This Sunday we’ll begin a new study in the book of Romans. I taught through this book 17 years ago, but I’m not sure I agree with that guy, so I’m re-imagining our approach to this magnum opus from Paul. The letter to the Roman church is considered one of the most important books of the New Testament. It certainly has the most robust and dense theological arguments of any of Paul’s writings.

It’s impossible to overstate the impact that this single letter has had on the history and ongoing formation of the Christian church. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Barth and a host of other important thinkers of the Christian faith all point to this letter as having the greatest impact on their spiritual worldview. The writing of Romans is an amazing example of an intellectual mind from the ancient world.

There is little dispute that Apostle Paul was the author of the letter – written sometime between 55-57 AD. We’ll discuss the reasons he may have written this letter on Sunday, as well as looking at how the letter unfolds and the best way of approaching it for study. Traditionally, this book has been seen as a series of systematic theological arguments on a variety of subjects. I have been persuaded (HT: N.T. Wright, Katherine Grieb) that Romans has a narrative substructure which lays out the story of God’s righteousness, revealed for us in Jesus.

So…we’re going to be keeping story in view as we journey through this epic letter. The Story, that is.

We’ll be starting with an introduction, but then we’ll read Paul’s greeting: chapter 1:1-7. We’ll be using the NLT for presenting the text.

From what we understand, Paul hadn’t yet been to the church in Rome, so he is introducing himself. The letter begins like most ancient letters do – the author identifying himself and stating his position in life, then identifying his intended recipient. Paul elaborates on this formula quite a bit though. V2-6 expand the greeting into a summary of the gospel. Here’s what’s interesting: V2-6 are all modifiers of the original subject, Paul. Paul is still in the process of introducing and describing himself in V2-6.

What does that tell us about Paul and his connection to the gospel? On personal reflection, what stories do you feel have shaped your life so far? If you were to introduce yourself to people who didn’t know you, what stories would you tell that would best indicate who you are as a person?

Based on what Paul writes in his greeting, what sort of person do you understand him to be? As you consider what characterizes Paul, what aspects of him do you admire. What parts, if any, of his person put you off?

I cannot properly express how stoked I am to begin this study! What’s yer story, morning glory?

Gandalf’s charge in the second of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is probably one of my favorite moments in all of those movies. Admittedly, those movies are suffering over time (nobody should be allowed to make movies that are that long) – but that moment always sticks out for me. It, of course, reminds me a lot of what we’ll be reading about this Sunday as we continue our study in the book of Revelation, reading chapters 19:11-20:15.

We will be reading about Jesus’ Parousia – Jesus’ second coming. Still – we’ll have a lot of dense imagery to get through, so be warned.

As you read the description of the One riding the white horse – who do you believe He is? Why do you believe his clothes are stained red with blood before any battle takes place.

When we read this opening account, we see two armies lined up for a classical battle scene – but by the time we get to v20, prisoners are rounded up and the vultures are already at work. Why do you think there is no battle described here? What do you think the symbolism of the sword from Jesus’ mouth taking down the armies of the earth may mean?

Chapter 20 is a doozy. It is here, within 6 verses that we have a great controversial subject which has divided the church for ages. The Millennial Kingdom – the 1,000 year reign of Christ. We will be discussing the various views about how this should be interpreted – and I’ll do my best to explain these ideas as simply as possible (we’ll try to avoid this).

No matter how one interprets the details of chapter 20, one thing comes across loudly and clearly. All of human and spiritual creation will be accountable to someone. Who is the Someone identified as? We are told (symbolically) in a courtroom scene that ledgers of deeds will be examined to determine a person’s fate. However, there is one book (singular) which seems to set deeds aside. What book is that? Read Revelation 13:8 – what does the name of that book imply about how we get our names in it?

It will be a sobering, yet hopeful talk we have on Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Most of us are familiar with the archetypal trope of the femme fatale. The term is French for fatal woman. She is usually presented as a temptress, driven, manipulative and shrewd. She is often very dangerous to the men she tangles with, usually being cast as a villain in the story. From the Bible to Arthurian tales, to Shakespeare, to modern film-noir we encounter this archetype. Certainly there are stories with men who fit the pattern as well; the homme fatale. A handsome, mysteriously seductive, yet dangerous man. I suppose the female version is more prominent because it overturns and threatens the formerly normalized power dynamics, making for a more intriguing story. That’s my theory anyway.

As we continue our study of Revelation we’ll be reading chapter 17 and we will encounter an archetypal femme fatale: the harlot described as Babylon. Revelation is all written in symbolic language, remember, so what is really being described has nothing to do with women or prostitution, but rather, fidelity to God.

The woman is described as sitting on the Beast we encountered earlier, in chapter 13. When you read over her description, what might the various details about the scarlet clothes, the jewelry and what it is that she is drunk on be symbolizing? If we remember the last time this sort of imagery was employed, in chapter 2, when the church in Thyatira was rebuked for committing adultery with Jezebel, it was most likely addressing a compromise of convictions in the church. What might this woman in chapter 17 be representing?

When the Beast is described, attention is paid to his heads and horns, with cryptic significance assigned to them. We’ll cover the various theories about what they might be representing on Sunday.

If this imagery is describing the systems of power and popular ethos in our world, what warning might we take away from it? What encouragement could it give?

The chapter is filled with vivid and disturbing images – hopefully we’ll be able to get a handle on the message it conveys. See you Sunday!

This Sunday we’re going to spend a significant amount of time talking about judgement and wrath, specifically, God’s judgement and wrath. We’ll be continuing our study in Revelation, covering chapters 15-16. It’s not very often that an entire message finds judgement as its focal point, but this is the nature of the two chapters we’ll be reading and we wouldn’t be treating the text honestly nor honorably if we were to skim past it. So buckle up because we’re going to look squarely at this subject…and believe it or not, I think it may prove to be encouraging.

God’s judgement is one of those unfortunate concepts that falls into two extremes in the history of church doctrine. Some elements of the church get so focused on judgement and wrath that a caricature is created of God, one that resembles pagan concepts more than biblical ones. On the other hand, some in the church are so concerned that talk of God judging might undermine the message of his grace that they also create a caricature of God; one of a doting old grandparent who just winks and smiles in the face of all that’s wrong.

But what are we to make of wrath and judgement ascribed to God, not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New, as in the chapters we’ll be reading this Sunday?

I believe without reservation that God is not mad at humanity. I believe the message of the Gospel, that God so LOVED the world he sent Jesus, his son, as an atoning sacrifice. I also believe what the bible says about God’s wrath. The main issue is the focus of that wrath. This is something we’ll talk about at length on Sunday.

For now, just consider this: what comes to mind when you hear the word “wrath”? When you think of judgment, what do you envision? In what ways could God’s judgement be a positive thing that compels the nations to worship God, as is described in chapter 15:4?

Don’t get nervous – I think it’s important to talk about these ideas and do our best to grapple with them. If we observe this rightly, it’s very possible to come away from a teaching like this with a whole new sense of hope. See you on Sunday!

Do you remember being a child and watching scary movies? Sometimes, when the monster was about to attack or the action got really tense, it seemed prudent to hide under a blanket, or cover your eyes, or suddenly get interested in something else until the tension eased in the story. Who am I kidding…I’m still like that. However, as a young tyke, I can remember my mom noticing my worry and reminding me: “it’s just a movie, it’s not real”. If it were a movie she had already seen, she would sometimes let me know how it ended: “It’s okay, they’ll stop the monster, I’ve seen this”. I don’t think people cared about spoilers then as much as they do now.

Anyway, as we are returning to our study in Revelation this Sunday, we’ll be reading chapter 14, where we’ll be getting some reassurance in the midst of some really tense images. The chapter intends to remind those who follow Jesus about their destination. (spoiler) There’s a good ending for those who believe.

In v1-5 we are greeted with some familiar characters – the Lamb and the 144,000 followers of the Lamb. We first met these 144K back in chapter 7, and we concluded that they were most likely a symbolic representation of God’s redeemed people throughout time. They showed up as an interlude between the 6th and 7th seal…a quick look at God’s protection of his people, right before we saw the finale of history.

As we look at how these people are described in v4-5, what significance do we assign to each of these symbolic characteristics?

v 6-12 has a vision of three angels, or messengers, each declaring invitations and warnings. The first angel has the invitation of the gospel. To whom is that gospel offered? What similarities do you see between those people and the people of chapter 13? What does this tell us about God’s heart?

This chapter is pretty loaded with disturbing pictures and forecasts – most of which we’ll try to unpack and explore on Sunday. Hopefully, we’ll see you then!