An Orientation to Romans

How do you help different groups of people with different ways of living, imagine and ultimately desire, life together? This is the rhetorical task of Paul in Romans. The revelation of Jesus as messiah leads Paul to reimagine the scriptures, people groups, salvation, and community. Unfortunately, since the medieval age and Luther’s focus on individual salvation, Romans has often been used to divide people and to debase those who do not believe specific precepts. In this sermon series, we will examine Paul’s provocative attempt to knock down walls of hostility in Jesus’ name. Furthermore, we will follow in Paul’s footsteps to consider how the messiah, as revealed through Jesus, helps us to reimagine and ultimately desire life together in a world rife with difference. 

Non-Anxious Wisdom

At the center of the sacred story we tell, week in and week out, is Resurrection: life from death, light from darkness, creation from chaos. This story has occupied a central place in the Christian imagination because it points to a new way to live. In this series, we are exploring the way of life Jesus sets forth in his Sermon on the Mount. The Resurrection speaks over every life, “You, whoever you are, whatever your circumstances, you are blessed because God is with you.” This vision of the with-God life opens up resurrected ways of being such as belonging, love and trust in community, and non-anxious relationship with one another and with the Divine. This series will suggest practices for living Christ’s wisdom within the texture of our ordinary lives.

Prayer & Presence

At the center of the sacred story we tell, week in and week out, is Resurrection: life from death, light from darkness, creation from chaos. This story has occupied a central place in the Christian imagination because it points to a new way to live. In this series, we are exploring the way of life Jesus sets forth in his Sermon on the Mount. The Resurrection speaks over every life, “You, whoever you are, whatever your circumstances, you are blessed because God is with you.” This vision of the with-God life opens up resurrected ways of being such as belonging, love and trust in community, and non-anxious relationship with one another and with the Divine. This series will suggest practices for living Christ’s wisdom within the texture of our ordinary lives.