Each week, we provide the following resources to help you spiritually prepare for communal worship. Investing time in preparation will enable you to grow and worship God more deeply during the Sunday Service. Resources for the upcoming Sunday are available by Saturday morning.
Big Idea: Through Christ, God provides the righteousness we need and reveals the righteousness He possesses.
(1) The Gift of Righteousness (21-25a)
(2) The Glory of Righteousness (25b-26)
(3) The Fruit of Righteousness (27-31)
1. Why is it impossible for us to establish our own righteousness before God? What does it mean to receive God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ?
2. How can God forgive guilty sinners without compromising His perfect righteousness and justice? What does the cross reveal about God's character?
3. If our justification is entirely a gift of God's grace, why do we sometimes struggle with spiritual pride or look down upon other Christians?
4. If Jesus Christ is the only way sinners can be reconciled to God, how should that affect our concern for unbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers?
You can listen to our musical lineup for the Sunday Service using the YouTube links or the Spotify Playlist below.
Our song highlight this week is Grace by the Australian group CityAlight. This is a beautiful hymn written to highlight one of the greatest gifts that God could give us: His grace.
What is grace? It’s a term that we like to throw around a lot as Christians. The word can have different meanings depending on the context, but when we use it in the Theological sense we simply mean “unmerited favor.” Another way of putting it would be “receiving a git that was undeserved.” That is what makes God’s saving grace to us so beautiful. He gives us the gift of life and salvation through Jesus Christ even when it was completely underserved. He showed us His favor when we did nothing to merit it. In four verses, this hymn highlights the beauty of God’s grace. Verse one shows how it is God’s unmerited favor that delivers us from death to life and leads us to a right standing with Him. The second verse reveals the expanse of God’s grace, reaching to the ends of the earth. Salvation is not for a particular nation or people group, but is extended to all the elect who repent and believe in Christ alone throughout every tribe, tongue and nation. In verse three, the writers seek to comprehend why it is that a Holy God would show such a display of love to stain filled sinners like us. Such a line harkens back to what Charles Wesley said in one of his hymns, “Amazing love! How can it be? That Thou my God shouldst die for me?” What glorious grace it is that God would shed His own blood to redeem a people for Himself. Lastly, being so overwhelmed by the goodness of God’s grace to us, the author responds through songs of praise and adoration. This saving grace is so overwhelming, comprehensive, and complete that it truly demands our praise and calls us to now live in light of such grace. How precious it is that God would extend such favor to His enemies in order to redeem them and make them His children. It truly is Amazing Grace.