Thanks Be to God Who Always Leads Us in Triumphal Procession

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened 2 Corinthians 2:12-17, a passage he organized around three moves: Paul's defense of a decision he made, a vivid Roman metaphor, and a short statement about what makes anyone fit to carry the gospel. The thread running through all three is that Paul is not the triumphant hero of his own story, and neither are we. Paul begins by explaining why he left Troas even though a door for...

Read together

1. 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 the main passage for the sermon, read and exposited throughout
2. 2 Corinthians 3:4 quoted as a preview of next week, on confidence and sufficiency being from God
3. 1 Corinthians 1:18 quoted as Paul's thesis sentence about the message of the cross being foolishness to those perishing but the power of God to those being saved
4. Colossians 2:13-15 cited as the other New Testament use of the triumphal procession word, on God cancelling the debt and making a public spectacle by triumphing over rulers and authorities in Christ

Talk about it

1. Paul admits he pulled back from an open door for gospel work because of anxiety about Titus. Have you ever felt pulled away from something good because of a nagging worry or restlessness? What did you do with that?
2. The pastor presented the triumphal procession not as a victory parade for the believer, but as Christ being the triumphator and Paul being the one led with a rope around his neck. How does that image change the way you think about what it means to follow Christ?
3. The sermon described the fragrance of Christ as smelling like life to some and like death to others, depending on whether someone is being saved or perishing. When you carry the message of the cross in your daily life, what responses have you seen from people around you?
4. The pastor said our sufficiency to carry the gospel comes entirely from God, not from ourselves, and that Paul even admitted his own human frailty in this passage. How does that honesty from Paul affect the way you think about your own failures and inadequacies in living out your faith?
5. The closing paradox from the sermon was this: you will only be victorious to the extent that you have sincerely surrendered to Christ. Is there something in your life right now that you have not fully surrendered? What makes that hard to let go of?