Sunday Setup – 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4

[Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Hey, Cross Church and welcome to the Sunday setup. This is our weekly video, Thursdays at 2 o'clock, where we gather together live if you're with us right now on Instagram or Facebook or YouTube or you can listen after this on one of our those platforms or our podcast. But the goal of this time is that we pray through the scripture that we are going to be preaching through this week, that we're going to be praising through this week, that we're going to be praying through and hoping to practice next week, but that we get to prepare our hearts right now as we read this text and we get a little bit of time to pray through this text as a church family gathered through different places. So, right now, I ask that you grab your Bible or open your phone to 2 Corinthians 1. And we're going to look at 2 Corinthians chapter 1, starting in verse 12. And we're going to read through 12:4. But as we read through this, I just want you to kind of open your heart of thinking, what is God saying through this, speaking through the Apostle Paul? Uh what do these words mean then? And how are they going to apply to us today? But just let the words sink in. Kind of let them reach your heart. And then we have two quick prayer prompts that we'll pray through kind of talking about God's worthiness in our neediness. But at this time, put an AirPod in. Uh follow along with us as we get to enter into God's word. And it starts here. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, starting in verse 12. Paul writes, "Indeed, this is our boast. The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially toward you with godly sincerity and purity, not by human wisdom, but by God's grace. For we are writing nothing to you other than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely just as you have partially understood us that we are your reason for pride just as you also are ours in the day of our Lord Jesus. Because of this confidence, I plan to come to you first so that you could have a second benefit and to visit you on my way to Macedonia and then come to help you again from Macedonia and be helped by you on my journey to Judea. Now when I planned this, was I of two minds? Or what I plan do I plan in purely a human way so that what I say so that I say yes yes yes and no no at the same time. As God is faithful, our message to you is not yes and no. For the son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Sylvanus, Timothy, and I, did not become yes and no. On the contrary, in him, it is always yes. For every one of God's promises is yes in him. Therefore, through him, we also say amen to the glory of God. Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ. And God who has anointed us. He has also put a seal on us and given us a spirit in our hearts as a down payment. I call on God as a witness on my life that I was to spare you that I did not come to Corenth. I do mean that we lord I do not mean that we lorded over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy because you stand firm in your faith. In fact, I made up my mind about this. I would not come to you on another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me? I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn't have pain from those who ought to give me joy because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours. For I write to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart, not to cause you pain, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you. powerful passage that we see here and a few ways that we can start to pray through this is first I just think there's a recognition of how amazing our God is. Look at verse 20 says for every one of God's promises is yes in him. Therefore through him we also say amen to the glory of God. Paul is saying we don't have a God who changes his mind. We don't have a God who contradicts himself. But when he promises us something through his word, it is yes. And through Jesus Christ, it is also amen. So be it. It is finished. It is done. So here is our first prayer prompt as we just look at the holiness of who our God is. is God, your promises are yes and amen because God your promises are yes and amen because God your promises are yes and amen because you are the almighty Lord of the universe. God your promises are yes and amen because you created everything. God your promises are yes and amen because you sent us your son Jesus Christ to defeat our sin. God, your promises are yes and amen because you are all powerful. Take that prompt and and pray this to our God as God your promises are yes and amen because pray to him right now. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Laughter] God, your promises are yes and amen because you made yourself known to us through your word, through your son in Jesus Christ God, that you've provided a way for our sins no longer to define us, but your better plans for our life through your son, to be our future, to be our purpose. God, we thank you that your promises to redeem us and to love us, to never leave us, that all these things, Lord, are true because of what you have done in your son Jesus Christ. Lord, we know you are holy. We know you are worthy. And we know you are all powerful. But God, just because you are worthy does not mean that often we are in the right place. And God, you are worthy, but we are needy. And as we continue in this passage, I just love the the end of our passage today that we'll look at in verse four of chapter 2. Paul is writing out of an anguished heart. He's writing with tears. He's writing as he's troubled. But he gives the intent of his heart. He says at the end that he wants them to know the church he's writing to the abundant love he has for them. If we're honest, often our lives are not marked by abundant love. I know I fail in this a lot where my life can be marked by anger, frustration, by anxiousness, by pride, by annoyance, and not necessarily Andrew being known as the one full of abundant love. But through Christ, that's what we're called to do. So for our second prayer prompt a as we pray through this passage is God help me have abundant love in God help me have abundant love in help me have abundant love in my workplace as I interact with my co-workers help me have abundant love in my family as with your spouse or with your children or with a brother sister your parents God help me have abundant love on the streets when I'm driving in traffic is God help me have abundant love in pray those prayers to our God. [Music] [Music] [Music] God, hear these prayers of pushing your people to transformation, to truly living out the change Christian life in you that we acknowledge that you are your promises are yes and amen. Your promise to save us but to sanctify us to become more holy to become more like Jesus. And we just ask and petition that our lives can be marked by the abundant love that people see in us. that your abundant love can be seen through the people of Cross Church in in our cities, in our uh homes, in our communities. That the city of Surprise can see the abundant love of those who attend and call Cross Church their family. That we can love our neighbors by inviting them into our homes. that we can love our co-workers by just being that different person who can be there, who cares about them, who is there when they have need and invites them to something greater in in sharing with them the true news, the gospel of Jesus Christ and invites them to be a part of our church family. As God, just let your abundant love be seen in how we interact with the world around us. And God, we know we can't do this through our own power as Paul says in here. But it is done through you, not through us. But we boast in you and boast in you alone. God, I just thank you for our church family this week as we are praying these prayers, as we are preparing our hearts. And Lord, I just ask for the opportunities come this week to point people to you, to make Jesus known in a great way. And we can gather Sunday to celebrate that, to encourage one another, to see people's lives changed, and God to go out and continue to expand your kingdom and make a difference. And we lift all this up in Jesus saving, holy, and loving name. Amen. Hey church family, thank you for joining us this week for our Sunday setup. We cannot wait to worship with you this Sunday to preach and pray and praise through this piece of scripture so we can go practice it next week um in the world around us. We'll see you Sunday.