2 Corinthians 1:1-2

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

-2 Corinthians 1:1-2

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How do you answer the question: “Who are you?”  Some of you might say a student.  Others might say a teenager.  Still others might point out your gender.  Or some of you might mention your racial or ethnic heritage.  But, how many of us would answer that question by saying, “I’m a child of God”?

Yet, it’s clear from the Apostle Paul’s greeting that Paul sees his first and most important identity as being part of Jesus’ family.  He’s a male.  He’s Jewish.  He’s a Roman citizen.  Those are all part of Paul’s identity, BUT his most important identity is Paul, the Christian.  In fact, all other identities are subject and subservient to his identity in Christ.

Is this true for you?  Do you place your identity as a Christian above your cultural identity as Korean, or Chinese, or Filipino, etc.?  Do you place your identity as a Christian above your identity as an athlete?  Do you place your identity as a Christian above your identity as a student?

Who are you?

1 Corinthians 16:19-24

19 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. 20 All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

21 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.

22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord!

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen

-1 Corinthians 16:19-24

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I love the unity and the camaraderie that churches had with one another in the early days.  It’s clear that they cared for one another and supported one another.  It saddens me that today we don’t see as much inter-cooperation with our churches.   For the most part, we’re content to just have our respective churches do their own thing and not really thinking or worrying about other churches in the neighborhood.

This is a good reminder that God cares about ALL of His churches, not just yours.  He wants to bless and grow all the churches.  As such, we need to have that kind of global vision as well when we think about the church.  Yes, you’re part of your local church, but we are all together part of the larger body of Christ.

A good way for you think about this is how now in AYL we really have two main groups.  We have a community at A@E and we have a community in Tenafly.  The two groups can’t just care about themselves.  They need to be supporting one another and lifting one another up in prayer.  That’s what it means to be part of the body of Christ.

Do you have an expanded perspective of what it means to be part of God’s family, or are you just focused on only those around you?

1 Corinthians 16:15-18

15 You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people. I urge you, brothers and sisters, 16 to submit to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labors at it. 17 I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. 18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition. -1 Corinthians 16:15-18

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We live in a culture of self-promotion.  You have to promote yourself to get into college.  You have to promote yourself during try-outs to make it to a sports team.  You have to promote yourself to be elected to an officers position in a club.  The list goes on and on and on.

And because we live in such a self-promoting culture, one way we promote ourselves is by putting others down.  We gossip about other people’s failures or we’re secretly or not so secretly glad when they fall into misfortune. 

One of the things that bother me as a Young Life leader is how so many guys put each other down to try to one up one another.  They claim that they are dissing each other because they are close and its a sign of intimacy.  But I suspect that underneath it, there is a modicum of self-promotion.  That deep down it’s our way of masking our insecurities by dissing others.

The Apostle Paul here is super confident in his identity in Christ and so he has no need to put anyone down.  In fact, here in this passage he urges us to lift others up with praise.  “Such men deserve recognition.”

We’re always so quick to criticize people, but when was the last time we praised someone.  “Hey, you did awesome in that game.”  Or, “Hey, your sharing was fire.”  Or, “Nice job on your part of the project.” Or, “You’re really improving in League.”

Your words have power.  Are you using your words to build up or to tear down?  That all depends on how much you identify with Christ.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love. -1 Corinthians 16:13-14

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Many people think that to love means being weak and vulnerable.  The thinking goes when you love, you open yourself up to others which allow them the opportunity to hurt you.  This is actually true.  There is a tremendous risk in love.  You do open yourself up to be hurt and it’s highly likely you will be hurt.  That’s because you’re a sinner and you’re trying to be friends with a sinner.  Sinners hurt one another.

If that’s the case, why then does the Apostle Paul group “love” with strength?  Check out this passage here.  He talks about standing guard, standing firm, be courageous, be strong... and then to love.  It seems like “love” doesn’t fit into this list.

But of course it does!  You can only truly love if you’re strong.  Because love requires vulnerable and exposing yourself to potential hurt, only a strong person can truly love.

How do you become a strong person who is able to love others despite the risks?  You find your identity in Christ.  When you receive your purpose and your sense of self-worth solely in God, you become invincible.  If someone hurts you, you can forgive because though what they did hurt, it didn’t destroy your identity or your sense of self worth—you are completely rooted in Christ.  This is why I believe only when we are secure in our identity in God can we truly, truly love someone else.

Maria and I hurt each other all the time.  It’s because we’re sinners.  But also because we both have a relationship with Jesus, we are able to forgive and to keep loving one another.  Christ helps us in our marriage.

Are you loving people by finding your identity and sense of self-worth in Christ?

1 Corinthians 16:8-9

8 But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. -1 Corinthians 16:8-9

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Has it been kind of tough to pursue your faith?  Have there been obstacles or barriers preventing you from growing in God?  Check out what the Apostle Paul’s sentence here tells us about what you’re going through.

I love this sentence because Paul is reminding us of something super important whenever we try to follow God or serve God.  He mentions that God has opened a door for him to do ministry at Ephesus, and the reason why he knows that is because he’s facing a lot of opposition.  Doing God’s work and facing opposition go together.  That’s what Paul is remind us of!

So if you’re struggling through something and your faith feels more like a crawl than a walk, it’s probably because you’re on the right path and Satan and other demonic spiritual forces at work are trying to hinder you and stop you from growing.  Opposition is one of the signs that you’re probably on the right track.

How do you get through that opposition though?  You fall back on the good spiritual habits that you’ve developed during the easy times of faith.  If during the easy times you’ve been developing a habit of reading God’s Word and of praying, the habit will just kick in during the difficult times, even when you don’t feel like doing any of those things.

Are you in a spiritually easy time or a spiritually difficult time?  If you’re in an easy time, keep building up those spiritual disciplines, you will need them in the tough times.  If you’re in that difficult time right now, depend on that good habit that you’ve developed and keep engaging in spiritual activities that help you to think about God.

1 Corinthians 16:5-7

5 After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. -1 Corinthians 16:5-7

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Relationships are important.  We can see that the Apostle Paul didn’t see the people of Corinth as projects—people he had to minister to—but as friends; people who he got to share life with.  This is why Paul wrote that he didn’t want to just drop by and say “hi,” but he wanted to stay much longer with them and enjoy their friendship.

Think of a few friendships that you have that have been invaluable to you.  Think of friends who have helped you through a difficult time and friends who have helped you to grow in your faith.  As the African proverb says: “Hold on to a true friend with both hands.”  Don’t let these friendships die or deteriorate.  Good friends are hard to find!

And as we think about friendships, let us not forget our truest and most faithful friend—Jesus Christ.  For every Christian, Jesus ought to be our best friend.  His friendship ought to be the most important.

Are you holding on to Jesus with both hands?

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

16 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. -1 Corinthians 16:1-4

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Are you using your money to help others?  The Apostle Paul’s advice to the church is to set money aside every week for the purpose of helping others.

I know what you’re thinking, “I’m just in high school; I don’t make any money yet.”  That may be true, but you can still get in the habit of setting aside some of your money for God’s work.  If you get birthday money, set some aside to donate to a good cause.  If you’re working a job, you should be setting some money aside from your paycheck to tithe to your church on a regular basis.

Setting money aside to help others reminds us that “our” money is really not our own.  It all belongs to God and He has allowed us to have the material possessions we have to further His Kingdom.  I earn a salary as a teacher and as a Young Life leader.  It is by God’s grace that I even have those jobs.  These are jobs God gave me.  So my salaries are really God’s salaries.

God doesn’t just own a percentage of your money.  God owns all of your money.  It’s His money, His bank account, His stuff, and you’re just managing it for Him.  

Are you being a good manager of God’s money?  Are you spending it on His Kingdom or are you just spending it on yourself?