"True Servants of Christ" | 2 Corinthians 11 | Pastor Israel

Let's open our Bibles together, please, to the book of Second

Corinthians. In Chapter 11 is where we find

ourselves. We're coming to the conclusion

of the series through Second Corinthians.

The title of tonight's message is True Servants of Christ

Boasting in Weakness. Two Corinthians Chapter 11

please Opening your Bibles together.

I'm going to be reading out of the New King James Version as we

go through this chapter together.

Some of you may have seen an old Jimmy Stewart comedy film where

Stuart plays a concerned father who is following his daughter

whilst on vacation in Paris and he shadows her every move, sort

of fiercely protective to shield her from harm.

That's the story of a film called Take Her, She's Mine.

And and Stuart's character is convinced that every man that

his daughter encounters has an ulterior motive.

So it's sort of this comedic flow on of of events.

And as a father myself, I can sympathise.

My daughter Shiloh's planning an overseas trip in January, and I

keep teasing that I'll chaperone this trip with her and her

girlfriends. This is precisely the picture

that we have here in Second Corinthians Chapter 11.

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

The apostle Paul speaks not as this distant theologian in this

chapter, but as a spiritual leader who is concerned for the

church in Corinth. And he uses this kind of

metaphor or this imagery for us in this chapter.

In verse 2, he says I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy

for I have betrothed you to one husband to Christ.

And there's almost this picture, this imagery, you know how we

have in a wedding when the bride comes in the processional and

and the father typically of the bride will stand and the

question is asked, who gives his bride?

Well, Well, Paul pictures himself almost like a spiritual

father over the church and the church specifically in Corinth.

And he's concerned for their purity in their devotion to

gospel doctrine, to not buying into deception that would

contaminate them and destroy them.

But he's very jealous and protective and concerned with a

loving father's heart for this church here in Corinth.

You see, he led them to Christ. He nurtured this church.

He spent a matter of months and there a good year and a half in

in growing this church. And now he watches with concern

as these false teachers have crept into the church and

they're deceiving the Corinthians, and the Corinthians

are listening and they're being deceived, and they're returning

back to their old ways of things that they were doing before

being followers of Jesus Christ. And oh man, it breaks Paul's

heart as the apostle of them and as a father spiritually speaking

over them. You see, these false teachers

particularly had come in and they're smooth, they're

impressive and they sound good, and they're very proud and

boastful of their expertise and their credentials and their

power and their eloquence, and they claim even to be apostles.

But their message corrupts the gospel truth and the clarity of

it. Paul had just devoted so much

time and energy too in in planting and nourishing this

church. So Paul now, particularly in

this chapter, responds, and it's not to protect his own

reputation, but it's to protect the church.

This is the jealousy that he has for them.

He's very protective of them being LED astray.

And so he engages here in what he calls foolish boasting.

And there's a holy irony to the language and the words that he

utilises here. He takes much of the so called

super apostles terminology that they were spreading throughout

the church in Corinth, and he uses it against their arguments.

And so he boasts now, not in his own personal successes, not in

his own personal qualifications, but he boasts in his scars, in

his weaknesses, in his wounds. He focuses not upon his

strength, but upon areas that to all external earthly eyes

looking in appear to be weaknesses, but from a godly,

eternal perspective are very much the power of God coursing

through him. And it's not about exalting

himself, but it's rather to expose these false apostles and

to demonstrate, OK, these these false apostles are claiming to

be servants of Jesus Christ. But let me tell you what a true

servant of Jesus Christ looks like and sounds like and behaves

and acts like. And so in doing So, what Paul

gives for us in this chapter is a portrait of what true

servanthood looks like if you and I are to be followers of

Jesus Christ. And we are to share in these

markers, these attributes, these characteristics that Paul will

highlight of himself and and then extend to the church in

Corinth and you and I tonight. So a true servant of Christ,

Paul says for us tonight is marked by #1A jealous devotion

to Christ's bride, is marked by #2A generous heart that gives,

not takes. And thirdly, what we'll see, a

gritty endurance in suffering for Christ's cause.

This is where we're going to move through this chapter here

in 11. So let's walk through these

marks together. Let's focus on the first point.

And we find this in the 1st 6 verses.

Now all that you would bear with me, he says in a little folly.

And indeed you do bear with me, for I am jealous for you with

godly jealousy, For I have betrothed you to one husband,

that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his

craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity

that is in Christ. 4 If he comes, if he who comes rather

preachers another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you

receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a

different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put

up with it. For I consider verse 5 that I'm

not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles, to hear the

sarcasm in his writing here, the so called self appointed

apostles as they are, even though verse 6 I'm untrained in

speech. That was much of the accusation

against Paul. I mean, he can't even speak

good. That was what some of them were

saying about Paul. He's not goodly educated

roughly, even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am

not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly

manifested among you in all things.

So let's have a look at this. Paul again begins and I point

you to verse 2. He says I am jealous for you

with a godly jealousy and this jealousy here we we sometimes

read into our understanding of jealousy.

It's not a a pettiness that we might attribute to it or a

possessiveness, but rather this is protective in nature.

Like again, a father guarding his daughters and in this case,

the church here in Corinth, the purity Paul longs to present the

Corinthian believers faithful to their groom in Jesus Christ and

pure to Christ who is their their heavenly bridegroom.

And this word jealousy is very powerful.

It's it's like a love that burns hot against anything that would

threaten the beloved. You know, God himself calls one

of his names as jealous. Oh no, not God jealous.

No, but in Exodus 34 verse 14, God says that and, and it's in

Exodus 34:14

concern for, particularly back then, the people of Israel and

their hearts being turned aside onto false idols.

And the danger, the concern, the heart that God has for his

people that in pursuing these idols they'd be LED astray and

onto destruction and that that would be their downfall.

So there's a jealousy that is protective of his people.

That is why God uses that term. And this is what Paul here is in

reference to. Paul fears that just as the Eve

back in the garden was deceived by the serpent, that the

Corinthians minds would be LED astray from the simplicity that

is in Christ, he says, and the danger isn't atheism and

abandoning a forsaking of a belief in God altogether.

There's no God. That's not what he's concerned

with for the church in Corinth. It's rather a concern for

distortion. That's how Satan works.

That's how Satan worked back in the garden with Eve.

He distorted the truth that God had declared.

And this is Paul's worry that the Corinthians minds would be

LED astray from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.

Satan usually does not deny Jesus.

He redefines him. He doesn't reject grace.

He repackages it with human pride.

And that's why Paul says another Jesus and I want you to buy into

another Jesus and that which was preached to you when I came and

when I taught I, I don't want you to be deceived by another

spirit other than the Holy Spirit or, or to buy into

another gospel. Paul's warning them here about

all of these additions to the gospel, all these alterations to

the gospel. And you know, that's not just a

1st century problem that Paul is addressing there.

It's a 21st century that we have in Christendom today, don't we?

You know, the world still preaches, if it accepts Jesus at

all. Jesus plus Jesus plus success,

Jesus plus good works, Jesus plus personal fulfilment, Jesus

plus, well, you know, these other aspects of some other

religions pretty good. You know, we Christians, we

don't have the corner on gospel truth.

So we can borrow and we can learn from some of these other

religions and ways of thinking or some of these other

traditions, even certain philosophies of men and we can

bring them into the church. And it's Jesus and Jesus plus

this. You know, when you add anything

to Jesus, you lose the real Jesus.

Skip Heitzig's sermon on this and I'll quote it a couple of

times. He said that the gospel is so

simple we're tempted to complicate it.

That's many people's issues sometimes with the the

simplicity of the gospel message.

It sounds too simple for them. I mean, if I'll believe that

Jesus died in my place and took my penalty when he suffered upon

the cross, that my sins will be forgiven and that I'll be right

with a holy righteous God. No, too easy.

Surely there's something I have to do to earn favour with God,

to merit it. Again, when you add anything to

Jesus, you lose Jesus. And you know, often we can start

with grace and then we can drift towards performance and start to

want to make ourselves feel better about ourselves by going,

yeah, I know it's grace, but boy, how good am I and how

wonderful am I and, and that God must surely be extra pleased

with me because of what I've done or what I've accomplished

and how I'm doing this and how I haven't done that and so on.

And we can get distracted by trends, by certain movements or

philosophies, but Paul says to the church at Corinth, and he

would say to you and I tonight, keep it simple.

Christ alone, not another Jesus, not another spirit, not another

gospel. And so then being a true servant

as Paul is emulating of Christ means this being jealous for the

purity of the gospel and understanding what the gospel is

and what it means. So that then when we hear of

another Jesus, we're not duped. So then when we hear of another

spirit, we're not deceived. And when another gospel is

spouted as being all this new wonderful revelation and this

thing and this, this new move of God, that when it doesn't match

up with what the Bible teaches, we go, no, it's another gospel.

So pastors and preachers and leaders and ministry servants

tonight, protect the flock from any spiritual seduction.

Guard doctrine like you might guard and protect your child

parents in the home. Be discerning about what voices

shape your family's faith, but about what you allow them to buy

into and and to listen and, and and be deceived or duped by.

And us as believers generally test every spirit the Bible says

when someone talks about Jesus, consider which Jesus are you

Speaking of? You know, there's the Jesus of

pop culture, isn't there? There's the Jesus of the

Mormons, the Jesus of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Jesus

of Islam. But what we need is the Jesus of

the Bible. Jesus the Christ.

And the church's health depends on godly jealousy.

Don't let your heart be stolen by spiritual impostors.

Don't tolerate a gospel that may entertain but doesn't transform.

Again, true servants guard the simplicity and sincerity of

devotion to Jesus Christ. It's what's Paul, Paul's concern

here in those first 6 verses for us.

Let's move on to the second we see that true servants give

generously without expecting return.

I'm going to read a lot of verses here, and I'll unpack a

few bits and pieces, but then we'll focus on the point

together afterward, he says, Did I commit sin in humbling myself?

That you might be exalted because I preached the gospel of

God to you free of charge. I robbed other churches, he

says, and we'll explain that terminology later.

Taking wages from them to minister to you.

And when I was present with you, verse 9 and in need, I was a

burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came

from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself

from being burdensome to you. And so I will keep myself as the

truth of Christ is in me. No one shall stop me from this

boasting in the regions of Akaya.

Why? Because I do not love you, God

knows what I do. I will also continue to do that.

I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an

opportunity to be regarded just as we are, in the things of

which they boast. For such are false apostles,

deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of

Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself

transforms himself into an Angel of light.

Therefore it's no great thing if his ministers also transform

themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be

according to their works. I say again, verse 16, Let no

one think me a fool, if otherwise at least receive me as

a fool, that I also may boast a little what I speak.

I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly

in this confidence of boasting, seeing that many boast according

to the flesh, I also will boast. OK, Just bear with me.

Tolerate my words for a moment that these guys, they want to

boast a bit. It's foolish.

I know this isn't something from the Lord, but I'll I'll give

them what they're about and let's talk of boasting for a

bit. So you put up with fools gladly,

Verse 19 since you as Hells are wise, you put up with it verse

20 If one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if

one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes

you on the face. Some suggests that Paul's

speaking metaphorically here of these false teachers striking

them on the face, and others suggests that even physically,

literally, that they were going, oh, it's so wonderful.

They even struck me on the face. These super apostles, how, how

good are they? To our shame, I say that we were

too weak for that. But in whatever anyone is bold,

I speak foolishly. I am bold also.

In fact, I'll stop there. Verse 21.

So Paul here moves from the jealousy that we read of in

verses 1 to 6 to generosity in these verses before us.

Essentially what's at the heart of this is that the enemies, the

adversaries of Paul were mocking him for not charging money of

the Corinthian church. If Paul were a real apostle,

they sneered, he'd take a proper fee.

And, and what's behind that is in in Greek culture, there was a

certain measure of a teacher or a speaker or philosopher and

their importance by the fee and how exorbitant it was that they

charged. So if they're more expensive to

speak, they'll say, wow, they must be good.

And so the fact that Paul had not sought an income or a

salary, so to speak, from the Corinthian believers, but was

being supported by the other churches.

And that's what he means there by when he says robbed.

And it's strong word. And certainly we know that he

didn't, you know, stick them up to the other churches and say,

give me all your money and I need it.

But no, what he's using here is language here is it meant that

the other churches that were supporting Paul at this time

that he speaks of derived no direct benefit from blessing and

supporting him in that way. But it was benefiting the

Corinthian church as he was ministering and labouring to

them there. So that's what he means there

when he's Speaking of this. So Paul took $0.00 from the

Corinthian church. And so by the estimation of many

in, in Grecian culture and, and you know, in the Roman Empire

here at this time and the philosophers that were coming in

and these false teachers was that, well, Paul, even Paul

knows he's not a big deal because otherwise he'd be

charging a, a fee. But what Paul said is I, I

refuse to profit from the ministry here.

In fact, I preached free of charge.

I even supported myself through tent making while I was I was

there and present with you and accepted help, support from

other churches so that you Corinthians would never feel

burdened as I was here and as I was labouring and as as I was

generous in my service unto the Lord and to you.

Did I sin? He asked in verse 7 in humbling

myself in this way and not being exalted.

And so he so called weakness here that they were pointing out

his refusal to take money was actually he declares, no, it's

proof of my love, of my sacrifice, of my generosity

towards you and my concern for you.

And so he says in verse 11, why, because I don't love you.

No, I love you. God knows that's why I did it.

And so true servants of Christ don't serve for what they can

get. They serve for what they can

give is what Paul emulates and models here.

But on the other hand, the Super apostles in the church in

Corinth, as they kind of called themselves, by contrast to

Paul's example, they were like spiritual parasites to the

Corinthian church. In verse 13 he says they're

false apostles, they're fake, they're self appointed, they're

deceitful workers. And it's little wonder he says

they're like Satan. They appear wonderful verse 14

and it's no great thing that they might appear as such and

and boast of themselves as such in verse 15, because even Satan

exalts and magnifies himself in this way.

In verse 20 he says that they're in fact enslaved by these false

apostles, devoured by them, and that they're exploited as people

by these. And these so called self

appointed apostles had exalted themselves in the midst of the

church in Corinth and even, as I say, slapped believers.

Could you imagine a church service?

You come forward to be prayed for by one of the pastors after

the service, whether it was physical or literal.

Like I say, there's, there's uncertainty as as commentators

look at it, but even metaphorical, it's, it's strange

how the church in Corinth were being duped by such to think,

oh, how wonderful, how awesome they are.

And if it's literal, oh, did you get slapped on Sunday?

No, I got slapped on Sunday. The idea is that they they wore

the robe of authority, these speakers, these teachers, but

they did not have the heart of a shepherd.

These were the men that the church in Corinth were

preferring to listen to and to honour over Paul.

Isn't much of this the same today?

I think it is now people will listen to and and pay money for

and and celebrate all kinds of weird and and wacky teachings

and certain people and and then criticise the Bible and honest

preachers and teachers of the Bible for being fundies or any

in a number of pejorative terms about those who who believe in

the literal truth of the Bible is what it says and and the

gospel is no, it's clear, it's crisp, it's black and white.

Here's here's how it's written, 2000 years since the writing and

the same thing today. But a true servant of Jesus

Christ gives with generosity, expecting nothing in return.

Again, just as I was preparing and using just different

commentaries and sermons and so on.

Skip Heitzig and his message on this he he referenced a time

when he'd been invited to speak in Scotland by a church that

unbeknownst to him at the time, was led by a self proclaimed

apostle. So you know, already accepted

the invitation. So continued to speak and the so

called apostle took two offerings afterwards, urging the

people to just dig deeper, dig deeper.

And what Skip did was at the end of the service, every dollar

that had been collected and go back to the mission fund the

ministry was supporting and said let it go to the real gospel.

And that's an example of Paul's spirit here in serving and

committing and devotion to the church in Corinth.

He refused to gain personally so that Christ alone could be

magnified and glorified. So you and I are servants of

Jesus Christ. Let's embody generosity and not

greed in our motives in why we do what we do.

And, and let's measure any ministries that we're involved

in and that we're participating, that we're privileged to be a

part of, not by any applause achieved not by any platforms

attained, but by sacrifice and sincerity.

And we are called to spend and be spent for other souls.

Paul mentions this in the next chapter, in verse 15, chapter

12. And so if you have any

authority, if you have any platform or any leadership, then

use that to build others up, not yourself.

Yeah, as we serve one another, give serve not for any

recognition, but out of gratitude.

And all of us as believers remember this, that true

ministry is measured not by how much we keep, but by how much we

pour out. True servants gladly give

themselves away for the good of others, as Paul reminds us

tonight. In the end, in the rest of the

chapter, we see our Third Point for our focus tonight.

True servants endure suffering with greedy faith.

And here's some of the most amazing verses that Paul reveals

to us of what it means to be a servant and a follower of Jesus.

It's far different from, I guess, the celebrity version

that's so sought after in modern Christendom.

Let's go back to verse 22. Are they Hebrews?

So am I. Are they Israelites?

So am I? Are they the seed of Abraham?

So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?

Speakers are four. I am more in labours, more

abundant in stripes above measure, in prisons, more

frequently in deaths, often from the Jews.

Five times I received 40 stripes -1 Three times verse 25 I was

beaten with rods. Once I was stoned with with

rocks to the point of death. We read that in the book of

Acts. 3 times I was shipwrecked. Now incidentally, it's thought

that this letter to the church in Corinth was written before

Acts had been completed. And so the shipwreck that we

read of in Acts is probably not what Paul is in reference to

here. A night and a day I have been in

the deep means, floating, lost out in sea, in journeys often.

Verse 26. In perils of waters, in perils

of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, In perils of the

Gentiles, In perils in the city. In perils in the wilderness and

perils in the sea. In perils among false brethren.

In weariness and toil, In sleeplessness, often in hunger

and thirst, In fastings, often in cold and nakedness.

Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep

concern for all the churches. So not only all of these

physical things, but it within me I am burdened to the point of

anguish, concerned for all of the churches he'd founded on the

various missionary journeys. Verse 29 who is weak and I'm not

weak, Who is made to stumble? And I do not burn with

indignation. If I must boast, I will boast in

the things which concern my infirmity.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed

Reverend, knows that I'm not lying.

And then he gives this final example.

Verse 32. In Damascus, the governor under

Aretas, the king, was guarding the city of the Damascus with a

Garrison, desiring to arrest me. But I was let down in a basket,

through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.

This is where we'll stop our focus for tonight Paul here he

saves his most startling boast for last.

Are they servants of Jesus Christ?

He asked a question. I am more and then comes a

breathtaking list of proof. Suffering after suffering after

suffering after suffering after suffering.

And incidentally, don't you think that if any one of us

experienced just even one of those things of what Paul lists

here for us that we would let everybody know about it.

Oh man, you would not believe what I have suffered for Jesus

Christ. And verse 30 if I must boast, I

will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

This is this is Paul's declaration here.

He's been imprisoned, flogged, beaten, shipwrecked, starved,

endangered from every side. Five times.

He endured 40 lashes -1 and this was when the when the Jews would

administer it, a sign of their mercy to do so.

But his 39 lashes instead of 40, three times beaten with rods,

once stoned to death, three time shipwrecked, a drift at sea,

faced dangers from rivers, robbers, Jews, gentiles, cities,

wilderness, sea, false brothers. He'd gone hungry, thirsty, cold,

sleepless, and then always he said burden with the care of all

the churches. This isn't a resume that Paul's

revealing here. This is a crucifix.

Talk about self denial, taking up your cross and following

Jesus here. Every wound that he has penned,

everything that he has boasted of here is a reminder of love of

service. And so Paul's boast is not in

his success here, but in his scars.

In Galatians 6 verse 17, he would say this.

Galatians 6:17

I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

This is no doubt what Paul had in reference here.

You can imagine all the scarring that would have been left

physically from that which he declared and revealed here.

You know, these are branding marks of a slave, basically, who

belongs wholly to his master, Jesus Christ.

And yet his final example is humility itself being lowered in

a basket, he said out of a window to escape Damascus.

You remember that story? It's immediately after his

conversion on the road to Damascus when he'd been sent

expressly as Saul of Tarsus with the express command from the

Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to go and arrest Christians, the bust up

Bible studies. And it's on that road to

Damascus that he has converted. And he he sees the risen Lord,

Saul. Saul, why are you persecuting

me? And he's converted.

It comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus as the Christ, the very

one whom he he'd been persecuting it.

And now his life is given over unto service of Jesus.

But in order to to head on out of Damascus, there's a a

headhunt on him and he has to be lowered out of a window by a

basket. And so it begins, a lifelong

process in Paul's life of persecution, of suffering for

Jesus Christ being lowered out of this basket, this window to

escape Damascus. The proud Pharisee saw becomes

now the humble servant. Paul, fleeing for his life, the

mighty persecutor of Christians, begins his ministry in humility

and dependence upon God. Will I survive this moment?

And so again begins his life of humble servitude unto Jesus and

the people. And this is what marks true

greatness in God's eyes, not what these super apostles in

Corinth were espousing of themselves were convincing the

Church of Corinth and how wonderful they were and and what

the Church of Corinth were buying into and believing of

them and thinking. But true servants have scars.

They've paid a price for following Jesus Christ.

I reference this hymn number of sermons ago, but I think it is

worth mentioning again. Amy Carmichael who wrote Has

thou no scar, no hidden wound on foot or side or hand?

I hear the singers mighty in the land, But has thou no wound, no

scar? You see, true servants of Jesus

endure pain with purpose. They see weakness as the place

where God's strength shines brightest.

They view suffering not as a curse, but as a blessing, as a

calling. And so tonight, if you're a

weary believer, oh man, I'm just heavy with the burdens and, and

just all of the things that I'm experiencing.

Notice that your scars are not signs of failure, but a

faithfulness. If you're a leader tonight in

any way, any form or fashion, don't hide your weakness.

Let it magnify Christ's strength.

And for all of us, remember this, that suffering is not

wasted when it's in and for the name of Jesus.

As Paul wrote earlier, Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 17,

2 Corinthians 4:17

he says our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an

eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So true servants don't run from suffering, they redeem it for

the sake of the gospel. Well, as we finish this chapter,

we just have a couple to go and we'll be finished with the book.

Second Corinthians. But Paul's boasting here and 2nd

Corinthians isn't 1 of pride or how how great am I how wonderful

am I, but it's it's a passion here, a desire for protection

over the Church of current than for you and I by extension

tonight. And it overflows the heart of

Christ that is within him and in Christ's devotion towards his

church. And, and Paul boasts in again,

his jealous devotion because he's, he's guarding the purity

of the gospel in the church and the impact of false teachers

coming in to the church in Corinth and, and of the

believers. They're not being duped or

deceived of another Jesus or another spirit or another

gospel. He boasts in his generous heart

because he didn't want to be a burden to them.

He didn't want to distract anyone you know from hearing

with clarity the gospel presentation of Jesus Christ

because true servants give themselves away and then his

boasters in gritty endurance because again, true servants

suffer well for their Saviour. Let me tell you about what it's

meant to follow Jesus Christ to be a a true apostle of him as he

listed off those things. So Paul turned the world upside

down. Read you know that account in

Acts and as we go through the epistles and the deceit of the

false teachers here and and what was happening to the

Corinthians. He takes all that was being

spread there in Corinth and he turns it right way up.

Strength is found in weakness, authority is found in humility

and glory is obtained in sacrifice.

Fellow called Floyd Mcclung has a name for you.

Once said everyone wants the fruit of Paul's ministry, but

few want to pay the price Paul paid.

He died daily and that's our call too, to die daily to

comfort, to pride, to self interest.

If anyone would come after me, Jesus said let him deny himself,

take up his cross and follow me so that Christ might live

through US. And you know, and one day when

the bridegroom comes for his bride, when faith becomes sight

and and the betrothal becomes the wedding, all our sufferings

will will become light and momentary.

Paul said until that day, keep it simple, keep it sincere, keep

it about Jesus Christ for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Two Corinthians 12 verse 10. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word tonight.

Thank you for the opportunity to gather in this place and to

worship you in song, to worship you in our giving, to worship

you in our study of your Word. Now Lord help us to be servants

of you, Lord Jesus Christ, to understand what that truly

means, to not buy into another Jesus, another gospel, another

spirit, anything that would deceive or dupe US, supposed to

be focused upon you, the simplicity of the gospel.

May we love you with a passion. May we desire to be used by you.

I pray Lord for your blessing to be poured out on your people

tonight and on through this week.

We ask this in Jesus mighty name.

God's people said Amen, Amen. Again, God bless you.