Week Four – April 25, 2021

Title: Truth Be Told

Bible: 2 Corinthians 4:7 – 12, 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 18

Here is the chorus to the song Truth Be Told:

I say I'm fine, yeah I'm fine oh I'm fine, hey I'm fine but I'm not I'm broken

And when it's out of control I say it's under control but it's not And you know it

I don't know why it's so hard to admit it When being honest is the only way to fix it

There's no failure, no fall There's no sin you don't already know So let the truth be told

Lie number one you're supposed to have it all together And when they ask how you're doing Just smile and tell them, "Never better"

Lie number 2 everybody's life is perfect except yours So keep your messes and your wounds And your secrets safe with you behind closed doors

2 Corinthians 4:7 – 12 (NLT) 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

In the song Truth be Told Matthew West writes:

There's a sign on the door, says, "Come as you are" but I doubt it 'Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowded

But didn't you say the church should look more like a hospital A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigals Like me

2 Corinthians 4:16 – 18 (NLT) 16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

“FINE always fails unless it is centered in FOREVER TRUTH”

Fragile

Psalm 43:18 (NLT) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Insightful

Ephesians 1:17 (NLT) asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

Never Ending

2 Corinthians 2:18 (NLT) 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Embracing

John 13:35 (NLT) Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”