300 South Main Street
Greensburg, PA 15601-3112
(724) 832-0150
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Worship: 9:30 & 11 am
Sunday School: 9:30 am
It was a difficult time; no one knew what the future would hold. There were pressures from all sides. Some forecast smooth sailing while others predicted worse times yet to come. It was a difficult time for the people to express their faith in real and demonstrable ways.
Yet, the apostle Paul wrote to encourage the church in Corinth. They lived in a diverse city with all kinds of competing truth claims and practices. The people of the church were new to this new faith in one who had been crucified and yet raised by the power of God. They struggled to keep it all together.
Though the analogies to our time and place may be weak or stretched in some instances, we can still relate to those faithful but sometimes fearful Christians in the city of Corinth. Like them, we hear predictions of dire times ahead and also, at the same time, the heralding of renewed expectations. As followers of the living God, we are called to make our faithful witness right in the midst of competing truth claims and ordinary claims upon our time and resources.
Paul wrote the following powerful line to the folks in Corinth: “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you*—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.”
Paul’s reference was to the collection for the poor in Jerusalem. He wanted the church in Corinth to continue in their excellent work by excelling in generosity. He knew what they faced; he knew their fears; he knew of the competing realities … but he was convinced that he knew they knew of God’s faithfulness even in the face of great odds.
God knows our fears and still calls us to excel in our generosity. What will be our answer to the call of God to give to the work of Christ’s church on Sunday, October 25? This is the question we are called to ponder as we consider just how the work of Jesus Christ has excelled here in the past, presently and how it will be enhanced by our contribution in the future.
