Sermons on Romans

Sermons on Romans

Outside the Box Experiences

John 3:1-17 and Romans 8:12-17 In the early 1960’s, an academically unremarkable Yale student, with the unexceptional name of Fred Smith, submitted a term paper for his Economics class. The paper outlined his idea for a company that would guarantee overnight delivery of time-sensitive goods. The professor was not impressed. He gave Smith a grade of “C” for his work, with the comment that the idea was not feasible in the real world. Fred Smith pursued his idea nonetheless, and…

Prevailing Against the Gates of Hades

Matthew 16:13-18 and Romans 12:1-8 The weather on this particular day of our Holy Land pilgrimage was uncharacteristically gloomy. Gray clouds hung ominously above us and the misty air dampened our enthusiasm for outdoor exploration. You couldn’t have asked for better weather for a visit to the Gates of Hell. In Old Testament times the place had been the site of a cult to the Canaanite fertility god, Ba’al. In a culture that depended on agriculture for its survival, fertility…

Birthrights

Genesis 32:22-31   Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the Bible is nothing but dull stories about fuddy-duddies and do-gooders. Anyone who says that has obviously never actually read the Bible. And they have certainly never heard about Jacob. Jacob was as cunning and calculating of a con-man as you would find anywhere. A scoundrel who never let a moral principle or a twinge of conscience stand between him and anything he really wanted in life. And he was that…

A Declaration of God-Dependence

Romans 7:15-25a We Americans pride ourselves on, and jealously guard, our independence. Yesterday we held our annual star-spangled celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Also, recently, some people chose to assert their independence in a less desirable manner by disregarding social distancing guidelines and wearing protective masks during the pandemic. Independence is a worthy this to celebrate. But independence can also create illusions of self-sufficiency. It can make us forget that there are some things that we…

Justification for the Back Pew Crowd

Luke 18:9-14 and Romans 3:19-31 I recently read an article that contained a tongue-in-cheek list of justifications for not sitting in the front pew in church on Sunday mornings. Since the front pews are the least populated neighborhood in the sanctuary, I have paraphrased a few of these justifications for you. If you sit in the back pew, there will already be money in the offering plate when it gets to you, so no one will even notice how much…

Fatherly Advice from a Shaggy Bark Juniper (Summer Series)

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 and Romans 5:1-5 Much of the Book of Proverbs is written in the style of fatherly wisdom that is intended to shape the character of children so that they may grow to be in alignment with God’s purpose for their lives. So, you can see why Proverbs can be a treasure trove of material for a Father’s Day sermon. It may seem strange then, that on this Father’s Day, the passage we read from Proverbs is all…