The Book of Romans: September 14, 2025
Pastor Michael started off this Sunday’s sermon talking about how rough a week it was, not only on a national level but in his personal life. His intended sermon about Luke 22 is so important that he felt he was not in the right mind to preach it this week. Instead, Pastor Michael and Rachel Flynn took turns reading through the Book of Romans.
Many times, when we read a book of the Bible, we are reading only a few verses here and there, getting what we are looking for or until we hear a word from God and stop. Today, reading through the entire book helps put the message in perspective. Paul starts off talking about the power of salvation and then goes through what makes it necessary for us to be saved. Salvation does not come through the law, through works, or through who our ancestor was. Instead, through the redemptive work of Jesus.
The first seven chapters build slowly to reach a crescendo in Romans 8 and the declarations that we have no condemnation anymore because of the work of Jesus Christ, that what we suffer today is not worthy to be compared to the glory we will have, and that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from God’s love.
As we continued through Romans, the practical applications of the first 8 chapters become apparent. How we become a grafted member of God’s chosen people changes how we interact with each other, our government, and our world. We become transformed as we renew our mind. We sacrifice our bodies and lives to walk closer with Jesus Christ. God works on us to become better citizens of the world to come and we show that by being the changed people who are radically different than who we were before.
Finally, Paul greets a church in a city he has never been to in a very personal way, naming names and telling stories of people who are in the church. He introduces his letter bearer, people he had served with earlier in his ministry, and people he knows through reputation only. While he has never been to the church of Rome, he shows that he is already heavily invested in the ministry there and loves the church he hopes to one day visit.
Going through the entire book in one sitting was long but really does tell a cohesive story that we usually do not see. Paul was writing not to a group of people who show up to a building or house weekly, but to friends and family who are dear to him. May we share that love for the Church Universal no matter our denominational, racial, or geographical differences.
