We have been talking a lot about faith in our Roman’s Sermon Series. We are justified by faith. (Rom. 1:16-17) Abraham’s faith “was counted to him as righteousness.” (Rom. 4:3) “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ is for all who believe.” (Rom. 3:22) There is no way around it, we must put our faith in Jesus! But faith also leads us to action. James writes; “What good it it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14) He even goes so far as to say; “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26) Our faith always leads us to action!
One way to describe the Christian life is “a celebration.” A celebration of who God is, of what God has done for us, and how God operates in our world now and for eternity. We can (and should) celebrate God. This Sunday is one of many celebrations we have in our lives as Christians. We are simply celebrating the fact that we have peace with God. Come celebrate on the beach this Sunday (no service at the school).
Here are the details. Meet at beach at the end of Rosecrans Ave. in Manhattan Beach at 1:00 pm. We will enjoy the beach and play group games for kids and adults in the afternoon. We will have our church service at 4:30 pm on the beach. Bring your own food & drinks. Invite whomever you want! This day is designed to celebrate God and enjoy one another!
“Faith” is one of those words that if you asked 100 people on the street for a definition, you might get 100 different answers. I guarantee you would hear everything from trust to religion to spirituality to a girl’s name to a George Michael song! Wayne Grudem defines faith as; “Trust or dependence on God based on the fact that we take him at his word and believe what he has said.” This is similar to the faith of Abraham in Romans 4:3; “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” In the Bible, faith is always connected to personally believing God.
Often times the greatest teachers for us are people who have “been there.” People who have gone before us and proven themselves to be experts at what they are teaching. It is a whole new level of teaching when it comes from the Greatest Of All Time at any given activity. If we want to learn about home decor and lifestyle, we will listen carefully if the teaching comes from Joanna Gains! If we want to learn how to play golf, we will listen to Tiger Woods! In Romans 4, Paul introduces the G.O.A.T. of Old Testament faith to teach us about justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Romans 4 uses Abraham as our example of a faith-filled person.
Romans is supposedly about “good news.” After all, some of the Apostle Paul’s first words in the letter are; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel (good news), for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Rom. 1:16a) But all we have heard in Rom. 1:18-3:20 are descriptions of God’s wrath, human sin, and a final declaration from God to humankind that everyone is “under sin.” In other words, all humans stand “guilty” before God apart from Jesus. At the end of Rom. 3:20, the human race is left without hope, apart from God, and with our mouths closed (Rom. 3:19) because we have no defense to God’s accusations. Where is the good news???
Courtroom drama is compelling. The accusation. The evidence presented. The closing arguments. Each has its own unique excitement. But the verdict provides the dramatic climax. What will the outcome be of everything put forward? Guilty? Not guilty? Lives depend on the verdict. The book of Romans begins with a courtroom drama. The accusation is that the unrighteous suppress the truth of God in chapter 1. The evidence that all of humanity falls under the category of unrighteous is in chapter 2. Then, in chapter 3, the closing arguments and verdict are presented. There is drama. There is surprise. There is the unfolding clarity that the gospel of Jesus is humanity’s only hope of salvation.
The Great Commission Jesus gives us in Matthew 28:18-20 stresses making disciples of all nations and baptizing disciples in the name of Jesus. This Sunday we will hear from Bryan and Jennifer Lucas in church. Then immediately following church we will head to the Grimes’s house for a baptism and BBQ. This is truly a “Great Commission Sunday!”
Please sign-up to share something at the BBQ Here
“I can’t stand religious people!” This is a sentiment that is common today. Is it fair? In some ways, no. But in other ways, yes. It is absolutely not fair to lump all people that have faith (in some way) as a certain kind of “religious” person. Just like it would be unfair to say “I can’t stand all people from Nevada!” (There are many lovely people in Nevada!) It is also unfair because “religious” people can be loving, kind, self-sacrificing, examples of godliness, and make the world around them better! But the statement above is totally fair if we are talking about a “religious” person who says they love God, but their actions are in complete contradiction to what God desires. They are total hypocrites. I get it why people would not like these sorts of “religious” people.
One of the classic arguments against Christians is, “How dare you push your morality on me?” This is a good argument if morality is simply a conversation about whose personal opinion about morality is better. The flaw in the argument is that Christian morality is from God, not from the individual. In other words, our morality as Christians is not our own. A response to this person might be, “Are you not simply saying your morality is better than my morality? What makes yours better? And, by the way, why are you insisting I abandon my morality for yours?” (insert loving, caring tone) This week in Romans Paul addresses human self-righteousness and morality.
This Sunday is our 2nd Summer BBQ! We will worship, take communion, and I will preach on “The Most Divisive Issue Today” in the American church. Wow. A can’t miss Sunday!
The concept of wrath is not popular in modern culture. And for good reason! God’s wrath is a holy reaction to anything sinful. Wrath is distasteful to modern people because punishment for anything seems harsh, mean, and unnecessary. Harsh because people don’t understand the weight of sin against God. Mean because any level of holding people accountable is taking away freedom. And unnecessary because people don’t believe their actions are wrong. How can we possibly reconcile God’s wrath with His love, justice, mercy, grace, and holiness?
Sin, as theologian D.A. Carson puts it, involves “the de-godding of God.” What a wild statement! We, of course, can never make God not God in reality. But the very nature of sin is de-godding God in our minds and lives. We replace God with other gods that occupy our attention, allegiance, and energy. The Bible calls these God-replacements idols. We de-god God with idols in our lives. And this is the what D.A. Carson is referring to. We take God off of his throne and replace Him with something else. Most of the time, that something else is us. We climb onto God’s throne to run our own lives and make ourselves the greatest authority.
This Sunday we will celebrate two significant life events in our community! First, William Ronald Karch will be baptized. Second, we will celebrate our 2022 graduates after church at the Grimes’s house - all are welcome!
Come this Sunday to celebrate. I will preach a special sermon (not in Roman’s series) on baptism and why The Covenant Church baptizes infants as well as believer’s in baptism. I believe this has practical implications for all of us as a community of believers!
Summer is here! That means Summer BBQ’s and activities. We love to gather together over food and fellowship!
Here are 2 Events for June:
June 5 - After Church BBQ (Stay after church at school for a famous Rock BBQ)
June 12 - Celebrate Rock Graduates (Grimes’s House after church)
Another week of horrible news in our world. Children being killed at school is not right and everyone knows it. We want justice. We want help. We want things to be made right. All of us. Many disagree on what must be done to make things right. But all of us agree this world is broken and needs fixing when school children are killed in a place they should find security, education, and a loving community. Although I believe more can be done to address the problem politically, I ultimately believe we need the power of God to address the defects in our hearts. The defects that would lead to murderous acts. And the defects that lead to anti-God tendencies in all of us. We need the power of God.
I love articles that proclaim, “Celebrities are just like us.” They usually involve a celebrity spilling coffee on themselves, changing a baby’s diaper, or some such mundane life activity. The irony, of course, is that celebrities are not just like us. The coffee they are drinking is in Italy. The baby is being changed at a 5 star resort. Their lives are simply more luxurious and exotic than most! But in terms of being human beings with human joys, sorrows, laughter, and sadness, they are just like us. People in the Bible are similar.
This Sunday I will start preaching in Romans. It is the beginning of a journey that I hope will be life changing for us. Does that sound too big? Life changing? Yes! Romans has been impactful on some of the great church leaders in history. Augustine gave his life to Jesus when confronted with Romans 13:13-14. Martin Luther’s perspective of God changed from hateful judge to loving grace-giver when he understood Romans 1:17. John Wesley’s “heart was warmed” upon hearing a Romans sermon after a long, disillusioning mission experience. For me the call to preach Romans has produced excitement, challenge, and anxiety. Why?
The term “unfinished business” is used in many contexts. A team that loses the championship game has “unfinished business.” They want to finish by winning the following season. Someone who wants to get revenge against their enemy might have “unfinished business.” They want to finish by exacting revenge. In the final verses of Acts we see the most consequential “unfinished business.” The people of Acts have completed their work. The greatest legacy story ever told has come to an end. But there is “unfinished business” for the following generations. The “unfinished business” of gospel proclamation has continued through the centuries since Acts finished. And we still have “unfinished business” today.
Personal motives are tricky. Our motives can be good and pure. Our motives can be hidden and selfish. Our motives can also be so complicated that we don’t even understand them! This week in Acts I will explore Paul’s motives in reaching out to his fellow Jewish countrymen regarding Jesus. Paul is consistent in reaching out to Jews every time he enters a new city. And the Jewish leaders are consistent in persecuting Paul for his belief in Jesus. What could Paul’s motives possibly be reaching out to the Jewish leaders in Rome?
