Renew EPC: Sermons

Why we can't save ourselves and why that is good news.
Outline: Babel is a perpetual witness that salvation belongs to the LORD alone.
Babel witnesses that self-salvation comes up short (11:1-4)
Babel witnesses that self-salvation ends in judgment (11:6-9)
Babel witnesses that only God can save (11:5)
Questions for Personal Reflection:
1. Babel shows the potential of human beings to do amazing things but also really bad things. As you look at the world, do you tend more to hope in humanity’s potential or fear it?
2. There are many moral towers used today like a ladder, a staircase, a balance of good and bad, a checklist. Why do you think these images are so popular?
3. How do you sometimes move from a truster to a tower-builder in your faith?
4. How can you sometimes treat Jesus as a brick in your tower, i.e. more as a means to an end (i.e. “I believe in Jesus because I do not want to go to hell”). What is problematic about this kind of faith?
5. Read Mark 10:17-27 a. How do you see the Rich Young Ruler overestimating his goodness? What are some ways we do the same? b. When the man could not give up his wealth, what commandment did he reveal he had not kept? c. Do you think the man knew he was an idolator before this moment? Why is seeing idolatry so difficult?
6. How does the thief on the cross’s salvation give you assurance that faith in Jesus is the only way and all we need for heaven?

God's judgment of the flood reminds us that sin reaches a point of no return. Are we close? Is there any hope?
Outline: Four indicators judgment is near:
1. Judgment is near when God's creational boundaries are rejected (6:1-4)
2. Judgment is near when God's creation is ravaged with violence (6:5a)
3. Judgment is near when God's image bearers are riddled with sin (6:5b)
4. Judgment is near when God's heart regrets His creation (6:7) But there is hope to be found in God's grace (6:8).
Discussion/Personal Reflection Questions:
1. What are some challenges with talking about judgment in the world today?
2. Discuss expressive individualism: Google AI defines, “Expressive individualism is a modern cultural ethos emphasizing that fulfillment comes from discovering one's unique inner feelings and expressing them outwardly to the world.” Core values: self-sufficiency, autonomy, independence, and uniqueness a. Where do you see this ethos in our culture? b. Where do you see it in your life? c. Evaluate it biblically: what is good in it, what is bad?
3. Read 2 Timothy 4:3-4, where do you find the church conforming truth to its own passions/preferences today? What harms come from this?
4. Read Ezekiel 3:18-19: Are we to be watchmen in our world? What are some ways you provide warning to those choosing sin?
5. Read Genesis 6:8: How does this verse offer hope to you?

Are humans basically good or basically bad?
Outline: Noah’s failure offers four proofs mankind is sinful by nature.
Proof 1: We sin without excuse
Proof 2: We sin with ease
Proof 3: We sin with enjoyment
Proof 4: We sin without exception
Questions for Personal Reflection:
1. Where have you seen the message “I’m basically a good person” taught in the world? Why do you think this message is so pervasive?
2. Make a list of some excuses you hear (or have used) to justify some wrong behavior. How does justification by excuses keep us away from the justification of the gospel?
3. Imagine you are in a situation where a person has some sin in their life exposed:
             a. How can you use the truth of original sin to draw closer to that                  person
              b. How can you use original sin to introduce that person to the                    gospel?
4. Of the four proofs for original sin, that we sin (1) without excuse, (2) with ease, (3) with enjoyment, and (4) without exception, discuss:
              a. Which one spoke to you most directly?
              b. Was one particularly hard to accept?

What makes a grateful life?
Three gifts God gives every person, everyday:
1. Everyday God extends mercy (8:20-22)
2. Everyday God supports life (9:1-7)
3. Everyday God keeps His Word (9:8-17)
Questions for Personal Reflection:
1. How do you see entitlement shaping people in our world? How do you see it shaping you?
2. Who is someone you know who is shaped by gratitude? What affect do they have on others and on you?
3. Read Psalm 145:8-9. Share where you have received God’s graciousness and mercy in everyday things this week?
4. Read Matthew 5:44-45. What effect should God’s common grace toward all people have upon us as people who reflect Him? What do you think ‘loving your enemy’ might mean for you this week?
5. Babies are a blessing, but they can also bring a lot of hardship. What are some practical ways the church can support the blessing of children?
6. Good laws are grounded in God’s justice. Read Genesis 9:5-6 - what principles for good laws do you see in this command? Where do you see good laws restraining evil today?
7. God gave us the sign of a rainbow to visibly remind us His Word is trustworthy. What other signs confirm God’s faithfulness to you?

Judgment is coming, but God will save the faithful
Outline:
Who are the faithful?
What will happen to the faithful?
Where are the faithful delivered?
Questions for Personal Reflection:
1. Share a time where you felt like the only one who believes God. How did it affect your faith?
2. Read James 4:4. Put this verse in your own words. What are some of the ways we are prone to divide our allegiance to God with being in friendship with the world?
3. Is the Bible’s concern with not compromising with the world in conflict with the call to love the world and share Christ with it?
4. How does being saved by grace make it possible for believers to warn about judgment without being judgmental?
5. Noah was saved from the flood because he found grace and because he obeyed God and built the ark. How do you relate Noah’s good works to his salvation by grace? Consider Ephesians 2:8-10 as you discuss.
6. How can we use the horror of God’s judgment to strengthen us against the temptation to compromise our faith?
7. How can we use the hope of the new creation to motivate our faithfulness?

In a world in the clutches of sin, spiritual warfare, and death, how can we live? God gives us three lessons through the line of Seth in Genesis Five.
Outline: What does a God-centered life involve?
1. It involves belonging to God (5:1-5)
2. It involves being with God (vv. 21-24)
3. It involves believing God (vv. 28-32)
Questions for Personal Reflection:
1. Where have you felt the longing that there would be no death?
2. Scott Adams said one week before he died: "I do believe that the dominant Christian theory is that I would wake up in Heaven if I have a good life.” Imagine you got to speak with him before he passed, what would you say?
3. Which of the three points: belonging to God, being with God, or believing God spoke to you most directly today and why?
4. Choosing sin is often viewed as “living free.” Why is this a lie?
5. Read Galatians 5:1: Where have you experienced the gospel setting you free?
6. Share some ways you have enjoyed being with God? What changes have you made (or need to make) to prioritize this?
7. In your own words, what is the difference between believing in God and believing God?
8. Personal Reflection: Your best friend is writing your obituary, what would they say about your walk with God?

We will survive the battleground of spiritual warfare as we learn to live by faith and not by sight.
Outline: Four treacherous tactics of the Enemy to destroy God's people:
1. The enemy confounds hope (vv. 1-2, 25)
2. The enemy exploits the flesh (vv. 3-7)
3. The enemy slays the righteous (vv. 8-16)
4. The enemy establishes the godless (vv. 17-24)
But the enemy fails to stop God's promise (vv. 25-26)
Questions for personal reflection:
1. In what ways/areas are you experiencing the battleground of spiritual warfare?
2. There is danger in putting our faith more in how we think God will act than in Him as the God who will act. Where have you seen this error in the modern church? How have you made this error yourself?
3. How have you seen anger become a foothold for the Enemy?
4. What ways have you found work well for fighting sin?
5. The truth that the Enemy slays the righteous and establishes the godless can be crushing to our day-to-day hope. Read Psalm 10, how does the Psalmist deal with his soul-crushing circumstances? Where does the Psalmist find his strength to endure and remain hopeful?
6. Read 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Paul is facing his imminent unjust execution, how does his faith in Jesus make his death not a triumph of evil but a testimony that God’s promise does not fail?

The very day our sin separated us from God, God began the work to bring us back.
Outline: How does redemption begin?
1. Redemption begins with the reality of sin
2. Redemption begins with God's grace alone
3. Redemption begins with trusting God's Word
Questions for Personal Reflection:
1. With the numerous serious problems in our world that need to be fixed, should sin be treated as the greatest problem? Support your answer.
2. The chasm sin creates involves being (1) far from God (2) pointed away from God (3) prevented from returning to God. Which one of these realities hit you the hardest today?
3. How does recognizing the seriousness of sin make the grace of God more amazing?
4. Why is it important to be surprised that the Bible has a page 4? What difference does it make in reading the Bible to recognize every page reveals some measure of God’s grace toward us?
5. “The very day our sin separated us from God, God began the work to bring us back.” How can this truth help us turn to God when we feel unforgivable or unlovable?
6. Adam trusted in God’s Word not just by professing it but by acting upon it: he cleaved to Eve and started a family. Where might you need to show trust in God’s Word by acting upon it?

What are the consequences of sin?
Three consequences:
1. Sin corrupts us
2. Sin condemns us
3. Sin separates us
Questions for Personal Reflection:
1. What is one question you would ask Adam and Eve about life in the garden before the fall?
2. Genesis 3 shows how far humanity has fallen, but also how far God is willing to go to redeem, restore, and reconcile. How does that tension—our deep brokenness and God’s deeper grace—shape the way you view your story and the story of our world?
3. Adam and Eve hid from God and then blamed each other when confronted with their sin. How do you tend to react when confronted with your sin?
4. Out of the three consequences of sin (Corruption, Condemnation, and Separation) which one do you tend to think of when you think about sin? Why?
5. In Christ we are a “new creation” and no longer condemned. What part of that truth is hardest for you to believe on a daily basis?
6. How does thinking of sin primarily as separation from a good and gracious God (rather than just rule-breaking) change the way you view your own sin?

The Good Shepherd takes His flock from Found to Family to Forever. Are you in His flock?
Note: This message was given via Zoom due to the inclement weather that cancelled our in-person service.
Outline: Three questions to appreciate Jesus' leadership and draw closer to Him:
1. Why does He lead?
2. How does He lead?
3. Where doe He lead?