Jump: Giving Glory to God Through Faith

In one paragraph

The pastor preached from Romans 4:16-25, tracing Paul's argument back through the life of Abraham in Genesis to show that faith has always been the only way a person receives God's grace. The sermon centered on what it looks like to actually believe God when He tells you to do something you cannot see your way through. Communion followed as a natural close to that call. Paul's argument in Romans 4...

Read together

1. Romans 4:16 main text for the sermon, faith and grace, promise guaranteed to all descendants
2. Romans 4:17 God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist
3. Romans 4:18 in hope against hope Abraham believed he would become father of many nations
4. Romans 4:19 Abraham contemplated his own body as good as dead and the deadness of Sarah's womb
5. Romans 4:20-21 Abraham did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith fully assured God could perform what He promised
6. Romans 4:22-25 credited to Abraham as righteousness, written for our sake also, Jesus delivered for our transgressions and raised for our justification
7. Romans 3:23 there is no one righteous, no not one, used to show God did not choose Abraham for his righteousness
8. Genesis 12:1-4 God calls Abraham to leave his country and go to a land He would show him, Abraham obeyed immediately
9. Genesis 15:1-6 God promises Abraham a son from his own body, descendants like the stars, Abraham believed and it was credited as righteousness
10. Genesis 17:1-8 God appears to 99-year-old Abraham, establishes covenant, promises he will be father of a multitude of nations
11. Ephesians 2:8-9 saved by grace through faith not of yourself so no one can boast, faith is the only receptor for God's grace
12. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 closing benediction, God of peace sanctify you completely, He who calls you is faithful He will do it

Talk about it

1. The pastor spent time in Genesis showing that Abraham was just a name in a long list before God called him, and that Moses went out of his way to show how sinful Abraham was even after the covenant. What does it mean to you that God did not choose Abraham because he was already righteous?
2. The pastor said that the only receptor we have for God's grace is faith, and that in human terms we always want to pay for what we have so that we know it is ours. Where do you find yourself trying to earn what God has offered freely?
3. The pastor raised the question of whether it would actually be easier to believe God if He were visibly present in the flesh, then pointed out that crowds still cried 'crucify him' even after Jesus had shown Himself to be God. How does that change the way you think about your own doubts?
4. The little girl on the edge of the pool illustration laid out three postures: thinking God is incompetent and cannot catch you, thinking God is mean and will pull His hands back, or simply trusting and jumping. Which of those postures do you find yourself in most often, and why?
5. The pastor closed by asking what God is asking you to do right now, whether something major or something as quiet as forgiving a neighbor, and said that believing God in those moments is how we give Him glory. What is one thing you sense God has been asking of you that you have been standing on the edge about?