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2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

After Paul's lofty rhetoric on reconciliation that closes out chapter 5, he now returns to his struggles with the Corinthians. From inspiring and lyrical sentences in chapter 5 such as, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new," Paul shifts back to the earthbound and ordinary struggles with the Corinthians. He once again as...

2. Bothered and Bewildered

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

Whatever one wants to say about the apostle Paul, we must at least say this: He took Christianity out of the rural roads and countryside and spread it into the urban experiences in places like Rome, Ephesus, Antioch, and Corinth. We have two of his letters to the church at Corinth, and it was a church that bothered and bewildered him. The city of Corinth had a rough reputation. Prior to its fall t...

3. Dividing Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

"Welcome to the center of the world!" This is the message of the first chapter of Ephesians. The author of Ephesians has told the Gentile-based churches that they have been brought into the center of all that is — in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the rest of this letter, he will be seeking to tell them the meaning of this great news. He wants to stress that this relocation ...

4. Eyes on the Prize

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

"I believed, and I spoke." Paul begins this passage with a reference to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It is from Psalm 116:10 in which the psalmist thanks God for saving him even in, and especially in, the midst of his conflicts and struggles: "I kept my faith, even when I said: 'I am greatly afflicted.' " Paul knows the feeling! He has had many struggles in his jour...

5. Flesh and Spirit

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

Chapters 7-8 of Romans are among the most important words in the Bible for us in the twenty-first century. In these chapters, Paul wrestles with the issues of human consciousness, human will, and the Trinity. In chapter 7, he reflects a profound understanding of our struggles as human beings, whether we are a first-century Jew in Palestine or a twenty-first-century American Christian. He writes th...

6. I’ve Got a Home in that Kingdom

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

I've got a home in that kingdom — ain't that good news. I've got a home in that kingdom — ain't that good news. I'm gonna lay down this world, I'm gonna shoulder up my cross, I'm gonna take it home to my Jesus, ain't that good news.1 These words from an African-American spiritual remind us that there is something about us that longs for home, a longing to feel that we belong. Saint Augustine loca...

7. Life in The Spirit

Romans 8:22-27

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

Chapter 8 of Paul's letter to the Romans is one of the greatest chapters in all of scripture. It has many verses that we know by heart. For instance, verse 18: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us." Or the verse that follows it: "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God." And...

8. The Vision of God

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

Chapter 10 of 2 Corinthians begins a sharp divide with the nine chapters that have preceded it, a break that continues through the rest of the letter. The first nine chapters revealed a significant struggle between Paul and the Corinthians, but it seems in those chapters that Paul felt that they were making progress. As we saw in the previous lectionary passage, Paul felt confident enough in chapt...

9. Time for the Offering

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

We have been blessed at our church to have had student interns in ministry for many years from Columbia Theological Seminary, Johnson C. Smith Seminary, and Candler School of Theology. They have been all varieties of cultures, genders, ages, outlooks, and approaches. As a multicultural church, we like to think that we have broadened their view of themselves and of ministry. I know that they have g...

10. Welcome to the Center of Life

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

"The thickets, I said, send up their praise at dawn."1 I thought of this line from a poem by Wendell Berry as we sat with one of our church elders who was dying of leukemia. We had driven up to visit her in her rural mountain home in North Carolina where she had moved several years ago. She was in bed, looking out her window, and she said that she appreciated the trees each morning because they pr...

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