Another mark of the church is to be a people who serve God and each other.
Loving God, his people and our community
Loving God, his people and our community
Sermons on Romans
Chris Evans and Vassos on their Radio 2 programme this week were discussing the World Cup and England’s chance of winning. They said, ‘Please God let this happen, praying is okay at this moment’. People are praying. Their purpose is ‘let my team win’. We look at Paul’s plan and purpose in this passage and […]
How important do you think unity is? In any group, there are people we might not get on with. We see examples of disunity in the news, in the EU, the Cabinet. Jesus said unity was essential. It is a witness to the world that the gospel is true.
Small problems can cause massive damage. Paul talks about the issue in this passage. People from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds with a debit of love to each other. Then they come across a roadblock that affects their unity, over meat, the religious calendar and whether it was acceptable for them to drink wine.
Imagine a situation where if you share the message of Jesus, you will be put to death. Paul says ‘submit to the governing authorities’ and ‘overcome evil with good’. How do we do this? He also says ‘let no debt be outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another’.
We may look round and see signs of a society hostile to Christianity and Christians. The bible tells us it was the same in Jesus’ day. We are still called to love deeply and radically in an unloving world even when there is a temptation to pay back evil for evil. Love hates what is […]
Paul says it’s good to look back and see God’s mercy. As Christians, we escape God’s wrath. Nothing can separate us from God. We are made alive in Christ.
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[i] knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” “For from him and through him and for him are all […]
Spike Milligan wrote about a poem about a baboon trying to do something impossible – trying to fly. Likewise in verse 2 of this passage we see the Israelite’s ‘zeal is not based on knowledge’. They are trying to do the impossible. We can see reasons why people get to heaven and reasons why people […]
James Piper once called Romans 8 the greatest chapter all of Scripture. When we become Christians, although we have new life in the spirit, there is still suffering. Sometimes, we can start to feel we’re not going to make it. But if we trust in Jesus, we will make it not because we are healthy, […]