Family life can be complicated. Fathers can be adored in one family and despised in another. One father can be trying his absolute best, while another is simply not available. Life in this fallen world can lead to terrible memories of family life. At the best family life is complicated, and at the worst it feels like hell on earth. No wonder some people are troubled with the concept of God as our Father. Some bristle at the theological concept of a Father/child relationship between God and us. Yet, that is the truth the Bible presents us with in Romans 8:12-17. God is our Father. We are His children.
Advent season anticipates the coming Messiah, Jesus! We join the anticipation as a church in 2 ways this weekend. First, The Rock Annual Christmas Party on Sat., Dec. 3 at The Wiley’s house. Click Here for Details. Second, we continue Advent season with the 2nd Sunday of Advent this Sunday. I will preach on the anticipated Jesus out of Romans 8, perhaps the most revered chapter in the whole Bible! I hope to see you this weekend!
Advent season anticipates the coming Messiah, Jesus! We join the anticipation as a church in 2 ways this weekend. First, The Rock Annual Christmas Party on Sat., Dec. 3 at The Wiley’s house. Click Here for Details. Second, we continue Advent season with the 2nd Sunday of Advent this Sunday. I will preach on the anticipated Jesus out of Romans 8, perhaps the most revered chapter in the whole Bible! I hope to see you this weekend!
Let’s gather this Sunday to give thanks to God for who he is, what he has done, and what he has made us! He is good, His works are wondrous, and we are declared righteous! We will gather for worship this Sunday to sing, pray, hear God’s Word, and celebrate Thanksgiving with a meal. The turkey is taken care of… click this link to contribute.
Ok, Ok… I admit the headline “Black Widow” is clickbait. In modern vernacular, a black widow is a woman who kills her husband for financial reasons. Not exactly what Paul had in mind writing, “but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.” (Rom. 7:2b) But Paul does use the illustration of a wife being free to remarry after her husbands death to help us understand we are no longer under law, but under grace. In Rom. 7:1-6, Paul uses this marriage illustration to help us understand we are no longer “married” to the law, but are “married” to Jesus. The system of works righteousness through the law is dead. Our marriage relationship has changed. And our marriage to Jesus is infinitely better!
This Sunday begins the holiday season at The Rock! Please note the following dates to celebrate, fellowship, and serve:
Nov. 6 (This Sunday) - Thanksgiving Service Project During/After Church Service
Nov. 20 - Annual Rock Thanksgiving Service/Dinner
Dec. 3 - Annual Rock Christmas Party at Wiley’s
Dec. 18 - Special Christmas Service
Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve Service at Peninsula Community Church (5:00 pm)
Dec. 25 - No Sunday Service (Enjoy Christmas Day!)
The 1960’s were a time when many musicians were seeking freedom and enlightenment. It was an era when people were seeking freedom from traditions, structures, and ideas of the past. Some sought and found that the freedom they were looking for did not exist. They simply transferred their idolatry from one idol to the next. The Velvet Underground sang, “I’m set free to find another illusion.” One end of the quest for true freedom ends in skepticism and disillusionment. Freedom is an illusion. Seeking after idols is meaningless. But if the quest for freedom ends up in Jesus, there is hope. Jesus truly frees us from sin and death, the things that really matter. This kind of freedom brings joy, peace, love, and hope. Romans 6 tells us about this kind of freedom. But, oddly, Romans 6 is also about slavery.
The Apostle Paul seems to always know what his audience is thinking. He addresses people’s concerns and questions before they are even asked in the New Testament. He starts chapters 3, 4, and 6 in Romans with anticipated questions from his prior statements. In Romans 6 he anticipates responses to the facts that “grace abounded” (5:20) and “grace also must reign (5:21). The question posed is, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Essentially, the question asked is implying that if grace abounds, can’t we just continue sinning? Paul answers, “By no means!” He essentially rubs his temples, sighs, and says, “We can’t have nice things.” Grace is the greatest gift God can give us, and we respond with questions regarding continuing our sinful lifestyle.
The Apostle Paul seems to always know what his audience is thinking. He addresses people’s concerns and questions before they are even asked in the New Testament. He starts chapters 3, 4, and 6 in Romans with anticipated questions from his prior statements. In Romans 6 he anticipates responses to the facts that “grace abounded” (5:20) and “grace also must reign (5:21). The question posed is, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Essentially, the question asked is implying that if grace abounds, can’t we just continue sinning? Paul answers, “By no means!” He essentially rubs his temples, sighs, and says, “We can’t have nice things.” Grace is the greatest gift God can give us, and we respond with questions regarding continuing our sinful lifestyle.
There have been many conversations in relationships that go something like this: “After all I have done for you, you are going to doubt that I love you?” Teens question their parents decisions. Husbands doubt their wives’ love for them. Wives wonder whether their husband truly cares. Some of these may be valid, and some may not. It is subjective and changing. What never changes is God’s love for us. Yet, we still question His love during hard circumstances, suffering, and trials in our lives.
I’m interested in observing people. They can be celebrities, politicians, neighbors, friends, and/or family. It is interesting to observe people’s actions, behaviors, beliefs, likes, dislikes, reactions to circumstances - how they live their lives. I’ve found that no matter who they are, where they are from, and what they believe, there are common threads in what people seek after in their lives. Three of them are peace, access, and happiness. Peace that comes from lack of conflict or any general hassles in life. People want access to people (bosses, celebrities, people in power, popular crowd), places (VIP entries, clubs, popular restaurants), and activities (concerts, sporting events, galleries). And people simply want to have joy & happiness. The problem is people try and find inner satisfaction in these things alone. And it does not work.
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.
