Venice church of Christ

How are Christians a new creation in Christ?How did Paul view and defend his ministry?Why must we all open our hearts toward God and one another?Living as New Creation | 2 Corinthians 5:17-6:13 | Paul's Second Letter to the CorinthiansOutline | ConversationSo then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come! And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people's trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his plea through us. We plead with you on Christ's behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.Now because we are fellow workers, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “I heard you at the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!We do not give anyone an occasion for taking an offense in anything, so that no fault may be found with our ministry. But as God's servants, we have commended ourselves in every way, with great endurance, in persecutions, in difficulties, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in hunger, by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by benevolence, by the Holy Spirit, by genuine love, by truthful teaching, by the power of God, with weapons of righteousness both for the right hand and for the left, through glory and dishonor, through slander and praise; regarded as impostors, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying and yet – see! – we continue to live; as those who are scourged and yet not executed; as sorrowful, but always rejoicing, as poor, but making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide to you. Our affection for you is not restricted, but you are restricted in your affections for us. Now as a fair exchange – I speak as to my children – open wide your hearts to us also (2 Corinthians 5:17-6:13).

What was God's message to Israel in Isaiah 40:1-66:24?How does Isaiah 40:1-66:24 differ from Isaiah 1:1-39:8?How did God's message through Isaiah find its fulfillment?Isaiah 40:1-66:24 | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

How did Paul live for the Crucified and Risen Lord?Why should we understand ourselves as held together and constrained by the love of Christ?Living For the Crucified and Risen Lord | 2 Corinthians 5:1-16 | Paul's Second Letter to the CorinthiansOutline | ConversationFor we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord – for we live by faith, not by sight. Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we are well known to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may be able to answer those who take pride in outward appearance and not in what is in the heart. For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. So then from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer (2 Corinthians 5:1-16).

Why did Paul consider himself as an "earthen vessel" or a "clay jar"?What sustained Paul despite his distress and pain?Earthen Vessels | 2 Corinthians 4:1-18 | Paul's Second Letter to the CorinthiansOutline | ConversationTherefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged. But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience before God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ.But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body. For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body. As a result, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak. We do so because we know that the one who raised up Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:1-18).

Where might one find Paul's letters of recommendation?Why should we participate in the ministry of the Spirit over the ministry of condemnation and death?The Ministry of the Spirit | 2 Corinthians 3:1-18 | Paul's Second Letter to the CorinthiansOutline | ConversationAre we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don't need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts. Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.But if the ministry that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets – came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective), how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory!Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:1-18).

What did Isaiah prophesy to Israel in Isaiah 1:1-39:8?How did God fulfill His word which He spoke to Israel through Isaiah?Isaiah 1:1-39:8 | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

What can we learn about the purpose and limitations of discipline from Paul and the Corinthian Christians?Why would Paul consider himself led in triumphal procession in and a sweet aroma of Christ?Sweet Aroma of Christ | 2 Corinthians 2:5-17 | Paul's Second Letter to the CorinthiansOutline | ConversationBut if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate) he has saddened all of you as well. This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, so that now instead you should rather forgive and comfort him. This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. For this reason also I wrote you: to test you to see if you are obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him – for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes). Now when I arrived in Troas to proclaim the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord had opened a door of opportunity for me, I had no relief in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and set out for Macedonia. But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing – to the latter an odor from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, but we are speaking in Christ before God as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God (2 Corinthians 2:5-17).

Why would Paul speak of Christ as God's "Yes" to the Corinthian Christians (and to us)?Why didn't Paul visit the Corinthian Christians like he said he would?God's Yes in Christ | 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4 | Paul's Second Letter to the CorinthiansOutline | ConversationFor our reason for confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives and sincerity which are from God – not by human wisdom but by the grace of God – we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more toward you. For we do not write you anything other than what you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us, and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you. Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? Or do I make my plans according to mere human standards so that I would be saying both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? But as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us – by me and Silvanus and Timothy – was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him. For every one of God's promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God. But it is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.Now I appeal to God as my witness, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm. So I made up my own mind not to pay you another painful visit. For if I make you sad, who would be left to make me glad but the one I caused to be sad? And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours. For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you (2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4).

What was going on between Paul and the Corinthian Christians?How can we best entrust ourselves to the God of all comfort who raises the dead?The God of All Comfort | 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 | Paul's Second Letter to the CorinthiansOutline | ConversationFrom Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia.Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living. Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again, as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many (2 Corinthians 1:1-11).

Why do so many imagine Jesus as "sour and dour"?What can we learn from how Jesus rejoiced and celebrated?How can we well endure to share in joy and the hope of the final celebration?Jesus Rejoiced | Jesus FeltOutline | Conversation

How was Jesus tempted?Was Jesus really tempted?How can we take encouragement and strength from Jesus enduring temptation?Jesus Was Tempted | Jesus FeltOutline | Conversation

Why do we prove so uncomfortable with Jesus expressing emotion?What can we learn and gain from Jesus' experiences of various "negative" emotions?Jesus Wept | Jesus FeltOutline | Conversation

Who was John the Baptist, and what was he all about?How did John the Baptist well prepare the way of the Lord and embody the prophetic tradition?Preparing the Way of the LordOutline | Conversation

How do Christians today generally talk about immodesty?What were Paul's and Peter's concerns in terms of modesty and immodesty?How should Christians navigate an immodest world in modest ways?ImmodestyOutline | Conversation

Why do we talk so much about covetousness in church - but nowhere else?How might we fall prey to covetousness and greed?How can we well resist covetousness and greed?CovetousnessOutline | Conversation

Why does the Bible condemn idolatry?Is idolatry still a problem today? If so, how can we avoid it?IdolatryOutline | Conversation

What is going on in the Song of Solomon?How should Christians approach and appreciate the Song of Songs?The Song of Solomon | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

How does God feel about people in poverty?Why should Christians invest resources into helping the poor?Helping the PoorOutline | Conversation

How can Christians well and effectively pray?How to PrayOutline | Conversation

What is the Book of Ecclesiastes all about?Is the Preacher really depressing, or can his message ironically help us better appreciate life under the sun?The Book of Ecclesiastes | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

Why should Christians strive to avoid divorce?How can we strive to love and care for one another in marriage so to make divorce unthinkable?Avoiding DivorceOutline | Conversation

What has been made known in Scripture regarding our adversary?How can we well resist him, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, avoiding the works of the flesh?Our AdversaryOutline | Conversation

Why would Paul want us to abhor evil and thus feel so strongly against it?What consequences attend to sin and evil which would justify that kind of reaction?The Consequences of SinOutline | Conversation

What is the Book of Proverbs all about?How can we appropriately use the wisdom in the Book of Proverbs today?The Book of Proverbs | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

What is the ecumenical movement, or ecumenism / ecumenicalism, all about?What is commendable about ecumenicalism?Has ecumenicalism led to the kind of unity for which Jesus prayed?EcumenicalismOutline | Conversation

How can Christians gain insight regarding teaching their children from how God intended the Israelites to teach their children?How can we well raise children in the discipline and instruction of Jesus?Teaching Children DiligentlyOutline | Conversation

What is ignorance, and how is it a stumbling block to faith?How can we make sure we do not prove ignorant of God in Christ intellectually, relationally, or experientially?Stumbling Blocks to Faith: IgnoranceOutline | Conversation

Why did Paul use adoption as a metaphor for the Christian's relationship with God?How should we understand ourselves as God's adopted children?AdoptionOutline | Conversation

What are the Psalms all about?How can we well incorporate the Psalms into our faith lives?The Book of Psalms | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

How can improper perspective lead to all kinds of disagreements and divisions in Christianity?How can we maintain a proper perspective on the Bible and our faith to glorify and honor God in Christ?Proper PerspectiveOutline | Conversation

How can we well glorify and honor God?Zeal without knowledge?Knowledge without zeal?No knowledge and no zeal?Zeal and knowledge?Zeal and KnowledgeOutline | Conversation

How does our relationship with God "work"?Since we did nothing to deserve salvation, is it really true that we have absolutely no active role in our salvation?How can election and obedience "work" in our relationship with God?Election, Obedience, and Our Relationship With GodOutline | Conversation

How should we approach the many things we have to do in our lives all the time?How can we maintain a healthy perspective about the constant spiritual behaviors in our lives?Attitudes Toward ConstancyOutline | Conversation

What is the Book of Job all about?What are we to make of Job, his friends, and God's message to Job?The Book of Job | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

Hi! We're on the Internet together!It can be good. It can be bad. It can also be quite ugly.How can we glorify God on the Internet?The Internet: The Good, the Bad, and the UglyOutline | Conversation

How should Christians approach entertainment?How can we glorify God in how we entertain ourselves?EntertainmentOutline | Conversation

What is the Book of Esther all about?What should we make of the Book of Esther?The Book of Esther | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

Where did marathons come from?What spiritual lessons might we derive from the Battle of Marathon?Lessons From MarathonOutline | Conversation

Upon what do most conversations about the clothing of Christians focus?Yet what is the focus of the New Testament authors regarding the Christian's clothing?How should we approach the matter of the Christian's clothing?The Christian's ClothingOutline | Conversation

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."Thus John F. Kennedy challenged Americans in 1961. What spiritual applications can we draw from the principle of seeking the best interest of others?Ask Not...Outline | Conversation

What did Nehemiah want God and us to know about him and his work?What can we gain from Nehemiah's story and his example in his time?The Book of Nehemiah | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

Why do we say but do not do?What double standard exists between how we view ourselves versus how we view others?How can we better reflect in our actions that which we speak?Saying and DoingOutline | Conversation

What are the various forms of deceit out there?Why must Christians strive to avoid all forms of deceit?DeceitOutline | Conversation

What are the various forms of corrupt communication?Why should Christians give serious consideration to what and how they speak?Corrupt CommunicationOutline | Conversation

What is the Book of Ezra all about?How can we gain encouragement from Israel's restoration to its land?The Book of Ezra | Books of the BibleOutline | Conversation

How much will people ruin their lives in their pursuit of money or other such things?When will we all be confronted by our moment of truth?The Moment of TruthOutline |Conversation

Romans 8:1-39 has many encouraging promises for those who are "in Christ Jesus." But what prospects exist for those who are not in Christ? The Curses of God | Romans 8:1-39 Outline | Conversation

What kind of promises did God make in Romans 8:1-39? How can we gain encouragement from those promises? The Promises of God | Romans 8:1-39 Outline | Conversation

What is the Second Book of Chronicles all about? How would 2 Chronicles provide background and encouragement for later Israelites and Christians? The Second Book of Chronicles | Books of the Bible

How do we become members of the Church of Christ and a church of Christ? How could we possibly not be a member of the Church of Christ when we are members of a church of Christ? Just Because You Are a Member of a church of Christ Does Not Mean You Must Be a Member of the Church of Christ Outline | Conversation

What would be controversial about the church relating as the family of God? How can we cultivate healthier relationships within the church as the family of God? The Nature of the Church: The Church as Family Outline | Conversation