TITLE: God’s heart for us in the midst of COVID-19 & beyond

TEXT: Romans 12:1-5

Some images of the church:

The Branch - John 15:1-8

The Building - 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 1 Peter 2:4-6

The Bride: Ephesians 5:25-27, Revelation 19:7-8

God’s heart for Hope Church in the midst of COVID-19 & beyond… that we would:

1 – PURSUE GOSPEL HUMILITY - V.3

Robert Murray McCheyne – “For every look at self—take ten looks at Christ!”

Heart Check:

When you think about the church, what immediately comes to your mind?

How the church serves me OR How I can humbly serve others?

How the church can elevate me OR How I can help elevate others?

How the church can make things more convenient for me OR How I can sacrifice more for others?

2 – EXPERIENCE SUPERNATURAL UNITY – V.4a

Heart Check:

I have little or no conversations about my Christian life with other believers

I have a hard time working harmoniously with other believers

I generally think of myself as an individual rather than part of a community

I use privacy as an excuse to keep my distance from other believers

3 – REJOICE IN OUR DIVERSITY – V.4b-5

TITLE: You don’t have to be alone

TEXT: Acts 2:42-45

INTERVIEW: ROSARIA BUTTERFIELD

“Is the church breeding loneliness? Rosaria Butterfield answers yes. She believes we have declared independence from each other in our culture and, sadly, in our churches. Once upon a time, the church was “of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32). Shared time, shared food, shared possessions. Many of our churches today have left behind that picture of the family of God, though. The contemporary Western church’s “absolutely low or nonexistent culture of family of God” has fostered an unparalleled depth of loneliness, with single women in particular buried at the bottom... Shared identity. That was the early church — a family bound together by the blood of Jesus.”

We all need true fellowship & fellowship means that...

1 – WE ALL SHARE A COMMON LIFE - V.42

John Piper – “Fellowship is a mutual bond that Christians have with Christ that puts us in a deep, eternal relationship with one another.”

1 John 1:3 – “… that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

2 – WE’RE PARTNERS IN A COMMON MISSION – PHILIPPIANS 1:5

Philippians 1:3-5 - I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

3 – WE HAVE ALL THINGS IN COMMON – V.44-45

TITLE: Easter hope in the midst of COVID-19

TEXT: John 11:17-26

Three truths I must believe in order to find unshakable hope:

1 – GOD ALWAYS HAS A PLAN – V.17-19

What I need to know about God’s plans:

1A. God’s plans are always for His glory – V.3-4

John 11:3-4 – “So the sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’”

John Piper – “Do you love the thought that all creation exists to display the glory of God? Do you love the truth that all of history is designed by God to one day be a completed canvas that displays in the best way possible the greatness and beauty of God? This is why God created the universe. This is why he ordained history. This is why he sent his Son. This is why you exist. Forever to see and savor and show the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

1B. God’s plans are always for my good – V.14-15

John 11:14-15 – “Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

2 – GOD’S TIMING IS ALWAYS PERFECT – V.20-21

3 – GOD’S PURPOSE IS ALWAYS BETTER – V.22-27

TITLE: Redemption: We were in bondage

TEXT: Ephesians 1:7

D.A Carson - “What would you think if a woman came to work wearing earrings stamped with an image of the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima? What would you think of a church building adorned with a painting of the massed graves at Auschwitz? Both visions are grotesque. They are not only intrinsically abhorrent, but they are shocking because of powerful cultural associations. The same sort of shocked horror was associated with the cross and crucifixion in the first century. Crucifixion was reserved for slaves, aliens, barbarians. Many thought it was not something to be talked about in polite company. Quite apart from the wretched torture inflicted on those who were executed by hanging from a cross, the cultural associations conjured up images of evil, corruption, abysmal rejection. Yet today, crosses adorn our buildings and letterheads, grace our bishops, shine from lapels, and dangle from our ears—and no one is scandalized....Yet this cultural distance must be bridged.”

The cross of Jesus Christ is good because it’s the place of …

1 – FREEDOM - V.7a

Redemption:

“the buying back of slaves from the slave market…to purchase in the marketplace”

2 – FORGIVENESS – V.7b

Paul Enns – “Forgiveness forever solves the problem of sin in the believers life – all sins past, present & future... man had sinned and needed to have his sins dealt with and removed.”

3 – FAVOR – V.7c

- Acknowledge that you’re a sinner

- Turn from your sin & Trust Christ

Jason Matta | Romans 3:20-25

“The Atonement” – “The atonement is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation.” - Wayne Grudem

“Propitiation”:

A sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath towards us into favor.” - Wayne Grudem

“Averting God’s anger by an offering” - J.I Packer

Understanding “God’s Wrath”

“God’s wrath is not capricious, bad-tempered, or malicious. [This is so good, watch this] It is instead the logical result of His perfect holiness. It is the “right reaction of the moral perfection in the Creator towards moral perversity in the creature.” - J.I Packer

Propitiation explains…

1 – THE REASON JESUS CAME FOR US: NEW HOPE - HEBREWS 2:14-17

Hebrews 2:14-17 – “…he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery…. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

2 – THE REALITY OF JESUS’ SUPPORT FOR US: NO CONDEMNATION – 1 JOHN 2:1-2

1 John 2:1-2 – “1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

C.H Spurgeon – “When you are stripped of everything but hope in Christ, when you are prepared to come empty-handed and take Christ to be your all, and to be yourself nothing at all, then you may look up to Christ, and you may say, “Thou dear, Thou bleeding, Lamb of God! Thy griefs were endured for me: by Thy stripes I am healed, and by Thy sufferings I am pardoned ... If Christ has died for you, you cannot be lost. God will not punish twice for one thing.”

3 – THE DEFINITION OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US: NOW FOLLOW – 1 JOHN 4:10-11

1 John 4:10-11 – “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Jason Matta | 2 Corinthians 5:18-20

Jason Matta | Exodus 32-34

TITLE: God is with us

TEXT: Exodus 24-31

The heart of God is to be with His people:

1 – IT’S HIS DIVINE PURPOSE – Exodus 25:8

JT English – “The mission of God is the presence of God in all of creation.”

J. Alec Moyter - “…the tabernacle sums up the whole divine purpose in redemption: he brought Israel out of Egypt ‘so that I might dwell among them’”.

2 – IT’S OUR DEEPEST NEED – EXODUS 25:17-18, 22-23

[INSERT ATTACHED PIC OF TABERNACLE HERE]

Exodus 25:17-18, 22-23 - 17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat…. 21 And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.”

Ephesians 5:2 - And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Hebrews 9:13-14 – For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

John 6:35 - Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

John 8:12 - Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Matthew 27: 50-51 - And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

John 1:14 says of Christ - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…

Colossians 1:19-20 - For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Revelation 21:1-7 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”