I hope that you are having a great week! Last Sunday was a wonderful time of worship. One highlight was the Sunday school session on our ‘identity in Christ.’ 

Rebecca Morgan has done a great job of helping us understand and live into this identity more in Him. This Sunday at 9:00 am we’ll continue looking at our identity in Christ with four breakout discussion groups. 

Dan Frasier leads youth in the Youth Room. 

I’ll facilitate a discussion in Room 24. 

Scott Winslow will lead a discussion group in the Coggin Room.

Rebecca Morgan will facilitate a discussion group in the Library. 

These small group sessions will continue for eight to nine weeks covering the same material. Scott will be the facilitator for the whole time for his group and Rebecca and I will rotate in and out with other leaders each week. The facilitators will be doing very little teaching but rather moderating discussions around these vital topics! Just pick a room as the Lord leads and if you can stay in that room for continuity’s sake over the next weeks that would be great. We’re thinking about 10-12 people in each group but we are certainly prepared if these groups get a bit larger. We want as many of you as possible to participate in Sunday school – it is such a great space to grow in relationships and our faith in the Lord!  I know the setup is a little different so let me know if you have any questions!

Speaking of important group gatherings, there is a great 

This Sunday we will continue our study of the wonderful book of 2 Corinthians and the theme of identity. Last week we looked in depth at the theme of forgiveness. We will touch on this theme again briefly in the message and then we will dive in 2 Corinthians 3. 

In the beginning of chapter 3 the Apostle Paul is defending his ministry against some attacks that he has faced from some false teachers and others. So Paul starts the chapter with a rhetorical question; 

“are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people letters of recommendation to you or from you?” (v 1). 

In being challenged regarding his Christian leadership, Paul points to Christ’s work in their life as a defense of God’s work through him. 

He states that 

“you yourselves are our letter, written on hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry…..” (v. 3). 

Thanks be to God! The Lord has worked through Paul and those he co-labored with and the Lord has opened hearts to Him in the process. I love this passage because it speaks to the true value of reaching out to people in Christ and watching Him transform hearts. People may ask  “well what impact does the Lord make in a life anyway?” Think about all the people in your life that you have seen transformed by the Lord. Maybe you’ve even been a part of that transformation by discipling that person or encouraging them to take steps of faith! 

Write down those names if you can and 

thank God for enabling you to to be part of that life change in Him! We don’t need some big sign to wear around our neck saying “changing lives in Christ; one at a time”.  We can just smile and look to His grace and thank Him for using such broken vessels like us to be a part of His great Kingdom work and to see Him awaken people to His amazing love and call! What a joy to watch unfold! May we hunger 

to see more lives changed by Christ and 

to reach out to others  with His love.

Paul is confident (v. 4) not in himself, but in what the Lord is graciously doing through him. Paul is a very competent man as a writer and leader, but doesn’t place that competence in himself, but rather in God (v. 5). This perspective frees him and us from having to simply do a good job from a worldly perspective. But rather, we throw ourselves upon the grace of the One who has inexhaustible resources to work in and through us. American society values competency. You and I learn a few skills and do that for a career and to do our best in life. Yet, we are not just robots that learn a skill and try to do be as efficient as possible and that’s it. Instead, God gives us competence in Him to make a great impact for His Kingdom! He gives us gifts to glorify Him and see lives change. 

One other thing: the American obsession with competency can hold us back from serving the Lord in areas where we feel weak. We can feel like we’re not ready to lead a small group, mentor someone or serve the homeless because we don’t have enough training. Actually, we should never fully feel competent in areas of serving because then we are relying on our own sufficiency. Stepping out in faith is trusting Christ that He carries us and grows us as we do. You and I will never feel fully ready to serve the Lord and that is the point. 

The question is, “are we willing?” (Doffy Falk). He doesn’t ask “are you competent to do the task?” He asks us if we are willing to step out in faith and trust Him as He grows us all! Maybe take an inventory of areas of your Christian walk that you are holding back. Perhaps areas you may be fearful of looking like a ‘fool’ if you served. Then remind yourself that we are to be “fools for Christ” “(1 Cor 4:10).

Lastly, v. 7-18 deal with the amazing reality of the glory of the Lord. His glory is so much greater than we could ever imagine. Reflect on the glory of the Lord over the next few days and our transformation as we know Him more!

Here are some favorite verses, 

“now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (v. 17-18). 

Amen, thanks be to God! May we walk in the fullness of true freedom which is only found in Christ, by walking in His precepts and His love! When we do, our identity becomes aligned with the person God created us to be, not our own feeble attempts to create an identity and some sort of purpose apart from Christ. The Lord gives us His grace to live with His realities today!

I look forward to seeing all of you Sunday as we seek the Lord and grow in His joy!

Blessings,

Pastor Andrew