A Place of Dependence
As we heard last week, in Jesus' upside-down Kingdom, those who are meek and who mourn their sin and who are not impressed with their own accomplishments are blessed. They're not blessed because self-deprecation is cool. They're not blessed because God prefers his people to be sad and downtrodden. They're not blessed because the Christian life is intended to be lived in a constant state of low-grade guilt.
They're blessed because unless we understand our need, grace is not sweet. They're blessed because unless we appreciate our weakness, the strength that God provides us through the Gospel is not amazing. They're blessed because unless we come from a place of dependence, we never get to taste the sweetness and joy of resting in the finished work of Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3-6 says:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."
True blessing comes from God and God alone. True happiness is only to be found in a place of dependence on the eternally planned and totally undeserved adoption by God into his family that all of his children share. We must come to the Lord aware of our dependence on Him! We must come to the Lord amazed by his grace. That's what we're going to focus on this week as we sing. Here are the songs and Scriptures that will form our service this week. We look forward to gathering with you as the blessed children of God, dependent on and celebrating in the grace of Jesus Christ.
Call to Worship from Ephesians 1:3-6
Grace Alone
Nothing But the Blood
Behold Our God
Sermon from Matthew 5
O Great God
Here's a Spotify List of the songs we'll be singing this week.