Romans
Romans 6:15-23
December 17, 2017 • Pastor Steve Feden
Have you ever felt like your life is out of control? Have you ever felt the frustration of doing something even though you really don’t want to do it? On one hand you know you have to, but on the other hand, you don’t want to, and THAT leaves you resentful and frustrated and angry! IF ONLY YOU COULD GET YOUR LIFE UNDER CONTROL, THEN THINGS WOULD BE BETTER, RIGHT? Romans 6 deals with control issues! The most unsettling times in anyone's life is feeling tugged in two directions at once. This is called internal conflict! There is the thing I WANT to do, and then there is the thing I feel COMPELLED to do, even against my will! You will no doubt determine to control yourself in the “dessert department” over the holidays. But then there will be yummy desserts and you will feel compelled to eat them against your will! Shame, frustration, and anger follow! Ugghhh. But what about when these conflicts are emotional, moral, spiritual? Come and hear some super-duper “not so secret” insight from God about control and conflict, folly and freedom in the passage from Romans 6!
Romans 7:1-6
January 7, 2018 • Pastor Steve Feden
Its been a few weeks, so I will remind you that we have moved from the Courthouse (Chapters 1-5) to the Power Plant (Chapters 6-8). In these chapters, Paul the Apostle gives perspective-changing truths about how life and sin and “law”. These chapters are especially important if your experience as a Christian has left you feeling like a failure, alone, and “unfruitful”. It may be due to the fact that, for many Christians, their whole Christian experience is about following rules and abstaining from the things that they shouldn’t be doing and being inconsistent and hiding behind spiritual language and rituals. Is that unfair to say? Chapter 7 is all about the law. Verses 1-6 actually follow up from Ch 6:15, with another “Don’t you know…”. Paul now calls on marriage as an illustration to prove his next point. But to whet your whistle, I will ask you if you have ever seen how powerful love can be. I have seen people quit smoking, change hobbies, stay up all hours of the night, and do other crazy things for love… or for the one they love and want to please.
Romans 7:7-25
January 14, 2018 • Pastor Steve Feden
On this Sunday we will work our way through the end of Romans 7, as we find ourselves in the heart of the “power plant” section of Romans. If you read through chapter 7, you will see “law” and “sin” used over and over again. What is their relationship? It might surprise you! You will also notice that Chapter 7 is a very “personal” chapter — Paul uses “I” and “me” and “my” repeatedly, but Jesus and the Holy Spirit are nowhere to be found. Where are they? Chapter 8! But we have ground to cover and arguments to make before we get there… Remember, Paul has been saying some tough things about "the law”. He said that we had to die to the law so we could be free! Wait a second, Paul! Does that mean the moral rules to govern spiritual behavior are bad… if it is something I need to die to and be set free from? In the first section (verses 7-12) Paul shows where the real blame lies. It appears that the law is not the problem, but SIN is the problem! We have to know the right problem so we can have the right solution, right? The next section is for every Christian that feels like they are failing to be “good Christians”. Is your experience unique? Is there something wrong with you? You are coming to church and learning about God and agreeing with truth and trying really hard to do better — to be a better father, or mother, or worker, or whatever. But you just keep falling back into old patterns and making the same mistakes. Paul’s experience is so familiar and highlights the “double nature” of people! Yes, God’s people. He highlights the internal war of the wills and the failure of more rules to fix it! Once again, the law fails to make things better. Instead, it makes things worse! Paul needs to be rescued from himself! By the end, Paul is forced to admit failure and cry out for help. He is torn by the inner conflict of wanting to please God and to please self. He is face to face with the monster of sin, and law has failed to tame it. What next? How do we get free from sin? We find out how NOT to get free from sin… and then we follow into chapter 8 another time! This is a spectacular chapter. View and see! Then share with a friend. Pastor Steve
Romans 8:1-11
February 4, 2018 • Pastor Steve Feden
We slide into Romans 8, which is just a continuation of what the apostle Paul has been discussing in Chapter 7! Its been a few weeks, so I need to remind you we will be in the “Power Plant” — where we discover the power source for living the Christian life?! Well, we KNOW it is not in our own power to live a life pleasing to God — that was the topic of Ch 7 that ends with Paul declaring what a wretched man he was! As the song states, it was amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. While chapter 7 was filled with “me” and “I”, chapter 8 mentions the Spirit no less than 25 times! Almost without fail, Romans 8 is recognized to reveal the most important and necessary truths for living the “normal” Christian life! It is “LIFE IN THE SPIRIT”! What does that even mean? Do I have that? How does it look? So to whet your whistle, I will ask you a question. Is it necessary for us to obey the speed limit? Stop at red lights? Absolutely! It's the law, and breaking it will cost you! But, then why do emergency vehicles get to be exempt? There must be another law that frees them from obeying the first law! RIGHT! Well….what does that have to do with me and Romans 8??? Everything… and the key to your Christian life! No, you don’t need anything new, you just need to know what you already have! If this seems a little vague and mysterious… it's meant to be! Find out how to be exempt from the law of sin and death! No condemnation, no punishment, no death! That sounds pretty important! How? Not by religious rules and rituals! How? Play the video to see.