Sermons on Romans
God’s Deacon
Romans 13:1-7 Christians think differently from the world. Their different thinking requires respect for and submission to legitimate authority. God knows we need order, not chaos. Living with God’s eternal hope means thinking Biblically and wisely about the authorities and governments God has instituted. A Christian’s response to earthly kings reflects how we submit to the King of kings. Whether authority is in the form of a parent, church elder, or civil ruler, all authority is from God. Everyone submits…
Gifted to Serve God’s Mission
Romans 12:3-8 — A gift freely given must still be used according to a purpose. If you give someone a chainsaw, you expect them to build with it and not destroy. God’s free gift of grace can never be earned. Yet grace is more than a ticket to heaven. Paul says, “we have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (Romans 12:6a). Grace is also a tool we grow in by serving His purpose. We don’t…
Deep Waters-How Christians Relate to the Law
Romans 7:4-6 — The apostle Peter admits Paul’s writings sometimes contain things that are hard to understand. Knowing why we follow some parts of the Old Testament law and not others is one of those times.Peter warns Christians to not ignore the deep end of God’s Word. There are always those eager to distort what Scripture says.In Romans 7, Paul explains that the law points to a Law-Maker. The law serves the Maker’s purpose. Understanding this relationship helps Christians use…
Buried with Christ
Buried with Christ Romans 6:4-5 If you read the letter of Romans in one sitting, what does it teach about how the first Christians became Christian? In Romans 10:13, Paul writes to those who are already Christian. He says, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” What do you think Paul meant? Is that what these Christians had done? In Romans 6, Paul ties conversion and sanctification together as he writes about being “buried with…
Faith Steps
Faith Steps Romans 4:18-21 Abraham’s faith had legs. His example reminds us that we cannot please God…unless we have faith (see also Hebrews 11:6). His life also shows us the benefits of a faith that is willing to work (see also James 2:17). Had his head always been in the heavens, he wouldn’t have been much earthly benefit. And living in his body without faith would not have gotten him to a better place. Our hope, like Abraham’s, is that…
The Just God
Romans 3:20-26 The God of the Bible is just. Romans 3:25-26 says God has demonstrated His justice for all to see. We are made in God’s image and are born with a sense that there is a certain way the world should go. Knowing God demonstrates justice, we recognize He demands justice from His people. Is the justice we long for Biblical justice?
God was Satisfied
God was Satisfied Romans 1:1-7 The book of Romans comes out of the gate hard. God reveals His wrath. All men have compromised God’s truth for their own ways. Those compromises resulted in the suffering around us, and God is not satisfied. Like we do with broken appliances, God could’ve wiped everyone away and replaced it all, but instead, He offered restoration. God gave something precious to restore something broken. His wrath was satisfied. The result is people who are…
Fruit of the Spirit – Peace
The Fruit of the Spirit is Peace
Romans 5:1-2
We continue our sermons on the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5.
The hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” beautifully captures Biblical peace. Life can be a peaceful river. Life is also filled with sorrows that overwhelm us like an enormous billowing sea. The Spirit works in Christians amidst both situations. The well-being begins in our soul as God makes peace through the Cross. Christians then walk in step with the Spirit to produce and share the fruit of the Spirit with a world seeking peace.
Father, Forgive Them
God calls Christians “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). Conforming to Jesus’ image means pouring one’s self into the template of his life and teachings. That pouring, however, reveals areas where Jesus acted very differently than we might act. We will consider one of those areas in this lesson – Jesus’ practice of forgiveness – and think about what his example means for our lives.
Love Others
Paul made a sweeping comment in Romans 13:8-10 when he wrote, “love is the fulfilling of the law”. He had good reason for that understanding – Jesus himself offered the same assessment in Matthew 22:34-40. We will therefore consider both Paul and Jesus’ understanding about the love we should have for one another by trying to see it within the larger biblical story
The Fulfillment of the Law
Romans 13: 8-10 — This lesson begins a series exploring love’s place in following Jesus by considering the the New Testament’s descriptions of love as “the fulfillment of the Law”.
New Beginnings
Romans 6:1-13 The past year has been a year of change for both the 151st church family and for me and my family. You all spent the year regrouping after the Southpoint church plant, preparing for the Richard’s retirement, and searching for a new minister. My family and I spent the past year searching for a new work while preparing the congregation we were at to transition to a new minister. But now we are preparing to enter a new…
Jesus at the Center of our Lives
Last week we spent some time exploring the central place Jesus holds in the Bible, a place that illustrates for us the place that he should have within our lives. This lesson will consider the New Testament’s emphasis on Christlikeness, the expectation that Christians think and act like Jesus; an expectation so foundational to Christians’ identities that it even forms their name – Christ-ian.
Thanks to All
PM Sermon: Thanks to All
Scripture Romans 12:3-8
In 1624, John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, Entire of itself.” He was merely echoing what Paul had written centuries earlier about Christians, “We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” As we go through life, we are taught, helped, encouraged and nurtured in manifold ways by uncountable numbers of people. Some make a great impact and others only a small one, but they all contribute to who we are and what we can do in the kingdom. It pays to pause and be thankful for each one of them.
God’s Love for Us
God’s Love for Us
Scripture: Romans 5:6-11
God is love. He chose to love Israel even though they were “the least of all peoples.” In the same way, he chose to love us even though we were weak, ungodly, sinful and God’s enemies. Every thing Jesus did, from miracles to teachings to rebukes, and ultimately going to the cross, was done because he loves us. The entire gospel story is built on the fact of God’s love for people who don’t deserve to be loved that much.
Evangelism’s Voices
Evangelism’s Voices
Romans 10:14-15
What do you think of when you think of evangelism? We might think of a powerful preacher; someone going door to door; or an overseas missionary. What about the person who took the time to walk with us through the process of learning the good news about God’s Son so we could become one of God’s people? They used their ability and voice to seized the moment! The result allowed God to work something beautiful in our hearts. They gave us the opportunity to know God better and be obedient to Him. This is what we will see Sunday night as we look in the book of Luke: disciples of all backgrounds and talents working together to seize the moment to help others learn and be obedient to the gospel.
The Reason is Sin
Scripture: Romans 5:6-11
The crucifixion and resurrection are not isolated events, and they should not be remembered without remembering why they are important. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin has been the number one problem of man, and the constant theme of the Bible. Sin is not a mistake with no major impact. Sin separates us from God, and only the sacrifice of God’s Son could overcome that prime problem. In remembrance of the cross, we must weigh the importance of the problem it solved.