Redemption Hill Church

We have seen a progression so far that Paul was eager to preach the gospel in Rome because it is the power of God to save, and because the wrath of God is being revealed. Last week we came to understand that God's wrath is often the opposite of the way we think about it, and that it shows up in God turning us over to our desires, giving us what we want apart from Him. This week that explanation continues and we will see that the symptoms in our lives are that things get twisted up. Our own separation from God shows up in twisted sexuality, twisted minds, and twisted religion. We will work together this week to find clarity on what Scripture has to say about these culturally sensitive issues, and see where we can find hope.

We saw last week in Romans 1 that Paul was not ashamed of the gospel but was eager to preach it in Rome, the capital city, because the gospel is the power of God for salvation for all who believe. This week we will see that another reason for his eagerness is that the wrath of God is being revealed in the lives of people who don’t believe in Christ. All people, across all ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, are caught up in twisted worship that has dulled our hearts to the One True God. The result is that we are twisted, and it shows up in our lives through twisted sex, twisted minds, and twisted religion. This section will frame up the next three weeks in our study together. This week we will focus on Romans 1:18-23, which lays the foundation for understanding God’s wrath and the impact of idolatry in our souls.

We all struggle to define our purpose in life and are always trying to weigh what really matters, especially as Christians. What should we value? What is our purpose? What should we use as a matter of success in our life? Many of these things are good things- education, family, financial stability, comfort, and safety. As we dig into this text, we will see what the Apostle Paul tells us that the proclamation of God's Gospel is more important than everything else. 

As we start the new year, we also will start a new series in Romans. Martin Luther said of this book, 

This week we begin with Romans 1:1-7, which is one long sentence that lays out the most theologically rich greetings that I can imagine. We see the purpose of the letter very early in the first chapter: the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

In this sermon, we close out our series in Exodus. It’s almost hard for me to believe that it’s over so soon! I have loved the chance to walk through this foundational book of the Bible together. I hope you have been able to see how Exodus sets up the broader storyline of redemption that we see carried out through the rest of Scripture. Our closing study together will focus and the Tabernacle and the items within it. A major portion of the book of Exodus is devoted to the Tabernacle. Chapters 25-31 describe the preparation and plans in great detail, while chapters 35-40 describe how the Israelites carried out the plans to prepare it, with a dramatic close to the book of Exodus as the glory of God filled the Tabernacle. We won’t be able to read all 13 chapters in our gathering on Sunday, but we will walk through each item that made up the Tabernacle worship. We learn important things about God’s character and the nature of worship as we focus on the Tabernacle. As with all things in Exodus, the Tabernacle itself is a shadow of the ultimate that was shown to us in Christ.

This Sunday we jump back into Exodus. When we left off, the Israelites had created a golden calf to worship. God's anger burned against these people and Moses was working to intercede for them. This week we continue with Exodus 33-34 and we will focus in on Intercession and Covenant Renewal. We can learn a lot from Moses' approach to God in prayer. And, as one commentator put it, “In the lengthy dialogue between God and Moses in these chapters we may be brought as close to God as it is possible for Scripture to take us.”

As we reach the end of the year, it is natural to look back at what has been and to look ahead at what is to come, to assess and evaluate our lives and what we have accomplished. That can be invigorating, but it also can be deeply discouraging. None of us is quite where we’d like to be. This passage is a great encouragement that the work that God begins in us, in Christ, will be brought to its fullness and completion.

Moses was gone on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and when he returned, the people had gone crazy in a festival to worship a golden calf they had constructed. We will take some time to try to understand the identity of the calf - what they were actually worshiping - and the reasons it was so offensive to God. There are revealing themes for us in the passage. It will be a fun one to get through together. 

This Sunday we get to hear from Pastor Andrew Elder, the planting pastor of Village South Belfast. Andrew was born and raised in Northern Ireland. Redemption Hill has partnered with Village Belfast from its very beginning and now there are two congregations: in East and South Belfast. Andrew will preach from 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, and help us see that as followers of Christ we must be prepared to deny ourselves in order to win people to Jesus.

We will continue our series in Exodus with a look at the Law. Last week we saw the covenant that God initiated with His people, Israel, and how that became a foundational piece of God's redemptive work, leading straight to us today. This week we will take a deeper look at the place and the role of the Law as part of that covenant, and how the Law applies to us today - what role Christ's work plays in how we see the Law.