2 Corinthians 9: God is Faithful

The "Las Vegas" of first century Rome has been on a long journey. The Apostle Paul is encouraging them to forgive one another, know who they are in Christ, keep their lives holy, and stay unified.

Overall Theme: Strength in Weakness The God of All Comfort

Strength in weakness. This is the central message of 2 Corinthians. Throughout the letter Paul turns upside down our natural expectations of the way life works. Contrary to the way the world and our own human hearts naturally function, God takes what is low, despised, and weak to accomplish his purposes.

Key Verse God of all Comfort

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Bible Breakdown
• 0:33 God is Faithful - Theme Introduction
• 3:05 Teaching Kids Generosity Story
• 5:57 2 Corinthians 9 - Give Cheerfully
• 9:04 God's Promise of Provision
• 11:14 90-Day Tithe Challenge

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

Speaker 2: 0:23

Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, 2 Corinthians 9, and if I were to give this one a title, it would be God is faithful. God is faithful. Don't forget that the overall idea of 2 Corinthians is that God is the God of all comfort, and what Paul is reminding them here is that God is the God who is faithful in all that he does, and that's especially when it comes to the area that many of us struggle with the most, and that is when it comes to the area of finances. And so last time we were talking together, paul was talking about the idea of being generous and a generous lifestyle. Well, he is now assuring them to remember that God is for them and he is the reason why all this is here anyway. So God's going to take care of you. We're going to talk about that in just a moment. I've got a story for you, for my kids, about my kids, what they can't stand, but I like it. So we'll get to that in just a moment. But, as always, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel. We are on the road to 1,000. We are getting there every day, and thank you so much for helping us build this community together. Podcast listeners you're still always my favorites. I had someone tell me the other day that they are a faithful YouTube listener and they're like, hey, look, it kind of low-key is starting to offend me that you're telling me the podcast listeners are my favorite, and so I very lovingly said it is what it is. So you are still my favorites, but make sure you are leaving me a five-star review. It really does help the algorithm, but also it helps a lot if you leave us a comment as well. Let us know how you are engaging with God's Word and then also where we all gather together the Facebook group, the Bible Breakdown Discussion. Those people are doing amazing work over there and I would like to know if you are part of our community and you would love to consider joining our team. We'd love to talk to you, let you know what those steps look like and also, for all of you, if there's anything we can do. We're getting ready to update our our look for our YouTube channel, because people were telling me it could use a facelift. So if you have any ideas, you're welcome to tell me. I may not do them, but I want to hear them and we're going to figure all this out together. I love building a community of people that we are just gathered around reading God's word, and I've got so many ideas. I can't wait to do these different interviews and different things, and a lot of that has come from the ideas of our community. So I love you so much and I would love to know. Last thing we're going to get into this is a lot of different communities have names for their community, like got the, this, this army, or this, this tribe. What is a name for the Bible breakdown community? We need a name to rally around. So Bible breakdown community is just long, so I need something. So I want you to think about it. Let me know in the comments of this video. I can't wait to hear from you.

Speaker 2: 3:04

Okay, when my girls were little, we wanted to teach them the idea of being generous, and so one day, what we did was we gave them some money and it was Christmas time and we said we want you to go into this store and we want you to buy your sister a Christmas gift. And it was the idea of giving them a chance to buy each other a gift, but also teaching them to be generous, and one of my daughters and I'm not going to tell you which one they probably know they went in and they were so excited. They were so excited and they went in and they started looking at all the toys that they themselves liked. And I didn't realize it at first, but eventually my wife did and she said Brandon, do you realize? She is looking at all of her favorite toys for her sister. And finally I caught on and I was telling her and I said babe, what you doing? Well, I think she'd like this toy, or she liked that toy. And I said you know, I don't think your sister likes that toy, I think she likes different toys. And she's like, well, yeah, but what's that got to do with me? Well, remember, the goal of this is to buy your sister a Christmas present. I am, and she's going to then give it to me. She could not figure out how doing something for someone else benefited her and I finally told her it benefits you because you get to give this to your sister. And she was just like, huh, she couldn't square that circle right. And so we finally figured it out and we gave her that gift.

Speaker 2: 4:33

And then Christmas day happens and they're opening up their gifts and said, okay, ellie, here's your gift for Inslee, hey, inslee, here's your gift for Ellie. And they open up their gifts and I will tell you, as a dad, I would love to sit here and tell you that they opened their gifts and they open up their gifts and I will tell you, as a dad, I would love to sit here and tell you that they opened their gifts and they loved it and they bonded and it was amazing. They opened their gifts and they were like, eh, moving on, they watched their sister open the gift and they didn't care. They didn't catch the lesson. I hope that does not happen to you. I hope that if you will stretch beyond yourself and you will give, that you will not be like my heathen children and you will actually realize that it truly is more blessed to give than to receive. My kids are going to hate this particular podcast episode. That's okay. That's what dads are for, right.

Speaker 2: 5:21

But that is what is crazy about generosity is you have to be generous before you realize how great it is to be generous, and that's what Paul is going to be talking about in this chapter. So if you've got second Corinthians, chapter nine. He is going to be telling them hey guys, I'm trying to help you get ready for this. But when you get ready for this, realize how wonderful it is to give. You're going to thank me for this, because when you realize that what you're doing is going and it's helping the people in Jerusalem, man, you're going to be so blessed. So if I can just convince you to give, you're going to love it. So let's look at this together.

Speaker 2: 5:57

2 Corinthians 9, verse 1 says this I really don't need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem, for I know how eager you are to help and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you and Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many in the Macedonian believers to begin giving. But I am sending these brothers to be sure you are really ready, as I have been telling them, and that your money has all been collected. I don't want to be wrong in my boasting about you, and then we would be embarrassed, not to mention your own embarrassment, if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren't ready, as I have told all of them. So I thought I would send these brothers ahead of me. So in other words, he's saying if you give out of like you've been told to, then that's no good. Can I tell you that, as a pastor, that's one reason why that you'll never see in our church one of those sad, sad videos where, basically, you're being told that if you love God, you'll give. We never want to do that. We want to cast vision and then give you an opportunity to give. And these are the reasons why.

Speaker 2: 7:14

Because Paul continues. He says remember this a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop, but the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give, and don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure, for God loves a person who gives cheerfully. Now don't worry, he'll take a miser's money too, but he loves a cheerful giver. He wants to partner with you. That's the whole gospel is that he gives you a chance to be saved and then walks with you toward freedom Verse 8,.

Speaker 2: 7:47

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. What an amazing promise. As the scriptures say, they share freely and give generously to the poor, their. You will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who are in need, they will thank God. For two good things will result in this ministry of giving the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. And as a result of your ministry, we get to partner with God. I get to give to them. Their needs are met and they give God glory. Wonderful, it's a wonderful thing, and I love how he says this too.

Speaker 2: 9:12

He says do you not realize that when a farmer goes and he plants wheat that eventually turns into bread, god is the one who gives him the seed and gives him the bread. So, in other words, he's saying don't forget who you're serving. You're serving God, which means it's all his anyway. The money you have now is his. The money that you're going to have one day is his. The needs that you have he's aware of. So if all of this is God's, and if God is bigger than we can imagine, then we don't have to wonder if God can take care of us. As a matter of fact, he says when you are generous, god provides for everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. That's one of the things about the gifts that God gives us. God doesn't bless us so that we can just be blessed. He blesses us so that we can be a blessing.

Speaker 2: 10:02

So here's my challenge to you. Yesterday I talked about a 90-day tithe challenge to test God, as Malachi 3, only place in the Bible that says we can test God and see if he will not do it. So I want to double down on that. God's word says that God loves a cheerful giver. So you actually have the attitude of God. I'm going to trust you in this and if you do, god will generously provide for all you need.

Speaker 2: 10:27

Some of us need to spell that word out N-E-E-D. That means you may not get a new iPhone, but you're going to get a phone that works. You know what I'm saying. You may not get a Maserati, but you're going to get a car that has four wheels, it doesn't leak gas and it runs like everything that you need. But then he says I'm going to give you plenty left over, not necessarily so you can buy the second boat that you want, but so that you can share with others. And when you just, it's almost like I'm daring you, because if you can be generous, you will see that it's wonderful. It is the most wonderful thing in the world to give and watch what happens.

Speaker 2: 11:04

And because Paul is saying hey, church, god is the God of all comfort, let me show you how Be generous and watch what he will do. Let's pray God. Thank you so much for today. Thank you for your goodness, your kindness, your mercy. Thank you, god, that you're with us more than we can imagine. Lord, the opportunity that you give us to be generous is amazing, because we know that we can't outgive you. We trust you, lord, that when we take these steps of faith, you always lead us in the right direction. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen, don't forget. God's word says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 1, god is the source of all comfort and he comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. I love you no-transcript.