Sunday Setup – 2 Corinthians 2:5-17

[Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Hey church family, welcome to the Sunday setup. This is our weekly time where we gather together live on our social media platforms. So, where we get to just read through and pray through the scripture that we will be preaching through this Sunday. And you can either join us as we're live together and pray through these prompts and listen to the word of God. We can watch this after uh maybe as you're commuting to and from work, at the gym, whatever in your day life. But this is an a intentional time where we can just kind of stop what we're doing in our week. We can hear God's word. we can respond in prayer to God's word and prepare our hearts for this weekend. So today we're going to be in 2 Corinthians and we'll be in 2 Corinthians starting in verse 5 and we're going to read through the end of the chapter in verse 17. So if you have God's word with you or can follow along on your phone or just listen uh maybe as you are doing other things to kind of what his word says. We're going to start in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 starting in verse 5. Paul writes, "If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me, but to some degree, not to exaggerate, to all of you. This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person. As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love to him." I wrote for this purpose to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for your benefit and the presence of Christ so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes. When I came to Trrowaz to preach the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord opened a door for me, I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. Instead, I said goodbye to them and I left for Macedonia. But thanks be to God who always leads us in Christ triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved, among those who are perishing. To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things? For we do not market the word of God. For prophet like so many on the contrary we speak with sincerity in Christ as from God and before God. Another great passage that we just get to dive into through the book of second Corinthians. And Paul here deals with a number of topics that we're going to get to unpack this week. But there's just so many things we can pray through in this. But I I love especially kind of in the back half of these verses in verse 14-1 17. And he starts 14 after going through and just talking about really practical issues that affect him just like they affect us today. Some hurt inside their church. But in verse 14, he says, "But thanks be to God who always leads us." He talks about leading us in Christ's procession, his victory, his triumph. And God leads us today. So here's our first prayer prompt is God, thank you for leading me in. God, thank you for leading me in. God, thank you for leading me in my salvation. That I can't do salvation without you. That I can't pay my own sins. God, thank you for leading me in your victory over my sin. God, thank you for leading me in appreciating the beauty of the world around you. God, thank you for leading me and opening the door of how I can love my family of pray that prayer to God. God, thank you for leading me in. [Laughter] Heat. Heat. [Music] God, thank you for leading me in just opportunities of where you're guiding our life. You open doors, you close doors. Just as we see in Paul that you open doors to share the gospel in certain areas and close doors for that. You open relationships in his life. And God uh you lead us in all areas. And and Lord, we thank you for that. We thank you that you do things that we simply cannot. And when we try to lead our own lives, to lead our own selves and lead our own families and our communities and our business and whatever in our way, God, it always comes short of the purpose, the greater glory, the kingdom magnifying purpose that you have for our lives. God, thank you for leading us in these areas. But Lord, as we continue to pray, we not only thank you that you lead us in these areas, but God, we ask for us to specifically be involved. And as we continue in verse 15 and 16, there's this imagery about being the fragrance, about being the aroma of Christ. And we God just ask that this can describe our life. And for us today, here's our second prayer prompt is we recognize, thank God that he leads us, that he is worthy of our worship, that he is worthy of our praise, that he is amazing. But we ask that we can also reflect that and be a part of that. And here's where we are needy. We can't do this on our own. But we ask that God intervene. We ask that we be a part of his will. Is God let me be the fragrance of Christ in where do you need to be more like Christ? You need to people need to smell Jesus on you. You need to be the aroma of Christ, the fragrance of Christ. when they're around you, they feel like Jesus is in your life. and just pray that God let me be the fragrance of Jesus in maybe your family and your workplace and your neighborhood on the road when you drive to specific people maybe to a specific family member to a specific co-worker is God let me be the fragrance of Jesus in pray that prayers to our [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] God, let us be the fragrance of Jesus in wherever you place us this holiday weekend. God, many of our church family may be traveling. And traveling can be frustrating. It can being long hours in a car or flying on a plane. Just let us be the fragrance of Jesus in those areas. We love our family members. We love the strangers. We not get frustrated. We not get annoyed. God, let us be the fragrance of Jesus in our community. God, that as fireworks are set off, as pool parties are had, as community is happening, as frustrations of traffic may happen, let us be the ones who unify, who love, who are peacemakers, who are patient, and who are just different from the world around us. God, let us be the fragrance of Christ in our families in this time. Sometimes holidays can bring up division, can bring up bad memories, but let us be the bridgebuilders, the uniters, the ones that even when we are hurt, just as Paul describes here, um God, we are not holding grudges, but we are forgiving one another. God, let us just be the fragrance of Jesus wherever we are this weekend and the rest of our week as God, we just can get distracted. We can get caught up in things, but Lord, that we never forget that you are worthy. You lead us in amazing places and we are called to live on purpose for you cuz we are needy without you. And Lord, we just want to be a part of your kingdom and its expansion. God, I just thank you for this time. I thank you for our church family. And Lord, you just prepare our hearts over this weekend as we come to hear your word, to praise through your word, to pray through your word, to preach through your word, so we can practice your word both now and in the future. And we lift all this up in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, church. We'll see you Sunday.