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Justification by Faith (Part 2)
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Ezra 10 | Ezra gives us a beautiful picture of what happens as God revives and restores his people. Though beautiful, there is brokenness that happens in the beauty. One of the marks of revival is the confession and forsaking of sin. Ezra 10 gives us a powerful picture of what it looks like to allow the mourning of sin to lead to the confessing and forsaking of sin. As we see our sin for what it is, take heart, we will see our Savior for who he is as well.
Ezra 9 | God has been faithful to lead a remnant of the exiles of Israel out of slavery, but it is made known to Ezra that the people have once again been unfaithful to God’s commands and sinned against Him as before. Ezra then mourns the sin of the people and comes before God in confession. Over these four weeks we are going to see "Four Marks of Revival" in Ezra 7-10. We look at the third mark of revival on Sunday: mourning our sin.
Ezra 8 | God makes the way straight. But as we see in Ezra 8, his people must make their hearts low, and acknowledge his presence ultimately is what satisfies. Over the next four weeks we are going to see "Four Marks of Revival" in Ezra 7-10. We look at the second mark of revival on Sunday: prayer & fasting.
Ezra 7 | When the Word of God is central among the people of God, the Son of God is lifted high. In history, anytime you see a genuine revival, you see the Word of God held up in its rightful place. Over the next four weeks we are going to see "Four Marks of Revival" in Ezra 7-10. We look at this first mark of revival on Sunday: The centrality of the Word of God.
God's power...
God's worship...
In the grand scheme of life, you know what we need? More of God's word, and a deeper understanding of how it gives us all things for life and godliness. We need more awe of the power of God and how supreme He truly is. And we need to never lose sight that the end of all things is his glory and worship. Ezra 5 and 6 will give us the reminders we need on each of these.
Ezra 3 | There is no revival of heart without revival of worship. Worship is the response of praise and adoration to God because of who God is. When the Holy Spirit has opened the eyes of the heart to see God for who he is, we cannot help but worship him for who He is. In Ezra 3 we will be reminded of the glory of who God is, why he is worthy of worship, and how worship of him is revived afresh in our hearts. Let's journey together through this great chapter as we look at four words to revive our worship.
Ezra 3 | There is no revival of heart without revival of worship. Worship is the response of praise and adoration to God because of who God is. When the Holy Spirit has opened the eyes of the heart to see God for who he is, we cannot help but worship him for who He is. In Ezra 3 we will be reminded of the glory of who God is, why he is worthy of worship, and how worship of him is revived afresh in our hearts. Let's journey together through this great chapter as we look at four words to revive our worship.
Ezra 1 & 2 | Our God is sovereign. Period. There is nothing outside of his sovereign hand and plan. In Ezra 1 & 2 we get to watch our sovereign God at work as he orchestrates his sovereign ways to fulfill his purposes for his glory and the good of his people. As we unpack these chapters, we will see how much a BIG understanding in the BIG sovereignty of God brings BIG peace and purpose in our lives.
1 Peter 4:7-11 & Matthew 18:15-17 | Conflict is one of the hardest things in this world to navigate. How should we go about trying to resolve conflict in a biblical manner? What if we were the party that was deeply wronged? What if we can say with a clear conscience we didn’t sin against the person that has brought conflict against us? We can let love cover. As we close our Undoing the Unlist series, let’s look at how the Lord teaches us to pursue reconciliation.
Psalm 42 & 43 | Pain and sorrow in life is inevitable. Where do we look when the waves of despair hit? How do we move forward? Thankfully, God gifted us the language of lament. Today we study Psalm 42-43 and the four elements of lament.
Psalm 62 | Life on this side of heaven is full of unmet expectations. Throughout our life we are met with the deep sense of things not being what we had planned or hoped them to be. The college choice has turned out to not be what we thought. The relationship with adult children isn't what you hoped it would be. You planned to be married by now. You prayed to have children by now. These unmet expectations can mark some of the greatest struggles and disappointments in life. How do we handle and where do we turn when life isn't what we expected? Let's turn to Psalm 62 for help and hope in the unmet expectations of life.
If someone asked you to describe how much Christ has forgiven you, what words would you use? Astronomically. Astoundingly. Indescribably. Infinitely. There are no words we can adequately grab ahold of to describe Christ's forgiveness extended to us. It's when we understand how deeply we have been forgiven that we will live a life of forgiveness toward others. My unforgiveness is a sign that I have never experienced Christ's forgiveness, or if I have, I have lost sight of how much I have been forgiven. We turn to one of Jesus' powerful parables on forgiveness for a deeper understanding of how those who have been mercifully forgiven forgive mercifully.
Luke 21 | This passage in Luke 21 implores us to always keep our eyes vertical, no matter what may come our way in life.
The gospel invites us to a lifestyle of confession. Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost. He came to save sinners. Because of this, we don't need to excuse sin or deny sin, but rather we can confess our sin to a faithful and just God and receive his forgiveness and cleansing. Join us as we turn to 1 John 1:5-10 to be spurred toward a life of gospel-motivated confession and away from a life of being buried in the darkness of our unconfessed sin.
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.”
James 5:13-20 | In typical field manual fashion, James ends his letter with pointed, practical help for a variety of situations in life. There is a word to the sufferer, the cheerful, the sick, and a call to pursue the wanderer. In it all, we see the power of prayer, praise, and pursuit. Let's end this study by gleaning the power of what James leaves us with as he closes out his field manual of authentic faith lived out.
James 5:7-13 | Time under tension builds physical muscle. How does the tension of life build our faith muscle? Let's unpack James command to be patient under suffering.
James 5:1-6 | Jesus cut it straight, "You cannot serve God and money." Period. If I am serving money I am not and cannot serve God. In James 5:1-6, James speaks a word to rich, oppressive unbelievers warning them that though they may have present riches, they are facing a future judgment. Within this warning he speaks of three indictments against them, and these three indictments serve as pointed warnings to us. Let's let God's word search us as we look together at three warnings money is my god.
James 4:13-17 Simply put, God's plan is better than our plan. Let's look at three things from James 4 that following God's plan requires.
Worldliness sets in so subtly. It can be hard to identify ways we have taken up a friendship with the world that is opposed to God. Though it may be subtle, it is deadly. We must wage war on worldliness and we have to know the battle plan God gives us to do so. James 4:1-12 gives us the answers to four questions we must know in order to wage war on worldliness in our lives.
If we lack wisdom we can ask God, and he will give it to us generously. But how do we recognize the wisdom from above? What are the characteristics of wisdom that come from God and how do we keep ourselves from falling into the counterfeits of a worldly, unspiritual, demonic "wisdom"? Fortunately for us, James gives us teaching this week to address this very thing. Together we will look at "Four A's to Aid us in Identifying Wisdom from Above.”
Have you ever said something you wish you could have back? Have you ever said a foolish thing at the totally wrong time? Have you ever opened your mouth to spew angry words when you knew you should be quiet instead? Why do we do this? Why do we so often say what we know we shouldn't? James tells us why. Today we look at four dangerously destructive truths of the tongue from James 3:1-12.
Do you have any Easter expectations? You may have not thought about that, but all of us carry expectations, big and small, for Easter Sunday. On the very first Easter Sunday three women walked to a gravesite with 2 expectations: A closed tomb and a dead body. Instead what they found would turn out to be the most life-altering, history-shaping, world-changing event of history. He was not there. He had risen. And EVERYTHING hinges on that good news.
Can a faith that has not changed us, save us? What would James say to the one who claims a faith in Christ but whose life shows no deeds to authenticate that claim? James is straight to the point with us: Faith without works is dead. This week we unpack the beautiful reality that a genuine faith will get expressed, not perfectly but patternly, in a life of obedient works to God. Let's let this text search our hearts this week to ensure the faith we claim is the faith we live.
People of this world get enamored with the rich, powerful, and celebrity. Often these people are preferred and pedestaled. Even as Christians, it can be easy to fall into playing favorites with those who carry a high social standing in this world. James warns us in this passage that doers of the word don't live like this. Marked by gospel shaped hearts, and motivated by Great Commandment love, genuine doers of the word shun a life of partiality and favoritism, and seek to love the hearts of people regardless of external appearance and socio-economic status. To cut it straight: Genuine Christians don't play favorites.
Our study in James last week made it clear that we are to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. This week, we’ll examine three practical things evident in the pure religion of doers of the Word.
James makes it very clear that we are to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. We see this theme all throughout Scripture. As we dive into James 1:22-25, let’s examine our hearts to see where we are being hearers of the Word, but not doers.
The Lord is zealous for the righteousness of his people. Man's anger does not produce God's righteousness. In his field manual of authentic faith, James helps us understand how wisdom calls us to a "quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger life", how sinful anger is contrary to God's righteousness, and how we ultimately change by "putting away" what needs put away and receiving what we must receive.
Nehemiah 1 | Nehemiah heard the situation in Jerusalem, and it wasn't good. The people were in great trouble and shame. The walls were broken down and the gates burned. These words reporting the broken state of Jerusalem laid a burden on Nehemiah that led to days of weeping, mourning, fasting, and prayer. Fortunately for us, we have his prayer recorded for us. This week we will turn to his prayer to learn what it looks like to pray when we are burdened for what's broken.