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God's Help in Our Present Groaning
There is no denying that this world is filled with heartaches that give us a heavenly homesickness. Last week we saw that in the groaning of our heartaches, the Lord lifts our eyes to the splendor of future glory. This week we see that not only does the Lord lift our eyes to future glory in our present groanings, but he is also so kind and good to give us very tangible help in our present sufferings. What are these helps and assurances that the Lord gives his people in the present groaning of life? Let's look at these together in Romans 8:26-30.
Romans 8:26-30 | There is no denying that this world is filled with heartaches that give us a heavenly homesickness. Last week we saw that in the groaning of our heartaches, the Lord lifts our eyes to the splendor of future glory. This week we see that not only does the Lord lift our eyes to future glory in our present groanings, but he is also so kind and good to give us very tangible help in our present sufferings. What are these helps and assurances that the Lord gives his people in the present groaning of life? Let's look at these together in Romans 8:26-30.
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The Holy Spirit, Life, and Adoption
Romans 8:9-17 | "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Those words hang as the headline of hope over Romans 8. The rest of the chapter unpacks this reality leaving us with a deep abiding assurance that those words are true. As we turn to verses 9-17 this week we see that now free from condemnation, we have life in the Spirit and our adoption as children of God is sealed by the Spirit. You never have to wonder again how deep the Father's love is for you!
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A Mind Set On The Spirit
Romans 8:5-8 | The joy Romans 8 evokes in the heart of a believer is through the roof. There is now no condemnation in Christ. This means Jesus has removed all of the curse and penalty, and this includes the curse over our minds. We now walk in the Spirit with our minds set on the things of the Spirit. So what does it mean that our minds are now set on the things of the Spirit? How do we cooperate with the Spirit in the setting of our minds? What is the amazing fruit that will be born in our thinking with our minds set on the Spirit? We will talk through all of those from Romans 8:5-8 this week.
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No Condemnation In Christ
Romans 8:1-4 | The 20th-century London preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "Someone has said that in the whole of the Scriptures the brightest and the most lustrous and flashing stone, or collection of stones, is this Epistle to the Romans, and that chapter 8 is the brightest gem in the cluster. The most moving chapter in Romans is this chapter 8." How fitting that we begin Romans 8 on Resurrection Sunday. This week we will worship deeply over this great truth: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
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Good Law, Bad Sin, Great Savior
In Romans 7 Paul announces that we have died to the law through Christ, have now been joined to Christ, and thus now have power to bear fruit for God. This is good news because the law instead of remedying sin has actually aroused sin. But this raises a really important question: Does this mean the law is bad or sinful? Paul sets out to answer that question in this paragraph and as he does here is what we will see: God's law is good, our sin is bad, and our Savior is great.
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Dead to Law & Wedded to Christ
Romans 7:1-6 | We have died to the law through Christ. But won't that kind of thinking lead us to more and more sin? No, quite the opposite. To be dead to the law is to be wedded to Christ, and to be wedded to Christ is to bear fruit for God. How does all this work together? Paul tells us as Romans 7 begins.
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Slaves To Righteousness
Romans 6:15-23 | We are dead to sin! The good news of the gospel is that we have died with Christ and in dying with Christ we are dead to sin. But we have been raised with Christ as well! And in being raised, there are some beautiful things we are now alive to. One of these things we are now alive to is righteousness. We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness. How do we know what we are truly slaves to? What characterizes someone who is now a slave to righteousness? What does slavery to righteousness lead to? These questions get answered as we finish Romans 6 together today.
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Dead To Sin, Alive to God
If we are in Christ, we are dead to sin. What does it look like to lay hold of this reality and live in light of it? This week, as we continue in Romans 6, we will look at the promise, the perspective, and the practical instruction to live in light of the reality that we are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.
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Death in Adam, Life in Christ
Romans 5:12-21 | Only two options can be true of our lives. We are either still in Adam or we are now in Christ. We are either still in sin or have been made righteous by Christ. We are either dead in that sin or have been made alive in Christ. In this section of Romans, Paul brings to bear the cancerous reality that in Adam sin has spread, infecting all of us, leaving all of us under its terminal death sentence. But a Greater Adam has come...and this Greater Adam has reversed the curse. And once we are in Him we move from sin to righteousness, from bondage to grace, from death to life. Are you still in Adam, in your sin, and subject to death-OR- are you in Christ, made righteous, enjoying his everlasting life?
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Three Blessings For Those Justified By Faith | Part 2
In the last section of the letter to the Romans, Paul has been hammering this reality that we are justified (or declared righteous) by faith. Chapter five starts with this really important word, "Therefore..." With this word, Paul now will begin to unpack the blessings that flow from the fact that we have been justified by faith. In Romans 5:1-5 we are going to see, understand, and worship over three blessings for those justified by faith. Last week we looked at the first two blessings, this week we look at the third blessing for those justified by faith.
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Three Blessings For Those Justified By Faith
In the last section of the letter to the Romans, Paul has been hammering this reality that we are justified (or declared righteous) by faith. Chapter five starts with this really important word, "Therefore..." With this word, Paul now will begin to unpack the blessings that flow from the fact that we have been justified by faith. In Romans 5:1-5 we are going to see, understand, and worship over three blessings for those justified by faith.
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Inheritance by Faith, Not Law-Keeping
The driving theme of this section of Paul's letter is that righteousness comes by faith. In Romans 4, Paul is leaning on Abraham's testimony to illustrate this truth to us. He has said, "Even Abraham was declared righteous by faith!" He reminds us it wasn't by his circumcision, and this week we are going to see him declare that Abraham's righteousness wasn't by law-keeping. It was by faith. This passage teaches us as well that righteousness is counted to us not by law-keeping but by faith. Our hearts will be freed into the joy and rest of this reality as Romans 4:13-25 comes to bear on our hearts.
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Justification by Faith (Part 2)
Romans 4:1-12 | Justification by faith. God is leading Paul to hammer home this essential message of the Christian faith: One is made righteous before God by faith. He has brought it up in every paragraph in this section of the letter, and he will hammer it home by showing in chapter four how even Abraham was justified in this way. Romans four is a gift from God to take us into a deeper understanding of this essential doctrine, and we will begin our study by looking at Part One of these "5 Must-Know Truths of Justification by Faith."
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Christmas: Word-Fulfilling, Worshipful Wonder
The scenes of Luke 2 are truly remarkable. You have a pilgrimage of a faithful couple fulfilling past promises from God. You have a supernatural worship service that breaks out in a sheep field. You have a moment of reverent wonder at the side of a manger. In all of it we want to see in the Christmas story the glory of the one born in Bethlehem and let it lead us to worshipful wonder this Christmas.
Here Comes A King
Luke 1:26-56 | The human heart wanders in restlessness until the moment it sees the glory of Christ. We were made to behold the glory of God and the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God is seen in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). From the very first angelic announcement of the birth of Jesus, there is glory packed into this description of who this coming King is. We want to see the glory of Jesus in this birth announcement and then let that lead us to respond accordingly. Our hearts will overflow with joy when we look again at who he is and why he has come.
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Prepping for a Christ-Exalting Christmas
It's December. We are gearing up for the celebration of Christmas. For many of us, we love this time--the family, the friends, the food, the fun. In the midst of the buildup for Christmas, we want to ask a really important question: What would make this Christmas the most Christ-exalting Christmas we have ever experienced? Let's look at a godly couple at the beginning of Luke's gospel who can help prepare our hearts for a Christ-exalting Christmas.
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Justification By Faith (Part 1)
Romans 4:1-12 | Justification by faith. God is leading Paul to hammer home this essential message of the Christian faith: One is made righteous before God by faith. He has brought it up in every paragraph in this section of the letter, and he will hammer it home by showing in chapter four how even Abraham was justified in this way. Romans four is a gift from God to take us into a deeper understanding of this essential doctrine, and we will begin our study by looking at Part One of these "5 Must-Know Truths of Justification by Faith."
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Gospel-Powered Humility, Urgency, Unity, & Righteousness (Pt. 2)
Romans 3:27-31 | I don't know who said it first, but I do remember clearly when I first heard it said:
A gospel that has not changed us has not saved us.
Boom! It sat on me with clarity and conviction. This message of a righteousness that has been won by Christ, through his atoning sacrifice on the cross, and extended to us as a gift of grace WILL produce change in our lives. It will! As we come to the end of Romans 3 we see how this is the case. Last week we looked at gospel-powered unity. In part 2 this week we see how the gospel powers urgency, unity, and lives lived righteously.
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Gospel-Powered Humility, Unity, and Righteousness
Romans 3:27-31 | I don't know who said it first, but I do remember clearly when I first heard it said:
A gospel that has not changed us has not saved us.
Boom! It sat on me with clarity and conviction. This message of a righteousness that has been won by Christ, through his atoning sacrifice on the cross, and extended to us as a gift of grace WILL produce change in our lives. It will! As we come to the end of Romans 3 we see three clear ways the gospel practically will impact our lives. Today we look at the first of these: Gospel-powered humility.
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How God Saves
Romans 3:21-26 | "But now..."
With those two beautiful transitional words we get a gospel soundtrack shift in the letter to the Romans. Paul has written to them of man's wickedness which deserves God's wrath. He has announced that there is no one righteous, no not one. But now...gospel hope! But now...we are told how we are made right with God! As we walk through Romans 3:21-26 we get the answer to life's biggest questions: How are we made right with God?, How has God accomplished this?, and What does this tell us about the goodness of our God? These verses are packed with joy-filled hope for every human heart.
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