This Week Festival of Palm Sunday Jesus on a donkey . . . crowds shouting praise . . . palm branches on the road. The crowd on the first Palm Sunday welcomed Jesus as a hero and a king. He deserved every bit of it and oh, so much more. This Thursday or Sunday join…

This Week On December 7, 1972, we saw our planet for the first time from outer space. All of a sudden, we were able to see our planet for what it really is. The second half of Romans 5 is like that. It lets us see our planet and our lives from God’s perspective. Read…

This Week Peace of mind The Book of Romans is full of deep theology, but the word “peace” occurs for only the fourth time in chapter 5, in which Paul develops this idea: we are at ease because of what God has done in Christ. With so many unknowns in life, so many crises we…

This Week Joy by grace Irish singer-songwriter Bono wrote a song called “Grace.” Grace, she takes the blame. She covers the shame. Removes the stain . . . Grace, it’s a name for a girl, It’s also a thought that changed the world . . . What once was hurt, what once was friction, what left…

This Week Facing up to faith Imagine someone gives you a generous gift for your birthday. A new car. A trip. A sailboat. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous and wrong for you to tell a friend, “Look what I earned!” To brag about what you’ve done for the gift would not only be untrue, it would…

This Week Free justification Some jobs require you to “beat last quarter’s numbers.” It drives some to continuous improvement, but it drives others to find employment elsewhere. Who can live with the constant push to do better, do more, and be better? Well, we all do. It is in our fallen nature to imagine that if we’re just…

This Week Squandered advantages What kind of advantages have you had that you did not utilize? In what areas have you not lived up to your potential? Last week, the apostle Paul reminded us of our status before God: sinners because of our innate disposition toward evil but holy through the blood of Christ. This status…

This Week Shortcuts Everyone loves a good shortcut, but they’re usually called that for a reason. If it were truly the best option, it would just be the way. With a shortcut you’re sacrificing something or taking a risk. In Romans 2, the apostle Paul warns about spiritual shortcuts, a temptation that plagued ancient Israel…

This Week God’s kindness One of the biggest stumbling blocks that keeps people from listening to Christ and giving him a fair hearing is the hypocrisy of religious people. Yep, that would be us. Paul doesn’t hold back in speaking to us about it either. This Thursday or Sunday, we’ll hear what God has to say…

This Week Not ashamed of the gospel Think of a gigantic spring you’re trying to compress. While you’re pushing down with all your might, it’s resisting you and wanting to spring back up into its original position. In Romans 1, Paul says that’s what we do with the truth of God. By nature, we take…