2 Corinthians 12: 7
"So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness'.
Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Ephesians 3: 14-20
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth is named that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen."
2 Timothy 4: 1-8
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom; preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
Romans 3: 10a-18
"None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands, no one seeks for God.All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
no one does good, not even one.
Their throat is an open grace; they use their tongues to deceive.
Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Mark Dever- Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church,
Author of "The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church"
"People will join together to bring about social justice, but not to spread the truth of Christ. 'Redeem the culture' they say- let me remind you brothers... it's God's job to redeem the culture, it is our job to preach the truth. Should the local church be a part of good works? Yes! But only as a reflection of the inner-workings of Christ. Our good deeds only commend the Gospel of Jesus Christ if the Gospel was there to begin with.
We hear the verse, 'Become all things to all men to save some... shouldn't it be our lives , not our services that attract people to Christ? We should not make the Gospel kinder to soften the blow of the truth. Christ came to save sinners, and by our sin, we all deserve death and eternal separation. We should want to see people saved for their own good, but more so, for God's glory.
Music, style, personality- they are NOT more powerful than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is uncomfortable for a reason. We want God and church to be reflection of our own desires- our own truths... God does not exist for us, we exist for His pleasure and through the saving work of His Son Jesus Christ, we live."
