Calvary Chapel St. Cloud

Romans 11 is full of the goodness and severity of our God. The Apostle Paul provides examples and evidence from scripture that God still has a plan for Israel. But before Paul gets into that, he makes an emphatic and enlightening statement about how we are saved: Salvation is either all by your own works, or all by God’s amazing grace.

On the first Sunday of every year, we review the history, vision, purpose, and practice of Refuge so that we can confidently answer these questions: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? What does it look like? We turn to the Bible to find the answers to those important questions so we can understand God’s vision for His church.

The birth story of Jesus in the Gospel of John isn’t easy to find. Unlike Matthew, there’s no list of names. Unlike Luke, there’s no heavenly host addressing shepherds. That’s because John highlighted the deity of Jesus—how Jesus is God.

Luke 2 may be a familiar text. But as we work and worship our way through the word from God that never changes, by the power of the Holy Spirit we will change as we preserve, ponder, and proclaim the indescribable gift of God’s Son!

Christmas is a time we choose to set aside to ponder and proclaim the indescribable gift of God’s Son. In this study, we took a deeper look at the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and marveled at the irrefutable proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah!

Because God chooses to be merciful, there are times when He chooses not to be merciful. That should terrify us and incentivize us to figure out why and when and with whom God make these choices. We should want to learn how we can be in His good graces and how we can be in the middle of His merciful choices.

In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul writes about his desire for his fellow Israelites to be saved from an eternity of paying the just penalty for their sin. But they are missing the key component—Jesus The Messiah. While Paul acknowledges their zeal and enthusiasm to honor God, it falls short when it is in an effort to earn self-righteousness by following the law. The only source of salvation offered to all of humanity is found in a flawless, sinless, substitutionary sacrifice who can take our place—Jesus, The Messiah.

The Jewish people have so much evidence of God’s existence. No other people group has maintained their national identity, religion, culture, cuisine & language for as long as the Jewish people have. Woven in within this heritage is the evidence of Jesus being the long-awaited Messiah, for all of what is entrusted to the Jewish people points to Him.

Romans 8 ends on top of a mountain of truth…and in the next sentence, Paul immediately brings us into his deep valley of grief and sorrow. But how could the assurance of nothing ever separating us from God’s love lead Paul to confess the “great sorrow and continual grief” in his heart? It was his realization of the future that awaits those who aren’t in Christ. We discovered how we share that sorrow and grief, and—most importantly—what our response should be!

There are a finite number of days left until we are with Jesus in Heaven—forever! Until then, we lift up our heads and stand on our toes looking for and eagerly awaiting what is to come. And yet…this time of waiting can seem unbearable and difficult, can’t it? We have the hope, but is there help? YES—from the Holy Spirit who freely helps us in our weaknesses.