Monday Morning Coffee Kickoff

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Hello, and welcome to the Westside Church's special Monday morning coming high. On this high hand, our preacher, Mark Humber, will help you get your week starting one with a little high weekend. So we have a cup of coffee and we start the week together on Monday morning coffee.

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Good morning, good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Coffee Podcast for the week of August the 2nd through the 8th. It's Monday, August the 3rd, and I'm Mark. I've got some coffee. I'm ready to talk about daily Bible reading. Not a whole bunch of notes from yesterday's sermon, maybe say a word or two about that, but mostly just need to dive into Corinthians, finishing one epistle to the Corinthian church and getting ready to start the second. You know what to do. Grab your Bible, grab your coffee. Let's grow together.

Sermon Notes

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Yesterday in the 1040, I did not preach because it was our back to school prayer service. Just love that very, very much. Now I did preach in the 9, and I gave kids some prayers that they can offer during the school year, every day kind of thing. And some parents, of course, can pick up on that as well and use those prayers. A couple of weeks ago I preached on parenting kids and raising kids in faith. It's just not as complicated as sometimes we make it. Go back and review that lesson and think about modeling. I really cannot imagine many things that would model faith on a day-to-day basis better than stopping the hurry and scurry of the school year and saying, we're going to pray before we get out of this car. We're going to pray before we get in the car to head down there. We're going to pray before you catch the bus. Parents, help your child develop the power of a habit where we regularly pray. That'll set us for sermon notes, I think. Let's get our Bibles over to Corinthians and let's do some daily Bible reading.

Monday 1 Corinthians 16

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I hope you've enjoyed being in the Book of Corinthians as much as I have. It's not always the easiest book of the Bible to understand and to work with. There's sometimes some uh, yeah, there's some there's some things in here that get a little wrinkly every now and then, and I hope the podcast has helped you with those kinds of things. But I would say this, it comes to a good conclusion here, some more help for us, and then we'll push into 2 Corinthians, the sequel to this book. We'll do that tomorrow. Today it's 1 Corinthians 16, reading for Monday. 1 Corinthians 16. A couple of things here, four verses at the top of the chapter here about the collection, and that is a formal word for a formal collecting up of funds. That's exactly what you're seeing there. And what you're seeing is as well the importance of uniformity of practice. We can get a blueprint for what the New Testament church should do by watching all congregations, and this is very strong evidence for a regular first day of the week service. We need to be careful about that. Sometimes, sometimes people will say we're commanded to take the Lord's Supper every first day of the week. There's no command to do that, but there is clear evidence that the church did that and that we should do that even without an explicit thou shalt take the Lord's Supper every Sunday, every first day of the week. And this passage helps us because they're getting together every first day of the week to lay by in store. I love that old King James phrase, and we just it just comes out as one word. There's no spaces. Laban in store. I wonder sometimes what visitors think when we're laban and in store. Lay by in store, set aside, give is what that means. And sometimes people will ask if this means the treasury can only be used for benevolence, because that is certainly what Paul is working with here. And what we have to remember is that these are not the only verses about the treasury in the New Testament. 1 Timothy 5, 9, Philippians 4, 14, 15, 16. This passage doesn't tell us everything about the treasury, but it certainly shows us how the New Testament church gathered up money, didn't do a bake sale, didn't sell tickets, giving, lay buying and storing on the first day of the week. Paul then begins to talk about some travel plans in verses 5 to 9. It is clear, verse 8, that he is writing from Ephesus. I hope to be in Ephesus, get to visit Ephesus on a Mediterranean trip this fall. I plan to have a cup of coffee with Paul while I'm in Ephesus, 1 Corinthians 16, verse 8. And while Paul is there, verse 10, he has sent Timothy over there. And apparently this letter beat Timothy there. Maybe Timothy went north, the land route, instead of just cutting across the ocean there, the Aegean Sea there to get directly to Corinth. And then there are some final uh exhortations here. Notice verse 13, act like men. That's not about gender. That's about being courageous, like Joshua, for example. I'm teaching the book of Joshua now on Sundays. Be an adult, be grown up, act like an adult would be the idea behind some of that. And there are brothers, verse 19 in Asia that are interested in them. Who would that be? That'd be like the seven churches of Asia: Ephesus, Colossae, Laodicea, those churches in the book of Revelation. Then verse 22, if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha, some translations say, or our Lord come. Maranatha is Aramaic for our Lord come, Lord come quickly. That concludes Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, that is, the reading for Monday. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. It's Tuesday.

Tuesday 2 Corinthians 1

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It is Tuesday, and today we're reading 2 Corinthians chapter 1. We begin the book of 2 Corinthians, the reading for Tuesday, 2 Corinthians chapter 1. What happens after 1 Corinthians is a very good question. There's been lots of teaching, and hey, don't do that and stop doing this. And I'm answering your questions. And the natural question is, well, what happened about all of that? What did they do next? Did they respond to Paul's teaching? What's next? Well, not to let the cat entirely out of the bag, which of course, as you would know, I'm never in favor of. Please bag your cats and set them on the curb. We do learn that some things now are much better in Corinth. And I I should give a couple of introductory words here to 2 Corinthians, and I know sometimes we're like, let's just read the text and later on with all that introductory stuff, nobody really cares about that. But you really need to get located here in 2 Corinthians and need a few comments here to kind of get us to go along. You will find that the book has an unusual flow to it. So Paul opens by defending his conduct and ministry. That's really in the first seven chapters, but in the middle of that, in chapter 2, beginning there in about verse 14, there is a giant break in thought all the way through chapter 7 and verse 4. I'll cover that in the podcast tomorrow, but be ready for that. Then Paul talks about the collection for the saints, chapters eight and nine. And then Paul defends his apostleship, chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13. There is a hint here about him defending his apostleship, I think, really from the beginning. That is an issue. And if you're wondering about how this fits with 1 Corinthians and the establishment of the church and so forth, that's very difficult to work out. Paul does say in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 1, I'm not going to make another painful visit. So we're trying to track out all of these visits. Paul establishes the church here in Corinth on his second missionary journey, Acts 18, and then he goes to Ephesus on the third missionary journey. And as we saw in yesterday's reading, he seems to be writing 1 Corinthians from Ephesus. They've sent some questions over. And then he came home and he wrote 1 Corinthians to deal with that. And Titus is taking that letter. But Paul can't wait to hear the news of Corinth and decides he's he's just got to go see. How did they receive that? Are they going to repent? Are they going to do better? And so he does not go the sea route directly across. He goes north. And in Troas, he meets Titus and finds out that they have received the letter and are doing well. That kind of gives you the game plan for 2 Corinthians. That is one possible reconstruction of Paul's movements. Let's dive in then to 2 Corinthians 1, the reading for Tuesday, 2 Corinthians chapter 1. These verses really do set the main theme of the book, which is comfort. And usually, I know as you're reading this, you're thinking, hey, Paul usually asks for prayers or says he is praying for the church that he writes to, and now it's just all about his comfort. And Paul really is in grave difficulty. Verse 8. We don't want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction that we experienced in Asia. Maybe that's in Ephesus, although you'd think Paul would just say, in Ephesus, they're giving me all kinds of problems. Maybe it was as he traveled, just difficulties here, knowing exactly when that is. But Paul seriously, verse 9, thought he would die. He actually thought he would die. So Paul says, You've helped us in your prayers. I love the idea of you helping in prayer, verse 11. And then he begins to talk about his change of plans and his apostolic ministry. And Paul will defend himself against two false charges. Some people are saying the charge that he acted deviously, without integrity, he says he's going to come, doesn't come, you know, all this, yes, no, no, yes. And then the charge that he's evasive in his writings and that you can't count on Paul, he's an and that he's not even really an apostle. So Paul begins to talk about I wanted to do this, and then my plans changed, and and that doesn't mean that I am two-faced, or that I don't have integrity, or that I'm trying to, in some ways, undersell the gospel, act like it's it's just a creation of mine, and so I'm treating you like those rogue philosophers who come and go do. No, no, no. Paul's opponents seem, because he has changed his mind, to have plenty of ammo to say, well, he doesn't have any concern for you, he doesn't care about you, he's just using you. Paul says that's absolutely not the case. I care deeply about you. It's God, verse 21, who establishes us with you in Christ. He's put his seal on us and given us his spirit. Seal here references ownership. That may be spiritual gifts, which would certainly be a sign of ownership by the Lord. Maybe it is the giving of the Spirit, the indwelling spirit in that kind of way. But look, Paul is not a spiritual dictator, verses 23 and 24. He is careful because he does care about the Corinthians. Reading for Tuesday. Oh, I should say this. There's no Zoom call tonight. Tonight I'll be meeting with the elders and laying out some things for the coming year, talking about our youth lectures that we just had. Great opportunity elder preacher meeting tonight. So no Zoom call tonight, Westsiders. I'll see everybody on the podcast tomorrow. The reading for Tuesday, 2 Corinthians 1. It's

Wednesday 2 Corinthians 2

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Wednesday. It is Wednesday. Our summer series continues tonight at Westside. Gabe Chavez will be speaking for us this evening. Paul continues to try to help these brethren better understand who he is and his care for them and his interest in them. And so we turn our attention to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, the reading for Wednesday, 2nd Corinthians chapter 2. He continues to talk here about the canceled visit in those first four verses and what this is all about. Verse 3, instead of a visit, I sent you a letter hoping that would do the kind of good that a visit would not. And I probably am thinking that that letter is 1 Corinthians. Then he does talk about that man they withdrew from in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, or at least that Paul has told them they need to withdraw from him. They need to forgive him. And Paul is so sensitive here to the needs of the people. Notice that church discipline absolutely, verse 6, such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. Church discipline is absolutely something that's done by a church. It's not done by one family. This is something the majority do to try to help somebody return to the Lord. And then look at verse 11. Here's another reason why we need to forgive this man. We don't want to be outwitted. The punishment could be vindictive and such a penalty. I'm trying to repent, I'm trying to do right, the church won't take me back. Well, I guess I'll just go back into the world and just go back to sin. See how the devil could outwit us? That's what Paul is concerned about. Then he begins to talk about coming to Troaz in verse 12, and this leads to the great digression. When I came to Troaz to preach the gospel of Christ, verse 12, there was a door there, and my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. Now, just jump ahead with me over to chapter 7. In chapter 7, he says in verse 4, I'm acting with great boldness to you, I have great pride in you, I'm filled with comfort in all our affliction, I'm overflowing for with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but God who comforts, verse 6, the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus. There it is. Paul has been very tentative in our readings so far, and then after that he becomes much more bold and plainspoken. And that's because in the middle of writing 2 Corinthians, he did. He found Titus. In the meantime, we have this material where Paul is dealing with his apostolic credentials and that he is an apostle and some of the things that go with that. And so he talks about in the rest of the reading, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, not very many verses of our reading, about how the Lord leads us, verse 14, in triumphal procession. And that seems to be a reference there, maybe to the Roman victory parades. I wouldn't want to press this too far. We're not going to walk triumphant with Christ and lead sinners as captives in some kind of way. But everyone in Corinth would be familiar with this kind of procession where the victor in battle is parading through the town. People are throwing flowers and rose petals, all of that at him, and so there would be fragrance there. Maybe the fragrance would suggest a sacrifice that's being offered as the procession proceeds along. Verse 15 is very difficult to translate, but seems to say that regardless of human response to us, we are a delight unto the Lord. Even if people don't get it, that we are Christians and that we are doing what's right, we are a fragrance or an aroma to the Lord, to one with a fragrance from death to death. People who don't get it, I think a little bit about 1 Corinthians chapter 1, where Paul talks about the gospel is just foolishness, but but to those who do get it with the fragrance of life. And who can be sufficient? Sufficient becomes the issue in tomorrow's reading in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. But some here, look at verse 17, they they uh they're preaching for gain. They're preaching to build their own kingdom. And Paul, as I said, just laces all through 2 Corinthians this defense of his apostleship, and especially, and at the end of the book it becomes very, very clear, begins to talk about those who are false apostles who are using the Corinthians for their own gain. 2 Corinthians 2.17 maybe is an early warning shot at that kind of thing. Reading for today, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, reading for Wednesday, I should say, 2 Corinthians chapter 2.

Thursday 2 Corinthians 3

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It's Thursday. It is Thursday. God coffee? Let's get working on 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Paul begins to push the results of his ministry in the first three verses here. I think each of the questions that he asks in this first verse, verse 1, are we are we beginning to commend ourselves? Do we need some letters from you? I think these are rhetorical questions, and Paul expects somebody to say, no, Paul doesn't need that. But clearly someone is saying, Paul needs letters, maybe credentialing him out of Jerusalem. Paul just brags on himself, Paul just commends himself. Something's going on in Corinth. And so Paul says the best letter I could get, verse 2, would be you. You would be the best letter. You show what I am and who I am and what I am all about. And from there he begins to move to talking about his service. Paul says, I serve the Lord, verse 4. I have confidence in that. But of course, no one is sufficient. I wonder if that's a shot at those false teachers, those super apostles again. Sufficient. I can do it. I can do it on my own. And he says here that I'm a minister of the new covenant. And there be- he begins to talk a little bit about the old covenant. The new covenant is from the Spirit, makes things alive, is able to forgive, in stark contrast to the old covenant, which was dead. That's the old covenant. It was not able to really forgive. Now, we want to be careful not to be drawn into some discussion of the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. People love to run that kind of thing out, and that way they they can say, I'm keeping the spirit of the law and I don't have to worry about the details, and we can just worship any way we want. People just go everywhere with that. Next thing you know, anything and everything is acceptable because we claim to be following the spirit of the law. Paul says that the old kills because it couldn't forgive sin. That's the major emphasis here. And then as he talks about the surpassing glory of the new covenant in verses 7 to 11, Paul begins to talk about these letters and that idea of being commended to Christ's letter written on our hearts, to God writing the new covenant on our heart, Jeremiah chapter 31. So he continues these comparisons here, and I think verse 7 really comes out of Exodus 34, 29 to 35. Just stop and go read Exodus 34, 29 to 35. Paul is arguing here, there was some glory in the old covenant. It was insufficient, but there's so much more glory in the new covenant. And then in verses 12 to 18, he wants to talk about veiling and unveiling, verse 12, that this is a permanent covenant. We have hope. We are bold. And that's not like Moses' covenant. He put a veil over his face. And this references here how Paul, I'm sorry, Moses would have to veil his face because talking with the Lord, his face would just shine. And here Paul says he veiled his face because he didn't want Israel to see that his face was gradually fading. Now, what does he mean by that? Why why would Moses do that kind of thing? Well, did you go read those verses in Exodus 34 that talk about the shining face of Moses? That's what happened when he talked with the Lord. And then as he was away from the Lord, gradually it would it would wear off. And there's a lot of potential answers to some of this. And I think probably the best answer is he didn't want people to see that their covenant was fading, that it wasn't permanent glory. And Paul uses that to build the idea that the Jewish people just didn't see that that their covenant wasn't permanent, that it was pointing to Jesus, and thus it would come to an end. So verse 14, the Israelites didn't see that their covenant was insufficient, that it was fading in glory. And verse 16 really restates verse 14: when you see Jesus, you see the Old Testament in a new way. You really understand what it is about. And the Lord's presence does bring freedom. Freedom from the bondage of sin, freedom from the bondage of death and fear, bondage to the law as a way to be saved. I have to keep the law perfectly. There is freedom in Christ. The reading then for Thursday, 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

Friday 2 Corinthians 4

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Welcome to Friday. Welcome to Friday. It is 2 Corinthians chapter 4 that we're reading today. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 is the reading for Friday. Maybe you've wondered how Paul managed to persevere. Just how discouraging is it when you're the one that founded, started the church in Corinth, and now people are backstabbing you and saying ridiculous things like Paul's just using you and you can't count on Paul and he's unstable. Paul says the secret to perseverance here is knowing that you're doing God's work. That means I don't have to use deceitful tactics. I know who I am. I'm an earthen vessel and I'm serving the Lord. So look at verse one. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we don't lose heart. I think that connects to three six. That God has made us sufficient to be ministers of the new covenant. And I think that idea of losing heart forms bookends here to verse 16. We don't lose heart. That's called an inclusio. That's the formal term for that. Just a beginning and an end that hold a unit together here. And the tie here is that Paul is in better position than Moses because he announces grace, not law. And he would never have to use deceitful tactics because the gospel is so amazing. And it is very clear from verse 2. People are saying terrible things about Paul and that he is not using underhanded ways. He wants to be very clear about that. And some people, maybe even verse 3, are charging that his gospel is veiled. No, Paul says there are people who don't get it and they're not going to get it because the God of this world, verse 4, has blinded their minds. That's a terrifying thought, isn't it? So then he begins to talk about his ministry, and no one is more aware of the paradox of the gospel being given to humans than Paul. And he just fires off a list of paradoxes. Can you believe it's like this? A paradox, someone said he's truth standing on his head to gain attention. And it is a paradox that the great gospel, God's work, has been entrusted to human beings. It's an incredible thing. How can that possibly be? We are we we have this treasure in jars of clay, and that just shows the power of God, the incredible worth of the gospel versus the value of the container it's in. If you have an expensive diamond ring, you're gonna ask your girlfriend to become your fiance to marry you. You don't put that in a paper sack. Well, Paul says we have something worth far more than diamonds, and it's in us, it's in human beings. And he just keeps working through all of these paradoxes: hard pressed, not crushed, perplexed, despair, persecuted, persecuted is the idea of being hunted down, but never forsaken or abandoned. I suffer these things because death is working in me, verse 12. And I think that attaches to the things that he said in chapter one about the comfort, verses three to seven. I'm suffering for Christ. God comforts me, and now I'm comforting you, so I'm suffering for you so that I can offer you that kind of comfort. Now, Paul, how do you just keep going? Well, verse 13, I have to keep going. I believe, so I must speak. Paul doesn't have a clue how somebody who's a Christian can never say something about Jesus. And then secondly, verse 14, we'll all be raised together. And so I'm enduring, verse 15, for all of this for you. And Paul understands that this work is wearing him down, but he's okay with that because I love these verses, 17, 18, this light momentary affliction. Think about what Paul goes through. We'll read this at the end of 2 Corinthians. All the things that happen to Paul. Paul says, that's just light momentary affliction compared to the eternal weight of glory that we will know. We look not to the things that are seen, not paying attention to that. We're looking to heaven. Paul is heaven-bound, verse 18. That's the secret to his perseverance. The reading for Friday, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. That concludes the podcast for the week. Episode's kind of short this week. The chapters were kind of short. Appreciate you reading the Bible with me, thinking about things that we do together on Sunday and rolling that into the week, working on our daily Bible reading. Just means a lot for me to have this opportunity to study the Bible, think about the Bible, read the Bible with you. I'm glad that you are listening to the podcast. I'm Mark Roberts. I want to go to heaven. I want you to come too. I'll see you on Monday with a cup of coffee.

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Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ podcast, Monday Morning Coffee with Mark. For more information about Westside, you can connect with us through our website, just Christians.com, and our Facebook page. Our music is from Upbeat.io. That's Upbeat with two P's, U-P-P-B-E-A-T, where creators can get free music. Please share our podcast with others, and we look forward to seeing you again with a cup of coffee, of course, on next Monday.