Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Sermon - "You Must Love Me" (2 Corinthians)

On Sunday, Rev. Joshua Patty preached on Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, where the apostle continues to try to rebuild and reconcile a broken relationship with the congregation in Corinth.

Throughout 2 Corinthians, Paul wears two hats.  On the one hand, he is a teacher, trying to help these new believers become stronger Christians.  On the other hand, Paul takes the broken relationship personally, as he deeply cares for these people and is hurt that many people have misunderstood and mischaracterized his motives and actions.

Paul understands that the only way to reconcile the relationship is to admit how it has been broken.  Then, both sides need to approach each other with love -- a love that accepts each other for who they are, warts and all (rather than hoping for some idealized form of behavior), and a love that accepts each other for who they are, with gifts to offer the entire community in Christ's name.  If they can truly love each other, they can restore and even strengthen their relationship.  In Paul's eyes, this type of love is key for all Christian relationships.

Click here to listen to the sermon.

You can also listen to the related Communion meditation and closing benediction.