Faithfulness

Faithfulness | Lamentations 3:19-26, 2 Timothy 2:11-13

John Bourgeois, Lead Pastor

Key Takeaways

1. Faithfulness means being true to your word and having a character that is reliable across time.

2. God's faithfulness is the fabric of Scripture. 

3. God wired us for faithfulness, and its absence devastates us. 

4. Scripture shows us how to respond when we feel God is absent.

5. Jesus absorbed our unfaithfulness on the cross, taking the affliction, wandering, wormwood, and gall so we could receive his perfect faithfulness.

6. We become faithful by marinating in God's faithfulness through immersion in Scripture, community, and the person of Jesus.

Study Questions

• Question 1

  John describes how our unfaithfulness becomes the door to experiencing God's faithfulness rather than a barrier. How does this reshape your understanding of approaching God with your failures?

• Question 2

  How does experiencing broken promises from people affect your ability to trust God's promises, and what would it look like to develop 'object permanence' with God's faithfulness in your own life?

• Question 3

  When have you responded to uncertainty or suffering by taking matters into your own hands rather than waiting on God, and what were the consequences of that choice?

• Question 4

  How does understanding that Jesus absorbed the affliction, wandering, wormwood, and gall on the cross change the way you view your current suffering or seasons where you feel God is silent?

• Question 5

  In what specific relationship or commitment are you being called to participate in God's faithfulness to others, and what would it look like to keep that promise even when it's costly?

Seeking God’s Face Devotional

How then do we keep the gospel front and center in this season of shadows known as Lent? The cross keeps our gospel focus clear. Lent is a season to journey with Jesus in his passion, to survey the cross, taking the measure of Christ’s love in his suffering and death.

This year, we’ll be using the devotional “Seeking God’s Face” for our personal daily discipleship. Also, please plan to join us for this week’s Sunday Morning Class “Seeking His Face: A Lenten Exploration.” Both youth and adults are invited!

This Week’s Liturgy

Call to worship

Psalm 89:1

Leader: I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever.

All: With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

Confession of FAITH | the new city catechism question of the week

New City Catechism Q & A #10

Q: What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments?

A: Fourth, that on the Sabbath day we spend time in public and private worship of God, rest from routine employment, serve the Lord and others, and so anticipate the eternal Sabbath. Fifth, that we love and honor our father and our mother, submitting to their godly discipline and direction.

Confession of sin

God of All Faithfulness,
We confess that we are a faithless people living in a faithless generation.
When you have felt absent, we have concluded you were gone. We have schemed, withdrawn, or faked it.
And yet, when we were faithless, you remained faithful.
Forgive us through Christ, who is God's kept promise to us.
And make us faithful through your faithfulness. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This Week’s Playlist

Looking Ahead

Join us next week as we continue to explore Fruit of the Spirit.