The gospel is powerful to save. Both the Old and New Testaments provide ample illustrations of the saving power of God. While the Old Testament often stresses the temporal salvation of God’s people (e.g., Ex. 14:13; 15:2), there are other demonstrations also of God’s power to spiritually save sinners (e.g., Ps. 77:14-15; Is. 12:2; 52:7, […]
Read More The saving gospel“The Greatness of the Gospel” (Part 1) Romans 1:16-17 August 9, 2015 I have in my closet some important letters — Raye Jeanne wrote them to me when we were dating and not yet married. Over the 13 months that we dated before marriage I suppose I have 100 or more letters (hard copies — […]
Read More Sermon: The Greatness of the Gospel (Pt. 1)“Caring for One Another: A Life of Service” (Part 2) Romans 1:11-15 August 2, 2015 A number of years ago, London resident Simon Thompson was trying to push his stalled BMW off a road in a London suburb when another driver called out, “Do you want a hand?” And then the car’s back doors flew […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of Service (Pt. 2)“Caring for One Another: A Life of Service” (Part 1) Romans 1:11-15 July 19, 2015 It’s hard to be a servant. To serve others is to do something that is contrary to our natural inclinations and to fight against the flesh. That’s why we just read the story of Epaphroditus. We don’t know much about […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of ServiceIn one of the shortest verses of the Bible, believers are instructed to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). The believer is not only to pray regularly and habitually, but prayer is to constantly be at the forefront of his mind. He is to be always ready for communication with His Lord and Master. And […]
Read More What to pray for one another“Caring for One Another: A Life of Prayer” (Pt. 2) Romans 1:8-10 June 28, 2015 Loneliness is an age-old problem, and in Japan one restaurant has come up with a novel solution. The owners of Tokyo’s Moomin House Café observed many customers who came alone and sat alone. So they set about to cultivate a […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of Prayer, Pt. 2“Caring for One Another: A Life of Prayer” Romans 1:8-10 June 21, 2015 Speaker Robert Henry went to a large discount department store a number of years ago in search of a pair of binoculars. Charles Swindoll tells the story: As he walked up to the appropriate counter he noticed that he was the only […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of PrayerGrace and peace. Two nouns, both very common. They are common in the culture of the world and they are even more common in biblical and church culture. They are one-syllable words with relatively simple and concise meanings. Grace is undeserved favor and peace is the absence of conflict and the presence of blessing. And […]
Read More Grace and peace“Paul, God, and the Gospel” Pt. 4 Romans 1:1-7 June 14, 2015 A couple of years ago, Business Insider reported the following story: In 1962, a man named George Walton wanted to find out what his 1913 Liberty Head nickel coin was worth. But on his way to the coin show, his car crashed and […]
Read More Sermon: Paul, God, and the Gospel (Pt. 4)“Paul, God, and the Gospel” Pt. 3 Romans 1:1-7 June 7, 2015 You don’t need me to tell you this, but our world is changing. Rapidly. This week I read a sobering article entitled, “Stage Two Exile: Are You Ready for It?” The author’s premise was that over the past thirty years or so the […]
Read More Sermon: Paul, God, and the Gospel (Pt. 3)Following Sunday morning’s sermon, I had the following email interchange to clarify one point from the message on Romans 1:4. The essence of the question is, “just what does it mean that Christ was “declared [a better translation is “appointed”] the Son of God with power?” Q: I wanted to ask you for a bit […]
Read More Q & A: Christ’s heavenly throne“Paul, God, and the Gospel” Pt. 2 Romans 1:1-7 May 24, 2015 A few years ago I saw a book in the bookstore and was curious about the title and book, Jesus, Life Coach, so I looked it up online and found this description from the editors: There was a time when only athletes had […]
Read More Sermon: Paul, God, and the Gospel (Pt. 2)“Paul, God, and the Gospel” Pt. 1 Romans 1:1-7 May 17, 2015 If you’ve ever had a young teen in the house, you know that teens don’t always want to listen. They believe that they have all the answers to life and that their parents are ill-equipped and to handle life because they have not […]
Read More Sermon: Paul, God, and the Gospel (Pt. 1)Romans is a complex logical argument, and much of the logic is derived from the OT. In a sense this is a research document, with its primary source being the OT. In addition to a great many allusions to the OT, Paul directly quotes it 63 times. And at least 14 OT books are quoted […]
Read More Romans: the most OT book in the NTThe book of Romans is about two things: it is about the gospel and it is about God. That Romans is about the gospel might be widely assumed and understood, since the themes of justification and sanctification are particularly prominent in the book. And since Romans is in the Bible, it is slightly obvious to […]
Read More What Romans says about God
Words of Grace 