Pastor Matthias continues our sermon series in our Five Doctrinal Distinctives. This week, Pastor Matthias speaks on Reformed Soteriology.
CG Questions: 5 DISTINCTIVES
Week 3: REFORMED SOTERIOLOGY - GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY IN SALVATION
Questions:
-Read through Ephesians 1:3-14 out loud as a group. What in this passage stands out to you? Are there any parts of this doctrine that you struggle with? If so Why?
-What's your salvation story? Do you remember choosing God or feeling God choose you?
-Why do you think people have struggled with the doctrine of election?
-As a Christian, the doctrine of Election answers the question “why did God choose me?”
Most simply as: “because he loved/loves me.” What does this tell you about the character, person, and heart of God?
-How should we treat/talk with those who do not hold to this doctrine? If you don’t hold to this doctrine what do you do with the verses we shared in the sermon this week?
Scripture:
Ephesians 1:3-14
THE APOSTLES REGARDING ELECTION
Ephesians 1:4-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, 2 Timothy 1:9, Acts 13:48, 1 Thessalonians 5:9
JESUS REGARDING ELECTION
John 5:21, John 6:44, John13:18, John 15:16-19, Matthew 22:14
Note, Quotes, and Slides:
MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING ELECTION:
1. Election is not Fatalistic or Mechanistic
2. Election is not based on God’s Foreknowledge of Faith or Merit
3. Election does not lead to License
4. Election is not fair
Order of Salvation:
Election - Gospel Call - Regeneration - Conversion - Justification - Adoption - Sanctification - Perseverance - Death - Glorification
Monergism vs Synergism
Calvinism vs Arminianism
PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION:
1. Humility
2. Hope
3. Evangelistic Courage
4. Worship
An Act of God before Creation in which He chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of His sovereign good pleasure.
~ Wayne Grudem Systematic Theology, p.670
"I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterward; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love. So I am forced to accept that great Biblical doctrine."
~Charles Spurgeon
"The wonder is not that some are saved and others are not, the wonder is that any are saved at all. For we deserve nothing at God’s hand but judgment. If we receive what we deserve (judgment), or if we receive what we do not deserve (mercy), in neither case is God unjust. Therefore, if anybody is lost, the blame is theirs, but if anybody is saved, the credit is God’s. This paradox contains a mystery our present knowledge cannot solve, but it is consistent with scripture, history, and experience."
~John Stott (Reading Romans with John Stott)
Reformed Soteriology
January 20, 2019 • Pastor Matthias Haeusel
Missional Responsibility of the Local Church
February 17, 2019 • Pastor Matthias Haeusel
Pastor Matthias finishes our sermon series in our Five Doctrinal Distinctives. This week, Pastor Matthias challenges Cross & Crown Church with the Missional Responsibility of the Local Church. We believe that the mission of God has to be carried out by the local church. God himself became a missionary in Jesus Christ, entering our world, drawing near to rescue us. Likewise, the local church and its members have a responsibility to embrace and pursue that missional responsibility; living as a sent people and ambassadors of Christ bringing the message of the Gospel to the world around them. Members of the local church must be missionaries where they live, where they work and where they play. We believe in the priesthood of all believers, carrying out the ministry of reconciliation. Scripture gives a mandate to go into all the world and preach the Gospel; therefore, mission is not an optional program in the church but an essential element of the identity of the church. (Isaiah 52:7; Matthew 10:5-25; 28:18-20; Luke 4:18-19; 24:46-47; Acts 28:31; Romans 10:14-15; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5; Galatians 2:10; Ephesians 3:10; 4:11-16; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10) --- CG Questions: 5 Doctrinal Distinctives Week 5: Mission Questions: -This week in your prayer time, instead of praying for each other, pray for those that don’t know Jesus by name and that they would come to Jesus and that he would give you an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with those that are unsaved. -Try praying every day at 10:02 for a week and see what God does. Set a reminder in your phone right now! -After prayer, what is the next thing you can do to start sharing the gospel with someone? -How can you start getting to know those that are outside of the church? -Are you someone who says: “it’s not okay for me to share the message of Jesus with others”? What are your reasons, hesitations, fears? Graciously discuss and pray together through a lens of exploration and conviction, not condemnation. -How should we as followers of Jesus respond to pushback when we move the message of Jesus forward? -For extra reading to help find a way your CG can start being more missional and engaging the lost, try reading The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon. Scripture: Acts 13:1-3, John 20:2, John 17:18, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 13:1-3, Luke 10:2 OUR GOD IS A MISSIONARY JOIN JESUS ON HIS MISSION MISSION IN THE EARLY CHURCH HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED? Notes, Quotes, and Slides: THE MISSION OF CROSS & CROWN CHURCH IS TO MAKE AND SEND DISCIPLES. We believe that the mission of God has to be carried out by the local church. God himself became a missionary in Jesus Christ, entering our world, drawing near to rescue us. Likewise, the local church and its members have a responsibility to embrace and pursue that missional responsibility; living as a sent people and ambassadors of Christ bringing the message of the Gospel to the world around them. Members of the local church must be missionaries where they live, where they work, where they learn, and where they play. We believe in the priesthood of all believers, carrying out the ministry of reconciliation. “Mission is rooted in the identity of God.” ~Karl Barth “It is not so much that God has a mission for His church in the world, but that God has a church for His mission in the world.” ~Christopher Wright Reformed Soteriology —> Chosen, elect, and loved Gospel Centrality —> Loved, saved, accepted and included Complementarian Relationships —> Women & Men called and gifted Spirit Empowered Ministry —> gifted and empowered by the Spirit Missional Responsibility of the Church —> Go and make Disciples