II Corinthians 1:2-4

II Corinthians 1:2-4 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Paul was reminding the church of Corinth – and all of us – that God blessed us so that we could be a blessing to others. And why did God meet our needs? So that later, we could let other people know that God took care of us and He will take care of them too. If you have survived cancer, you can encourage others who might have cancer. If you have experienced a death in your family, you can encourage someone who has had death come to their family. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. Always remember that.

Philemon 1:17-19

Philemon 1:17-19 If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account; I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Paul was writing to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus. Onesimus had run away from Philemon, his lawful master, and probably stolen some stuff to take with him when he left. But now, Onesimus was a Christian; he was a changed man. So Paul put it this way, “Philemon, you owe me big time, because I introduced you to Jesus Christ. So, I am sending Onesimus back to you a changed man. If he owes you anything that he stole when he ran away, put it on my account. Although, Philemon, remember that you owe me a bunch!” So Paul was smoothing things over between Philemon and Onesimus. Paul knew that Onesimus was a changed man and would be a good worker for Philemon. So Paul was asking this favor of Philemon. But he was reminding Philemon that he already owed Paul. Paul was pretty sharp. He knew how to get people together. And that’s what Brothers in Christ do. They smooth over problems and make things right. And that’s a great lesson for us.

Philemon 1:3-5

Philemon 1:3-5 Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; Philemon is a small book of only one chapter. When Paul was in Rome, he led a runaway slave to saving grace. The slave’s name was Onesimus. But the interesting thing was that Onesimus’ master also had been earlier led to the Lord by Paul! So as Paul began to teach Onesimus, he realized that he had wronged his master, Philemon. So Onesimus decided to make things right and go back to Philemon, his slave master! So Paul wrote this letter to Philemon to explain that Onesimus was a changed man. Onesimus was no longer just a returned slave, but Onesimus and Philemon were now both brothers in Christ! They had a brand new relationship. And that’s how we are. I may be your grandfather, but I am also your brother in Christ! My pastor may be my boss in school, but he is also my brother in Christ. So we all have new relationships in Christ. We have a totally new way of thinking. We should love each other in a brand new way. We should love each other as Jesus has loved us.