<p style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary</b><br>Paul speaks with openness and affection toward the Corinthians, declaring that his heart is fully open to them. Any distance between them is not due to Paul’s lack of love, but to the Corinthians’ own constrained affections. He urges them, as a loving father, to respond in kind by opening their hearts to him as well.<br> <br><b>Teaching</b>:<br>Paul repeatedly confesses his heart of love. With his mouth open, he speaks - just as he himself has been reconciled to God - so that the Corinthian church may also be reconciled to God. By proclaiming this message of reconciliation, those who have turned away from God return to Him and draw near to Him; this is what it means to win people. For this reason, one must open one’s mouth to speak the Word and open one’s heart as well.<br><br>Therefore, widen your hearts. Enlarge both the heart that receives the Word and the heart that receives people. Do not look only for sermons that suit you or people who fit your preferences - God does not delight in that. We should ask ourselves what we would do if the sermon we dislike, or the person we dislike, is in fact God’s Word.<br><i><br></i><i>Excerpt from the sermon by Pastor Lee, Jan 6, 2026</i><i><br></i><i>2 Corinthians 6:11-13</i></p>
<!-- -->
