This video is taken from the fifth zoom meeting of our Lent Course on March 24th, 2021. We revisit the gospel that Paul expounds, and explore how we engage with it, and some thoughts about what we actually mean by "sin."  We then turn to Romans 7 where Paul speaks of the power of sin being reinforced by the truth of God's good law; and the joy of being freed from that bond through the cross of Christ.  

On the second-to-last Sunday of our Roaming through Romans series in Lent we arrive at Romans 7. Here Paul notoriously tangles himself up in the dilemma of encountering the goodness of God's truth yet finding it humanly possible to live by it. Here we delve into that dilemma, and arrive at the joy of how the gospel of Jesus is that it has been overcome through covenant relationship and faith.  

This video is taken from the fourth zoom meeting of our Lent Course on March 17th, 2021. In this we go into the "last lap" of our journey into Romans 1-8 as we arrive at chapter 6. Paul poses a question about whether God's grace allows us to keep on sinning. This is a doorway question into some fundamental aspects of our discipleship with Jesus. Paul answers the question by looking at how, in the gospel, we have been rescued, and made a new people in Christ, belonging to eternity.  

Our Lent series into Romans brings us to Romans 6. Here Paul begins to explore questions that will help his hearers grasp the gospel for their everyday lives. The gospel is not academic. As he talks about the freedom we have, and alludes to the story of the Exodus, we are exhorted to  live in that freedom, and not in cheap grace.  

This audio is taken from the third zoom meeting of our Lent Course on March 10th, 2021. In this session we recapped the previous weeks, and then looked at Romans 4-5. Paul appeals to the story of Abraham, to demonstrate how the God's blessing can only flow fully through faith, not as an earned reward. He then contrasts Jesus to Adam, showing how the gift that flows through Jesus exceeds the power of whatever sin came before. Jesus is a like a second Adam, a new humanity, into which, by faith, we are included.  

As we continue our Lent series into the book of Romans, we arrive at chapter 4. Here Paul begins to illustrate, demonstrate, and celebrate the way in which the gospel is made real in the lives of his people. The story of righteousness by faith is not some second-chapter afterthought, it integral to the family history of all of God's people, including ourselves. Will encourages to consider Abraham's example, to allow the current difficulties to challenge the story we tell ourselves, and so find how God's truth in Jesus defines our lives and our church.  

This talk is taken from the second zoom meeting of our Lent Course on March 3rd, 2021. In this session we recapped the previous week, and then looked at Romans 3, particularly verses 21-31. We looked at how the cross of Christ can be scandal, and how justification by faith confronts our self-reliance.  

We continue our Lent series where we take a journey into the book of Romans. Here we arrive at the theologically rich verses of Romans 3. We ponder what it means for God's creation, and ourselves, to be fractured by sin, and how our justification is in Jesus Christ and his righteousness.  

This video is taken from the first zoom meeting of our Lent Course on Feb 24th, 2021. In this part of the meeting Will dips into Romans 1-2 and, in particular, looks at some of the Old Testament heritage that Paul would have brought to his letter.

On the first Sunday in Lent we encounter the passion of God in Romans 1, and Paul's passion for the gospel. God's righteousness is a "covenant rightness" reflecting his desire for union with his creation, and the gospel is a gospel of re-union with him. God's anger and anguish aligns with the breakdown of that union, is revealed in his invitation to be reunited with him in and through Jesus.  

Recorded live during our livestream on Feb 21st, 2021.  

Also available on youtube here: https://youtu.be/S7PTdEspqdA

For more information about the Roaming Through Romans Lent series see http://thevinesheffield.org.uk/roam2021 

Any questions? Contact [email protected] or ask anonymously through http://briggs.id.au/jour/qanda

For other talks in this series see http://thevinesheffield.org.uk/roam2021videos or subscribe to this podcast.