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Paul mentions Timothy in the first verse of 2 Corinthians meaning he was helping Paul write this letter, probably because Paul had bad eyesight and his letters are very large and perhaps hard to read. We learned from 1 Corinthians that Timothy would be sent to Corinth to help guide them through some troublesome times within the congregation. They have many issues and Paul tells them to welcome Timothy as they would welcome himself and to not intimidate him. But despite being a young man who seems to be shy, Timothy is brave and confronts the congregation about their sin and tries to correct their sinful behavior. Toward the end of Paul’s ministry, Timothy will end up being a leader in the church at Ephesus continuing the work of the Lord which all started from seeing the faith of his mother and grandmother.

When Paul writes a letter to one of the churches in the New Testament, he starts with a greeting and ends with a greeting. The greeting at the start of these letters all seem to have a familiar pattern. He starts with his name, Paul, so the people know he is giving the commentary, the beefy parts of the body of the letter, then he will mention the one who is helping him write the letter. Paul will sometimes write the final greeting in his own handwriting which is very large, probably because his sight isn’t very good. In the case of 2 Corinthians, Paul mentions Timothy, a young man who started helping Paul with his journeys when he came to Lystra. But then Paul does something special...he pens a blessing to congregation and points them to Jesus before challenging some ways they are acting. It’s as if he gathers them together for a big hug and says, “It’s all about Jesus and never forget that.”

How often do we tell those who serve in the church how much we appreciate them? Paul goes out of his way at the end of chapter 16 to point out three men that are from the church at Corinth who work very hard in the kingdom of God. Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come from Corinth to help Paul with the work God is doing at Ephesus. Paul writes the church in Corinth telling them, “They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me. 18 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.” This is a great testament to the hearts of these three men and their service to God in His kingdom. May we grateful for those who serve in the church and may we express our appreciation to them often!

How did Paul know where to go when he was traveling around sharing Jesus? Did he just pick places and go? Did he get direction from the Holy Spirit? Did Jesus tell him where to go? They only thing we know is where Paul got a vision where a guy says, “Come over here and help us!” and he immediately goes to Macedonia. But Macedonia is a huge region, not a particular city so then, why does Paul go to Philippi? Because Philippi is the leading city of Macedonia...things are happening in that city and that is why Paul chooses it. Paul plans ahead, sets goals, and moves toward those goals. He doesn’t wait around on God to give him direction. He chooses a place and goes, however, when he is on the way and the Spirit has different plans, he listens and is obedient.

In the beginning of chapter 16, Paul is going to answer a question from the church at Corinth about them having to take up a collection of money for the church in Jerusalem. There was a famine going on over all the Roman ruled areas, some places being worse than others. It was very severe in Jerusalem and the once rich and blessed church that started it all in Acts 2, finds itself struggling with people starving. They can’t grow food in the drought, Rome is struggling to provide, supply and demand is making everything more expensive, their money is drying up, and not even the might, power packed Holy Ghost filled, tongue talking apostles can’t provide for the people! They are having to walk through it and it is very difficult. God uses different means to supply for them, including this collection form the Gentile churches that Paul is collecting. Surely the church at Corinth would understand and give away some of their riches...right?

In the beginning of chapter 16, Paul is going to answer a question from the church at Corinth about them having to take up a collection of money for the church in Jerusalem. There was a famine going on over all the Roman ruled areas, some places being worse than others. It was very severe in Jerusalem and the once rich and blessed church that started it all in Acts 2, finds itself struggling with people starving. They can’t grow food in the drought, Rome is struggling to provide, supply and demand is making everything more expensive, their money is drying up, and not even the might, power packed Holy Ghost filled, tongue talking apostles can’t provide for the people! They are having to walk through it and it is very difficult. God uses different means to supply for them, including this collection form the Gentile churches that Paul is collecting. Surely the church at Corinth would understand and give away some of their riches...right?

Jesus is alive, he sits at the Father’s right hand, and some day, he is coming for his bride! When this takes place, we will be changed in a twinkling of an eye, and we will bear his image! Are you ready? If not, then you will spend eternity separated from God without any possibility of being reconciled to Him!

Paul has brought the church at Corinth to the utmost importance to unify them, the gospel. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Many died on a cross, but only one came back from the dead, never to die again, and that is Jesus. Paul tells them if Jesus did not come out of that grave alive, then we do not have any hope and we are still in our sin, separated from God! He tells them there isn’t any reason for them to be baptizing for the dead as well! Even today, people try to take away the resurrection of Jesus because it is the very basis of Christianity! But they will not succeed because, as Paul ends up confirming, Jesus is alive and he sits at the Father’s right hand!

We are taking a deep dive into 1 Corinthians 15:1 and 2 to see what Paul says about the gospel of Jesus and how it changes our lives. What we are seeing with some of the Corinthians is that the gospel hasn’t really made a difference in their lives and they continue to live in sin. Paul has warned them on multiple occasions to quit the sin and get in right relationship with Jesus and with those in the church, but they continue to discredit Paul, his authority, his apostleship, and his message because if they can discredit him, it makes them feel as though they can defend their sinful actions instead of repenting and allowing Jesus and the gospel to change them. Were they saved? Are they saved? Paul puts conditions on their faith and we break it down in this podcast!

We are taking a deep dive into 1 Corinthians 15:1 and 2 to see what Paul says about the gospel of Jesus and how it changes our lives. What we are seeing with some of the Corinthians is that the gospel hasn’t really made a difference in their lives and they continue to live in sin. Paul has warned them on multiple occasions to quit the sin and get in right relationship with Jesus and with those in the church, but they continue to discredit Paul, his authority, his apostleship, and his message because if they can discredit him, it makes them feel as though they can defend their sinful actions instead of repenting and allowing Jesus and the gospel to change them. Were they saved? Are they saved? Paul puts conditions on their faith and we break it down in this podcast!

If anyone had a right to boast about his credentials, it is Paul. He was climbing up the ladder of success as a Pharisee and was in a very powerful position until he wasn’t. He was on the road to Damascus to persecute more believers when Jesus appeared out of nowhere and changed his entire life, his way of thinking, and his direction! Though Paul says he had a clear conscience, he never forgot who he was, how he thought he was working on God’s behalf, and knowing he caused a lot of pain for many people and their families, this kept him humble. He always kept Jesus first and everything he did was centered around Jesus.

In the church at Corinth, there were some people who thought they were “super” spiritual, that they had better gifts than others, they had a higher status than others, they had more wisdom and superior knowledge than others, therefore they were abusing the gifts given to them by God. What they were doing was causing chaos in the church and Paul is giving them direction about how to use the spiritual gifts properly and if they disagreed with him, they were disagreeing with the Lord because that’s who Paul got his direction from! He tells them, “If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.”

We left the last podcast with unfinished discussion. We had to rush thought the end of the chapter where Paul tells the women in the church at Corinth to be silent. Does he mean that a woman cannot speak at all in a church? Not even a word? Are they really supposed to wait until they get home to speak? We take a deep dive into the church at Corinth looking at Acts 18 when the church began and who was in charge of it at the time.

We left the last podcast with unfinished discussion. We had to rush thought the end of the chapter where Paul tells the women in the church at Corinth to be silent. Does he mean that a woman cannot speak at all in a church? Not even a word? Are they really supposed to wait until they get home to speak? We take a deep dive into the church at Corinth looking at Acts 18 when the church began and who was in charge of it at the time.

I’m not sure how many times we have talked about this subject since we have covered Paul’s writings but here we are again! I wasn’t there and I do not claim to have all the answers but if Paul means for a woman to be completely silent in churches, then why does he tell them to pray with their heads covered back in chapter 11? Would he not tell them not pray at all, or at least until they leave the meeting or get to their homes? And what are we going to do with Chloe who is asking all these questions that Paul is answering? Will she not read the responses to the entire church? Before you say “no!”, what about Pheobe? She delivered the letter from Paul to the church at Rome, meaning she also read it to the entire congregation that was assembled together, both men and women. And what about Philip’s four daughters who prophesied? Who did they prophesy to? The open air in a field somewhere? No! They prophesied to believers that were assembled together! So do what you will with all of that!