In Hope Against Hope, He Believed

In one paragraph

Pastor Brett walked through Romans 4:16 through 5:1, tracing the story of Abraham to show what it means to be justified by faith and to have peace with God. The sermon pushed toward a turning point in Romans where the emphasis shifts from positional salvation to what that actually looks like in a person's life. The one image he kept coming back to was a child standing at the edge of a pool,...

Read together

1. Romans 4:16-5:1 the main passage read and expounded throughout the sermon
2. Genesis 12:1-4 God's call to Abraham to leave his country and the promise to make him a great nation
3. Genesis 15 God's covenant with Abraham, the star-counting promise, and Abraham believing God who reckoned it to him as righteousness
4. Genesis 17 God appearing to 99-year-old Abraham, renaming him, and promising he would be father of a multitude of nations
5. Romans 3 quoted briefly: there is no one righteous, no not one
6. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 words of institution read during communion, Jesus taking bread and cup on the night he was betrayed
7. Hebrews 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, cited during communion prayer
8. John 2 the wedding at Cana referenced during communion, Mary telling the servants whatever Jesus says to do it
9. Numbers 6:24-26 the Aaronic blessing spoken as a benediction at the close of the service

Talk about it

1. The pastor walked through ten chapters of Genesis to show that Abraham was no different from his neighbors before God called him, and that Abraham kept sinning even after God made his covenant with him. What does it do to your understanding of faith and righteousness to see that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, rather than God blessing him for already being righteous?
2. Paul says the promise is guaranteed through faith because faith is the only thing that accords with grace. In your own words, why does adding any requirement beyond faith turn grace into something else?
3. The pastor asked directly: what practical difference is there in your life because of what you believe? How would you answer that honestly for yourself right now?
4. The illustration of the little girl at the pool named three reasons she might not jump: she thinks her father is incompetent, she thinks he is mean and setting her up, or she is simply afraid. Which of those three has been the hardest one for you to get past in your own relationship with God, and why?
5. The pastor closed by asking what God is telling you to do right now, whether something as large as a major life move or as close to home as forgiving someone. What do you think the gap is between hearing that and actually doing it, and what would it look like for that gap to shrink?