Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

Jan 26, 2020

Gospel Angst (click here for resources)

Passage: Romans 8:18-25

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Romans Eight

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: creation, hope, suffering, pain, doubt, sons, question, groan, renew

We live in the “already but not yet”. We, along with all of creation, have been corrupted by the Fall, but the death and resurrection of Jesus have secured Re-Creation so that all believers along with all of creation are being made new and made “glorious.” Though this promise is as good as done, we along with creation wait on the edge of our seats for all things to be made new.

OrDer of Worship

CALL TO WORSHIP: 1 Peter 1:3-7 

READING: 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 

MUSIC:

  • King of Kings
  • All Creatures of our God and King
  • I Love You Lord
  • Yes and Amen
  • Great Are You Lord
  • Doxology

PRAYER: Resting on God (from The Valley of Vision)   

ALL:  O Most High and Glorious God, The world is before us each day and we are weak and distressed. But in You we are firm as the eternal hills. 

LEADER:  Let the weeds that grow in our hearts be cut at their roots.  Abide in us, O gracious God and comfort our hearts with the finished work of Christ. 

ALL: His obedience for our lawlessness. His righteousness for our dead works. His suffering for our peace. His Resurrection for new life

LEADER:  Holy Spirit, Grant us each day to know Your living Word and continually work in us the beauty of Jesus and the hope of the good news.

ALL: Thy will be done.

CENTRAL TEXT: Romans 8:18-25

MESSAGE: Gospel Angst

ILLUSTRATION: InView Montage - Mad World

BENEDICTION: Revelation 21:1,3-5

MEDIA:

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

    • What Creates Angst.
      • What creates “groaning” in you, others, nature
      • Think about these categories:
        • Relationships 
        • Health
        • Morality 
        • Finances
        • Church
        • Politics
        • Natural Disasters 
        • Abuse 
    • How We Respond to Angst.
      • When we feel angst we look for a solution or a balm.
      • Are you more of a solution-seeker or balm-seeker?
      • What are ways personally respond to angst
        • (Maybe categories of fight, flight or freeze?)
      • Think about these ways with pros and cons:
      • Worldly Wisdom (fix it)
      • Worldly Hiding (run from it)
      • Religiously (shallow platitudes)
    • The End of Angst (What we are groaning for).
      • We groan because we are “already and not yet” -- we have been redeemed, but waiting on God to finish redemption.
      • How do you see that and deal with that in life
      • Pick apart the promise found in 8:21 that we along with all of creation will be “set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
      • What are we really groaning, waiting, hoping for?
      • What is going to happen? What’s our future?
      • How is Jesus’ resurrection the seal of the promise?

    QUOTES:

    • “But all these beauties we see are but dreams in the night, whispers of a hope to come beyond the end of this Age, that wonderful Other Thing. God will not settle for imperfection, but He works His own ways in His own time. That is what we are living for, that is what stirs our sweet dreams each night, both us and the world, and that is what keeps us going through the dark: knowing that a morning is coming. And while we love the beauty of our world, we must remember that it is only a type, a shadow thing, very faintly resembling what is to come.” - Jennifer Freitag (The Shadow Things) 

    • “This is the future—the fulfilling, renewing, joy-giving future—creation can look forward to since it’s the future God’s children look forward to. This is Paul’s answer to the question about whether our future glory makes our present sufferings worth bearing. Even creation, he observes, urges you to say yes!” - Tim Keller (Creation’s Groans are Not Meaningless)

    • “At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in. When human souls have become as perfect in voluntary obedience as the inanimate creation is in its lifeless obedience, then they will put on its glory, or rather that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch.” - The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

    BOOKS / DOCS / ARTICLES

    SERMONS / TALKS: