amen, amen.

Such a powerful word from 2 Corinthians this morning...

Yes, we live under constant danger because we serve Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.
So we live in the face of death,
but this has resulted in eternal life for others.

We continue to preach because
we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had
when he said, " I believed in God, so I spoke."

We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus,
will also raise us with Jesus 
and present us to himself together with you.

All of this if for your benefit.
And as God's grace reaches more and more people,
there will be great thanksgiving
and God will receive more and more glory.

That is why we NEVER give up.
Though our bodies are dying,
our spirits are being renewed every day.
For our present troubles are small and won't last very long.
Yet they produce for us a glory that 
vastly outweighs them and will last forever.

So, we don't look at the troubles we can see now;
rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will soon be gone,
but the things we cannot see will last forever.