Austin Chinese Church

If you have been on the receiving end of someone's generosity, then you will likely agree that it feels like an act of grace. However, does it seem counterintuitive that generosity is also God's grace for the giver? Join us as we study Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 where he uses examples of generosity to admonish the Corinthian church to honor their commitment to giving. And see how God's grace in generosity can release us from the shackles of the love of money and free us to love God and others.

As our comforter, God draws us into a space of repentance, lifting us up from grief and affliction towards overflowing joy. Such is a life of reconciliation.

In Jesus, who knew no sin, we might become the righteousness of God. Therefore, we must fully accept our position as his reconciled people. Instead of rejecting the grace of God, we must work together with him to offer his reconciliation to the world.

Motivation moves us. Without motivation, we oftentimes find ourselves stuck in a rut. But with the right motivation, we are driven to action. As followers of Christ, when we have the proper motivation, there is nothing in this world that can stop us from bringing the Gospel message of reconciliation to the world. What's your motivation?

What does “walking by faith, not by sight” mean? On the face of it, this verse seems to suggest that faith is the opposite of sight, or that faith is perhaps even blind. But when we take a closer look at this week’s passage, we see that this verse isn’t talking about closing our eyes and moving forward blindly. Instead, God invites us to see obedience to Jesus through the lens of the gospel, so that we are able to pursue His purposes, persevere by His power, as we patiently await His promises.

As followers of Jesus, our brokenness is an opportunity to experience and proclaim His sustaining grace in the light of His death and resurrection. Through Christ, we can look past ourselves towards His eternal glory.

As ministers of the new covenant, we must be confident that the gospel of Jesus saves lives for eternity. As his servants, we preach that Jesus is Lord in order for the world to know the glory of God.

As followers of Jesus, we do not find sufficiency in ourselves. Our sufficiency is from God, our perfect Maker and Master. Through him alone we become his ministers of reconciliation, living out a mission that does not kill, but gives life.

The sense of smell is a funny thing. Scent often times either attracts you towards something, or on the flip side, it will repel you away from something. The same goes for us spiritually. Our spiritual scent will either attract people towards the Gospel or repel them away. What aroma are you emitting to bring about reconciliation in your life?

It's doubtful that anyone would want to go through life with unreconciled relationships. That should be even more true for the church. But if we want to move towards true reconciliation, it has to start with God first.