Single lesson
2 Corinthians 1: Paul Greets the Corinthians
2 Corinthians 1:1–2; 2 Corinthians 1:3–11; 2 Corinthians 1:12–24
In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul greets the church, praises God for his comfort in affliction, and explains his change of plans. This lesson helps children follow those ideas and respond with prayer, trust and sincere living.
Before you teach
Paul writes to the assembly at Corinth and the saints in Achaia with grace and peace. He speaks about affliction, comfort, hope and prayer, then explains his sincere conduct, God’s faithfulness in Christ, and why he did not come to Corinth when first planned.
Students will be able to explain that God comforts his people in affliction and that Paul says he acted sincerely and for their good.
Welcome: Who is writing and what matters here?
4 minRead the greeting aloud. Identify Paul and Timothy as the writers and the assembly at Corinth and the saints in Achaia as the readers. Tell the group to listen for two main ideas: God’s comfort in trouble, and Paul’s sincere way of dealing with the church.
2 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:12
Read and explain: God comforts in affliction
8 minRead 2 Corinthians 1:3-11. Explain that Paul calls God the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. God comforts people in affliction so they can comfort others. Paul also says his trouble was extremely heavy, and it taught him not to trust himself but God. Prayer also mattered.
2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 1:11
Discuss: Paul’s sincerity and change of plans
6 minRead 2 Corinthians 1:12-24. Paul says he behaved with holiness, sincerity and God’s grace. He had planned a visit, but he says his word was not ‘Yes and no’. He points to God’s faithfulness, says God’s promises are ‘Yes’ in Christ, and explains that he delayed coming to spare them.
2 Corinthians 1:12, 2 Corinthians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 1:17, 2 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 1:20, 2 Corinthians 1:23
Make and respond: Comfort reminder card
8 minLet each child choose a short verse or phrase from the passage, then make a small reminder card. Ask them to add one simple response on the back, such as pray for someone, encourage someone, or speak sincerely. Invite a few children to share how their card matches the passage.
2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Corinthians 1:11, 2 Corinthians 1:12, 2 Corinthians 1:24
Closing: Review and pray
4 minReview with quick questions: Who gives comfort? Why does God comfort his people? Why did Paul say he did not come? What did he say about their faith? End with a short prayer asking God to help the group trust him, pray for others and stand firm in faith.
2 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Corinthians 1:11, 2 Corinthians 1:23, 2 Corinthians 1:24
Questions to explore
According to verse 4, why does God comfort his people in affliction?
Look for the purpose in the verse: God comforts them so they may be able to comfort others who are in affliction.
2 Corinthians 1:4
What did Paul say his severe affliction taught him in verses 8 and 9?
Notice that the trouble was beyond his own power, and he says it moved him away from self-trust toward trust in God who raises the dead.
2 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Corinthians 1:9
In verses 23 and 24, how did Paul describe his decision not to come and his role toward their faith?
Read both verses together: he says he did not come to spare them, and he says he is not controlling their faith but working with them for their joy.
2 Corinthians 1:23, 2 Corinthians 1:24
Make, think or respond
Comfort Reminder Card
What you’ll need
- paper or card
- pencils or pens
- crayons or markers
- Bible
Try it together
- Read 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 1:12 and 2 Corinthians 1:24, and let each child choose one short verse or phrase.
- Write the chosen words on the front of a folded piece of paper or card.
- Decorate the front with simple colours or symbols that fit the verse.
- On the back, write one response such as pray for someone, encourage someone, or speak sincerely.
- Invite volunteers to show their card and explain how it connects to the passage.
The card helps children remember that God gives comfort, teaches trust in himself, and calls for sincere conduct.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, offer short phrases to trace, such as 'God of all comfort' or 'stand firm in faith'.
- For older or more confident children, ask them to explain how comfort, prayer and joy connect across verses 4, 11 and 24.
An optional closing prayer
Proposed words: 'Father of mercies and God of all comfort, please help us trust you, pray for others and speak with sincerity. Help us stand firm in faith. Amen.'
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
2 Corinthians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.
6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
7 Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so you are also of the comfort.
8 For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia: that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.
9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,
10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver, on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us,
11 you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.
12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
13 For we write no other things to you than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end—
14 as also you acknowledged us in part—that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
15 In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit,
16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea.
17 When I therefore planned this, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?”
18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”
20 For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
22 who also sealed us and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
23 But I call God for a witness to my soul, that to spare you, I didn’t come to Corinth.
24 We don’t control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.