Sermon Recap

When we read a verse like Psalm 127:1, we tend to fall into either/or thinking. Either the Lord builds the house, or we labor; either God gets the credit, or we do. Not only does this way of thinking make our faith implausible to the world around us—it keeps us from spiritual maturity as well.

Jesus gives us a way out of either/or thinking in Matthew 7:7-8. We are to ask, seek and knock, and when we do, God promises to answer us. Rather than either/or thinking, Christ invites into loving participation in the life of God himself through prayer.

In this season of significant transition for our church, we need one another to lean into that participation in God through prayer. We need God to meet us in our need. That requires us to heed Christ’s call to ask, seek and knock for one another and our church.

Reflection & Discussion Questions

1. What are some examples of either/or thinking that tends to characterize Christians’ approach to God, the world and themselves?

2. Where have you found yourself guilty of this either/or thinking?

3. Why is either/or thinking easy for us to fall into? What attracts us to it?

4. How does either/or thinking make the gospel unbelievable to our neighbors? How does it end up either making us seem crazy to others, or just as secular as the world around us?

5. How does Christ invite us to move beyond either/or thinking in Matthew 7:7-8?

6. How is participation in the life of God and his work on this earth a marker of his grace to us?

7. How can you participate with God in this season of transition at Grace Alameda?
   

Sermon Recap

What goes up, must come down. That not only describes the law of gravity, but the law of human religion. The story of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9) is the clearest example of it in Scripture. When we try to lift ourselves up spiritually, we inevitably fall (Prov. 16:18). Pentecost was the opposite of religion. In Pentecost, we learn the law of Christian faith, that what goes down will go up. The first Christians didn’t need human ascent (human religion), but divine descent—the coming of the Holy Spirit by the grace of Christ.

Reflection & Discussion Questions

1. In what ways do you tend to seek to lift yourself up in life? Where do you look to your own efforts rather than God’s grace for peace and hope?

2. What are some examples of the law of human nature playing out in history? In your experience?

3. Pentecost was one of the great events in salvation history. Where else in Scripture do you see examples the law of Christian faith (what goes down will go up)?

4. Where in your life do you need to apply the law of Christian faith? What will that look like for you this week?
   

This is the third message in our Ripples of the Resurrection series.

This is the third message in our Ripples of the Resurrection series.

We often think that we would praise and obey God if we didn't suffer. But Lamentations 3 should that this simply is not true. In the midst of tragedy and destruction in Jerusalem, the prophet helps us understand that there is hope in lament.

Lamentations 1-2 gives us a picture of how pervasive and evil sin is in this world and God's holy and righteous judgment on it. Lament leads us to look to Him for rescue and hope.

Psalm 13 is a prayer of lament, one of many in the Bible. Lament is how we acknowledge the reality of sadness, suffering, and sin in our lives and our world. This psalm teaches us that lament is an act of faith.

This is an introductory sermon to our new series, How Long, O Lord. We'll be learning what lament is, how to do it, and why it leads us to deeper worship with Christ. Join us as we learn to wrestle with grief and suffering before God.