Archive for month: September, 2021

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Corinthians 2:12-17.  Let’s go!

2 Corinthians 2:12-13 (NIV)
12  Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,
13  I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.

On verses 12-13:  Have you ever anxiously awaited a response from someone – maybe a text, an e-mail, a phone call – and found yourself unable to focus much on anything else until you get their response?  That was Paul’s situation.  Paul had gone to the city of Troas to preach the gospel and found that people were responding positively to his message (“the Lord had opened a door for me” – v12).  But Paul was distracted because at the same time he was waiting for Titus to give him an update on how the Corinthian church was doing, especially after Paul had written a strong letter rebuking them.   When he did not Titus in Troas, Paul decided to leave Troas despite the good work that was going on there, and go to Macedonia. 

What can we learn from this?  Because Paul was distracted by the state of his relationship with the Corinthian church, Paul couldn’t really focus on the mission to share the gospel with people in Troas.  The state of our relationships can have a real impact on our ability to focus on our work and do our work well.  It can also affect our ability to bless and lead others.  It’s no wonder that Jesus tells us to seek reconciliation and peace in our relationships before offering our gift at the altar.  It’s also no wonder that Paul says that an overseer of a church needs to have a good and healthy life at home, for if my private life is out of order, I will not last or be as effective as I could be in helping others. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Corinthians 1:12-24.  There is a tremendous amount we can learn from this passage.  Let’s go!

To understand verses 12-24, it’s important to understand the state of Paul’s relationship with the church in Corinth when Paul wrote 2 Corinthians.  It seems that Paul was being heavily criticized by a number of Christians in Corinth.  One reason they would criticize Paul was because they knew of the great difficulties that Paul experienced as he sought to spread the gospel wherever he went, including great persecutions, shipwrecks, imprisonment, and other life-threatening trials.  Some of the Corinthians thought that Paul’s afflictions meant that Paul was not “blessed by God” and thus was not as great a leader as other individuals who were coming to the Corinthians and calling themselves “super apostles” who seemingly never had any problems.  In reality, it could be that these “super apostles” were simply not telling the Corinthians about their difficulties, whereas Paul was open and transparent with the Corinthians about his problems.  But instead of respecting Paul and being proud of Paul for being open with them about his trials and for persevering through those trials, the Corinthians would hold Paul’s trials against him, seeing them as a reason to be ashamed of Paul.  

Hi GAMErs,

Now onto today’s GAME passage.  Today we begin the book of 2 Corinthians, which Paul wrote to the church in Corinth in approximately 56 AD.  We start today with 2 Corinthians 1:1-11.  Let’s go!

2 Corinthians 1:1-2 (NIV)
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 the saints throughout Achaia:
2  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

On verses 1-2:  Though it is called “2 Corinthians”, scholars believe that this letter is actually the fourth letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.  Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians has never been found. His second letter has become known as “1 Corinthians” and was written to address a number of problems happening in the church.  After writing the letter known as 1 Corinthians, Paul would make a “painful visit” (2 Corinthians 2:1) to the church in Corinth, probably to reprimand the church because the problems he wrote about in 1 Corinthians had not been adequately dealt with.  Paul would then write a couple more letters to the church in Corinth, with 2 Corinthians being the last of these letters.  As shown in verse 1, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians with the help of Timothy, Paul’s apprentice, who was likely writing down Paul’s words as he dictated them.  Paul would make one more visit to the church in Corinth after writing this letter.