Easter Services at St John’s
Author: Philip
‘Responding to the wonder of grace: thankful hearts’ (Romans 12:11-13)
Having laid the foundation of love as being the key character trait of the believer, in Romans 12:11-13, Paul adds more to the picture of what it means to live the Christian life. In these verses, Paul gives a set of commands that believers are to follow, not as a way of ‘putting on’ Christianity as an outward, external thing, but as an inward thing, something that comes from within, through the transformation Paul spoke of in Romans 12:2. Love is the beginning of the response but is only the beginning. Faithfulness and zeal and prayerfulness all need to be added on, as we grow in maturity and service to the Lord.
Message
Outline
• The fifth in this series
• That ‘inside out’ transformation…
• Triplets and doublets
• See how Paul points us toward these character traits …
- Wholehearted ministry (v.11)
- Faithful consistency (v.12)
- Shared generosity (v.13)
KPI’s
Time for a stocktake…
The thankful heart
‘Responding to the wonder of grace: genuine love’ (Romans 12:9-10)
The world often throws up the line or the comeback that ‘love is love’. Well, it is, and it isn’t. In Romans 12:9-10, the Apostle Paul, gives us some clear instructions as to how God’s people should ensure that ‘love’ is the key to the way we function as a church. He speaks of love, but not as the world understands it, rather as God defines it -and He has the right to define it – after all, we only love because ‘He loved us first’.
Message
Outline
• The fourth in this series
• A quick backtrack…
• From gifts to ‘graces’
• See how Paul points us to a kind of love that is …
- Free from hypocrisy (v.9a)
- Full of discernment (v.9b)
- Focused on others (v.10)
Have I ever truly loved another?
Where this all starts!
Good Friday service & an Easter reflection
The last words spoken by dying people can be sad, weird or anything in between. Elvis Presley said, “I’m going to the bathroom to read.” Joseph Wright was a linguist who edited the English Dialect Dictionary. His last word was “Dictionary.” Multimillionaire, Richard Mellon enjoyed a game of Tag with his brother through seven decades of his life. When dying, Richard whispered, “Last tag” to his brother who then was “It” for four years until his death. In John 19:30 we find read that the last words of Jesus were, ‘It is finished’. But what was it that was finished? His suffering? The drink he’d been offered?
The Apostle John wrote in the common Greek of the day and in that language, Jesus said just one word, which has this meaning, ‘It is finished, it stands finished and it will always be finished’. The death of Jesus was no accident. He willingly embraced the cross. His death was not an example either. His death was a payment. By saying ‘it is finished’, Jesus expressed that what he had come to do – to rescue God’s people – and that was now complete. He paid a debt that wasn’t his, leaving absolutely nothing to pay.
See, salvation is God’s work on our behalf. It is a gift from God that is received by faith. Everything hinges on what Jesus completed. And what’s more, this last word of Jesus is a lifeline to those who believe. Call on Him. He will save you. If you don’t, then He must speak that last word about you.
‘Responding to the wonder of grace: a healthy church’ (Romans 12:3-8)
After estabslising what believers should do in response to God’s grace with their lives (Romans 12:1) and their minds (Romans 12:2), Paul progresses the way that this response to grace should affect the way we treat each other in the body of Christ (Romans 12:3-8). Here, Paul points out that we are one body with different gifts and that these gifts are gifts of grace (Greek: Charismata (gifts), Charis (grace)) for the building up of the body. The way we serve each other will indicate the way in which we have learned to give ourselves as living sacrifices and just how much our minds have been transformed by grace.
Message
Outline
• The third in this series
• What we’ve learned…
• Outward expression of inner transformation
• See how Paul points us to the character traits of …
- Walking in humility (v.3)
- Living in harmony (v.4-5)
- Serving with fidelity (v.6-8)
The parable of the tea bag
The healthy church….
You are the body of Christ
‘Responding to the wonder of grace: transformed minds’ (Romans 12:2)
In Romans 12:2, Paul continues the theme of how we ought to live in response to the wonder of God’s grace given to His people. After telling us that nothing less than offering ourselves as ‘living sacrifices’ to God will do in verse 1, he then rounds out the picture by telling us the ‘how in verse 2 and indeed, in the rest of the chapter. Verse 2 tells us that a right response to God in this way includes our minds. Why? Because right thinking and right theology ultimately leads to right living, just as bad thinking and bad theology ultimately reveals itself and ends up in wrong living!
Message
Outline
• The second in this series
• What we’ve learned…
• A high bar & cheap grace
• See what Paul says about responding to grace…
- What we ought not do (v.2a)
- What we ought to do (v.2b)
- Why we ought to do it (v.2c)
Can you spot the difference?
What’s the Lord’s end goal in this?
‘Responding to the wonder of grace: living sacrifices’ (Romans 12:1)
It’s kind of unusual to start a series on the book of Romans at chapter 12, three-quarters of the way through the book! But in an attempt to cover the more ‘practical’ aspects of the Christian life, and to follow on from the series on Malachi, Romans 12 is a great place to start – especially Romans 12:1, where Paul gives some clear instructions about how to respond to the wonderful grace of God in the gospel – clear instructions but hard to do when you think about what they involve!
Message
Outline
• The first in this series
• Chapters 1-11? …
• ‘Therefore’ – theological & practical
• See what Paul says about responding to grace…
- What it is we should do (v.1b)
- Why it is we ought to do it (v.1a)
- What we are doing when we do it (v.1c)
That s…. word!
One man who took this seriously…
What will you offer to the Lord?
‘Grace and mercy in the face of coming judgement’ (Malachi 3:13-4:6)
The final words of Malachi’s book, found in Malachi 3:13-4:6 are also the final words of the Old Testament. While the Old Testament begins with God’s creative work in Genesis 1:1, it ends with God’s promise of a destructive work in Malachi 4:6. This is helpful, because it reminds us that while God’s people in the time of Malachi were unfaithful to their covenant reponsibilities, God himself was not unfaithful to His people. And, even though they spoke against Him, He did not pour out His judgement upon them, but sent them a messenger whose ministry was to restore broken relationships. In all this ‘God was reconciling the world to Himself’ and preparing the way for the One who would come to be its Saviour.
Message
Outline
• The last in this series
• The story so far…
• ‘Whitewashed tombs’
• See how the Lord revealed that there were…
- Some who complained about Him (3:13-15, 4:1-3)
- Some who feared Him (3:16-18)
- One who would speak for Him (4:4-6)
Authentic faith…
The invitation of Jesus (who came after Malachi) …
‘An indictment against the people’s view of God’ (Malachi 2.17-3.15)
When our thinking about God is wrong, so too everything else will be wrong. In Malachi 2:17-3:15, the people of Judah’s thinking about God was way off. They thought that He had changed to the extent that He no longer cared about punishing sin or evil, and that He actually approved of sin and evil. They couldn’t have been more wrong! Thankfully, their wrong ‘theology’ was quickly corrected and God made very clear where He and they stood, promising to come to them, to judge them, but before that, to send them the Messiah and the one who announced His arrival.
Message
Outline
• The 5th in this series
• The story so far…
• ‘God isn’t blessing us as we would like!’
• See how the Lord through Malachi revealed …
- What the people of God said about Him (2:17, 3:13-15)
- What God said about Himself to the people of God (3:1-12)
Those pesky sparrows!
The voice in the desert…
He gave Himself for you…now do that for Him!
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