During the Advent season, we are going to take a short break from our preaching series in Romans in order to examine the rich theology of Christmas carols.  We'll sing them together, then we'll talk through the layers of meaning in each verse.  Many Christmas carols are drenched in Scripture, and it is helpful to trace back the passages which contain the ideas we sing.  This week, we'll be looking at "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing."  I hope you can join us throughout this series as we seek to increase our awareness of the meaning of the arrival of Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Each year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we gather together as a church family to offer thanks and praise to our Lord and Savior.  We call this Celebration Sunday.  We'll spend some time learning about the art of thanksgiving from God's Word and be encouraged to make gratitude our regular attitude.

The word "slavery" has incredible baggage attached to it.  Anyone living in the United States with even a general knowledge of history feels discomfort talking about it.  It's important to note that while slavery was thought of differently in New Testament times for a variety, no one (then or now) truly wanted to be a slave of any kind to anyone.  And yet, in Romans 6:14-23, Paul presents his audience with a choice: be a slave to sin or a slave to God.  This is a choice that we all face.  We are either one or the other.  What makes the difference?  Paul tells us: in Christ we are free to make the choice to be slaves to God and therefore slaves to righteousness.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, we often find uncomfortable imagery being used to describe profound spiritual truths.  Whenever we encounter such images, the temptation can be to soft-sell them, to somehow make them more palatable to our vulnerable sensibilities.  We must avoid giving into that temptation in order to receive what God's word has for us.   And so it is that this week, we're going to talk about death.  

The statistics on death are remarkable: 1 out of 1 person dies.  It's ironic that the longer we live, the more death we encounter, until at last we too take our last breath.  Death is the great equalizer, the final ending that we will all face.  Understandably, we don't want to talk about death unless we absolutely have to.  That's why it's so jarring to see how the apostle Paul uses the notion of death to teach us a crucial truth about the meaning of life.

This week we arrive at Romans 6 in our series Live by Faith.  We'll find Paul answering a pressing question about the content of our lives by talking about death.  The question is this: can followers of Jesus continue to live sinful lives? (Spoiler alert: NO!)  Our identification with Jesus causes a type of death in us that needs to be explored and lived out each and every day.  Paul tells us that we must die in order to live.  What does that mean?  I'm looking froward to exploring this challenging passage with you.

Toys like Transformers and stories like the Ugly Duckling emphasize the theme of transformation by showing a change of what we thought something was into something so much better.  I think inside, most of us desired this sort of transformation growing up.  I remember looking at my life, my outward appearance, my inward struggles, and my awkward relationships and praying that God would change me.  The Gospel, at its core, is about a radical transformation.  We, who were dead in sin, have been brought to life through the grace of God.  We are not supposed to be the same person on this side of the cross.  Yet sadly, most of us struggle with allowing the Spirit to truly transform us. This week, we will examine Romans 5:12-21, seeing how grace changes everything from what we thought our life was into something so much better!

     No matter where you fall on the political or cultural spectrum, someone is trying to make a case that what they agree with is right and what others agree with is not.  People take a stand for what they believe in, and it's usually loud and forceful.  Of course, this is an important part of our society.  The right to communicate the ideas that are important to us is among out most important values as a nation, despite the fact that most of us get a little tired of it over time.

     I was thinking about what it means to take a stand as I was reading Romans 5 once again this week.  Paul says in verse 2 that "we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."  What does it means to stand in grace?  Paul helpfully answers that question in the next section of Romans 5, which we'll be discussing this Sunday.  As we press on in our series Live By Faith, we are continuing to uncover layers of meaning in Paul's argument for faith in Christ.  Verses 6-11 build on what came before by defining in clear terms the meaning of what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross.  Standing in faith only happens when we are fully convinced by and dedicated to Jesus.  Let's strengthen our understanding of and commitment to standing in the grace of God.

One moment of change can create a whole new situation in our spiritual lives.  The Bible clearly demonstrates that placing faith in Jesus Christ for salvation is the first domino of many which can radically change the believer.  Our faith enables us to receive incredible blessings and challenges from God, but it works best when we understand the Gospel in its entirety.

This week, we press on in our series on Romans entitled Live by Faith by examining some of the ways our faith impacts everyday life.  In chapter 5, Paul continues his description of faith by listing several effects of our new standing with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.  One moment of decision to receive the free gift of grace that Jesus offers can enable us to practice a whole new pattern of life.  The Gospel leads us to eternal life in heaven with God, but eternal life starts at the moment we are saved.  So, when we live by faith while we're still here on Earth, we have spiritual resources available to us that change how we respond to the world around us.  Join us for this encouraging look at one of Paul's most powerful depictions of how faith transforms followers of Jesus.

Have you ever felt like your faith looks like a caricature of the real thing?  Sometimes our faith seems flimsy or fake.  It doesn't always hold up under stressful circumstances.    When we realize that our faith isn't always what we hope it would be, we have an opportunity to change the way we think about faith.  Our text for this week gives us just such an opportunity.

This week we continue in our series on Romans entitled Live By Faith with a discussion of faith lived out.  In chapter 4, Paul presents his audience with a prime example of a life of faith from the Old Testament: Abraham.  Paul's audience would have been very familiar with Abraham, and they would have paid close attention to Paul's use of Abraham's example (you can read about Abraham's experiences in Genesis 12-25).  Abraham's faith wasn't perfect, yet it was "credited to him as righteousness."  Why?  How?  Let's explore this important topic together.

If the Bible is clear we are saved by God’s grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins (see Ephesians 2:8-9), why do so many people believe one of these other reasons?

Sadly, this is not a new problem. Many Jewish people in the Apostle Paul’s day trusted their obedience to God’s Law and their ancestral lineage to Abraham as proof they were saved. Knowing the heart of the issue, Paul holds up the mirror of Abraham to the Jewish people to show them how different they were from the man they claimed as the assurance of their salvation. In essence, Paul was asking, “If you are saved like Abraham, how does Scripture describe Abraham’s salvation? By faith or by works?”

Unfortunately, we know many “religious” people today who think like the Jewish people of the first century. Too many of our family, friends, coworkers and classmates trust in their actions and family history for salvation instead of the one God and Savior who died for them. Join us this week as we see clearly that Abraham, the “father of many nations,” was saved the only way God has ever offered, by grace through faith alone… and so are we!

This week, our series on Romans, Live By Faith, continues with a discussion of chapter 3 of Romans.  Throughout the opening of the letter, Paul has been holding up a giant mirror to his audience in an effort to get them to see and accept their reality.  He's made clear arguments to support the premise that neither Jews nor Gentiles should not place their hope for salvation in their consciences or in their national identity,.  They will be disappointed if they rely on their innate human nature or their ability to keep the law.   Beginning in verse 9, Paul holds up a Old Testament "mirror" so that his entire audience can come to terms with how desperate our need is.  We're going to join them this week by looking in that same mirror in order to come to grips with the reality of the Bad News of our spiritual condition once again.  This week, however, we get to read two of the most important words in the Bible: "But now..." 

I hope you're ready to celebrate the arrival of the Good News with me this week.  I know you'll be encouraged!