Comments on: 2 Corinthians 4 - Renewing the Heart

By: Kristine/SHS

Kristine/SHS — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:52:51 +0000

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ”

This has really struck me in the past few months too. It is such a message of hope and encouragement for me.

By: KME

KME — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:19:00 +0000

Cynthia - you are right, most churches don’t seem to be offering adult Sunday school any more. As Tim said, we had to search hard to find one that had classes. Even still, our church only has two that meet regularly and they are only attended by a small number of people. I’d love to see more people participate in Sunday school classes and more classes offered at church.

Either way, I’m very thankful for the additional opportunity to study God’s Word on Sunday. It’s exciting to examine the scriptures with other believers.

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:38:17 +0000

I agree Tim…Alot of emphasis are on small groups these days. Though these groups do provide ways for people to connect and build a sense of community. Many groups have “Bible Studies” but only a few “Study the Bible” (from my experience) Sunday School is a great place to begin one. That’s one reason Holly and I enjoy it so much!
I was struck by the same passage too! (2 Cor 4:17-18)
I love the way “The Message” phrases it…

17. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. 18. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

BTW - you would make a great Trial Lawyer…Tim!

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:17:40 +0000

I wonder how many churches have Sunday School. We’ve only attended 1 church that offered Sunday School before church and that was 20 years ago or so…

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:13:20 +0000

I must admit, I don’t understand why so many Christians neglect adult Sunday School. When we first moved to our current home and were looking for a church, several of the churches had no Sunday School program for adults at all.

I’m reminded of the scene in one of our favorite musicals, The Happiest Millionaire, in which the brothers are checking over one of young men who comes to call, desiring to court their sister. “So, what weight do you fight at?” they ask him. Discovering that he doesn’t box, one brother gasps, astonished, “He doesn’t do it at all?” and the other mournfully, shaking his head, agrees: “He doesn’t do it at all.” As it turns out, this is a fatal flaw among those who would date their sister, Cordelia. They launch into a song remembering the fate of several prior suitors who failed to keep their guard up, or failed to ‘bob and weave’ or even, perish the thought, lead with their left. If you haven’t seen the movie, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

I shake my head sadly at churches who have abandoned the practice of adult Sunday School — “They don’t do it at all?” In my (admittedly biased) thinking, this is one of the most important programs of a church, and I strongly encourage anyone who is not currently involved in such a class to find one and join it or start one if necessary.

Enough of my soap box. What really struck me about this chapter was the way that Paul refers to his troubles as ‘light and momentary’. This, only a few verses after he describes his situation:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

One of the reasons I really admire Paul is because of the way he kept his eye firmly on the goal set before him — he didn’t allow earthly cares or troubles to distract him from the prize of standing before the Lord and receiving his commendation.