# Sunday Setup – 2 Corinthians 5:1-15

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise.
Series: Sunday Setup
Date: July 31, 2025
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/sunday-setup-2-corinthians-51-15

## Summary

What does it mean to live with a healthy fear of the Lord while being compelled by His love? How do our earthly struggles shape our eternal perspective? Join us as we explore 2 Corinthians 5 and uncover the powerful truths about our future in Christ. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

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 [Laughter] 
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 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 
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 Heat. Heat. 
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 Heat. Heat. 
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 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. 
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 Heat. Heat. 
 Heat. Heat. 
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 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. 
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