Sunday Setup – 2 Corinthians 5:1-15

[Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Hey, Cross Church family and welcome to the Sunday setup. This is a time that we get to digitally gather across our platforms on Instagram and YouTube and Facebook and our podcast where we get to do two things. We get to read the word of scripture that we'll be preaching through this week and we get to pray through it with a couple prompts. So, as this time, I just ask that you grab a Bible if you have one close to you or you listen along as you're driving or you're at the gym or how wherever you're at at this time, and you just kind of help focus your heart and prepare yourself for God's word that we're going to engage with as a church family this weekend. If you have your Bible, go ahead and flip to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we're going to be looking at verses 1-1 15 today. And the Apostle Paul writes this and he starts in verse one. He says this, "For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens not made with hands. Indeed, we grown in this tent, desiring to put our heavenly dwelling since put on our heavenly dwelling since when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that morality may be swallowed up by life. Now, the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the spirit as a down payment. So, we are always confident and we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight. In fact, we are confident and we prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain. What we are is plain to God. And I hope it is also plain to your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but we're giving you an opportunity to be proud of us so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. For if we are out of our mind, it is for God. If we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us since we have reached this conclusion that one died for all and therefore all died and he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died for them and was raised. Paul in this passage gives this amazing picture of where our eternity lies. He he looks to our future after death. He looks to what our heavenly bodies are going to be like apart from this mortal life. And as we begin to go through and kind of pick apart this passage, there's just some great things that we can see here and pray through. But I want to kind of call our attention to just two things for our time today as we prepare for Sunday. As in verses 11 and 15, we kind of see two topics that are teased here. And in verse 11, it talks about knowing the fear of the Lord. And there's this balance between fear and love. And I want us to have our prayer prompts on these two topics. But starting with the fear of the Lord is when we talk about fear, it is this healthy reverence for how almighty he is that we can be confident in the eternal bodies we're going to have because we fear and know how awesome and amazing our God is. So I want to start with just a prayer of praise is God we fear you because God we fear you because just think through scriptures and the way God has described the attributes he has and you just pray that prompt to our God is God we fear you because [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] God, we fear you because you are the Almighty. God, you are worthy of our fear because you are perfectly holy. That in our sinful flesh, God, we're not even allowed to be in your presence. God, we would our sin would destroy us because you are perfectly just. You are perfectly holy and could not help but to judge us and rid us of your presence. God, we fear you because you are the alpha and the omega. You're the beginning and the end. You are the creator. You are the sustainer. You are the provider. And God, you are the one sitting on your throne. God, we fear you because we will face the judgment seat before Christ. And God, we fear you because you are holy and you are great and you are everything we could ever imagine and more. But God, you hear these prayers where we offer up our praise to you. Uh we our healthy fear of you. But God, you don't stop at fear, but instead you also show us your love. And in verse 15, it verse 14, it talks about the love of Christ. 15, it tells us what that love is. But it says, "The love of Christ compels us because you loved us so much. We're not fear of you because of what you'll do to us. Instead, we fear you because of how awesome you are. And instead, we mimic the love that you have for us." And in the second prompt, this prompt of action, this prompt of just responding to your fear and your love is, church, let's pray this to our God. is Jesus. Your love compels me to is Jesus. Your love compels me to think of the ways that because we know the love of Christ, because he has saved us, of what that calls us to do in the life around us. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] [Music] Jesus, your love compels me to love the people around me. Your love compels me to be more patient with my family, Lord. Be more patient at work, be more patient in traffic, be more patient with all the things that I feel like I have to do. God, your love compels me to make time for my neighbors, uh, for those who are lost and those who are far from you. God, your love compels me to share what you've done in my life with those people. That the gospel needs to be spread. The gospel needs to be shared. The gospel needs to be made known to the world around us. God, your love compare compels me to make you known, to make you the purpose of my life and make you front and center in my life. God, your love compels me to be more like you and less like my old self, less like my sinful desires that I must overcome through your strength and power. God, your love compels our church, God, just to be on mission for you, God, to make you known in a grand way and to think less of ourselves and more of you, God. Thank you for your love that compels us. And we lift all this up in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, thank you church family for joining us this week. We'll see you Sunday. [Music]