reintroduction to Book of Romans

Hi Class!

Thanks for meeting Sunday and getting off to a good start together.

We introduced one another, shared answers to ice-breaker questions, had a prayer and did a quick review/intro to the Book of Romans. Paul wrote this as a letter of introduction to the Christian church in Rome. It had been his heart's desire and sense of call from God to go to Rome for many years. He may have dictated/penned this letter as he waited under a kind of house arrest, in the process of answering charges brought against him by Jews and Jewish Christians. As a Roman Citizen he had appealed his case to Caesar, leading to a sequence of events that we believe, eventually, resulted in his arrival in Rome.

Romans is unique among Paul's letters in that he is writing to a church he himself did not begin. All of his other letters are written to congregations and individuals he knew well. So instead of addressing particular circumstances in congregations, he is writing a general letter which lays out his views on beliefs and practices that were fast becoming normative in the early church.

In broad strokes, we touched on several areas of belief that most modern Christians would assume to be orthodox, but which were still in process of being formed and articulated in the early years of the Church. We read these Scriptures with light discussion, then offered class participants the assignment of reflecting on these during the week with a view toward answering four questions:

1. What does the Scripture tell me about God?
2. What does the Scripture tell me about myself?
3. What does the Scripture tell me about my relationship with God?
4. What is the Scripture prompting me to do?

Here are the themes, texts, and contemplators:

Human sinfulness -- 3:9-12, Llew
Justification by faith in Jesus Christ -- 3:21-26, Laura
Triune experience of God -- 1:7b; 15:13, Emma
Work of the Holy Spirit -- 8:1-4, 26-27, Arlene
Nature of the church as Body of Christ -- 12:3-8, Sarah
Resurrection and eternal life -- 8:18-21, Ken
-- 14:9-12, Dan
Meaning of persecution/suffering in Christ -- 8:28-39, Shirley

We'll focus on sharing our thoughts on these passages this coming Sunday, 10:00 a.m. in the downstairs Stephen Ministry Classroom.

You are all in our prayers this week, and we look forward to seeing you, learning and growing together.

Pastor Dan and Laura