CR at University Carillon

  Read 2 Corinthians 12 https://www.biblegateway.com/ passage/?search=2% 20Corinthians%2012&version=NLT   2 Corinthians 12:8-9- Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.    Paul passionately tells the story of the visions from God he was privileged to experience to the church in the city of Corinth. After all of the time he had spent with them, they were still questioning the legitimacy of his authority to speak a word of truth to them. He didn't share the specific content of what God allowed him to see; instead, he shared his weakness. Paul talked about being given a "thorn in the flesh," but he doesn't tell us specifically what that was in his life. Some scholars have suggested perhaps he had arthritis or poor eyesight given that Paul sometimes indicated for emphasis, "...

  Read Matthew 28 https://www.biblegateway.com/ passage/?search=Matthew%2028& version=NLT   Matthew 28:16-20-  Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”   In these closing words from Jesus in Matthew's gospel we have what is called "The Great Commission," which serves as our marching orders as Jesus' church. First of all, I'm struck by the seemingly unimportant and simple obedience of the disciples in verse 16; that is, they showed up where Jesus told them to go. In other words, they list...

  Read Isaiah 53 https://www.biblegateway.com/ passage/?search=Isaiah%2053& version=NLT   Isaiah 53:10-11- But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.   Unsurprisingly,  the early church read Isaiah 53 and immediately saw that Jesus fulfilled every word of Isaiah's prophecy here. In this picture of the "substitutionary atonement" that Jesus freely offered Himself in sacrificial love to redeem and save us, we see it wasn't an offering to an angry Father. Instead, it was a sacrifice revealing the full expression of of love and a willingness to make up the difference between the...