The Only Way Out Is Through

In one paragraph

This message, from Pastor Carl's series through 2 Corinthians, worked through 2 Corinthians 6:3-13, the passage where Paul lists what he has endured and what has sustained him as a servant of God. The central idea was that God does not remove His people from hard circumstances but gets them through those circumstances. The appeal at the end was direct: widen your hearts. The sermon opened by...

Read together

1. Psalm 145:3 quoted at the opening as a verse to share with the congregation: 'Great is the Lord, He is most worthy of praise, no one can measure His greatness'
2. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 reviewed as the appeal from two weeks prior, urging the Corinthians not to receive the grace of God in vain, quoting 'now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation'
3. Isaiah (unspecified) identified as the source of the quote within 2 Corinthians 6:2: 'in an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you'
4. 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 the main passage for the sermon, read in full in both ESV and Young's Literal Translation, covering Paul's list of hardships, virtues, and contrasts as servants of God
5. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 noted as a passage previously memorized by the congregation that echoes the contrasts at the end of 2 Corinthians 6
6. 2 Corinthians 5:7 cited as Paul's statement 'we walk by faith and not by sight,' referenced in connection with instrument flight rules as an analogy
7. Ephesians 6:16-17 quoted partly to explain 'weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left': the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
8. Acts 5 (unspecified verses) a wise counselor of Israel advises leaving the apostles alone, saying if their work is of God it cannot be overthrown, used to illustrate 'as punished yet not killed'
9. Philippians (unspecified) referenced in connection with 'rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice,' noted as the theme of the Monday night study series

Talk about it

1. The pastor opened with the appeal from 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 that 'now is the accepted time' and 'now is the day of salvation.' What does it mean to you personally to receive the grace of God, and what might cause someone to receive it 'in vain'?
2. Paul lists hardships like beatings, imprisonments, and sleepless nights alongside qualities like kindness, genuine love, and the power of God, all using the same preposition 'in.' What do you make of the fact that Paul puts suffering and the fruit of the Spirit in the same breath, as if they belong together in the Christian life?
3. The pastor used the image of instrument flight rules, where a pilot has to trust the instruments even when he cannot see, to illustrate walking by faith and not by sight. When have you had to trust your instruments, the shield of faith and the word of God, when your circumstances made it hard to see clearly?
4. The phrase 'the only way out is through' came up several times in the sermon. Where in your own life have you been tempted to stop and set up camp in a hard place rather than go through it, and what helped you keep going?
5. Paul ends this section by telling the Corinthians that they are not restricted by him but by their own affections, their splanchnoi, their gut-level desires. What does it look like practically to 'widen your heart' toward God when your affections are pulling you in a different direction?