Parish Presbyterian Church Podcasts

I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away! 2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not w

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confessio

Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. Key Words: Boast, Zeal, Arrange, Willing, Gift, Exaction Keystone Verse: I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised. (2 Corinthians 9:5)

16 But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our good will. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messenge

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. 8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, s

2Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. 5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Key Words: Unequally Yoked, Partnership, Fellowship, Temple, Idols, Promises, Holiness Keystone Verse: Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

3 We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. Key Words: Widen, Heart, Comm

2 Corinthians 5:21-6:2 21 For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 6:1 Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Key Words: Made, Sin, Righteousness, Appeal, Grace, Vain, Favorable, Day Keystone Verse: For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Key Words: New, Creation, Reconciliation, Entrusting, Ambassadors, Appeal Keystone Verse: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether go

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Key Words: Outer, Inner, Renewal, Affliction, Glory, Transient, Eternal, Seen, Unseen Keystone Verse: For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison... (2 Corinthians 4:17)

In Matthew 16 Jesus tells His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” The Christian walk is not easy —as Paul writes to the Corinthians, we are afflicted in every way, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down. The Christian life requires us to continually lay down our lives in order to become more like Christ. We must take up Christ’s cross, instead of trusting in our own works. Even though we are frail as summer’s flower, we can have confidence that the King of Heaven will gently bear us and rescue us from all our foes (Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven). We “put no confidence in princes nor for help on man depend.” Instead, we trust in our God who reigns forever and promises to deliver us from oppression (Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah). When our hope is in Christ alone, “no power of Hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck us from His hand” (In Christ Alone). We must sacrifice all the vain things that charm us most, and instead boast in the death of Chr

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Key Words: Ministry, Mercy, Cunning, Word, Truth, World, Blinded, Light, Darkness, Glory Keystone Verse: God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in

In this morning’s sermon text, Paul continues his contrast between the Old and New Covenants. Because of Jesus’s coming, the veil that Moses used to hide the evidence of God’s glory is removed (v. 16), and we can behold the glory face to face (v. 18). But we don’t merely see it, we are transformed to be like it. This imagery of veils and faces can be found in many of the hymns we sing this morning. In the first half of the service, we confess that the Lord’s glory is so bright, it must be “hid from our eyes” (Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise). Though we rest on His grace, at times “darkness veils His lovely face” (My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less). But we also look forward to Christ’s coming in beauty, when “we His face shall see” (The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns). Receiving assurance that our sins are forgiven, we can “look full in His wonderful face,” making the cares and follies of this world grow “strangely dim” (Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus). We are invited to the table as a foretaste of the day wh

At the beginning of 2 Corinthians 3, Paul presents a series of contrasts: stone and human hearts (vs. 3), the ministry of death and the ministry of the Spirit (vss. 7-8), the ministry of condemnation and the ministry of righteousness (vs. 9), that which is coming to an end and that which is permanent (vs. 11). If the former of each of these pairs, which is analogous to the old covenant, was glorious, how much more glorious shall the new covenant be? Moses had to ascend Mount Sinai to receive the law, but we have it hidden “within our hearts,” meditating on it, making it our “chief delight” (How Shall The Young Direct Their Way—Psalm 119). The law of Moses was written on stone tablets, while the law of righteousness is written on our hearts (My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness). Though the former law convicts us, we look to Jesus to find that “love will make obedience sweet” and that His commandments become our happy choice (Come Ye Souls, By Sin Afflicted). The Spirit fills us with life, enabling us to love

In his autobiography Confessions, St. Augustine recounts how his heart was hard and the things of the Lord were despicable to him. Before he understood the beauty of the Gospel, Christ’s work was a stench to him. But when the Lord softened his heart to His voice, Augustine says, “You were radiant and resplendent. You put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after You. I taste you and I feel but hunger and thirst for You.” Likewise, in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” Before Christ saved us, we were all like Augustine. The Gospel was a stench we wanted to avoid, but now we pant after it—and not because of our own work. It is because Christ leads us in triumphant procession. The fragrance of Christ is no longer death to death but life to life for the believer. We are now the saints triumphant who follow the King of glory. Because God has made us alive in Christ, we can adore

Presbyterian minister Henry van Dyke wrote Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee, an ecstatic celebration of Christian unity, in 1907. He intended the poem to be sung to the melody of the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 in D minor, which was itself a setting of an earlier poem by Friedrich Schiller called “Ode to Joy.” The Ode uses flowery and somewhat utopian eighteenth-century language to paint a picture of universal brotherhood under the watchful eye of a loving heavenly father. While Schiller’s poem only hints at the potential of human unity in some distant future, Christians can point to the concrete experience of unity in Christ. Because of Jesus’s atoning work on the cross, we are declared faithful souls who can press on towards the goal together (Psalm 101:6). We are, through grace, members of Zion’s city, able to devote ourselves to fellowship and the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42). Because we rely on Him alone, we can join in love within the house of God—and that is truly joyful to see. Though si

He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it. —1 Thessalonians 5:24 This morning, the Scriptures we read and the psalms and hymns we sing point us to the reliability of God’s promises— we can trust that He is faithful to do what He says. The service opens with a Call to Worship from Psalm 111 that declares, “The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy.” Because of this faithfulness, we can “raise our Ebenezer,” remembering all that He has done for us. We read from Hebrews that “He who promised is faithful,” and we sing “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word.” In the sermon text, Paul reminds us that “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus],” even in the face of change or uncertainty. We respond from Psalm 9 that we will “trust in the Word of truth.” We are assured that “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,” and respond with a verse of Sweet Hour Of Prayer, singing to “Him whose truth and faithfulness engage the wanting soul