May we know God's truth; and may we live as his sent people.
Showing posts with label Romans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romans. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Romans 1-8 + Living Missionally
The Word of God and finding our life's purpose and meaning in mission go hand in hand. Listen to David Platt recite (from memory!) Romans chapters 1 through 8 and connect it to living missionally.
May we know God's truth; and may we live as his sent people.
May we know God's truth; and may we live as his sent people.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Superabounding Grace
Hello friends, as we study through the tremendous text of Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome, we are continually reminded of the grace of God. He seems to mention it at almost every turn as he writes about God's good news for all of humanity.
In our text from this past Sunday, Romans ch. 5, Paul mentions grace 5 different times. My favorite mentioning of grace in chapter 5 is verse 20, "The law was brought in so that the trespass (offense or sin) might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased (or superabounded) all the more!"
What it would it look like if grace was superabounding in our lives?
Grace is often misunderstood, misapplied, and, therefore, MISSED! And it's so unfortunate because to miss part or all of grace is to miss part or all of God.
Grace can often be misunderstood as something scandalous and sinfully permissive; and it can also be misapplied by thinking of grace only terms of pardoning sin and not about enabling us to live rightly.
Dallard Willard once said, "grace is God acting in our lives to bring about what we do not deserve and cannot accomplish on our own." I love that definition of grace; but I equally love what he said next: "but we are not passive in this process. We are commanded to put off the old person and put on the new. We are told to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)."
In essence, grace is about pardoning guilt and about inviting/empowering us into right living.
As followers of Jesus, there are many wonderful things for us to do, and, though we cannot do it ourselves, they will not be done for us. We must do them. As recipients of grace we are empowered to do whatever it is we need to do to increasingly take on Christ's character and live, in his power, as one of his followers.
May the grace of God abound in our lives. Instead of sin and death, may the grace of God reign in our lives leading to true life in the here and now (Romans 5:21).
May trust and belief replace our cynicism and disbelief.
May gentleness and encouragement replace our anger and hurtfulness.
May fidelity and love replace our selfishness and greed.
May understanding and tolerance replace our impatience.
May hope replace our fear.
May thoughtfulness replace our disregard.
May thoughtfulness replace our disregard.
And may true joy replace our wallowing in shallowness.
Wow. Imagine how resting in and relying upon the superabounding grace found in Christ would reshape our everyday lives.
May we courageously go into the way of grace; may we encourage as many others to follow as we possible can.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Digging Deeper into Romans
Romans is known to some as the Apostle Paul's "masterpiece" and it is dense with deep theological truths; but that doesn't mean that it cannot be understood. As we make our way through Romans this summer we really hope you will spend some time reading and studying the book on your own. So, we want to provide you with some resources to help you in your studies.
Study Guides:
ROMANS - New Revised Standard Version with Outline, Notes + Reflection Questions (Free PDF; some are printed and available at our Sunday morning Gathering)
ROMANS - (NT Wright for Everyone Bible Study Guides)
Commentaries:
Paul for Everyone: Romans, Chapters 1-8 by Tom Wright
Paul for Everyone: Romans, Chapters 9-16 by Tom Wright
Study Bible:
ESV Study Bible
Enjoy digging deeper into the text of Romans!
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Our Summer Journey Through Romans
Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is his masterpiece. It covers all the major biblical themes bringing them together into a fast-moving and compelling line of thought. Romans, one the most influential writings in Christian history, is about the promise-keeping God who unveils his power and grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ. And this power and grace is available to anyone who believes.
Sunday Morning Gathering Teaching Schedule for Summer, 2014:
June 1st
Paul in Romans (Romans 1-16)June 8th
The Gospel in Romans (Romans 1:16-17)
June 15thSin in Romans (Romans 1-3)June 22ndFaith in Romans (Romans 3-4)
June 29th
Serve + Renew Weekend (no Sunday Morning Gathering)
July 6th
Special Guest Speaker Chuch Trujillo
July 13thChrist in Romans (Romans 5)July 20thLaw in Romans (Romans 6-7)July 27thSpirit in Romans (Romans 8:1-17)August 3rdRenewal in Romans (Romans 8:18-39)August 10thFaithfulness in Romans (Romans 9-11)August 17th
Special Guest Randy Evans
August 24thLove in Romans (Romans 12-13)August 31stThe Church in Romans (Romans 14-16)
Join us During the Summer of 2014 as We Study the Book of Romans
Hello friends, it's hard to believe summer is already here! As we role into the month of June we will also be starting a new teaching series on the letter to the Romans, called The Gospel of the Righteous One, and this teaching series will last us all summer long.
Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome is, what many consider, his masterpiece. You will find the letter just after the book of Acts in the New Testament. I encourage all of you to read it several times this summer.
It's one of the most influential writings in Christian history. It was how great Christian thinkers and preachers like St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley came to faith. Martin Luther wrote of Romans, "It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes."
Modern day Christian thinkers and preachers sing it's praises too. John Piper has called this book "the greatest letter ever written." Martin Lloyd-Jones said it is "a colossal and incomparable statement of Christian truth." And J. I. Packer describes it as "the high peak of the Bible."
And our very own John Howell says, "Romans is super-duper!" And Mila (our special guest last Sunday) says of Romans, "rrrrrrrruff ruff!" (And I'm pretty sure that coincides with John's opinion.)
Seriously, we are in for a BIG treat. Romans covers all the major biblical themes bringing them together into a fast-moving and compelling line of thought. It's about the promise-keeping God who unveils his power and grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ. And this power and grace is available to "everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).
I can't wait and I hope to see you Sunday as we begin by looking at chapter 1 and chapter 16.
And, of course, I hope to see you all there!
Grace + Peace,
Heath
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Be Convinced: Abraham, Paul and Us
As we look into the life of Abraham it is easy to think his life is something totally different than our own and that his story is separate from ours. He did live a long time ago in a world very very different from our own. Even with this huge historical gap, this man is important for our world. Abraham is known as the Father of faith, and not just Christian faith but Jewish and Muslim as well. In fact, as Pastor Heath pointed out a couple of weeks ago, all the millions and millions of people belonging to any of these major religions claim Abraham as their Patriarch. Abraham does mean, "Big daddy" and he lives up to this name!
Abraham is important not only because he is a major religious figure, but also because he believed God in some pretty enormous circumstances. We can connect with father Abraham in this, for we too have been called to believe God. There are many characters in the Bible since Abraham who have followed in his footsteps of faith. Joseph believed God would vindicate him and deliver his people even as he rotted away in an Egyptian dungeon. Daniel and his friends showed faith in standing against the multiple attempts of their Babylonian captors to deter them from worshiping the God of their fathers. This resulting in exposure to a lion's den and a fiery furnace. Moses had faith to obey God's voice from a burning bush to return to the kingdom he had fled for his life from just years before. This trend of faith is explained by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament as being the true children of Abraham- Galatians 3:7. Jesus believed that the true children of Abraham were not the ethnic Jews, but those who had the same faith as Abraham, Jew or Gentile -John 8:31-47. Abraham is indeed someone we can and should connect with.
Abraham was not perfect. As Pastor Heath demonstrated from Genesis 12 in this series, he, at this time still named Abram, was not always faithful. He was fearful of Egyptian power and lied to Pharaoh in order to preserve his own life. Abram was given a promise from God but that was forgotten when he was faced with danger. God still delivers Abraham. The next time we see Abraham, he is a different man. When Lot and him become too big to share land they split ways. Abraham does not express a fearful or anxious attitude in dealing with Lot. In fact his desire is solely for that of "peace between you and I" Gen.13:8. When Lot is a little later captured, Abraham shows no fear in leading his forces out to deliver him. Sometime between the chapters, Abraham comes to truly believe God, he has become convinced.
This same faith is seen in Paul. Romans has been called a "towering mountain" by some who have dared to scale its heights. This is not only because of the sheer immensity of its theology, but also because of the enormity of its beauty and consoling truths. Romans is for everyone, do not fear the mountain! With that said, another thing that makes it such a mountainous work is the whole of history that it surveys. Paul retells the story of Israel from the standpoint of Jesus as Messiah and his story stretches from Creation to the restoration of the Cosmos. Romans is a cosmic work and it is a very personal and faith building work. What is interesting, is in chapter 8, at the highest point on the mountain, the cosmic, Paul reveals something of his own faith and its plain to see why he has spent so much time connecting his story to Abraham. Paul stands on the peak of history, seemingly in the stars and even the throne room of the New Jerusalem and declares that suffering has come and will continue to come upon the cosmic people of God. Rather than being discouraged and without faith, Paul says that he is "convinced". There is no more question in Paul, as there was no more doubt in Abraham. God will restore this world and his humanity. He will put all that is wrong back to rights, this is his promise and his glory. And right before Paul begins the heart of Romans (chs. 9-11) dealing with the question of God's faithfulness despite Israel's faithlessness, he stands as a man convinced that nothing in all of evil, from the most powerful to even death itself, is able to thwart the Mission of God. He is convinced that nothing will ever separate the people of God from his love poured out upon them through the Messiah (see Romans 8:37-39).
I want to be convinced as well. This has been my prayer lately. Our world is very different from Abraham's and from that of Paul's. Our faith cannot be. Like them, we live in a world that is broken. Paul is not only describing evils in his day but in ours as well. Death, disease, oppressive powers, broken relationships and horrible atrocities are everywhere in our world as well as the ancient one. Technology has not been able to thwart these but has been used at times to increase them. Western philosophy despite its claims and promises has failed to correctly diagnose, much less heal us. We as a people need to be convinced that God has achieved victory in Jesus. We must know that our faith is not in vain. We must have faith of this even, or especially in, those times when we are called to stand in evil's way, when all is dark and seems hopeless.
So I am reforming my prayer. I pray we as a people demonstrate and find peace and joy in the same faith as that of Abraham. I pray that like Paul we can look out on a broken world being devoured by evil and see our Messiah taking the full weight of this terror on himself. And being filled with the same spirit that raised him from the clutches of death, declare that we are convinced. Nothing will stop the love of God from conquering and repairing all who are broken. God is faithful, he will do it.
Abraham is important not only because he is a major religious figure, but also because he believed God in some pretty enormous circumstances. We can connect with father Abraham in this, for we too have been called to believe God. There are many characters in the Bible since Abraham who have followed in his footsteps of faith. Joseph believed God would vindicate him and deliver his people even as he rotted away in an Egyptian dungeon. Daniel and his friends showed faith in standing against the multiple attempts of their Babylonian captors to deter them from worshiping the God of their fathers. This resulting in exposure to a lion's den and a fiery furnace. Moses had faith to obey God's voice from a burning bush to return to the kingdom he had fled for his life from just years before. This trend of faith is explained by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament as being the true children of Abraham- Galatians 3:7. Jesus believed that the true children of Abraham were not the ethnic Jews, but those who had the same faith as Abraham, Jew or Gentile -John 8:31-47. Abraham is indeed someone we can and should connect with.
Abraham was not perfect. As Pastor Heath demonstrated from Genesis 12 in this series, he, at this time still named Abram, was not always faithful. He was fearful of Egyptian power and lied to Pharaoh in order to preserve his own life. Abram was given a promise from God but that was forgotten when he was faced with danger. God still delivers Abraham. The next time we see Abraham, he is a different man. When Lot and him become too big to share land they split ways. Abraham does not express a fearful or anxious attitude in dealing with Lot. In fact his desire is solely for that of "peace between you and I" Gen.13:8. When Lot is a little later captured, Abraham shows no fear in leading his forces out to deliver him. Sometime between the chapters, Abraham comes to truly believe God, he has become convinced.
This same faith is seen in Paul. Romans has been called a "towering mountain" by some who have dared to scale its heights. This is not only because of the sheer immensity of its theology, but also because of the enormity of its beauty and consoling truths. Romans is for everyone, do not fear the mountain! With that said, another thing that makes it such a mountainous work is the whole of history that it surveys. Paul retells the story of Israel from the standpoint of Jesus as Messiah and his story stretches from Creation to the restoration of the Cosmos. Romans is a cosmic work and it is a very personal and faith building work. What is interesting, is in chapter 8, at the highest point on the mountain, the cosmic, Paul reveals something of his own faith and its plain to see why he has spent so much time connecting his story to Abraham. Paul stands on the peak of history, seemingly in the stars and even the throne room of the New Jerusalem and declares that suffering has come and will continue to come upon the cosmic people of God. Rather than being discouraged and without faith, Paul says that he is "convinced". There is no more question in Paul, as there was no more doubt in Abraham. God will restore this world and his humanity. He will put all that is wrong back to rights, this is his promise and his glory. And right before Paul begins the heart of Romans (chs. 9-11) dealing with the question of God's faithfulness despite Israel's faithlessness, he stands as a man convinced that nothing in all of evil, from the most powerful to even death itself, is able to thwart the Mission of God. He is convinced that nothing will ever separate the people of God from his love poured out upon them through the Messiah (see Romans 8:37-39).
I want to be convinced as well. This has been my prayer lately. Our world is very different from Abraham's and from that of Paul's. Our faith cannot be. Like them, we live in a world that is broken. Paul is not only describing evils in his day but in ours as well. Death, disease, oppressive powers, broken relationships and horrible atrocities are everywhere in our world as well as the ancient one. Technology has not been able to thwart these but has been used at times to increase them. Western philosophy despite its claims and promises has failed to correctly diagnose, much less heal us. We as a people need to be convinced that God has achieved victory in Jesus. We must know that our faith is not in vain. We must have faith of this even, or especially in, those times when we are called to stand in evil's way, when all is dark and seems hopeless.
So I am reforming my prayer. I pray we as a people demonstrate and find peace and joy in the same faith as that of Abraham. I pray that like Paul we can look out on a broken world being devoured by evil and see our Messiah taking the full weight of this terror on himself. And being filled with the same spirit that raised him from the clutches of death, declare that we are convinced. Nothing will stop the love of God from conquering and repairing all who are broken. God is faithful, he will do it.
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