Paul's letter to the Romans started with the bad news first the corruption of human nature and how man tries to “Duck & Dodge.” The doctrine of man’s total depravity underscores a universal need for the Gospel of Christ! Paul spent 1½ chapters illustrating how people fall into one of three different camps: The secular person who suppresses truth and intentionally fabricates a false narrative; This person lives as if there is NO God! The moral person who clings to moralism: “I do more good than bad.” They self-medicate with an attitude of superiority rendering God grace useless in their lives; & lives as if THEY are God! The religious person, living by rules & regulations tries to please God! Paul's point is that all people are guilty before God.
Not one single person is righteous!
Ducking And Dodging
Romans 3:1-20
October 16, 2018 • Pastor Jeff Cramer • Romans 3:1–20
Transforming Grace
July 1, 2018 • Pastor Jeff Cramer • Romans 1:1–7
Romans has been called “The Gospel According to Grace” because it’s a book of inspiration & renewal! However, in the first three chapters Paul lays bare the need for the Gospel of grace because all are guilty! The secular man = Living a life as though God doesn’t exist! The self-righteous man = I’m ok, I’ll take my chances! The hypocritical religious man = I was raised with God! Now, as we put into practice use the New Testament, let’s understand at a high-level the reason for the different books. The N.T. can be broken into 4-major blocks: It starts with the Gospels which present the life & work of Jesus Christ! Followed by the book of Acts… Revealing the History of the early Church & work of the Holy Spirit. Next, Romans & the Epistles covering both doctrine & Christian living! Finally, Revelation which is the forth-telling of what’s to come through the unveiling of Jesus Christ’s rule & reign on earth.
Fruit, Fellowship and Faith
July 8, 2018 • Pastor Jeff Cramer • Romans 1:8
As we learned last week, Romans is known as “The Gospel According to Grace”, because of the inspiration & renewal it brings! As we learn about the conditions in Rome when Paul wrote this, around (A.D. 56 - 58), the cultural tones magnify the beauty of grace God has given! It's like watching a great movie where the under-dog gains strength to overcome by the end of the movie – victory! Well Rome was an awesome place to live for the elite with a population of about one-million people. But for the lower-class Rome was a daily struggle! The lower class lived in multi-story homes, like apartments – think big city living! Crime was a real factor because food / water / & sanitation were scares commodities. Beyond that when someone became a Christian their families typically pushed off of them because Christians were labeled as: “Enemies of the human race.”
Fellowship and Faith
July 24, 2015 • Pastor Jeff Cramer • Romans 1:9–17
As we continue in the discovery of God’s love for people let’s start by grabbing hold of truth! “The gospel is not advice to people, suggesting that they lift themselves up. Rather it is the very power that lifts them up.” (Morris) The Gospel message changes peoples lives! In (Acts 9:6) Paul was changed in an instances from a madman into a guy that was not ashamed of the Gospel. Well today we’re going to explore two simple points: Fellowship & Faith