“Glory and Grace” Sermon Series // “The Conditions of God’s Kingdom”
Passage: John 3:1-21
3:1-12 // The glory and grace of God confront unbelief
• vv. 1-2 – Nicodemus confronts Jesus
• v. 4 – “How can a man be born when he is old?...”
• v. 9 – “How can these things be?”
• v. 11 – “…but you do not receive our testimony.”
3:3-8 // The glory and grace of God transform
• vv. 3-4 – “you must be born again” = “from above”
• vv.5-7 – “you must be born of water and spirit” = cleansed and made alive by God
• v. 8 – the transformative work of God in the lives of people is mysterious, yet undeniable
• the condition for entering God’s kingdom is one we cannot meet apart from divine grace
3:14-15 // The glory and grace of God are manifest through shame and suffering
• only Jesus can fulfill this as the unique Son of God
• Jesus condescends to take our shame (Philippians 2:1-10)
• Jesus will be glorified through his suffering (Isaiah 53; Colossians 2; Hebrews 12:2)
• He must be lifted up on the cross (Numbers 21:4-9)
3:16-18 // The glory and grace of God save and give life
• Jesus did not come to condemn – the world was condemned already because of lawlessness
• The Law brought condemnation
• God’s love for the world is proved by the giving of Jesus
3:19-20 // The glory and grace of God expose darkness
• Light exposes dark; purity exposes wickedness – this is an act of divine grace
• Our response to the Light proves the state of our heart
3:21 // The glory and grace of God bring freedom
• Only those who live in the light are truly free
• This is the evidence of the grace of God at work
Main Point:
God’s love is proved, not by how we feel about it, but by the giving of his unique Son to become, and overcome, our curse. Only those who look to Christ in simple, desperate faith experience the transformative, life-giving work of grace.
Discussion Questions:
1. How is God’s grace displayed in Jesus’ confrontation with Nicodemus?
2. Do you have any questions that keep you from receiving Jesus? Where is there unbelief?
3. Are you hoping in anything other than the gracious work of God to bring about transformation in your life? Where do you need God’s grace to work?
4. How do the shame and suffering of Jesus transform our understand of glory?
5. Do you believe that God delights to give you life in Christ? Do you ever feel as if God give begrudgingly or reluctantly? If so, why do you thing that is?
6. Are there any areas of your life that you are trying to keep hidden? What might need exposed?
7. Why is it true freedom to live in the light rather than hiding in darkness? Where have you experienced this in your life?
February 2, 2020
Series: Glory + Grace :: The Conditions of God’s Kingdom”
February 2, 2020 • Pastor Josh Kee
March 8, 2020
March 8, 2020 • Pastor Phil Burggraff
Theme: Transformed View of God’s Work Passage: John 5:1–18 We need our view of God’s power transformed … (vv. 1–7) …from religious superstition …from our ability to make things happen …to Jesus Christ as the center of God’s work (8–9) Warning: We can miss the work God is doing by 1. Succumbing to outside pressure (10–15) 2. Trusting in traditional, idiosyncratic religious practice (16–18) Main Idea: Those transformed by glory and grace demonstrate that God’s work centers on Jesus Christ by trusting and submitting to him. Application Questions: • In what ways can we as Christians be susceptible to religious superstition? How have you wrestled with these in your own life? • Do you struggle with a trust in yourself to make things happen, even spiritually? How so? • From this scene, how does one allow Jesus to be the center of God’s work in their own life? • Why do you and I still struggle with succumbing to outside pressure in contrast to following the commands that Jesus calls us to? • How do we still miss the work of God by trusting in traditional religious practices? What can we as individual believers and the church as a whole do to recognize and confront these tendencies?
March 1, 2020
March 1, 2020 • Pastor Phil Burggraff
Theme: Transforming Faith Passage: John 4:43–54 Contrasting Faiths seen in this story: 1. Faulty Faith: a. A welcoming faith based on the works Jesus can do, not on who he truly is (45). b. A desperate faith based on what Jesus can do for me in my present need or crisis (46–49). 2. Saving Faith-based simply on the word from the Word (50–53): a. Believing the Word b. Following the instructions by the Word c. Experiencing Life from the Word d. Further believing that bears fruit of belief in the Word Main Idea: Those being transformed believe Jesus simply for who he is and follow what he commands with the result that they experience the life that he offers. Application Questions: • In what ways does a faulty faith that welcomes Jesus for what he can do manifest itself in our church-going culture today? • How have you had at times a faulty faith that seeks Jesus for how he can meet a present need? What did this look like in what you did for God or how you responded to God? • What are we to make of the two experiences of “believing” by the royal official (v. 50 and 53)? How might these affect our view of faith or help us define better what faith is in the life of a believer?
February 23, 2020
February 23, 2020 • Pastor Phil Burggraff
Theme: Transformed Water, Worship, and Mission Passage: John 4:1–42 Notice what his encounter with a Samaritan woman teaches us about Jesus: 1. Jesus provides water that eternally satisfies (7–14). 2. Jesus sees and knows our predicament (15–18). 3. Jesus represents the place in which true worship occurs (19–26). 4. Jesus calls his followers to see the mission field God has prepared for them (27–38). 5. Jesus truly is the Savior of the world (39–42). Sermonic Theme: Those transformed by glory and grace focus their worship on God’s work through his Son by carrying out his mission of pointing any and all people to Jesus. Application Questions: • What stood out to you about Jesus from this story? How can you apply what you see of Jesus into your own life? • What does Jesus’s statement about worship in vv. 19–24 teach us worship isn’t and is? How might this affect your own worship or involvement in corporate worship? • Like the disciples (vv. 27–34), how are you blind at times to what is spiritually going on? In what ways does this passage convict you about your involvement in God’s mission? • From this passage, what encourages you to carry out the mission of pointing people to Jesus?