2 Corinthians | Pastor Mike Fabarez

We must remain constantly vigilant against the unrelenting efforts of God’s spiritual enemies to strategically displace the authority of Scripture with the authority of their own voices.

We must learn to biblically assess spiritual leaders and wholeheartedly commit to those who demonstrate the qualifications God's Word requires.

Because God is jealous for our allegiance to Christ, we must guard our devotion from deceptive and twisted views of Christianity.

We must never perform for our critics or let them shape our character, but we must always stay faithful where God has placed us and aim to please Christ.

We will often be judged by surface-level impressions and assumptions, but we must stay focused on our spiritual integrity and refuse to play the comparison game.

Knowing that we will encounter criticism, we must work to always respond more like Christ, enlisting, powerful, and wise resources that God provides us.

Christians who give generously make a far greater impact than they realize—God uses their giving to strengthen their churches and advance the reputation of gospel near and far.

We ought to be motivated to give cheerfully because of the bold promises God makes to generous Christians, especially his revelation that he takes special joy in joyful generosity.

We should pursue a Christian maturity marked by a Christlike, dependable, and increasing generosity.

The giving God calls us to is generous but discerning, and it requires us to handle what has been entrusted to us with great care and integrity.

We should give willingly and proportionately, trusting God to accomplish good through our gifts and to provide for us in the process.

We must choose to practice biblical generosity, motivated by Christ’s gracious example rather than mere agreement with its principles.

Godly generosity is grounded in what God has done for us and begins when our hearts are gripped by it.

We ought to be attentive to the work of sanctification taking place around us, and intentionally affirm, celebrate, and be encouraged by the growth in holiness we see.

We must practice a repentance that takes sin seriously, accepts whatever pain it requires, and works diligently to restore sincere obedience.

Because God intends our relationships in the church to be marked by a quality that the world cannot match, we must be serious about building friendships that are uniquely loving, loyal, and encouraging.

Actively and carefully pursue holiness in your mind and body for the sake of our great God who said we will draw near to us when we do.

God wants us to pursue moral purity as his distinctive people, which he has promised will increase our daily experience of fellowship, joy, and assurance with him.

We must guard the personal partnerships in our lives, so our devotion to Christ is not imperiled and our usefulness to the Lord remains uncompromised.

We should continually pursue an affectionate and joyful unity within the church—willing to stretch for it even when others aren’t—appealing for it through loving, sincere words and actions.

Be an effective and determined Ambassador of Christ, willing to endure the hardships, while maintaining your integrity and sincere love for others.

We must no longer be casual or timid about relaying the gospel to our generation, but we must be bold and urgent about it, as Christ would have us be while there’s still time in our crazy and chaotic culture.

Take up the responsibility of being Christ’s ambassador with the time you have left by working to see the people around you as in desperate need of being reconciled to God.

Stop prejudging fellow church members by outward measures or their worldly pasts, and accept them as redeemed new creations in Christ.

Because Christ paid the ultimate price to redeem us, our love for him should compel us to put aside our old desires and live wholly for him.

In light of all people one day standing before God, we must be motivated to live and speak with a deep concern for others, always with a clear conscience, resolved to be faithful regardless of how we are perceived.

We need to live thoughtfully, carefully, and boldly for Christ, knowing that one day, our King will evaluate and reward us for how well we did.

We should live with the kind of confidence in God’s promises that makes it obvious we are certain about our perfected and eternal future.

As Christians we shouldn’t be discouraged by failing bodies, but should always pin our hope on the eternal glorified bodies that God has graciously promised to us.

Keep being sacrificial and confident as you hold up God’s powerful word, knowing this his saving promises are guaranteed by his faithful character.

There will always be a cost to relaying the truth to our generation, but that hardship will demonstrate the parallel of Christ rejection and suffering that results in salvation and many changed lives.

To be effective in relaying the life-changing truth of the gospel, we must keep both our weakness and God’s greatness clearly in view.

We need to keep representing and sharing the truth without compromising it, regardless of people who don’t get it or oppose us for upholding it.

We need to appreciate and celebrate the greatness of the God-breathed New Testament gospel and its power to transform and shape our lives.

We should live as genuinely regenerate Christians, consistently speaking and acting so that others are clearly shown the transforming power of God’s living and active Word.

It is an honor and a solemn stewardship to represent Christ in our world—a task that brings profound satisfaction when done faithfully, even though it will not always be well-received.

We need to be ready for the challenges, sacrifices, and emotional discomfort that come with truly loving other Christians the way God calls us to.

We must be prepared for the challenges of the testing that will be sure to come in the Christian life, passing these tests without falling to the schemes of our spiritual enemy.

We should seek to find true joy in repentance – our own and others’ – as we celebrate grace and purpose to genuinely love other forgiven brothers and sisters.

To keep a clear conscience before both God and people, we must serve them with love and sympathy as God defines, not as we or they might prefer.

If we are to navigate the variabilities of this present life with confidence and a godly attitude then we must trust in the immutability of God and his good overarching plan.

Our love for God’s people ought to drive us to a purely-motivated loving service and care that goes even beyond what we think is possible.

When there are misunderstandings, hurt, and conflict we must seek to repair the problems without ever compromising our integrity before God.

We must be especially attuned to the state of our conscience, making sure it is rightly calibrated to God’s truth, and then faithfully followed by God’s grace.

We must employ the divinely sanctioned means of comfort modeled by the Apostle Paul to experience God’s strength and hope in the midst of difficult times.

If we are cognizant of the ways God helps us through our trials, we can then become skilled at helping other Christians through their seasons of suffering.

We should be prayerfully confident that God will orchestrate and apply comfort to our hearts as we draw near to him and each other in the midst of difficult times.