ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS SOVEREIGN God created everything and therefore all things are under His sovereign control.
Genesis 50:20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Praise the God who is Sovereign
God has a plan. He is not random. He is powerful and works all things according to his plan. Praise him for his plan. Praise Him because ALL THINGS fall under his power and plan.
CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.
- Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
- Pray for the Christian students who are moving to Wichita from out of town and feel
anxious or isolated. Pray that they would have the courage and initiative to find a
Gospel-centered church home here in Wichita that will come alongside them and
help them grow in their faith. Pray that many would find their way to River.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Galatians 3 New International Version
Faith or Works of the Law
3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The Law and the Promise
15 Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20 A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.
21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Children of God
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Have you ever been confused about how much of the Old Testament “applies” to you? The answer is a bit tricky, because it has two parts to it. The first part is that “all of it applies to you.” The second part is that “none of it is binding on you.” That wasn’t very helpful was it? It has been said that “All of the Old Testament is Word of God for us even though it is not the command of God to us.” But what about the Ten Commandments? They were all repeated directly or in principle in the New Testament. But even the Ten Commandments were never given in order to earn a relationship with God. They were always representative of what it looks like to live in God’s blessing with him and with one another. So, if the question is really “how much of the Old Testament law must I obey in order to be in relationship with God?” then the answer is “zero.” If the question is how much of the Old Testament may I read for personal benefit, spiritual growth, and increased knowledge of what it means to live under God’s blessing, then the answer is “all of it.” Read the Old Testament to learn more about God (and “no” he is not meaner in the Old Testament). This same God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has pursued humanity relentlessly through the ages. He has chased us with blessing in hand but we have run from that blessing…we often still do.