Grace in Louisville

As God again confirms his covenant to Abraham, we learn that God will do all that he says he will without any help from us, but that he will change us at our very core in the process.

Genesis 16, through the failures of Abram and Sarai and the fleeing of Hagar, reveals the wonderfully comforting truth that God sees and hears his children wherever they are.

When God appears to Abram in a vision, Abram and we learn that we can trust God completely because his word is sure and his promises are rooted in who he is.

Lot's decision to separate from Abram and reside near Sodom leads to both he and Abram getting tied up in the affairs of some foreign kings. But when God gives victory to Abram, he is faced with a choice - how will he, and how should we, respond to the victories God gives?

Having returned from the fiasco in Egypt, Abram now must deal with a conflict between he and his nephew Lot. Having learned his lesson, Abram responds in faith and models how we should deal with the conflicts that occur in our lives.

In Genesis 12 we find Abram both walking in faith and faithlessly trusting his own wisdom. We find encouragement that Abram is much like us in these ways, but even more encouragement in the unfailing faithfulness and sovereignty of God as he is always working for our good and his glory.

As the effects of the Fall continued to spread throughout the world, God called Abram to leave his home so that he might be blessed and be a blessing to the whole world. This is the introduction to our sermon series, "The God of Abraham."

The presence of our all-powerful and loving God throws fear and anxiety out the window.

The core of the Christian life is found in our union with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection.

Moving from a discussion of Colossians 1 & 2 that tells us who we are in Christ, we learn in chapters 3 & 4 that who we are then determines what we do.

John describes two amazing days in Jesus' ministry that entailed the feeding of the 5,000, him walking on water, and a difficult teaching - all of which emphasized his call to believe in him as the source eternal life.

Who are you? Colossians 1 and 2 answers that question by focusing on who Christ is and reminding us that since we are in him, who he is is who we are.

Paul closes out the book of Galatians by distilling it's message down to one paragraph, focusing on the truth that the only boast we have before God is the cross that has made our salvation possible.

Since it is true that what we will reap is based on the actions and attitudes we sow, we should not be deceived nor should we lose heart in doing good.

As much as we might think walking in the Spirit would be easiest to do on our own, in isolation from others, Paul helps us see that the fruit of Spirit is produced in the midst of community.

If we have been redeemed by Jesus, then we have been given new desires. But how do we kill the deeds of our old nature that seem to keep cropping up and allow the fruit of God's Spirit to blossom in our lives?

The fight of faith is against legalism and license as we seek to walk by the Spirit in the freedom Christ has given us through his life, death, and resurrection.

Paul describes the motives and tactics of enemies of the gospel and calls us to stand firm against them.

What will happen if we do not stand firm in the freedom of the gospel? And how can we stand firm in that freedom?

Even in the midst of doing all the right things, people and churches can slowly lose their first love - their love for Jesus. If that is happening or already has, how do we return to that first love?

We should be shaken to the core with a holy fear and with joyful expectation at the truth that Jesus has sent us just as he was sent by the Father - in the power of the Spirit with the authoritative message of the forgiveness of sins.

Mark walked us through the Biblical narrative, landing in Ephesians to remind us that God has called his people to one primary purpose - to reflect his glory in all spheres of life.

The story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection is truly the greatest story ever told - because it is true and because if we will believe it, God will give us new life in His name.

Others in history may have suffered a horrible death by crucifixion, but none of them were the Son of God.

The reason that God has created the world, including us, is for his glory – for the spread of his name to the ends of the earth. As we live for the glory of God, we are called to immeasurable joy, but we are called to that joy through the path of laying down our lives as Jesus did.