Rome: Lost and Found

This past weekend at Eastbrook Church, I continued our series “Light for the City” by looking at the importance of the Gospel as viewed through the main themes of Romans 1-8. I planted the message in Romans 1:16-17, which many commentators say is the thesis, or main point, of the entire letter to the Romans:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’

I organized the message around two big ideas:

1. Apart from the Gospel, we are utterly lost.
2. But through the Gospel, we are divinely found.

Within the second idea, I took us through five key aspects of the letter to the Romans as seen in the words of Romans 1:16-17:

1. The Gospel is God’s power in Christ
2. The Gospel brings salvation
3. The Gospel is by faith
4. The Gospel is for all
5. The Gospel reveals God’s righteousness

While in many ways this message was basic, I hoped to call us back to the immense gratitude we should have before God because of the Gospel while also pointing to same aspects of the basics that we have largely ignored.

You can listen to my message and access the bulletin outline for it at the Eastbrook web-site here. You can also subscribe to the Eastbrook podcast here.