From Pastor Andrew’s Desk

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you! I hope that you are having a great Thanksgiving week and may the Lord bless and guide you if you’re travelling. If you are hosting, I’ll be praying for those who will be joining you! I really look forward to some great food and fellowship with my family. As I mentioned before, my parents and my grandpa are making the big trip today! Looking forward to having my grandpa Bill here for the first time. At 94 years old, he is quite a guy to make this trip! He looks forward to meeting many of you at the Thanksgiving service this Thursday at 9:30 am in the Coggin Room. 

On Thursday
I’ll share a brief devotional from Psalm 107 with some participation from those of you who are there…
First, we’ll take a look Psalm 107:1 to “give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever.” We’ll take some time to express gratitude for the attributes of God and His goodness.
Then Psalm v. 2-7 with reflection on how God delivers us from impossible situations.
Then Psalm 107:8 with sharing on how God has delivered us from hard situations plus give thanks for His deliverance!
Be thinking about one or two ways God has demonstrated Psalm 107 in your life over the last year (or longer.) Then look at verses 9-20. We find people are disobedient, but God forgives when we turn to Him. Think about how you are thankful for His forgiveness. With v. 21-22 we’ll conclude with general Thanksgiving, then some time of prayer!
We’ll sing three great hymns and will wrap up by 10:20 (with plenty of time for you to pop your pumpkin pie in the oven.) Hope to see you there!
This Sunday
we’ll be continuing 2 Corinthians, looking at the end of chapter 11 and some of chapter 12. (Last week we had Dan Hoffstetter bring a great word from the Book of Acts.)  Much of Paul’s ministry in Corinth is dealing with false apostles who seek to set themselves up to be sent by God and God’s messengers, even though God did not send them.
They sought to be teachers for profit or selfish gain and they frequently tried to discredit Paul’s ministry. Every once in awhile Paul has to respond to their attacks and speak to the validity of His ministry from the Lord. He does not do this willingly, but feels called by the Lord to stand up for the authentic ministry of the Word. Chapter 11:22 states,
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.” 

These false teachers kept pointing to their heritage and pedigree as to why they are the real ministers of the Lord. Their identity was not in Christ, but rather in these things. And so Paul deals with them on their level, in a sense, saying something that could be described in today’s vernacular…. “fine, we can play this game.” If they wanted to play the ‘one-up’ game, Paul could claim all that they claimed. But of course his identity was imbedded with Christ and it was only to make the point that he has the same background, and yet that was not where his hope was. What a reminder of where our hope can be. If not careful, we can put too much stock in our family’s faith background, our heritage, our gifts, etc. and our identity can be diverted to some outside source to ‘validate’ our faith. We take our eyes off of Christ and put focus on externals. The externals can be nice things and ways that God provides for us, but it is ultimately about a relationship with Christ. Paul is pointing in this direction in the midst of validating the ministry the Lord called Him.

In verses. 23-28 Paul speaks of the unbelievable trials he went through for the Gospel. Again, this is not to say “look at me”, but rather to point to Christ and to say this is what Paul lives for, no matter what. A true follower of Christ submits to the Lord’s plan even if it involves great suffering. Paul demonstrates here that he is in it for the Lord, not for all the ‘perks’ of adulation and prosperity that appear to be their motivation.
Then in verses 29-30 Paul speaks of his weakness and temptations, for that time and place a shocking thing to do… leaders never talked about their weaknesses as it would be a sign of ‘weakness’! Paul is again showing his confidence in the Lord and authenticity in ministry. In American culture we’re taught not to show weakness. But when we ‘muscle through’ we can demonstrate a lack of reliance on the Lord…that we don’t need His people. This can lead to isolation and pride.

The Lord allows us to struggle to show our desperate need for Him. After all in chapter 12 (which we’ll also look at) Paul experiences some unbelievable things in the Lord (v. 1-4). But after experiencing these amazing things, the Lord gives Him a thorn (v. 7 – a messenger of Satan). We don’t know what this thorn was for sure….maybe a physical ailment or some other torment, but it was a great challenge. It’s almost like….how come Lord?!! Can’t we skate on by?!!

The Lord has so much more for us, and much of it comes through suffering. Paul desperately wanted the Lord to take this thorn away, but then Lord gave Him the ultimate word,

My grace is sufficient for you, my power made perfect in weakness” v. 9.
 
 Thanks be to God! What is your ‘thorn?’ Where do you struggle? What have you been asking the Lord to deal with for years and years and yet still plagues you. May we all hear God’s words today in His severe mercy: “My grace is sufficient for you, my power made perfect in weakness.” Lord, have your way in us. 

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for all of you! See you Thursday and/or Sunday!

Blessings,

Pastor Andrew