A sermon on the defeat of death and the hope of resurrection by Cody Brobst.

Trigger warning: The introduction to this sermon discusses the death of an infant. Also, an illustration is used that deals with suicide.

Application questions:

• Why is facing the reality of death generally difficult for us? Think of personal examples of people in your life whom you have lost and the reasons it was hard.
• Why is “the sting of death” really the “sting of sin” (v. 56)?
  • Is Satan responsible for this sting? After all He was the venomous snake who planted the idea in Adam & Eve’s minds in the Garden of Eden, right?
• Have you considered that you have victory over death too & not just Jesus (v. 57)?
• If the Bible describes plenty about the second resurrection and Christ’s victorious return, why do you think Paul calls it a mystery (vv. 51-52)?
  • What various details as you think about Heaven, your new body & the return of Christ do you feel relatively in the dark about? Why do you think God did not see fit to include all of that in our Bibles?
  • Where else in life have you struggled to accept God’s timeline?
• Paul drawing from Hosea 13 & Isaiah 25 goes into sayings that provide not just a judgement but a taunt or mockery of death (vv. 54-56). React to that.
  • Do you think it’s healthy to exercise humor around something so serious?
  • How would our Christian identity as offensive conquerors in a war through Christ (Rom. 8) empower us to not be afraid of death?
  • Death is a thing not a person, so who are we actually fighting against? (Hint: see above commentary from v. 56)
• Our victory is imperishable, immortal and immovable. Notice the first two are futuristic realities while the third is taking place now in light of the future. Paul says “therefore *be* immovable” (v. 58). What immovable images come to mind?
  • How can we be like a tree planted by streams of water? What cultural or worldly forces make us movable?
  • Paul tells us to be steadfast & immocable in the “work” of the Lord and that our “labor” is not in vain. So how are your various vocations/callings informed by the victory we have in Christ? That one day we will be raised?
• Imagine the next time you are at a funeral, in the hospital bed, reading a painful news headline on a Tuesday afternoon. How does this passage shape what you will remember to reflect on and the attitude you intend to have?

A sermon on the nature of the resurrection body by Rev. David Camera.

Application questions:

• What analogies does Paul draw to prove the reality of a future resurrection of our bodies?
• If you had to describe our resurrection bodies from this passage, how would you describe them?
• Since we will bear the full image of Jesus when we are resurrected, his body is the pattern of our future bodies. Look up Luke 24:36-43. Describe Jesus’ resurrected body.
• There are those who treat their bodies harshly (ascetics) and those who almost worship their bodies as ultimate. How would you correct both extremes from this passage?
• Are there ways that you view and treat your own body that need correcting?
• How should we view our current bodies from a biblical perspective?
• Look again at vss. 42-44. Is there a connection between who we are now and who we will be at the resurrection? Will we know ourselves and be known as ourselves by others?
• In vss. 47-49 Paul draws a comparison between Adam and Christ. How does this comparison support Paul’s argument that we will be raised?
• What hope and comfort do you find in this passage?

A sermon on the reign of Christ (with focus on Reformed approaches as part of our Spiritual Formation 3.0 weekend) by David Camera.

Application questions:

• What elements need to be in place if you are to have a kingdom?
• In Jesus’ first sermon in Mark 1:14-15 he said “repent for the Kingdom of God is near.” What did he mean by the Kingdom of God and its being “near”?
• How do we become members of his kingdom?
• What is Christ doing now according to 1 Cor. 15?
• What benefits and comforts can we draw from the fact of Christ’s reign now?
• In the Lord’s prayer Jesus taught us to pray “your kingdom come.” What does this petition ask God to do?
• How does the hope of Christ’s future kingdom help us in our day to day lives?
• God made humanity in his image to fill the earth and subdue; that is to rule over creation as God’s vice regents.
• How was Adam’s rebellion in the garden a reversal of God’s creation design?
• How do we wrongly serve the creation today?
• How are we to relate to the kingdoms of this world as citizens of Christ’s kingdom?(e.g. retreat, engage, oppose?)

A sermon on how Christ's resurrection defeats the enemy of death (past, present, future), by Greg Lanier.

Application questions:

• The resurrection ‘tradition’ cited in 1 Cor 15:3-4 mentions “according to the Scriptures” (twice). What passages does Paul engage in this text? Why is it important to note which sections of the OT they come from? (Hint: Law...Prophets...Writings)
• Revisit verse 22. Now read Rom 5:12-21. How does Romans help explain more fully what Paul succinctly states here?
• Reflect on how death stares at us as the “last enemy.” Where do you experience that most in your day-to-day lfie?
• Why does a life of monotonous pleasure (“eat and drink…”) not satisfy?
• How does resurrection hope change the way you see your daily calling?

Find out more at www.riveroakschurch.com

A sermon on Paul's teaching about the necessity of the resurrection by Pastor David Camera.

Application questions:

• Is living forever in a resurrected body appealing to you? Why or why not?
• What were some of the Corinthian Christians claiming about the resurrection? Why would that be something they argued for?
• Let’s follow Paul’s logic here. Some of the Corinthians claimed there is no resurrection of the body. List all the implications Paul draws out if that statement is true.
• Are Christians resurrected or raised with Christ now? (cf. Eph. 2:4-7) What’s the difference?
• According to 15:3 Christ died “for our sins.” Why was it necessary for Christ to die? (cf. Gen 2:17; Rom. 6:7-11; 23)
• If Christ did not rise again from the dead, why therefore would our faith be in vain? (cr. v. 17)
• What is the hope of the Christian? (v. 19)
• Considering this passage, why is what we do with our physical bodies important to God?
• What comfort does the bodily resurrection of Christ give us in this life?

Easter service sermon on the apostolic testimony to the bodily resurrection of Jesus in 1 Cor 15:1-11, by Dr. Greg Lanier.

Application questions

• Why is the resurrection important to Christianity? Name 5 reasons (from this passage or from others).
• Discuss the biggest objections to the resurrection of Jesus that you’ve heard (e.g., “the disciples stole the body,” “the disciples all just saw a ghost”). Which do you think are the hardest to answer?
• Review the 5 lines of evidence discussed from this passage that demonstrate that it is reasonable to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. How would you share them with an unbeliever?
  • Remembered tradition (“I delivered…what I received”)
  • Fulfillment of the Old Testament (“according to the Scriptures” 2x)
  • Apostolic eyewitnesses (“Cephas and the apostles”)
  • Greater cloud of witnesses (“500 other brothers”)
  • Improbable transformations (James and Paul)
• What are some other lines of evidence that support the facticity of the resurrection?

Find out more at https://www.riveroakschurch.com

A homily by Pastor David Camera on John 19:28 ("I thirst") as part of our Good Friday service.

A sermon on putting off the old and putting on the new in Ephesians 4:17-24, by David Camera.

Application questions:

• How would you describe the life of a non-Christian?
• How does Paul describe the life of a non-Christian in verses 17-19?
• How is a person brought out of the futility, darkness and hardness of a life apart from Christ? (vs. 20-21)
• According to verses 22-24, what steps must a Christian take to grow in godliness?
• Why must Christians no longer live like the world?
• Why is it important for a Christian to remember their life and spiritual condition before Christ?
• How has this passage affected the way you see those outside of Christ?
• What specific vices must you intentionally put off, what virtues must you intentionally put on and what aspects of your thinking must you renew with the Word of God?
• What is the encouraging truth that Paul ends with in verse 24?

Find out more at www.riveroakschurch.com