Sunday Sermons

The words “but now” mark a major turning point, not only in Paul’s letter but also in the entire story of God as Paul presents it.

There are no more wonderful words in all of Scripture.

Human beings have proven to be unfaithful and unjust…But Paul is about to narrate the revelation of God’s righteousness, or saving justice, that is manifested in Christ’s death and made available to all through the gospel he proclaims in word and deed.

How often do you ask questions? More specifically, how often in your conversations do you ask questions and answer them yourself?

Parents do this all the time:

Do we put toys in the toilet? No we don’t

Should you cut your own hair? No you should not. Do we store things in our underpants? Only on Tuesdays!

We’ve been in a series going through the book of Romans… In this chapter (chap 3)

Paul is going to ask and respond to eight questions in eight verses.

What’s Paul trying to say?

Primarily that human faithlessness does not compromise divine faithfulness. Humanity requires an intervention—a benevolent, divine intervention. Paul wants his audience then and now to recall how they and we have been set free and set right with God.

Have you ever had an experience where you’ve thought to yourself, "There’s no way!"

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he is going to answer the no way question by showing us just how bad the bad news is… and when we understand just how bad the bad news is, our only response to the really good news is No way!

In 500 BC, Socrates said

"It may be that Deity can forgive sins, but I do not see how."

How is it possible for a holy God to forgive sin? Anyone who doesn’t think that’s a problem hasn’t thought it through very much

Yet Socrates, to his credit, 500 years before Christ recognized the paradox that represents. The more righteous God is the more difficult that problem becomes.

500 years later Paul, the author of Romans, is recognized as one of the most profound thinkers on the planet

Saul now Paul was trained in the best schools of the Greek and Hebrew culture AND he was a Roman citizen, which was important toward the end of his life.

The first eight chapters of Romans we see a comprehensive look at doctrine.

And in particular, these first 3 chapters deal with the hardest part…. Sin.

So Paul begins laying down this foundation in chapter 1

And in chapter 1 he describes the great leveling of humanity

The idea of Divine Impartiality & Human Accountability – the Great Leveling of Humanity (Romans 1:18-3:20)

Paul’s point which he is driving toward in Romans 3 is that all have sinned

Paul has masterfully outlined the human predicament in chapter 1, but we have to keep the context in mind… this is part of a bigger section

So let’s pick up where we left off … Romans 2

There are over 3700 verses in the gospels and about one third of the gospels focus on Jesus’ final week here on earth.

So, yes we focus on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus every Sunday, but in recent years we’ve tried to give special attention to what the gospels give special attention to… This holy week, this set apart week.

When it comes to Palm Sunday, the Sunday right before Easter, there were some serious misunderstandings of what the participants of the day were expecting.

The New Testament writers know fully well that the "Hosanna!" cries of Sunday will by Friday turn into the calls for crucifixion.

The entry into Jerusalem is charged with irony, and it is as much about us as it is the people of ancient Jerusalem:

That we are the crucifiers of the One whose coming we have called "blessed.”

We are reminded that there is no route to an empty tomb except by way of the cross.

You would never get a letter from a person you care about and say… ok, I’m going to read the first paragraph of this letter this week, then come back and read the second paragraph next week and then the paragraph after that… No, you get a letter from someone you love, you read the whole thing… In this message, Bret walks through a difficult passage while keeping the context in mind.