Jesus Brings Joy – Part One

City Harbor Church – Hampden, Baltimore, MD

Let’s look at Romans chapter 5 for the next few weeks. Key words: Law 78, Righteousness & Justification 64, Faith & Believe 60, Sin 57, Grace 24

“Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who through our faith has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory.” – Romans 5:1-2 NCV

Story of Good News – Timothy Keller conversational pathway

Chapter 1: Where did we come from? From God: the One and the relational

Chapter 2: Why did things go so wrong? Because of sin: bondage and condemnation

Chapter 3: What will put things right? Christ: incarnation, substitution, restoration

Chapter 4: How can I be put right? Through faith: grace and trust

Chapter 3 and 4 Q + A are a focus of Romans. We read Romans 1-8 as helpful in understanding salvation.

In this series we’re going to focus on a priority aspect of this story of Good News: Jesus Brings Joy – Romans 5:1-2

Cultivate joy by receiving God’s gracious freedom from sin.

Joy – the emotion evoked by well-being and contentment, great happiness, cheerful,

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13 CSB

What do we learn?

1. A life-giving and life-changing relationship with God produces joy.

2. We can all cultivate joy by receiving God’s gracious freedom from sin and choosing to live in it.

What should we do?

1. Ask God for help in understanding Romans 5.

2. Read Romans 5.

3. Write questions and answers.

4. Consider what “Jesus brings joy.” means to you.

5. Consider how you can cultivate joy.