Daily Dose of the Word of God - 2 Corinthians 8:1-5

Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor

Transcript

Good morning, friends, and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. This is Gregg DeMey, lead pastor at the church. And it is Thursday, November 14, and we are in the midst of hearts ablaze campaign season, a time in which, by God's grace, new sparks are being ignited in us for the things of God.

Today's reading is from the book of II Corinthians, chapter 8:1-5. In this little passage, Paul refers to three different churches and three different cities. So, first of all, there's the Corinthian church that Paul is writing to. Secondly, there's the Macedonian church, who has set a good example in how they've given. And thirdly, there's the mother church in Jerusalem, who's kind of hurting, for whom these offerings are being taken, God's Word says.

"And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace of God that has been given to the Macedonian churches in the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty has welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, even beyond their ability to support the Jerusalem church entirely on their own. They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people. And they have exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves, first of all, to the Lord, and then, by the will of God, also to us. And since you Corinthians excel in everything, in faith, in speech and knowledge and complete earnestness and in the love that has been kindled in you, see that you also excel in this grace of giving."

Now this week's worship service friends will be centered around the concept of sacrifice and how in a flawed and broken world, God intends for acts of sacrifice to be the way forward for us to put our feet on a path towards a better world. Acts of sacrifice, when done rightly, open us to the grace of God. Now there are many different forms of sacrifice, illustrated throughout the scriptures, visible, invisible, public, secret. One of the most basic and obvious versions of sacrifice is through the tithes and offerings that God's people make, tithe being the first 10% or first fruits of what we have, and offerings being above and beyond giving for special causes or needs, and this is what Paul commended the Macedonian churches for. Now, the Macedonians didn't have much. They were undergoing serious persecutions and trials of their own. But even so, even though they were poor, they gave sacrificially to support the mother church in Jerusalem. First, Paul says they gave themselves to the Lord, and then they made an offering for the church. And so Paul tells the Corinthian church, the rich, educated, sophisticated Corinthians, to be like the Macedonians and excel in the grace of giving because sacrifice will bring about a better world. Now, a similar word is on target for those of us North American Christians these days. I'd like to say that we are the Corinthians of the 21st century, rich, educated, and sophisticated, and Paul God's word comes to us and encourages us also to excel in the grace of giving, and now is a crucial moment in the history of ECRC through our sacrificial giving to help bring about a better world.

Let's pray. God, It's a little mysterious to us that sacrifice is the pathway forward, but we thank you that Jesus has shown the way to us that he has gone first and made the perfect, complete sacrifice, and how much of your grace and love has flow flowed into the world because of that sacrifice so perfect, so powerful, so strong that it's able to cover all of our sins and shortcoming and bring About Your kingdom. We desire to follow Jesus' lead today; it's in his name that we pray. Amen