CAN WE REALLY BELIEVE THIS?

I. Grace Is Sufficient

II. Weakness Becomes Strength

2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a

messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to

take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for

my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more

gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is

why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in

persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In the name of Jesus Christ, who is sufficient enough and strong enough to save

us, dear Christian friends,

It sure is difficult to know whom or what to believe these days. One doctor says

that a certain medicine will work for a cure to what ails you; another doctor says that

one won’t, but another medicine will! One newscaster reports the nation thinks like

this; another newscaster reports the nation thinks like that. One televangelist says God

wants you to be happy no matter what; another says if you are not happy, it means your

faith is not strong enough.

Whom or what are we to believe these days? As definitions are uncovered

today, can we believe that blessings are cursed and curses are blessed? Can we believe

what Jesus told us in today’s Gospel: “blessed are you who are poor...who hunger

now...who weep now...when men hate you, exclude you, insult you and reject your

name as evil” and “woe to you who are rich...are well fed now...laugh now...when all

men speak well of you”?

CAN WE REALLY BELIEVE THIS? Can we really believe what is before us in this

lesson today? I. Grace is sufficient and II. Weakness becomes strength.

When doctors give conflicting answers about medicine, maybe it is based on