Thrive Harbor

If Christians are saved by faith, what keeps us walking in obedience to God’s commands? In this message on Romans 7:1-13, Tim Cedarland, Thrive’s regional director, expounds Paul’s teaching about faith and the law. Through what Jesus has done, Christians are no longer under the law, which never could stop us from sinning anyway. Just as a mirror can tell you that your face is dirty but can’t actually clean your face, so the law reveals that we’re sinners but can’t ever make us righteous.

David Shohradov, one of Thrive's own, preaches on Romans 6, one of the Bible's great chapters about how the gospel changes us. Why should Christians no longer sin? Is it because of fear of punishment or to impress God? According to Romans 6, the answer is that dead men don't sin! When Jesus died, our sinful self died, meaning that we no longer have to do what sin tempts us to do. The result is freedom from the sin that seeks to bind us.

D'Vante Rolle of One Hope Church continues Thrive's series on Romans by looking at Romans 5:1-11. Justification by faith is the taproot of joy, hope, peace, and all the blessings of the Christian life. It also gives believers the power to persevere through life's darkest trials.

How do faith and works go together? In this message on Romans 4, Tim Cedarland, Thrive’s regional director, zooms in on two Old Testament figures who discovered justification by faith long before Paul did. Abraham is famous for his many moments of obedience, but behind that obedience was his trust in God. Faith was the root, and good works were the fruit! Then there’s David, a man rich in sin and lawbreaking. But through his faith in God’s promises, David was able to speak of a forgiveness apart from works.

Mercy forgives the guilty, while justice refuses to let the guilty off the hook. How can these two important principles coexist? In this message on Romans 3:21-31, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, explains how according to Paul there is exactly one place where these seeming opposites collide: the cross of Christ. On the cross, God upheld judgment by punishing sin, while also demonstrating His merciful love for us through Jesus dying in our place.

Scripture passages cited (or alluded to) in this message include John 5:19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-23; Psalm 143:11; 1 Kings 21; and Romans 5:8.

Why is it so easy to feel dogged by a sense of shame and inadequacy? Is there a way to shut off the inner monologue that says, “You’ll never be enough”? In this message on Romans 3:21-26, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, expounds Paul’s teaching on justification by faith, the cornerstone of Christian theology. Human beings are self-justifying creatures, always searching for new ways to shed our sense of guilt and feel morally superior to others. But the doctrine of justification says that the erasure of our guilt comes only through what Jesus did on the cross. The result is forgiveness and the breathtaking gift of God’s righteousness.

Scripture passages cited (or alluded to) in this message include Isaiah 64:6; Psalm 103:10-12; 109:22; Matthew 3:17; 5:20; 17:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; and Ephesians 6:14.

In this message on Romans 3:1-20, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, unpacks the conclusion of Paul’s argument that all humanity is guilty and in need of salvation. Already he has argued that religious people need the gospel (chapter 2) just as much as non-religious people (chapter 1). Now, to conclude his argument, Paul considers some challenges someone might make to his case, before driving that case home with a withering litany of truth about humanity's desperate state apart from Christ.

There are people who sit in church every Sunday, who serve the homeless, clothe the naked, and care for the sick—but who are on their way to hell. In this message on Romans 2:17-29, Michael Bouterse, Thrive's local director, unpacks the Bible's astonishing teaching that even the most scrupulous religious observance is insufficient to save us. Whereas religion often leads to self-righteousness and judgmentalism, the gospel humbles us by revealing the hypocrisy of the human heart—and the way our hearts can be healed.

Scripture passages cited (or alluded to) in this message include Matthew 7:21-23: Romans 1:18-3:20; James 3:1; Hebrews 13:17; and Luke 15:11:32.

Why are human beings so good at destroying relationships with those we love? According to the Bible, the answer is that the human heart is hard-wired to justify itself. In this message on Romans 2:1-16, Michael Bouterse, Thrive's local director, unpacks Paul's profound teaching on human hypocrisy, its deadly results, and the cure we desperately need.

Scripture passages cited in this message include Romans 1:21, 25, 29; 1 Corinthians 2:15; Matthew 7:2; and Luke 18:11-12.

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Michael Bouterse, Thrive's local director, takes up Paul's controversial words about homosexuality in Romans 1:26-27. According to this passage, is God homophobic? Is Christianity bad news for those who experience same-sex attraction? The answer to both questions is no. Seen within the broader storyline of the Bible, Christianity's teaching on sex, though countercultural, ultimately points to an even greater source of satisfaction that is available to us in Christ.

Scripture passages cited (or alluded to) in this message include Romans 1:24-28; Matthew 11:28; 19:4-6; Genesis 1-2; 2:18, 24; 19; Ephesians 5:31-32; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 7; Hebrews 4:15; James 3:2; John 9:2-3; Mark 8:34-35.