2 Corinthians 2:14

You guys are much nicer. In the first service, I actually had somebody boo me, so we’re already off to a better start here. I’m not even kidding; I did have a boo, and it was pretty awesome.

I wanted to come up after Davis' video. Davis has been part of our youth ministry and our children's ministry. He has kind of grown up all the way through this church. Davis is a testament to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His parents are here, so I’ll tread lightly. Davis is an awesome blessing. He may not always have been as awesome a blessing as he is now, but you get to see the gospel work. I absolutely love Davis.

Davis actually has a role that he didn’t even mention because he’s humble. He leads our hospitality ministry. He sends out the schedules and contacts all the volunteers. Davis is a godsend. So if you guys are getting decent donuts and decent coffee, that is largely due to Davis. If you see him out there, just give him a hi and a thank you.

My name is Jason, and I am the family ministries pastor here at Cross Connection Church. I predominantly deal with the youth ministry, particularly in high school. It is my privilege to teach over there almost every Sunday, except when I’m over here.

I want to talk to you guys for just a couple of minutes about some things we see going on in youth ministry, both in general and specifically for our group. The first question we get sometimes is, why do we even have a youth ministry? Some people say, "I didn’t have a youth ministry when I grew up; I was in the main sanctuary." That’s largely a societal thing.

We have youth ministry because society tries to segment us into different age-bracketed groups. We have youth ministry to reach kids. That’s what we do; we reach students to help them draw near to Jesus because that’s what it’s all about.

What I wanted to do with you guys is ask for your help. Kids are facing all kinds of challenges. We know that there are no new temptations under the sun; the Bible tells us there’s nothing new under the sun. However, there is a whole lot more easy access to some of the things that kids are facing.

Most of the time, when you see kids—and quite frankly, most adults—we're attached. We're attached to a tether, to a pipeline that pumps whatever is out there to us at a moment's notice. This is helpful in some ways and extremely unhelpful in others. Through smartphones, kids are being exposed to pornography at a younger and younger age. We are dealing with a lot more society-wide pornography use and addiction in children. The average age for first contact with pornography is eight years old. It’s horrible.

If you look at junior highers or high schoolers, many of them are constantly carrying around smartphones. The thing is, it’s all just right there. When we were younger, you had to work to try to find some of this stuff, but now it’s right at your fingertips. What’s happening is that we’re seeing a lot of kids struggling with this. The way the human brain develops is significant; the pleasure centers in the brain are largely established by the end of puberty. However, the learning part of the brain, the higher functions of decision-making, and things like that aren’t fully developed until around 24 or 25 years old. This is where the problem arises. As a society, we’re asking kids to manage what is largely unmanageable for them.

That’s why we need prayer. I would ask you all to pray for them. On top of the pornography problem, bullying over social media is a huge issue. You used to have to be in contact with people to bully them, but now you can bully someone from the privacy of your own home. You can set up fake accounts so they don’t even know who is saying horrible things to them. Kids are overly open to strangers. With Snapchat, for example, it seems like a temporary thing, but people grab those images and hold on to them. They can then be used in bullying and other harmful ways.

Additionally, kids are facing a lot of heavy pressure academically, in sports, and in planning for their future. These are all things that weigh heavily on them, and I know this because I deal with them. The reality is that we are expecting kids to handle all of this.

Our society is expecting kids who are 13, 14, and 15 years old to have their lives planned out. They are supposed to know where they are going and what they are going to do. Grades and sports are seen as ways to get scholarships, creating pressure on kids to perform. It’s a heavy burden. On top of this, we live in a world of total information overload.

Recently, we were at a rally at the high schools, organized by The Whosoever. When they spoke to the kids, they highlighted the overwhelming amount of information available today. Kids who are 14 or 15 years old are taking in the same amount of information in one day that it took a year to gather 20 years ago. They are facing a massive influx of information, and I am looking for people who will pray for these kids. The challenges they face can be heartbreaking.

I dislike when people say that they are the future of the church because they are not just the future; they are the church. They are the ones that God is sending out to their schools and friend groups. If you would pray for them, that would be phenomenal. We are actually going to start a prayer group specifically for the youth ministry. If you are interested, please shoot me an email or a text, or grab me on Sunday. We will get that set up and make it available so that you can pray specifically for what they are going through.

Also, keep in mind that we have camp coming up and a missions trip this summer. I mention these events because they provide opportunities for the kids to detach a little and spend some alone time with Jesus. That is what we fight for. Sometimes, youth ministry may seem like just fun and games, but the truth is that fun is the capital that allows us to buy into their lives. By having fun, we gain access to speak into their lives and lead them closer to Christ.

So, if you would pray for us, that would be fantastic. We are going to be in 2 Corinthians today, starting in chapter 2, verse 14. 2 Corinthians is the second letter that we have on record from Paul to the Corinthian church. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand, and the ushers will provide one for you.

And for me, it's on page 1146, which will mean absolutely nothing to you because we have different versions. Mine is really big because my eyes are starting to go bad, so I can read it from here without having to get too close.

This passage is from the second book that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. The first book was not really combative, but Paul was addressing some issues quite forcefully. In contrast, 2 Corinthians is a little bit more comforting, though perhaps not entirely comfortable. It is not as combative as 1 Corinthians. However, Paul covers a lot of really important issues.

As we get started with that, let's go ahead and pray. Heavenly Father, as we dig into your word today, I pray that you would speak to us. Father God, speak through me. I just pray that we would hear the message that you have for us. We know that the miracle of preaching is in the hearing and not in the speaking. So, Lord, I pray that you would open ears today, that you would open hearts, and that your word would take root. Lord God, may we be directed and guided by your word. Lord Jesus, we want to give you this time. We want to worship you, Lord Jesus, as we study. We pray these things in your name. Amen.

All right, so let's turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter 2, starting in verse 14. Paul writes, "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word. But as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."

So, starting this section out, the first thing that we see here in verse 14 is that...

But thanks be to God, which is awesome. We get to be thankful because look what He says: "Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession." We're thankful that Christ leads us. I am thankful that I can be led by Christ and not led by myself. We don't have to try to muddle through alone. When I try to muddle through alone, I get in trouble.

Proverbs 29, verse 18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law." When I am not led by Christ, I end up leading myself, and then it all goes wonky right off the bat. It's like when you take one of those YouTube journeys. I start out looking for how to change the wheel bearings on my truck. I start there, and like an hour later, I'm watching a video of some guy in his yard with a slingshot made with a colander, launching a squirrel. Without being led by God, I find myself in all kinds of places.

For a school project, we're looking on Wikipedia to find out the cause of World War I, and then all of a sudden, I'm reading about the intricacies of French cheesemaking. Thank God He is there to lead us. He's there to direct us and point us in the right direction.

This brings us to our first point today: In Christ, I am walking in a triumphal procession. Can people see that by how I'm living? Thank God we have Jesus to lead us in triumphal procession. I love that triumphal procession. It's a parade, not a death march. We get to be in a triumphal procession.

When I think of a parade and a triumphal procession, my mind goes to the year 2014. The Seahawks have just won the Super Bowl; they beat the Denver Broncos. I don't even know if "beat" is the right word; it was a bit of a slaughter. On February 5, they had their victory parade. This is the first time the Seahawks have won a Super Bowl in their 38-year history. That's why, for Seahawks fans, it's kind of a big deal for us. It's like, "We got one!" And the Patriots are over there like, "What?" Not this year, though. Ha-ha. Anyway, back to what we're talking about.

They had their victory parade on February 5. There was a two-mile route that they went through in the city of Seattle, and over 700,000 people showed up. It was at or below freezing the entire time, yet the crowd was enthusiastic. They were cheering, yelling, and wearing funny wigs—everything that Seahawks fans are famous for. They were loud, obnoxious, and very excited. Fortunately, they didn't burn anything down, so it wasn't like Philadelphia.

Over 25% of the students in the Seattle School District were absent that day. The mayor had to contact the school district to stop them from sending out mass expulsion notifications because parents were pulling their kids out of school. People came from as far away as Wyoming, driving in and camping out overnight to be part of the celebration.

One scene that sticks out in my mind is of Marshawn Lynch on the hood of a five-ton truck, driving through the parade. He was on top, throwing Skittles out to the crowd while everyone cheered and waved.

Does our life resemble a victory parade? This is where it gets convicting. Sometimes we lose focus on the fact that the victory is based on the entire campaign. The victory is not based on the individual battle that we are facing at the moment. It’s not about whether someone on the front line got beaten on a particular play; it’s whether the team won overall. It’s not just about one game; it’s about whether the team won the season. That’s what determines who wins the Super Bowl.

In our walk with Christ, we can get caught in a mindset where we think success or failure is based on what we are doing at this moment. When we are victorious, we can become prideful, thinking, "Look how good I’m doing." However, for most of us, that’s not the case. More often, we feel beaten again and forget that the victory is not about us. The victory is for Christ; He already won. We get to be led by Him in a triumphal procession.

Even if we are like one of those interior linemen that nobody knows about on the team—someone whose name you might not even recognize—you still get the ring when they win the Super Bowl, as long as you are on the team.

It doesn't matter if you're on the highlight reel. It doesn't matter if people know your name. You just have to be on the team. That's the important thing. If you're on the team, you get the ring. If we're following Christ, we are led in triumphal procession.

Looking at the rest of that verse in verse 14, it says, "And through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere." For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one, a fragrance from death to death; to the other, a fragrance from life to life. We are God's perfume. Isn't that a crazy thought? This brings us to point two: Am I faithfully diffusing the scent of Christ? We are God's car trees for the world.

Here's another analogy: car trees. You hang them in your car. When I was in college, I had a friend who was also my cousin, but he was more of a friend than a cousin because I didn't even know he was my cousin until we researched it. Anyway, that's not important. His name was Jamie. He had a Bronco II, which is also not really important. If you've ever had a Bronco II or been in one, you know it's not particularly good at anything or bad at anything. It's just very... there.

But anyway, in his Bronco II, we counted one time that he had 15 Vanilla Aroma car trees. I don't know if it was a mental thing, if he just liked that smell, or if he thought he stunk. I don't know what it was. But here's the thing: when you spent time in Jamie's Bronco, when you went somewhere else, people knew you had been there because you could smell it. They would say, "You rode here with Jamie, didn't you?" And you would respond, "Yeah, why?" They would say, "Vanilla Aroma."

Oh, smell is powerful. When we're in the presence of Jesus, people can smell that. God designed it that way. Close your eyes real quick and imagine your favorite smell. You can cheat if you want; you don't have to close your eyes. I'm not one of those bossy people, but it helps if you do. Imagine your favorite smell. Don't say it, but just think it.

Now, what else does that smell remind you of? For some people, the smell is bacon, which reminds us of home and love. For my daughter, it's Christmas trees because she loves Christmas. The smell is Christmas; it is joy, warmth, and love. Somebody today brought up to me after the first service, "Why didn't you use coffee?"

I was thinking that I should have used coffee. We did hospitality, so maybe the smell for you is coffee, and that reminds you of something. One of the smells that triggers memories for me is the smell of diesel exhaust and propane exhaust. I worked at Oak Harbor Freight Lines when I was in my early twenties, and my wife and I had just gotten married. When I smell that exhaust, the wooden trailer floors, or the dirt and dust that was there, it brings me right back to that time. I can tell you what life was like; I can tell you what color my coveralls were. I even remember that when I left, I forgot my stuff in the locker there, so it may still be there.

I remember that smell vividly. When I smell forklifts or trucks, it transports me back to that time. That's the power of smell. Smell is actually the most powerful trigger of memory that we have. It brings things to mind. The other day, I was driving home after work, and as I was going up the driveway, I could smell dinner. I wasn't even near it, but I thought, "Oh, this is going to be great."

Paul uses the illustration of smell to describe the role that we have as Christians. We are called to be that barbecue smell or the chocolate chip cookie baking smell that draws people to Jesus. When we spend time with Christ, that smell rolls off us, and people sense that something good is here. We often think it will always be that way, but Paul tells us that not everyone is going to enjoy that smell.

To those who are perishing, those who haven't come to Christ, that smell can sometimes be noxious and disgusting. We can't control whether other people like the smell; that's not our job. It depends on the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives and whether they are open to it or rejecting it. That's on them.

Our job as Christians is to exude that smell wherever we go. We're like those little air fresheners that periodically release a pleasant scent. We're supposed to do that with Jesus; we just spread it everywhere. We can't control what happens with that, but we can ensure that we are not messing up the smell with our actions. We don't want to ruin the aroma that God wants to produce in and through us.

And then the next part of that verse says, "Who is sufficient for these things?" Paul can tell while he's writing this that none of us are sufficient for this on our own because we stink. Look at the lengths we go to in order to not stink. When you got up this morning, I'm willing to bet your body stank and your mouth stank. What do we do to take care of that? Immediately, we get up, we shower, and we brush our teeth. That takes care of our leftover residual stink.

However, knowing ourselves and having gone through life a little bit, we realize that if we don't take some preventative measures, we're just going to start to stink later. There is a point to this; it's not just an exercise in stink. In our country, in the U.S. alone, we spend $18 billion a year on deodorant. This figure doesn't even count perfume or body spray, just deodorant. I found that fascinating. It's one of those little journeys I end up taking when putting this together.

In youth ministry, we have a front-row seat to this process. When we go to camp, we spend a week at a time in a tent or in a cabin with junior hires and high schoolers. One thing we have learned is that we begin to stink long before we realize it. At some point in our lives, someone has loved us enough to come to us and say, "You stink, and you need to do something about it."

I remember one time at camp, we were at Green Valley Lakes. This was long enough ago that this person probably doesn't remember it at all, and they weren't even from our church, so I think I'm probably safe. If this is you, I'm sorry for using you as an example, but I don't feel that bad about it. We were there for a week, and everyone packed their stuff. This young man brought one pair of shoes, which is not a huge deal, but he brought zero pairs of socks. If you know anything about junior high or high school boys, shoes can be dangerous.

Shoes without socks can be deadly. So, we're there, and he's not from my church, so I can't make him go shower. We always had the rule: everybody showers every day. That's it. There's just no reason not to. It's available; use it. This guy smelled so bad that the whole room rang. It just reeked. There were 50 kids on each side of the room, 50 beds, a bathroom in the middle, and 50 beds on the other side. You could smell it on the other side of the bathroom. It was bad.

Somebody loved him enough to try to help him with it. They took his shoes and threw them as far off into the woods as they could get them. It's just like following Jesus. I'll tie that together. Somebody loves us so much that they made a way for us not to stink spiritually. That's Jesus. Someone else drew us close to Jesus, often the people around us being used by the Holy Spirit. They came to us and told us, "Hey, you know what? You don't have to stink the way that you do anymore."

We come to Christ, and our former stink is washed away. That's salvation. Then we know our propensity toward starting to stink again, so we work against that. That's sanctification. We notice that some other people stink like death, so we let them know that they can be cleaned. That's evangelism.

See, Paul uses this illustration of smell to point these things out to us. He finishes this section where he says, "Who is sufficient?" We realize it's not us; Jesus is sufficient. None of us are able to take care of our own issues, our own stink. That's Jesus. Jesus does that.

In verse 17, he says, "For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word. But as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ." We are not peddlers; we are not salesmen. We do not have a multitude of products to offer. We are not the Fuller Brush man, where if this brush doesn't work, I'll open up 50 others.

This will be an age reference for you guys: we are not Joey Suzu, where we will promise anything in order to sell. Does anybody remember Joey Suzu besides me? I love those commercials. He promised you could buy the Suzu for seashells and pebbles, and they always had the subtext: he's lying. We're not like that. We're called to be sincere, he says.

We are not peddlers of God's word, but men of sincerity. We're called to be honest. We're called to be honest about our successes and our failures. We are called to be honest about the message of Jesus Christ, which is not always pleasant for everybody.

Imagine going to a doctor who only tells you what you want to hear. You might say, "Hey, Doc, I'm trying to lose a little weight. I feel kind of like I'm getting a little oversized, and I want to be smaller." The doctor might respond, "Do you like Ben and Jerry's? Well, just go eat Ben and Jerry's." You would likely think, "Doc, I don't think this is helpful."

Now, imagine if we are those who do that to others for Jesus Christ. We might say, "Oh, well, you don't really have to change. You just kind of have to..." But that doesn't work. The message of Jesus Christ is reconciliation, which predicates that there is a problem that needs to be solved. When we repent or when we face trials, that message within us is magnified because we know that we are not sufficient. We have already laid that groundwork: we are not sufficient.

When we mess up and handle it like Christians—when we repent and go talk to the person—we say, "Hey, you know what? I shouldn't have said what I said. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." That speaks volumes because the world doesn't do that very well. When someone hurts us and we handle it like Christians, we handle it like Jesus. That speaks volumes.

When we find ourselves in hostile situations, which we will face because we are bringing a message that is hostile to the world, and we handle that hostility the way Jesus did, that speaks volumes. Recently, in our house, we watched the movie "The Hiding Place." I don't know how many of you are familiar with it. It's the story of Corrie Ten Boom, Betsy Ten Boom, and their father, who are in Germany during World War II, hiding Jews in their house. They get caught and end up in a concentration camp.

See, God commissioned them to take His word to the concentration camp. It doesn't mean that everywhere we go with our message will be pleasant for us. But here's the thing: God used them in an incredible way. They arrive at the camp, and it's horrible; it's horrendous. If you haven't seen the movie, I encourage you to watch it with your children. We watched it with our kids, and it's a very powerful film.

God leads them into this concentration camp. He commissions them and walks with them through it. While they are in this place, the sisters are talking, and one sister says to the other...

Well, I can be thankful for everything, but I cannot be thankful for these lice. I cannot be thankful that our barracks is just louse-ridden. There were bugs everywhere, and they were getting bit, making it hard to sleep. Her sister says, "God doesn't do anything by mistake." Lo and behold, they find out that their barracks is the one that the guards won't come into because of the lice, the bites, and the misery there. The guards stay away as much as possible.

So, they are there, by the grace of God, delivering His message to people who are going off to the death camps. They are in a death camp, surrounded by people who are going off to their death, and they are there. God led them there to diffuse the sin of Christ in the worst possible place. They are leading Bible studies, and people are coming to the Lord. One of the things she said was that there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.

Here she is, her sister dies in the camp, and her father dies in a separate camp. She ends up being released from the camp due to a clerical error by the hand of God. She is released from the camp, goes home, and writes her story so that we have access to it. We don't fear flesh and blood; that's what the Word tells us. We walk by faith, knowing that God is with us. We speak the words of life because we are commissioned by God. You are commissioned by God. I am commissioned by God. Every one of us is commissioned by God to take His message wherever we go.

This is the opportunity. This is the joy that we have. We are able to take this with us, and we are able to go out into the world. Paul says at the end of this, "In the sight of God," and in this section, "In the sight of God, we speak in Christ." God is watching us. That is both a comfort and a caution. A comfort because, remember, Christ leads us in a triumphal procession. He is not hovering over the smite button. He is there saying, "All right, let's throw Skittles. Let's have a party. Let's go celebrate the victory that has already been won."

It is also a caution because He wants us to succeed. We have a responsibility to deliver the message accurately. It is a sacred thing to be sent out by the living God.

It is a sacred thing. Jump down real quick to verse 3 in chapter 3. It says, "And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." We are living love letters to the world from Jesus.

Point 3 in your outline guide is that I am Jesus' living letter to this world. You individually are a letter from Jesus, written to this world in general, and then in particular to the people you come in contact with. You are the method and the message that God has chosen to reach this world. This is so strange. The God who creates heaven and earth, who could break open the skies and shout down from heaven, instead says, "I'm going to use my people to deliver this message." I will use regular, normal, ordinary, frail people to deliver this message. I can't even grasp that. It doesn't even make sense to me.

This means that we are going to be different kinds of letters to different people. Just like the smell, there are some people who are going to be hostile, while others will be receptive. Our message is going to change because it's written on human hearts, not on stone. Our message will change because some people will need comfort, some will need to be confronted, and some will need to be encouraged. There are all kinds of things that happen.

It's more like we're not even really letters; it's more like we're a live stream where we're interactive with people. We're constantly interacting with others because that's how God designed it. We know that, in the same way that a written letter is not able to communicate the depth of love that we feel towards each other sometimes, we are not capable of doing this either. We are cracked pots. We are earthen vessels that leak.

In youth ministry, we get to deal with the vibrancy of teenage love, which is this utterly all-consuming moment. It is the depths of emotional intensity, and there is not a Shakespearean sonnet that could accurately communicate both the love and the pain that usually shows up about a week or a month later.

It's the same thing for us. We are not capable. We are not sufficient to deliver the message of Jesus Christ. But here's the thing: God chooses us anyway. He says, "I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit, and you are going to be my message."

When I think, "God, I can't do this," He replies, "I know." Isn't that great? We get to do it together. We need to remember that it's not about us. I have to remind myself of that just about all the time. We need to do everything we can to not distort that message. We must not let our actions screw up God's letter.

In order to avoid distorting the message, we need to know what the message is. But here's the cool thing: the message is Jesus. That's the message. Oh, okay, I can do that. Wait, can I do that? I don't think I can do that. Can I accurately communicate who Jesus is and all about Him?

The Holy Spirit assures me that I don't have to accurately communicate every nuance of who Jesus is. I don't have to know, for example, what "tulip" means from my upbringing in a Calvinist church. I don't have to know the Westminster Theological Catechism. I don't have to know these things. I know Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will speak through me.

Is it wrong to learn more about our faith? Absolutely not. It's a good thing. But don't let not knowing the answer to every question stop you from bringing it up. We have an opportunity that God has given us to speak to the people around us.

Now, this can be a little bit dangerous because we are always preaching all the time. For me, I have to remember constantly that I am preaching while I am driving. So, while I am on the freeway, am I accurately delivering God's message to the boneheads that are out there? This is where I struggle. Am I delivering that message accurately?

We need to be aware that we are a letter to everyone around us. You are the message that Jesus has chosen to send to the people around you. This is a privilege; it is not a chore. It's all based on our outlook. If you look at it like, "Oh no, I've got to do these things," then it becomes a burden.

You're not walking in a victory parade. The victory parade is when we get to head out and celebrate. Nobody wants to be invited to a death march. Life can be horrible. Do you want to come with me? That's not terribly effective.

Do you want to be on the winning team? Ask the Cleveland Browns if they would like to be on a winning team. I didn't mean to kick them while they're down. I was rooting for them all season, hoping they would just win one, please. Now they just have to worry about the draft.

Anyway, such is the confidence that we have. This is verse four: such is the confidence that we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything that is coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. The message is not great because I am great; the message is great because He is great. Jesus is sufficient to make up for the frailties of His chosen vessel.

To wrap things up here, we walk in triumphal procession led by Jesus. We diffuse the scent of Jesus. We deliver letters about Jesus, from Jesus. For this to work, we need to be in communion with Jesus. This is why we partake in communion as a body. This is why we stop, remember, and celebrate.

But this is not just about us doing this. Remember, Jesus leads us always in triumphal procession. Jesus is with us today as we celebrate communion. For me, that's kind of like one of those brain-breaking thoughts: I'm taking communion, and Jesus is with me. Sometimes it's hard to even wrap my brain around that. We get to celebrate together with Jesus.

So, the worship team is going to come up. They're going to lead us in a song, and the ushers are going to pass out the cracker and the juice. Let's take this time to ask God to search our hearts. Show us, Lord, where we're succeeding. Show us where we're falling short. Show us where we need to work on the smell.

Or maybe we should tighten up our prose in our letter. Each and every one of us is the instrument that God has chosen to bring His message to this world. You were chosen for this task, and we have been given, as Paul talks about later on in the book, this ministry of reconciliation.

So, let's pray. Jesus, as we prepare to celebrate communion, Father God, it seems like such a strange thing to celebrate Your death and burial. But, Father God, we need to remember that it did not stop there. We are celebrating Your resurrection, Jesus. We are celebrating the fact that You came back for us. Lord, You delivered Yourself up for us so that we wouldn't have to live the life we lived before. We wouldn't have to be trapped in our sin. Lord, we can find reconciliation in You.

Today, Jesus, as we prepare to celebrate communion, I pray that You would comfort us where we need comforting, encourage us where we need encouraging, Lord God, and just remind us of the gratitude and the magnitude of what You've done. Jesus, we pray these things in Your name. Amen.