From: "Phil Rembleski" <PHIl@rescuechurchofchrist.org>

To: "1111RESCUEMEMBERS"

Cc:

Sent: Mon, Dec 16, 2024 at 6:06 AM

Subject: 12-16-24 THOUGHTS

12-16-24   THOUGHTS

Comfort and affliction are mixed together in our reading this morning to make a common good!
Our lives are a mix of good and not so good.  Verse 3b and 4 call God... “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort...”  Then it says,  He comforts us when we need it, so that we can comfort others when they need it!   The reading appropriately ends with our being joint sharers of sufferings and comfort.  It’s kind of a circle of life in which we encourage one another.  Heb 10:24  “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,”   The necessity is our being together in fellowship!  LOVE through SHARING is our goal!  

2Cor 1:1-7     Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:  2  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  4  who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5  For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6  But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;  7  and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

My Prayer:
O God, we see Your mercy and comfort everywhere.  May we abide in Your love.  Help us to promote Your comforting love as we grow in Your love together.  May  we share the good and the bad as we grow toward a pure fellowship.   We pray for a shared love that teaches Jesus and loves our neighbor.   May our hope in God be firmly grounded.  May Your wisdom and power participate with us as we stretch toward a closer walk with You!    In the name of our Savior,    Amen.