Romans

Just finished reading Romans. Paul's final thoughts are very practical and personal; lots of clear cut actions and quite a few names. Here are some phrases that caught my eye:

13.1 "there is no authority except that which God has established."
13.6 "the authorities are God's servants"

chap.14 - in three verses regarding personal choices the phrase 'to the Lord' shows up six times and 'to God' once.

chaps. 14 & 15
- big emphasis on consideration for others, seen in direct commands [14.1-15.13] and Paul's testimony [15.23ff]
- a few words deserve study: 14.2 'weak', 14.3 'look down', 14.3 'condemn', 14.10 'judge', 14.13 'judgment', 15.5 'spirit of unity', 15.7 'accept'

14.12 "each of us will give an account of himself to God." Yikes.

14.17 "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righeousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men." I know I preached this many years ago, it makes it's own outline and the point is pretty clear. If I remember correctly I majored on 'not eating and drinking' but I think I would major on 'righteousness, peace and joy' this time.

15.30 "join me in my struggle by praying to God for me." This verse caused me to join with some far-away friends by praying for them. What an encouraging thought that even though I can't literally walk with someone in trouble, I can join his/her struggle.

chap.16 - Reminds me of 3 John where John doesn't sidestep things, he calls people out by name. The one that stands out to me is in verse 10, "Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ." What a sweet compliment!

Romans

I am reading through Paul's letter "to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints." Here are some verses that have stood out to me:

9.8 "...it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring."

9.16 "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy."

11.29 "for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable."

It's the last verse that I keep looking at and thinking about. I don't usually preach from a single verse, I tend to use a chunk of verses or a story; but that one is too juicy to pass over! It's full of good stuff like a smoked sausage on the grill waiting, begging to be eaten. Or the perfect bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day. Man I'm hungry and I have digressed. I think 11.29 would preach well all by itself.