- BEGINNING: Romans 1:5 -6 - "Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ..."
- ENDING: Romans 16:25-26 - Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
The gospel had become so personal to Paul that he called it "my gospel". He lived Jesus! He lived for Jesus! His faith was in the perfect faith of Jesus that I talked about in my post yesterday.
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Steve gave us a five letter acrostic, one letter for each digit on your right hand, to help us in answering his question: What Make the People of God the People of God?
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J ustified by faith (Romans 3)
- That's Grace! 3:24 "...being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus..."
E xult in God, hope, and tribulations (Romans 5)
- That's Grace! 5:1-11 "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly... ...11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."
S laves of Righteousness (Romans 6)
- That's Grace! 6:14-21 "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? ... ...so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness."
U ncondemned! (Romans 8)
- That's Grace! 8:1-2 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
S pirit-Led (Romans 8)
- That's Grace! 8:14-15 "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."
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Who makes the people of God, the people of God?
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J-E-S-U-S!!!!!
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In the afternoon lesson, Kareem talked about our response to the grace and goodness of God: A life of praise and thanksgiving! Once we realize how much God loves us... how much we are worth to him... our life becomes a continual sacrifice of praise. After hearing the Holy Spirit connect Kareem's lesson so beautifully to Steve's, I put this scripture back in my heart yesterday:
- Hebrews 13:15-17 "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased."
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Then yesterday Scott, our friend from Minnesota, who has been getting cancer treatment at Philadelphia's Cancer Treatment Center of America, wrote this on his blog. I believe that it made a beautiful ending to a rich and deep Sunday. Look how he even connects it to our theme song of the week! A lot to meditate on today!
"I love James because he tells it like it is even if it hurts.
These two verses, however, are uplifting and promising.
We can take the promises
God gives us in the Bible as gold,
for He always keeps His promises to us!
I want God near to me,
so what does it mean to come near to Him?
How do I “get to know” God?
Spending time in prayer
and reading the word He has given us.
For God to lift me up,
being humble and not boasting of ourselves
yet still boasting about His work within us.
Paul did this well, giving credit to God.
James 4:8,10
'Come near to God
and He will come near to you…
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will lift you up.'"
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Meditating on these verses from Romans, Hebrews, and James are rich food for your life in Christ! I pray that you will begin to know your worth more and more as you, one of the people of God, let Him walk by your side...
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NOTES:
- You can access Steve's blog / sermons over on the right sidebar under Sikes Family links
- You can access Scott's blog on the picture of Scott and his beautiful family
- I plan to talk more about what Kareem shared in a post later this week!
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