Week of October 10th, 2021

All Nations Church
Life Group Study
“A Life of Thanksgiving”
Week of October 10^th, 2021

Study by Wayne Arcand

 

You never know how a simple act of kindness or an invitation to come to church can result in greatly improving someone’s day or perhaps even saving a life (spiritually). I have a very gifted friend who is faithfully serving the Lord using his unique giftedness. As we were chatting he shared that he came to church because someone he worked with asked him to come. Since he shared that story with me, I have thought about how God used one person’s simple invitation to change a life and in doing so has impacted the life of many through this person’s unique gifts. I thank God for his work in the lives of both of these men. What a testimony to God’s grace, that one person would have the courage to extend the invitation, and another would act upon it. The conversation came to mind when I read 2 Corinthians 4:15b, “And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified”. Our hearts overflow with thanksgiving when we see God working in a life and we give him all of the glory for what he is doing.

 

Everyone would agree that we are living in very troubled time, but when has this not been the case. In this season of thanksgiving, we will have a look at 2 Corinthians 4. There is great encouragement for us in these verses written by Paul to the Corinthians. I would encourage you to go to www.biblegateway.com and read this passage in parallel translations. For this study, I have chosen the Living Bible version.

 

 

2 Corinthians 4 (Living Bible)

4 It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work of telling his Good News to others, and so we never give up. ² We do not try to trick people into believing—we are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn’t. All such shameful methods we forego. We stand in the presence of God as we speak and so we tell the truth, as all who know us will agree.

³ If the Good News we preach is hidden to anyone, it is hidden from the one who is on the road to eternal death. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made him blind, unable to see the glorious light of the Gospel that is shining upon him or to understand the amazing message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is God. ⁵ We don’t go around preaching about ourselves but about Christ Jesus as Lord. All we say of ourselves is that we are your slaves because of what Jesus has done for us. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that it is the brightness of his glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁷ But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and is not our own.

⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. ⁹ We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. ¹⁰ These bodies of ours are constantly facing death just as Jesus did; so it is clear to all that it is only the living Christ within who keeps us safe.

¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger to our lives because we serve the Lord, but this gives us constant opportunities to show forth the power of Jesus Christ within our dying bodies. ¹² Because of our preaching we face death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.

¹³ We boldly say what we believe, trusting God to care for us,  just as the psalm writer did when he said, “I believe and therefore I speak.” ¹⁴ We know that the same God who brought the Lord Jesus back from death will also bring us back to life again with Jesus and present us to him along with you. ¹⁵ These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified.

¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day. ¹⁷ These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever! ¹⁸ So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

 

Please read through the entire passage so each verse can be examined in the context in which it is written. This study is a bit introspective. I find that too often we almost intuitively know something but have difficulty putting it in words. I hope you find this study of value.

 

1. Consider verse 1, do I consider “telling his Good News” a wonderful work?
   1. How comfortable am I in sharing the good news? If I am uncomfortable, why?
   2. What can I do to make me feel more comfortable sharing the Good News?

 

2. Verse 2 has a lot packed into it.
   1. How do the following trick people:
      1. Using a verse out of context. Can you give an example?
      2. Ignoring the hard truths of the bible?
   2. Is there an awareness in your life that you constantly stand in the presence of God?
      1. Does this govern your thoughts, what you look at, what you say, what you do?
      2. How do we develop this awareness of the presence of God?

• Why is it important to understand this and how does this help us share the good news with others?

 

3. Verses 3 -5:
   1. What do you think some of the ways are that Satan uses to blind people to the message of God’s love?
   2. Verse 5 is so important to understand and to live.
      1. Why do we keep pointing to Christ and what he has accomplished and not to what we have accomplished?
      2. What is it that allows us to accomplish anything?

 

4. What is this precious treasure, this light and power that now shines within us that Paul is referring to in verse 5?
   1. Read Matthew 5:15: What do we do with this light? Who gets the glory? This is so important to understand and take to heart.
      1. What is the problem/risk with starting to think that I am doing something great for God?

 

5. Verses 8 – 12:
   1. The apostle Paul faced a level of persecution that many Christians today can not identify with, yet he remained faithful to God’s call on his life.
      1. What are some of the pressures we face today as we live our Christian faith?
      2. What is the risk to us compared to the risk Paul faced?

• Does this help in perhaps putting a reluctance to share the good news in perspective?

 

6. Verses 15-18:
   1. Consider the difficulties many have faced over the past couple of years related to the pandemic and the isolation, loneliness, stress, sickness, mourning the loss of loved ones, perhaps even suffering from illness.
      1. What are some key phrases or points that Paul is making in this passage that can be a source of encouragement for us when we are going through rough times?
      2. The NIV translates vs 15 as “¹⁵ All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” This may be the key verse in this passage.
         1. All of what is for our benefit
         2. What is the overall purpose?

 

Reflection: