Mark began by asking us if we had a strong grasp on "Righteousness through faith in Jesus." Here are the comments:
-It's amazing that God counts Jesus' righteousness as toward me!
-He sees me as perfectly righteous now.
-It's refreshing to keep hearing the truth of the Gospel from the pulpit.
-The environment of our church is "rich in truth" and this helps chip away at our tendency to look at ourselves and be introspective in an unhealthy way instead of looking to Jesus.
-Our righteousness is in heaven - Jesus Christ himself!
-The lack of legalism in our church is restorative.
-I feel completely free to serve God without fear or guilt.
-Religious rituals can lead to deadness and dryness of spirit. God wants us to experience His righteousness through faith.
-I Cor 6:9-11 "...and such were some of you." We have been moved from darkness to light. Now our fundamental identity is that we are righteous in Christ!
-What hope this brings to our lives. All we encounter in this fallen world beats us down. He equips us with His outlook, like glasses to see through.
-Knowing the truth of His righteousness given as a gift through faith in Jesus lifts the burden of having to perform to please God.
-Thank you, Lord!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
March 4 Care Group
We had a good discussion about this past Sunday's sermon from Romans 1 & 2. Mark asked us when, in our christian journeys, we became aware of God's wrath.
Some of us lived in guilt, some had a sense of God's displeasure or wrath, some were aware of being alone or searching for meaning in life. God worked in us in many different ways, in our hearts and minds, to move us toward Him and the knowledge of the truth.
In many different ways God made us aware of His displeasure with us, our sin, and our need for Him and His salvation.
The next question he asked was about how we are tempted to look down on others who may be caught in sin.
We agreed that we humans are hard-wired to judge others. How sad! Even though we are so imperfect and have received so much forgiveness and mercy, we still tend to look down on others who don't "have our knowledge or understand the bible like we do."
It's by His work and grace that we can be turned away from this kind of arrogance in thinking and living!
God reveals His flawless, perfect righteousness to us with no pride. He is truly awesome!
We go through seasons of getting a little bit of knowledge in an area and then can feel superior to others.
We need to remember that all we have is a gift! There's no room for arrogance or pride in a christian's life.
Some of us lived in guilt, some had a sense of God's displeasure or wrath, some were aware of being alone or searching for meaning in life. God worked in us in many different ways, in our hearts and minds, to move us toward Him and the knowledge of the truth.
In many different ways God made us aware of His displeasure with us, our sin, and our need for Him and His salvation.
The next question he asked was about how we are tempted to look down on others who may be caught in sin.
We agreed that we humans are hard-wired to judge others. How sad! Even though we are so imperfect and have received so much forgiveness and mercy, we still tend to look down on others who don't "have our knowledge or understand the bible like we do."
It's by His work and grace that we can be turned away from this kind of arrogance in thinking and living!
God reveals His flawless, perfect righteousness to us with no pride. He is truly awesome!
We go through seasons of getting a little bit of knowledge in an area and then can feel superior to others.
We need to remember that all we have is a gift! There's no room for arrogance or pride in a christian's life.
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