CG Coaching for Week #12 of 2 Corinthians: A Church Compelled
Sunday, August 23rd sermon by Pastor Kyle Van Tine
"Compelled by Weakness" - (2 Cor 11:1-12:10)
Growing deeper
The biblical picture of the Church in the Bible is a bride. We are the Bride of Christ. Paul sees himself as the father of the Bride, protecting and preparing her to be presented to her Bridegroom, Christ Himself, when He returns to claim His Church. As a father, Paul is ready to defend his daughter the Church from the false doctrine that has threatened to turn her from the path to the altar before the Lord. Satan is always ready to lure the Church away with false promises that our sinful human hearts seek – health, prosperity, power, autonomy, heaven in the here and now. It’s easy for us, the waiting betrothed, to get anxious and seduced by the promises of a different “gospel” as our Bridegroom prepares a place for us. Satan’s seductive and beautiful light distracts the Church from the truth of the Gospel. We must not be tempted to follow artificial light. Beware of messages that claim we can have it all now. Our home is not the here and now. Christ’s life is our example. Paul’s boasting is in his weakness and sufferings for the Gospel. His sufferings were aimed at pointing to Christ’s work reconciling sinners with God. There is nothing else to authenticate the truth of the Gospel. The Christian life is a life that embraces everything counter culturally – weakness, suffering and a sacrificial love for others, so they might be saved. The Church is a place for the weak and lowly and broken - that is its strength.
Read 2 Corinthians 11- 12:10, John 3:16-36, 2 Peter 2
The Gospel is strange and out of step with the world. When we try to twist the Gospel into the world’s idea of power it becomes useless. The Gospel is not elitist. The end goal of the Gospel is the reconciliation of people with God and with each other. Any message that changes that is false.
Discuss how the Gospel message is one of reconciliation.
How do counterfeit gospels seek to distort that message?
Evaluate what are some possible counterfeit gospels you might be following in your life. Test those messages against what God’s Word says.
How are you preparing for the coming of your Bridegroom, Christ?
