Bret Hammond

Romans has led us through some wonderful declarations of faith. We put our hope and trust in Jesus' gift to us, we sealed our promise with baptism--but now...why do we still sin? Why do we still disobey? Why do we feel so awful sometimes?

Romans 6 has a lot to say about baptism--and all of it is directed towards the baptized! People who are already committed to Christ! When I look back on my baptism, what should I feel? What should I see? What should I know about the commitment I have made to God and he has made to me?

There is a tension we live in--we were designed to live in perfection and paradise but we live in a fallen and failed world instead. What does the life God created us for look like when it's lived in the presence of constant sin, sickness and disappointment? In Romans 5 Paul shows us how we live between these two realities.

Having faith like Abraham means letting God write your life story for you. Too many people trust someone else to write their story and it ends up being about their failures and pain. God showed Abraham he could change his story if he trusted Him for things he couldn’t see or understand.

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) That would be the end of the story for all of us, except for one thing...God changed the end of our story!

Romans 2:4 tells us that God's kindness leads us to repentance. That sounds very strange to us. We're used to thinking in terms of God's wrath, or his justice or even his anger at our sin, but his KINDNESS?

If it sounds strange to us then how does it sound to others who don't have any concept of God as being kind? More to the point, what does the kindness of God look like?

Romans 2:4 tells us that God's kindness leads us to repentance. That sounds very strange to us. We're used to thinking in terms of God's wrath, or his justice or even his anger at our sin, but his KINDNESS?

If it sounds strange to us then how does it sound to others who don't have any concept of God as being kind? More to the point, what does the kindness of God look like?

Paul's belief in Jesus as his Savior caused him to have to re-think his whole life and everything he had ever believed. Was it really worth it? Paul must have struggled with that question at one time because he has to affirm to us, "I am NOT ashamed of the gospel." What Paul declared with certainty is what we can trust in with certainty.

Paul's belief in Jesus as his Savior caused him to have to re-think his whole life and everything he had ever believed. Was it really worth it? Paul must have struggled with that question at one time because he has to affirm to us, "I am NOT ashamed of the gospel." What Paul declared with certainty is what we can trust in with certainty.

Romans is an important book. It's very deep, long and will really stretch your brain. It's been referred to as the Manifesto of the Christian Faith. But I know you guys and I know me--we need something a little simpler. So today we're doing an overview of Romans and next week we will start Sixteen Little Lessons from Romans. Today though, it all begins with one verse and three words.