May 4, 2025 Sermon Notes and Questions

Posted on May 1, 2025 Posted By: Jenni Nikolakakis Categories: Message Notes, Weekly Program

2 Corinthians – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

WK 17 – Paul’s Plan to Visit Corinth

2 Corinthians 12:11-21

May 4, 2025

John Arobio

This week we continue to look at Paul’s ____ and last letter to the Corinthians. Corinth was a very _ but very ____ city. It’s wealth come from being a port city, but it had many pagan temples with the major one being to Aphrodite with its 1,000-temple priestess.

PAUL’S AUTHENTICATION

Paul complained that they should have commended him because although he was not their to glorify himself, he had all the authority of the apostles and was not the least nor behind any of the apostles.

So, Paul has said that they should have accepted him as an apostle because he showed them that he had been given the gifts of the apostles and by showing them, he is showing his authority as an apostle. These are the same signs that Jesus had used to prove his authority from God:

1. The gift of __________.

2. The _______ the dead.

3. They could in .

PAUL’S PLAN TO RETURN TO CORINTH

2 Corinthians 12:13-14 NIV

¹³How are you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong! ¹⁴Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

Paul starts out by telling them that they are just as important and are not inferior in any way to any other churches, In God’s eyes they are important, and God loves them.

PAUL DOES NOT WANT TO BE A BURDEN

Paul them moves on to another thing that is important to him. He assures them that he will not be a burden to them.

He states that a does not take from the but instead the give to the __.

Paul states that he has given much for them and would gladly spend more for them and was willing to give his body and everything he is to be spent for them. Why does he do it? It was simple, he loved them.

Paul tells then that he came for them not for anything that they have.

Matthew 4:19 NIV

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.

WHAT PAUL IS AFRAID OF WHAT HE WILL FIND

2 Corinthians 12:20-21 NIV

²⁰For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. ²¹I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble myself before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.

Paul was hoping to find good things when he got to Corinth. However, he expresses his fears of what he may find when he gets there. He has already had to write them three letters to correct things that were wrong with what they were doing and letting happen. These things are still happening in the church today. We have seen churches divided and broken by these things.

There is nothing new that is happening in the church today that did not raise it head in the first century.

Paul would have been very happy to find a church that was where he hoped it would be in relationship to Christ but was very worried that this would not be the case and wanted to warn them about this happening.

Bottom Line:

We have to accept God’s will when our plans do not happen,

and we have to change things.

Dan Hall is the transition team lead. Please contact him with any questions.
Areas the church needs your help with:
- Tech—Audio/Video and worship lyric technician.
- IT/Hardware—manage the various connections of the service IT components/internet/wifi, etc.
- Worship team/leader—play an instrument? Able to carry a tune? Ready to use that gift for God?
- Donut & Coffee Ministry—bring in donuts and make that oh so important drink for many of us, coffee!!!

A Search Team will be put together to start the process of finding a new pastor.
The typical time to replace a Pastor is 12-18 months. Please wait on the Lord with us!
The team will update the church regularly
Prayer is a critical part of this process! Please pray continually for the board’s guidance in seeking God’s will.

Ladies Paint Night

May 9^th, 6-8 PM at the church. $35 each to cover the supplies, snacks, drinks and professional instructor! No experience required! See Paulette for more details. RSVP needed by today!

Men’s Bible Study

Quick meeting after church today for everyone who has shown interest in the men’s Bible study. Will discuss the next steps, frequency of meeting, topics, etc.

Church Wide BBQ

Mark you calendar for after service on June 1^st! More details to come.

Aces Baseball Faith & Family Night

July 25^th at 6:10 PM. 50 tickets are booked, more available if needed. Tickets are highly discounted at $24 for seats in the shade. Please let Paulette know if you are interested. More details to follow as we get closer to the event.

Refresh Woman’s Bible Study

1 Corinthians 13 Meeting Tuesday at 2:00 PM at the church all ladies are welcome! See Dondra for more details.

Also Wednesday night group 7:00 PM at the church, “Ten Women of the Bible”. See Ruth for more details. All ladies are welcome.

Zelle

Zelle is up and running! Zelle is a digital option for giving your tithes or offerings to support the church to fulfill the Great Commission.

If you would prefer to give digitally:

Go to your bank app on your phone or computer. Go to the payments section. Go to the Zelle payment option. If available, scan the link below in the payment section that lists Zelle as an option. There should be an icon asking to “scan the pay” or something similar.

Zelle Link (scan from your bank app)

Account email is: accounting@thebridgespanishsprings.com for the Account “The Bridge Church Spanish Springs”. As a security measure, your bank may want to send you a text to verify your first payment.

How many missionary trips did Paul take that are recorded in the Bible? Which missionary trip did Paul visit the church in Corinth first? What are some of the complaints the church in Corinth have about Paul?
Read 2 Corinthians 12:11-12, what is a “true apostle”? Using a Bible dictionary/interlinear, what is the word in the original language for apostle? Why do you think some of the people would not think that Paul is a true apostle?
Read Acts 3:7-8, do you feel gifts of healing, miracles, speaking in tongues exist in the church today? Why or why not?
Read 2 Corinthians 12:13-18, how many times does Paul visit this church at the time of the writing of 2 Corinthians? Does Paul visit the church again after the letter? What are some of the things that will happen to the apostle Paul after writing this letter?
What are some ways the church can be exploited as Paul mentions in verse 17? What is meant by “the same Spirit” in verse 18? Has anything changed with the Spirit of God since the time of Paul’s writing?
Read Acts 18:2-4, who are Aquila and Priscilla? What are some of the things we know about them from scripture?
Read 2 Corinthians 12:19-21, what does it mean to repent (verse 21)? Is repentance required to be a follower of Jesus? Why or why not? What verses could you point someone to for this subject?
What are some of the things that were happening in the church that caused Paul to write letters to the church in Corinth? Do you recall possibly how many letter Paul wrote to the church?
What stands out to you the most about either the church in Corinth or the letter that Paul wrote?
Please continue to pray for the church leadership and to connect to God’s vision for the church! We serve such an awesome God! How are you serving Him? If you would like help out in some way but your just nut sure where you might fit it, please reach out to Justin, Dan, or John.

2 Corinthians – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

WK 17 – Paul’s Plan to Visit Corinth

2 Corinthians 12:11-21

May 4, 2025

John Arobio

This week we continue to look at Paul’s ________ and last letter to the Corinthians. Corinth was a very _________ but very ________ city. It’s wealth come from being a port city, but it had many pagan temples with the major one being to Aphrodite with its 1,000-temple priestess.

PAUL’S AUTHENTICATION

Paul complained that they should have commended him because although he was not their to glorify himself, he had all the authority of the apostles and was not the least nor behind any of the apostles.

So, Paul has said that they should have accepted him as an apostle because he showed them that he had been given the gifts of the apostles and by showing them, he is showing his authority as an apostle. These are the same signs that Jesus had used to prove his authority from God:

1. The gift of __________.

2. The _______ the dead.

3. They could ________ in ________.

PAUL’S PLAN TO RETURN TO CORINTH

2 Corinthians 12:13-14 NIV

Paul starts out by telling them that they are just as important and are not inferior in any way to any other churches, In God’s eyes they are important, and God loves them.

PAUL DOES NOT WANT TO BE A BURDEN

Paul them moves on to another thing that is important to him. He assures them that he will not be a burden to them.

He states that a ________ does not take from the __________ but instead the __________ give to the __________.

Paul states that he has given much for them and would gladly spend more for them and was willing to give his body and everything he is to be spent for them. Why does he do it? It was simple, he loved them.

Paul tells then that he came for them not for anything that they have.

Matthew 4:19 NIV

WHAT PAUL IS AFRAID OF WHAT HE WILL FIND

2 Corinthians 12:20-21 NIV

There is nothing new that is happening in the church today that did not raise it head in the first century.

Paul would have been very happy to find a church that was where he hoped it would be in relationship to Christ but was very worried that this would not be the case and wanted to warn them about this happening.

Bottom Line:

We have to accept God’s will when our plans do not happen,

and we have to change things.

Ladies Paint Night

Men’s Bible Study

Church Wide BBQ

Aces Baseball Faith & Family Night

Refresh Woman’s Bible Study

Zelle

How many missionary trips did Paul take that are recorded in the Bible? Which missionary trip did Paul visit the church in Corinth first? What are some of the complaints the church in Corinth have about Paul?

Read 2 Corinthians 12:11-12, what is a “true apostle”? Using a Bible dictionary/interlinear, what is the word in the original language for apostle? Why do you think some of the people would not think that Paul is a true apostle?

Read Acts 3:7-8, do you feel gifts of healing, miracles, speaking in tongues exist in the church today? Why or why not?

Read 2 Corinthians 12:13-18, how many times does Paul visit this church at the time of the writing of 2 Corinthians? Does Paul visit the church again after the letter? What are some of the things that will happen to the apostle Paul after writing this letter?

What are some ways the church can be exploited as Paul mentions in verse 17? What is meant by “the same Spirit” in verse 18? Has anything changed with the Spirit of God since the time of Paul’s writing?

Read Acts 18:2-4, who are Aquila and Priscilla? What are some of the things we know about them from scripture?

Read 2 Corinthians 12:19-21, what does it mean to repent (verse 21)? Is repentance required to be a follower of Jesus? Why or why not? What verses could you point someone to for this subject?

What are some of the things that were happening in the church that caused Paul to write letters to the church in Corinth? Do you recall possibly how many letter Paul wrote to the church?

What stands out to you the most about either the church in Corinth or the letter that Paul wrote?

Please continue to pray for the church leadership and to connect to God’s vision for the church! We serve such an awesome God! How are you serving Him? If you would like help out in some way but your just nut sure where you might fit it, please reach out to Justin, Dan, or John.

Romans 8:31 ESV

31 What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

This week we continue to look at Paul’s ____ and last letter to the Corinthians. Corinth was a very _ but very ____ city. It’s wealth come from being a port city, but it had many pagan temples with the major one being to Aphrodite with its 1,000-temple priestess.

3. They could in .

He states that a does not take from the but instead the give to the __.

³¹What then shall we say to these things?