Tag: Romans

Morning Musing: Romans 1:13-15

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“Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I get something in my mind a certain way, I struggle to think about it in any other terms. That makes me remarkably tenacious in pursuit of a goal, but it can also make me irritatingly stubborn and unable to easily shift away from one idea when it turns out to not work very well. Sometimes, though, the problem isn’t with the idea itself, but with the path I’m taking to get there and the timing of the whole thing. Paul was going in the direction God wanted him, but the timing wasn’t always right. His mission was clear, though, so he knew where he was going. Let’s finish off Paul’s greeting to the Roman church today, and join in his mission.

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Morning Musing: Romans 1:11-12

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“For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Cultural Christianity was a real thing in this country for much of the 20th century and into the 21st. If you wanted to be someone, you had to be an active member of a church. Preferably a Mainline Denominational church, and the closer it was located to the center of town, the better. Gradually, though, the active member part was dropped in favor of merely an association with a church. Today, even that is mostly gone. The church really isn’t seen as a necessity anymore culturally, and that cultural trend is bleeding into the church itself. So, why does the church matter? Let’s talk about that as we continue Paul’s greeting to the Roman believers today.

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Morning Musing: Romans 1:8-10

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“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son — that I constantly mention you, always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

On rare occasions I have the opportunity to preach somewhere other than my church. When this happens, I don’t approach the message the same way as I do with the people I know and preach to every week. Instead, I try to stay more generalized in my focus and encouraging in my tone. No one wants to get scolded by a stranger. Paul had never visited the church in Rome. As a result, he didn’t approach them with quite the same familiarity as he did the church in Corinth that he had planted and spent nearly two years pastoring. Today, tomorrow, and Monday, let’s take a look at how Paul greeted these people he had never met.

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Morning Musing: Romans 1:5-7

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“Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles, including you who are also called by Jesus Christ. To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Let’s image you are walking through a field on a sunny day. And as you walk you stumble upon something you have never seen before. You genuinely don’t know what it is. Once you have determined that it is safe, you set about trying to figure out what it is. What is the first step in that process? There are perhaps many potential answers to that question. I submit that the most important answer is figuring out what it is for. Until you know what something is for—what its purpose is—you won’t know much about its identity. Purpose and identity are inextricably linked like that. As we finish off Paul’s opening statement in his letter to the believers in Rome, he offers a window into the purpose of our salvation. Let’s explore what he says here.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 1:1-4

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“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God  —  which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures —  concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I was getting my degree in chemistry, I was the weird kid in the department. This wasn’t because of personality (I was generally right at home in that sense as all chemistry majors are a little weird). It was because I was the one kid in the department who hated lab work. I vastly preferred classwork. I wanted all the theory and didn’t care two cents about the practice. My brain didn’t process information that way. Oh, I faked my way through it just fine, but I never really understood what I was doing. That included when I had to write lab report abstracts. Those were the introduction paragraphs for experiment write-ups. You had to pack a ton of information into a tiny word count. If you’ve been following this blog for long, you know that brevity isn’t really one of my strengths. It wasn’t really the apostle Paul’s strength either, but he could still pack a ton of information into a few words. His introductory statement for his letter to the believers in Rome is a great example. Let’s explore part of it as we begin a whole new journey in this new year.

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