StoneBridge Community Church
Grace and Truth Came Through Jesus (John 1.17)
Pastor Jeff Cheadle
Locations & Times
StoneBridge Campus
4832 Cochran St, Simi Valley, CA 93063, USA
Saturday 5:30 PM
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
Online "Connection Card"
Thanks for joining us today! Follow this link to a simple online "Connection Card" where you can let us know you were here and share any prayer concerns.
http://bit.ly/2jWI2Qt
Today's Text in Context
Bob Utley, "John 1'" from the series The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters
http://bit.ly/2uRBNnw1. We find…
1. We find perfect grace in Jesus Christ.
Grace
John Polhill, "Grace" Holman Bible Dictionary, published by Broadman & Holman, 1991.
http://bit.ly/2vK49MW
The Grace and Truth Paradox
Randy Alcorn, "The Grace and Truth Paradox: Excerpts" Eternal Perspectives Ministry.
http://bit.ly/2gR2vXgFor reflection/discussion
When you were growing up, did one of your parents seem to represent grace and the other truth? If so, which did you tend to run to? Why? What is your understanding of the meaning of the word grace? What does grace look like in a marriage? Friendship? In the workplace? At church? Why is grace important?
2. We find…
2. We find perfect truth in Jesus Christ.
Postmodernism
"While encompassing a broad range of ideas, postmodernism is typically defined by an attitude of skepticism, irony or distrust toward grand narratives, ideologies and various tenets of universalism, including objective notions of reason, human nature, social progress, moral universalism, absolute truth, and objective reality. Instead, it asserts to varying degrees that claims to knowledge and truth are products of social, historical or political discourses or interpretations, and are therefore contextual or socially constructed." Wikipedia article.
http://bit.ly/1TfQsPHTruth
Edgar V. McKnight, "Truth" Holman Bible Dictionary, published by Broadman & Holman, 1991.
http://bit.ly/2tnQREV
Truth is reality.
Truth brings freedom.
For reflection/discussion
Why is the statement "There is no such thing as absolute truth" non-sensical and self-refuting? What connection do you see between truth and freedom? In what areas of your life are you not free? Could this be an area in which you are living in denial and not living in the truth?
3. God's grace and truth…
3. God's grace and truth entered the world through Jesus Christ.
“Moses was only a medium. His personality had nothing to do with his message. You can take away Moses, and the law stands all the same. But Christ is so interwoven with his message, that you can’t rend the two apart; you can’t have the figure of Christ melt away, and the gift that Christ brought remain. If you extinguish the sun, you can’t keep the sunshine… If you put away Christ from Christianity, it collapses into dust and nothingness… If you want the grace which is the unveiling of the heart of God, the gift of a giving God, and the pardon of a forgiving Judge; or if you want the truth, the reality of the knowledge of him, you can only get that by accepting Christ. ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” —Alexander Maclaren, "Grace and Truth" Expositions of Holy Scripture
For reflection/discussion
In what ways are the OT Law and the grace and truth that came through Jesus different? Notice that the Law is given while grace and truth came. What is the relationship between Moses and the Law? What is the relationship between grace and truth and Jesus? What does Alexander Maclaren mean when he writes, "If you put away Christ from Christianity, it collapses into dust and nothingness…"? Why is it important to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? Have you done so yet?
4. We are called to…
4. We are called to live lives that are rooted in and reflect God's grace and truth.
Jimmy
For reflection/discussion
How are colleges and hospitals related to Christianity's commitment to grace and truth? What are some of the ways Christians today can show grace and share God's truth with the world? In what ways do members of StoneBridge Community Church show their commitment to grace and truth?
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