Category Archives: Romans

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 1:16-17

Dear God, I think 98% of Christians need training in how to share the Gospel. I’m included in that group. We either don’t know or over time we forget what we are “selling.” In fact, I know there are people in church every Sunday who are there because they’ve heard about this hope, but they still leave having never heard the message: There is hope! There is peace! There is freedom! All you have to do is let go of yourself, accept this wonderful gift of Jesus and then begin a life of discipleship.

I’ve been asked to preach at this one church every month for the last few, and now I’ll be there twice in August. Up until now, I’ve been following the passages the national church assigns for the day and then preaching from that—usually the Old Testament lesson. But now I’m really feeling led to take the second one in August and do an old fashioned Gospel message.

There’s a son by Dennis where the chorus says, “And I wish I could take your heart into my heart. I wish I could show you just how good it feels to let go of the pain you know is killing you and cling to the only one who can heal. But I know if I did then it wouldn’t be you. Because you, you’re the only one choosing for you. It’s true.”

Father, teach me to share the Gospel and make me your messenger. Remind me of the need that you met in my life over 30 years ago and guide me deeper into your presence.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

³ Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.  Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Romans 12:3-5

Dear God, I have some confessions this morning. I was given a really great award this last week—one of which I’m really proud. A couple of years ago I would never have imagined that they would choose me for it, but my first confession is that this year, with some of the things with which I’ve been involved in the community, I thought I might have a shot at it and I wanted it. So that’s my first confession. I wanted the award I got and I would have been disappointed if I hadn’t gotten it.

Second, I confess that I like the attention. You know me well, and you know that I love to be admired. It is a huge vice for me. I’m getting better—I can feel myself getting better about needing it—but it’s still an issue for me.

Third, there’s a part of me that is tired and nervous that I will allow myself to slump after receiving the recognition. Or worse, that I will make my activities about the recognition instead of about giving you the glory and honor for everything I do, and following your lead and seeking your blessing.

Father, I’m a mess, but you provided me one really gracious thing in this. The award was actually awarded to another person in addition to me, and he is such a great guy. If I put pen to paper, I would say that he is more deserving than I am. I just appreciate and respect him so much. So it is humbling to be honored in this way for doing things that I’ve done out of obedience to you. It is humbling to be put in the same category and league as this other man. My trick is to embrace everyone around me and the vision you have given to all of us as your body. I cannot do everything. I am certainly not good at everything. I need you. I need my wife. I need my children. I need my parents, in-laws, and siblings. I need my friends, my church, and my community. I am just a part, and one unfortunate thing about the role I usually play is that it often gets recognition that other parts don’t get. So help me to be mindful of all of this and to always remember that it’s all about you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Romans 12:14-16

Dear God, you figured out early on that we all need community. Adam wasn’t doing well just hanging out by himself. He needed relationship. And when we are in community we need to embrace the art of loving you with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Taking these verses, when we are in conflict we need to pray for the other person and want the best for them. When someone is celebrating we need to celebrate. When someone is mourning, we need to mourn. We need to get out of ourselves and really care about others. We need to decrease and let you increase through us so that you might reach others through us.

And then there is humility. To be able to acknowledge that every human life is as worthy as mine. I have been very guilty of judging someone’s character by what I observe on the outside only to find that the successful person was morally bankrupt and the bankrupt person had a heart of pure gold. I’m sorry for this.

Father, I submit to all three verses today. Teach me to love well and to learn from everyone around me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning. We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

Romans 14:20-15:2

Dear God, the whole issue of what constitutes a sin in your eyes and what doesn’t is one that, again, Satan ha successfully used to divide Christians for the last 2,000 years—and it started almost immediately in the early church. And that’s just over the issue of “right and wrong.” Some examples of this would be drinking alcohol, premarital sex, same sex relationships/marriage, etc.

But then we get into differences in theology, which can be even more vague and have a potential to be man-made. Examples of this would be infant baptism, alcohol, musical instruments in worship, and even whether you can use anything but the King James Bible.

Man, we love to judge each other. And I confess to you that I do it. Growing up Baptist and now attending a Catholic church with my wife, there is a temptation to judge all kinds of things that I see because they a different than what I learned growing up. I emphasize those two words because a lot of us assume what we learned originally is the truth, but when we examine it more closely we start to realize that it has the potential to be as flawed as the thing we are criticizing.

Father, you cannot make me an instrument of your peace when I am going around judging people on a wholesale level. So help me to major in the majors, keep myself pure according to how you convict me, and love everyone I can.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Romans 12:9-16

Dear God, Romans 12 is one of those passages that you hear referenced a lot in Christian circles. Why? Because it’s good stuff. But as I think about each thing that Paul mentions here, I can’t help but think it all goes back to Jesus’ two great commandments: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39). It’s that simple.

The problem with evaluating myself on how I am doing in these areas is that I have no perspective on myself. It takes outside people to look at me and ask how I’m doing. I need their perspective and their critical eye because it always takes someone else to push you harder than you can push yourself. That’s why even athletes who participate in solo sports like tennis or golf still need coaches. So how am I doing there? Frankly, I probably need a coach.

Father, I’d like to think I live a life that lives up to Romans 12, but I know I’m falling short. Of course I am. Help me to do better. Use my wife to sharpen me. Use our church to sharpen me. Use my friends and family too. Help me to not be too proud to completely submit to you and those whom you put in my life to help me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God. ’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

Romans 14:10-13

Dear God, who was it that I was listening to this last week that gave a similar message. I can’t remember who it was, but they were basically talking about a company that focuses not on what it is doing to improve itself, but instead focuses on a competing company and why it competes with them too aggressively. Oh, I remember now. There’s an outside consultant who works with us on our board retreat every year and she mentioned it in our planning meeting. She was talking about the difference between us benchmarking ourselves against other agencies to see where we might improve and sitting around and feeling sorry for ourselves because someone else might take a different tack than we do. Don’t worry about changing them. Change yourself.

That’s what this passage communicates to me this morning. I have certainly not figured you out, I often have a hard time discerning your will, so why would I spend any time evaluating someone else’s relationship with you?

Father, help me to be willing to be a builder of your kingdom through how you live out your will in my life. And help me to be an encourager of you in others. Help me to not make anyone stumble, but instead point people to you. It starts with the life I live, the things I say and the actions I take. I confess that on Saturday I participated in ridiculing someone else with a friend. I’m sorry for that I really am. Come to think of it, I did the same thing Friday too about a different person. I need to be better in this area and give more respect to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen