Jason Miller - As Paul helps the community in Rome understand the message that binds them together, he speaks of sin, law, and death. What do those words mean for us today?

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• Register your family for or get more information on Family Dedication.

Jason Miller - We know, you might be a little confused if you look at the flow between week 2 and 3. We've gone from chapter 1 to chapter 5. But that's because it might be easier to understand Romans if you get to the heart of it and discover what Paul's fighting for before you work through the way he fights. He's defending a gospel that speaks of the expansive, inexhaustible love of God, and he begins to speak at length of that love in chapter 5.

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• Check out all of our Tables

If you’re a part of the growing digital SBCC community, we’d love to hear from you! Drop us a note letting us know how you found us and what keeps you listening at: [email protected].

Jason Miller - Paul begins his letter to the Christians in Rome with some big words: apostle, gospel, grace and peace. But those words may have meant something different for his original audience than they mean for us today. Let's spend some time recovering the unexpectedly radical energy of these ideas.

Ways to Get Connected

• RSVP to our New to SBCC Virtual Tableon October 2 at 8:30p EST via Zoom

Jason Miller - One of the most talked about, preached about, regularly-studied texts in the New Testament is the book of Romans, a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a community of Jesus’ followers roughly three decades after Jesus. It’s been especially prominent in Protestant and Evangelical spaces. But what if the way it’s usually talked about misses the point?

The early church was an impossible community. People somehow found a radical capacity for belonging with one another across every imaginable line of difference. And the letter Paul wrote to this early church shows his own wrestling with how the experience of Christ makes this impossible community possible. What if this text that’s been centered in so many religious spaces is talking about not just our own personal reconciliation with God, but also the ways that we can belong to each other? Between now and next spring, we’ll take a path through Romans that might be unfamiliar for those who have walked the “Romans road”, but with a desire to recover the radical message of this powerful text.

This week, as we considered our approach to the letter, Jason also proposed a handful of principles for us to keep in mind as we proceed:

Paul isn't a systematic theologian. He's a practical theologian.

It's hard to know what it means if you don't know what it meant.

Knowing what it says doesn't matter if you don't what you don't know what it did.

Just because an interpretation is the only one you've heard, that doesn't mean it's the most well-founded, historically corroborated, widely held Christian view.

We're looking for God, love, belonging, community, and possibility.

Ways to Get Connected

• RSVP to our New to SBCC Virtual Table on October 2 at 8:30p EST via Zoom

In this weekend's gatherings we had the chance to slow down and breathe. We did this by singing some songs and entering into a breath prayer. This was all supported by Cole Arthur Riley's work, both on her Instagram and from her book "This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us".

If you want to follow along with the transcript, you can do so by following along on our website. Our hope is that wherever you are, you're able to take a second to breathe deep and rest today.

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• Support the ongoing work of SBCC by giving to our general fund. South Bend City Church is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

Jason Miller - In John 21, we see Jesus trying to have a conversation with one of his followers about the calling on his life, but that disciple is distracted by the fate of someone else. As we expand our circles of concern with a faith that includes our neighbors, strangers, and enemies, how do we stay committed to the lives we're called to?

Ways to Get Connected

• Check out all Tables opportunities or let us know if you’re a long-distance community member that wants to create community in the digital space.

This weekend we had the opportunity to enter into practices of joy as a community. We encourage you to join us by listening to this liturgy in a place that brings you joy or to have something nearby that you enjoy doing or looking at.

During this episode, there will be an opportunity to pause and do something that brings you joy. In our gathering space, we had art from our kiddos on display and supplies that allowed us to do the same art projects. CLICK HERE to view the art during that time or feel free to enjoy your own practice of joy today.

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Meredith Miller - In John 2 we are invited to a wedding, and watching Jesus' actions there reveal something critical about the nature of the reign of God that Jesus is declaring has arrived. What's more, it sheds light on a sometimes overlooked attribute of our God--as one who is joyful. Together, we'll consider the roles of fun, celebration and joy in our lives with God.

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This weekend we joined our Catholic brothers and sisters in readings from the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States). We spent time, through these readings and through a few songs, reflecting on stillness, peace, and waiting.

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Mallory Wyckoff - In Luke 13:10-17, we read a story about a synagogue leader’s criticism of a woman being healed on the Sabbath. As we imaginatively engage the text, we find ourselves in the story and sense an invitation to healing being extended to us—including our own critical parts—so that every system—internal and external—can be set free.

If you would like to join us in the Eucharist, make sure to have some form of bread or cracker and some form of juice or wine with you.

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