TO KNOW SOMEONE (2 Cor. 11:21-27)

When you look at the people around you, all you can see is what they physically display.  You cannot see the experiences that have shaped them into who they are as a person.  Our first impressions of people are often lasting impressions.  Successful people dress differently than others.  Educated people speak more eloquently than others.  Poor people act with less confidence in a society that rewards only success.   The same thing applies to our churches.  Many people are misled by those preachers and teachers who boast of the credits applied to their name.  They proclaim their educational credentials, their heritage, or the churches that sent them.  Are these the things that really matter in preaching the gospel message?  Listen and rejoice as we learn that God's gospel message is simple.  It is a message of God's grace and not man's efforts to follow some set of religious ritual.  It does not need to be hidden behind fancy speeches and educated speakers.  The gospel message is so simple a child can understand it, and a broken heart can accept it.