Join us this Sunday as we continue through our Easter series titled Why The Cross? Our livestream begins at 10:25.
Service Video
Sermon Audio
Notes
*Atonement= the act by which God restores a ________________ of harmony and unity between Himself and sinful human beings
*Romans 5:6-10
Any time there is a _______________ relationship it means that one or both of parties have been offended or _______.
Therefore, remember that at that time you were separate from Christ…without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph. 2:12-13)
For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus. (I Timothy 2:5) (NLT)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Luke 15
The Love of God (Frederick Lehman/1917)
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell
The guilty pair, bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song
Digging Deeper
Q1: Think of a time when you experienced a relationship conflict? What caused it? Was there a “season of separation”? What did that feel like? What was the key to resolution and reconnection?
Q2: Study Ephesians 2:1-10. What do these verses tell us about our condition before we were saved? What do these verses say about the reality of our new relationship with the Lord?
Q3: If you have thought of God the Father as being angry and God the Son as being kind and approachable, how did the word of God in the message reshape your thinking?
Q4: Leviticus 16 describes the Day of Atonement. How does this passage foreshadow Christ’s work on the cross? Where do you see Jesus in this text?
Q5: Read Luke 15:11-32. What qualities of the father in this story touch your heart? How does this expand your concept of how much God the Father loves you?
Q6: Read the passage below and note our relationship with the Lord both before and after the cross. Which words/concepts mean the most to you? Why?
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim (Colossians 1:21-23) (NLT)