# Sunday Setup – 2 Corinthians 12:14-21

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise.
Series: Sunday Setup
Date: October 16, 2025
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/sunday-setup-2-corinthians-1214-21

## Summary

What does it mean to truly spend ourselves for others? Are we building each other up in love, or are we letting division creep in? Join us as we explore Paul’s heartfelt message in 2 Corinthians 12 and discover how Christ’s love compels us to live differently. Let’s dive in together!

## Transcript

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 Hey, Christ Church and welcome to the 
 Sunday setup. This is our weekly time 
 where we gather digitally across our 
 platforms to prepare our hearts for the 
 message that we are going to hear this 
 Sunday, the passage that we are going to 
 dive into. And as you listen to this, 
 whether you're driving or at the gym, uh 
 at work with your family, uh we just 
 want this time to where we get to pray 
 through this piece of scripture that 
 we'll be preaching through, that we'll 
 be praising through on Sunday so we can 
 go practice next week. And we see today 
 we'll be in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 
 And this is the second half of this 
 chapter starting in verse 14. And Paul, 
 as he's getting closer to the end of 
 this letter and wrapping up his 
 communication with the Corinthians, he 
 says this in verse 14, look, I'm ready 
 to come to you this third time. I will 
 not burden you since I am not seeking 
 what is yours, but you. For children 
 ought not to save up for their parents, 
 but parents for their children. I will 
 most gladly spend and be spent for you. 
 If I love you more, am I to be loved 
 less? Now granted, I did not burden you. 
 Yet sly as I am, I took you in by 
 deceit. Did I take advantage of you by 
 any of those I sent you? I urged Titus 
 to go, and I sent the brothers with him. 
 Titus didn't take advantage of you, did 
 he? Didn't we walk in the same spirit 
 and in the same footsteps? Have you been 
 thinking all along that you we were 
 defending ourselves to you? No. In the 
 sight of God and we are speaking in 
 Christ and everything. Dear friends, 
 this is all for building you up. For I 
 fear that perhaps when I come, I will 
 not find you to be what I want. And you 
 may not find me to be what you want. 
 Perhaps there will be quarreling. 
 Perhaps there will be jealousy. There 
 will be angry outbursts. There'll be 
 selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, 
 arrogance, and disorder. I fear that 
 when I come, my God will again humiliate 
 me in your presence. And I will grieve 
 for many who sinned before and have not 
 repented of the moral impurity of the 
 sexual immorality and the sensuality 
 that they practice. 
 Paul in the second half of this chapter 
 really gets very honest with the 
 Corinthian church and talks about some 
 of the personal struggles that they have 
 had and really bears his heart on the 
 line. But a few of just the the parts 
 that I think I want us to pray through 
 and think through as we prepare for this 
 passage. In verse 15, he says, "I will 
 gladly spend and be spent for you." Paul 
 is talking about how he's giving his 
 life up and being spent for the 
 Corinthian church. But really, this is a 
 shadow. This is a following. This is an 
 example set by Christ. So, we think of 
 Jesus. His life was spent for us for our 
 salvation. So here is how I want to 
 start this time is just start with a 
 prayer of thanksgiving is Jesus thank 
 you that thank you for spending yourself 
 by. Thank you for spending yourself by 
 giving up your life for my sins. By 
 loving me even when I had cursed you and 
 even when I disappointed you is whatever 
 that is is thank Jesus for spending his 
 life on our behalf. 
 Heat. 
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 Heat. 
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 Heat. Heat. 
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 Jesus, thank you for spending your life 
 for us by coming down to earth, by 
 living a life, pursuing us, by teaching 
 us, by healing, by performing signs to 
 show you are God. Thank you for spending 
 your life by dying on the cross. Thank 
 you for spending your life by raising 
 again so that we could know something 
 else, so that we could have a new birth, 
 a new creation in you. Lord, we thank 
 you that you lived a life spent for us 
 here on earth. So that we could live a 
 life spending eternity glorifying you. 
 But Lord, we not only thank you for the 
 life that is spent, but Paul continues 
 in verse 19. And he says that all this 
 is done that this this hardship and and 
 going back and forth in this 
 relationship between him and the 
 Corinthians. He said this was not to 
 tear them down. This was not to hurt 
 them. This was not to have personal 
 videttas, but he said it's for building 
 you up. And and God builds us up through 
 the church, through one another uh in 
 many ways. And here is our second 
 prayer. As we thank God for Jesus 
 spending his life for us, now we want to 
 reflect on how we want God to continue 
 to move. And and here's our second 
 prayer prompt is God, build me up by 
 God, build me up by maybe spending time 
 in the church. Build me up by getting 
 into your word. Build me up by 
 surrounding me with godly men and women. 
 Build me up by going through trials that 
 form me, that shape me. God, build me up 
 by 
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 God, build me up by 
 just showing your purpose, your way that 
 our lives should go down. that we not be 
 distracted by all that happens in busy 
 seasons and craziness in our everyday 
 life. But Lord, we are built up to do 
 your will. We are built up through 
 hardships, through trials, uh through 
 times that are not fun. But Lord, it 
 shapes us. It molds us. It directs us 
 down the path you went. God, as we look 
 at this passage that is so centered on 
 love, it is centered on love and the 
 fact that none of this is possible 
 without Christ being spent on our behalf 
 and none of it matters if we are not 
 being built up into something greater. 
 And Lord, as we just dive into this 
 text, as we prepare our heart for this 
 text, as we look at the love that Paul 
 had for the Corinthian church because of 
 the love that Christ has for us, Lord, 
 that then we can extend that love to the 
 world around us. And Lord, we just thank 
 you for this time. We thank you for 
 preparing our hearts as we are set up 
 for Sunday. And Lord, we just ask that 
 you be with us this week. And you as you 
 bring us together this weekend, God, you 
 do a powerful work in our lives so that 
 we can leave changed, we can leave 
 encouraged, and we can leave on mission 
 for you. And God, we just lift all this 
 up in the loving, in the building, in 
 the spent name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 Thank you guys for joining us. We'll see 
 you Sunday. 
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