Grow Guide | August 9, 2026
Text Study for Sunday, August 9, 2026
Series Theme: Live in Community
Reading: 2 Corinthians 2:1-10
CONNECTING QUESTIONS
Tell about a time when someone apologized to you. What was it like?
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Loving God, Thank You for calling us into Your beloved community. Though we are many, You make us one body in Christ, each with unique gifts and a shared purpose. Teach us to love You and love one another in all we do. Help us to value connection, conversation, and companionship. Equip us to build intentional relationships both within our church and beyond our walls. Fill us with grace to seek reconciliation, generosity to care for others, and humility to serve faithfully. May Your love overflow through our lives, forming a community that reflects Christ and proclaims peace to the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
CONTEXT
Live in Community For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. – Romans 12:4-5 As part of God’s beloved community, we will love God and love others in all we do. We will value connection, conversation, and companionship. We will develop intentional relationships with all God’s people within and outside our walls. We will use 2 Corinthians as a lens because this letter reveals Paul’s understanding of Christian leadership, ministry, and community. Paul deals with these themes while addressing some very practical tasks, such as defending his ministry while seeking reconciliation, raising funds for the poor, and countering competitors who are challenging his ministry and, in his view, abusing the Corinthians and leading them astray. Throughout Paul depicts how his own life experience, with all its vicissitudes, becomes the location where Christ’s overflowing sufferings and consolation render the gospel to others in such a way that authentic community might be formed. We learn how God’s mercy and consolation actually helps us bear suffering, sin, and death, overflowing within and through our relationships with others into expanding communities that embody and proclaim God’s reconciliation of the entire world. Let’s live in community!
Our Guest Preacher: Brenna Ziemet.
Brenna joined the Riverside Innovation Hub in June of 2023 as a RIH Congregational Facilitator. She will journey with congregations as they discern their vocational path to loving their neighbors as a vital partner in the community where God has called them. She will facilitate cohorts of church leaders, helping them build a network of support amongst each other to empower the work they are doing for the flourishing of humanity and the common good. Easter has been participating in this program for over two years—led by Pastor Erik and Rhonda Doran, Director of Outreach.
LOOK AT THE BOOK
How is it with your spirit this week?
What was one take-away from listening to the Carry On Cast podcast that connects with this Grow Guide?
Our theme is connected to our church’s vision statement “Live in Community.” Why does community matter in the life of a Christian?
Jump to 2 Corinthians 2:1. What was Paul’s decision? The relationships between Paul and the church had broken down, and this was the beginning of mending that relationship. This section is sometimes called “the letter of tear.” Read verse four.
Jump to Acts 18:8-11. SO COOL! Here is where Paul plants the Corinthian church. What is the encouragement that Paul hears?
Jump back to 2 Corinthians 2:4. What does Paul have for the Corinthian church?
Part of the issue was that the Corinthians did not trust Paul—they saw other leaders who were better speakers, dressed better, and were not in ill health. What are some examples of how you have been misjudged somehow?
What does Paul argue in 2 Corinthians 5:1? Do you agree or not?
What is the advice in verse seven? Which is more challenging for you? Why?In verse eight, what might “reaffirming love” look like? Why is this an important skill to have in life?
What do you make of verse 10? See also, John 20:22-23. Jesus gave us a gift!In what ways can Easter Lutheran Church live in to a way of repairing broken relationships—inside and outside the church?
How is Jesus good news for us this week?
What would you like to talk about that we have not yet?
TAKING IT HOME
Who needs a word of forgiveness from you this week?
Sending Prayer
O God, you made us in your image and send us into the world you so love by your Spirit’s power. As you have called all people to you, make us one in your name. Through your grace, let us live in community to the glory of your Son, for we pray in Christ’s holy name. Amen.