have understood quite well. Paul said that the apostles were "exhibited last of all, as though sentenced to death" and have become a "spectacle". This is another passage where the original language can help us get a better picture of what Paul was portraying to the Corinthians. The Roman government used entertainment as one means of keeping the people pacified. (If I were a conspiracy theorist, I may be convinced that the same thing happens today.) There were theaters and coliseums in most of the major cities. The Greek word "theatron", translated here as "spectacle" is where we get the word "theater". The theaters of the day would be filled with spectators eager to see the bizarre games and to see prisoners and slaves forced to fight with each other and with wild animals. When the main events were over, the very poorest and weakest of the prisoners were brought out to fight the strongest of the animals. Those who were "exhibited last of all" were almost certainly receiving a "sentence of death." Nobody ever expected the "last of all" to survive their performance. Very likely some of those deaths of the apostles had already occurred when Paul wrote this and were known about by him. Paul used this picture of the apparent "foolishness" of becoming a disciple of Christ to contrast with the Corinthians watering down of the gospel.

Paul used some severe sarcasm in this passage. He described the Corinthian Christians as kings. He seems to be saying, "I wish I could be royalty like you and take my royal place in a box seat at the theater. But instead, I am the spectacle, one of those exhibited last of all. I take my place in the arena and suffer for my Master. There is no place for pride in the ministry which we have all vowed to be a part of."

If Paul considered himself an exhibition at the end of the show, where does that leave us?
Paul was a fool according to the standards of men, but was a wise and faithful steward for his Master. The Corinthians were wise in their own eyes, but were fools when judged by their service and stewardship.

What does it mean to be a fool for Christ?

The Corinthians thought they had it all together. They couldn’t really understand someone like Paul who had given up a prosperous life as a Pharisee to live as a poor, beaten, traveling preacher for Jesus. Faithfulness in service and a humble nature are two very important characteristics of a minister of Jesus Christ. A minister must be willing to work and he must be willing to suffer. Work and suffering are two things that the world strives to rid itself of. That’s what makes a Christian look foolish by the world’s standards. We are not afraid to get our hands dirty if that what is required and we don’t back off every time we stump our toe.

Let every man consider us as servants of Christ and as stewards of the Faith.