Romans Series - Original Sin

Romans 7:14-25

To stop sinning, we must know what sin is.  To understand what sin is, we must
first understand why man (Adam) sinned.  Adam fell and sinned when he
believed the lie that there was something better than what God had provided for
him.  The root of all sins is that pursuit of self as we have all bought in to the lie
that our needs and wants are met outside of God.  Is God enough for you?  Are
you reliant on His Word and provision?  Or are you busy occupying your life with
what you believe can satisfy you?  This sermon is far more than just discussing
the do's and don't but we seek to go deeper into why we struggle so much.

Romans Series - The Past, The Present, The Future

Romans 6:20-23

As Christians we do well with our past being forgiven and our future of eternal life being secured in our faith in Christ. But, we tend to neglect our present calling to be sanctified.  Being sanctified doesn't mean being perfect, but it is defined as the process of being perfected or becoming holy.  We, as believers, have been freed from sin and enslaved to God.  We are not freed from sin for self; rather we have been freed from sin for the Savior.  Are we living as slaves of sin or are we living as slaves of God? 

Romans Series - Sanctification

Romans 6:12-19

We continue on the topic of sanctification. Paul reiterates the importance and the
reason for Christians living as people of God. He contends that we are either an
instruments of sin (unrighteousness) or instruments of righteousness that reflect
and affirm God who is holy and righteous. At the crux of our devotion to God is
this pursuit to be more like Him. Today, we pray to desire to be like Him and we
commit to live as instruments of righteousness instead of sin.

Romans Series - True Baptism

Romans 6:1-11

Grace is a free gift from God; it is the epitome of His unconditional love and the
freedom we have of choosing to live for the One who gave his life for us. Apostle
Paul moves from talking about the amazing attributes of God to what our
response should be to God’s grace and love. Instead of abusing it, he talks
about this new of way life that calls Christians to be dead to sin but alive to God
in Christ. Here, we learn what sanctification is and that our pursuit of holiness
epitomizes our acceptance and understanding of the Gospel of Christ.

Romans Series - Actions Have Consequences

Romans 5:12-21

We must understand that our actions have consequences.  They may be good consequences or not so good consequences.  And usually our consequences will not only affect ourselves, but will affect people in our lives.  In our passage today we'll see how one man's disobedience brought forth the not so good consequence to mankind whereas one man's obedience brought forth good consequences to mankind.  Adam's act of disobedience brought forth condemnation and death to all while Jesus' act of obedience brought forth salvation and justification to many.  

Romans Series - Filthy Glove

Romans 5:6-11

There are no prerequisites for God to love us. He accepts and loves us just as
we are. The beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God comes to us with
His best even when we are at our absolute worst. Today, we not only
understand but to accept this incredible truth as we come to Him just as we are.
We will come out of our hiding, all places of shame and self-loath, and see that
God lavishes His love upon us.

Romans Series - Hope

Romans 5:1-5

Being justified by faith, salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, brings us peace with God.  Where we were considered enemies of God, Christ’s atoning work on the cross has yielded us good standing with God for eternity.  Knowing this, we can rejoice through any hardship we might face during the course of our life with God.  Life is not good when it is easy, but it is good and full when Christ is present.  We pray to rejoice and renew our hope today as it is our declaration of our faith in God.

Romans Series - NOT Performance, BUT Person & Promise of God

At the end of chapter 4 Apostle Paul drives home the fact that salvation is not based upon our works, but on our faith in God alone.  Abraham is highlighted again as a prime example of that.  Righteousness was credited to Abraham as he put his faith in God and His promise.  This account was written so we will come to understand that righteousness will be credited to us as well when we put our faith in God and His promise.  The key is that we need to continually remind ourselves that our salvation and God’s love for us is not based on our Performance or works, but simply our faith in the very Person and Promise of God.  

Read More

Romans Series - Faith Alone

 

In chapter 4, Paul gets sophisticated in arguing for we are justified by faith alone.
He specifically addresses the Jewish audience who still cannot believe that
being Abraham's descendants was not adequate to be deemed righteous in
God's view.  Here, he proves that it was by faith that God reckoned Abraham to
be righteous; Paul brilliantly succeeds in placing the Jews and the Gentiles into
the same category of being justified.