As Paul gets rolling on this letter about the Gospel, you quickly realize the love he has for his God, the Romans, and the truth of what he is about to write. This is a love letter! And that is at the heart of the Gospel, isn’t it? Love. And like the good Apostle he is, Paul is going to tip 15 cards over hinting at where he is about to go for the next 16 chapters.

Paul wrote a letter to all the Christians in all the churches in the big city of Rome in order to clarify the Gospel to them. He was eager that they would have a clear and robust knowledge of all that Jesus had done for sinners. As such, this letter has been used by the churches through the ages to train their members in the same thing. That has led to more love for Jesus, an increased evangelistic zeal and greater church unity. Grasping how this letter fits together or moves logically along is extremely helpful in coming to understand each part. Today we will attempt to preach the message of the entire letter to prepare us to dig in to each section.

This is the final sermon in our three-part series thinking though some significant issues of life and death. Having laid a robust Biblical and theological foundation in the first two sermons, now we try to answer some of the more difficult ethical questions Christians face.

Those who love the doctrine of Romans are called to live the life of Romans. And that is a life of love—of love for God that is expressed in loving others.

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) is rapidly increasing in Canada. Death with the help of a doctor might soon be offered to those struggling with mental illness, not just physical suffering. Christians must understand what life is and how gives it in order to know how to respond to this evil.

It can be hard to believe that you were a wandering sheep with no intention whatsoever of listening to the Shepherd. We often like to think we had a certain kind of spiritual potential or something that caused us to baa, baa, baa all the way to Jesus. But, we were spiritual wanderers who were pursued by a good Shepherd who picked us up and carried us home to the joy of all in heaven.

The only way to withstand a hurricane of error is to be in a building with a solid foundation. To stand true for the sanctity and value of all life, Christians must have a solid foundation of what it means to be human. In particular, what it means to have been made a human by God.

It can be hard to live by faith. Especially when it seems like everything in the world is conspiring against you. Unless, of course, you know how the story ends. Our future reality is the bedrock of our current faithfulness. Or so it should be!

The living God came to earth and offered up His life in our stead. Even though he died, he yet lives. And as our living Redeemer he shall return to judge the living and the dead and outfit his people with new, resurrected bodies designed to endure forever in praise of Him. This is so much better than a manmade, weird tradition of a rabbit with chocolate eggs.

There are two ways to explore the mountains. We have been combing the hills and valleys for several weeks examining the details of what Christ accomplished for us in our salvation. Now it is time to hop in the plane and fly high overhead to look at the person of Christ from three distinct angles. Who He was before He came. Who He was while He was on earth. And who He is today.