Looking outside our circle - it's all about God!

I've had a couple of people tell me they are reading II Corinthians with us this month and that it is not so easy! So tonight I've done some research. 

Commentators regard this letter (written less than a year after his first) as revealing Paul's character as he addresses difficulties encountered by this early Christian group in a city that was sometimes called the "city of sin". Eugene Peterson's introduction to the letter in The Message explains that Paul's leadership was being questioned and that he followed the lead of Jesus as he patiently and selflessly led God's flock in Corinth.

I found some useful maps too!

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=map+of+corinth+in+biblical+times&espv=2&biw=1326&bih=707&tbm=isch&imgil=NNskLUTkCJddhM%253A%253BiCxv-P4iPbolTM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.middletownbiblechurch.org%25252Fnewtesta%25252Fntesta6.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=NNskLUTkCJddhM%253A%252CiCxv-P4iPbolTM%252C_&usg=__AzVRST7nj47zT6W2OgBkcjyqaMw%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjX47qFs9TMAhUFkpQKHYzzBo0QyjcIMQ&ei=YWQ0V5evFoWk0gSM55voCA#imgrc=NNskLUTkCJddhM%3A

This part of the world is very much in the news today, as people fleeing Syria and Afghanistan reach the shores of Greece, hoping to forge new lives for themselves and their families. 

Here are some passages from Paul that I have found worth a second look. It's interesting how often Paul uses the pronoun "we" and it's helpful to ask what problems or false perceptions Paul may have been seeking to address here. I offer possibilities here, but of course, you can determine your own reasons for Paul's writing as he does.

Maybe the Corinthians were bemoaning their own lot -

II Cor 1:8 - 10 "We felt like we'd been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out out it, we were forced to trust God totally..."

Regarding a fellow church member who had apparently erred in some respect -

II Cor 2: 8 "Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him ." (KJV)

II Cor 2: 8 "My counsel now is to pour on the love." (Message)

It's not about "me". It's all about God -

II Cor 5:9 "Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing..." (Msg)

II Cor 5:9 'Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him." (KJV)

Small or limited thinking or vision -

II Cor 6: 12-13 "Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged. (KJV)

II Cor 6: 12-13 "We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way...Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!" (Msg)

Julie Swannell

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=paul%27s+journeys+map&espv=2&biw=1326&bih=655&tbm=isch&imgil=g57GhfZb5rlU-M%253A%253BuuT_nfU8Bd-0mM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.studyblue.com%25252Fnotes%25252Fnote%25252Fn%25252Fchurch-in-mission-paul-s-journeys-maps%25252Fdeck%25252F6016343&source=iu&pf=m&fir=g57GhfZb5rlU-M%253A%252CuuT_nfU8Bd-0mM%252C_&usg=__oMTPKdSIUtho7nBvFwENBsRJKGY%3D&ved=0ahUKEwiVlqTat9TMAhXl4KYKHQY5BwsQyjcILg&ei=RGk0V5XkPOXBmwWG8pxY#imgrc=yFJcPW66Dsb1EM%3A