We went all the way through Matthew, and are starting a new series reflecting on the New Testament letters in a series called “Dear Church…..” In this conversation, Pastors Erik, Cody, and Gavin discuss Romans – the first letter in the New Testament canon. Read the book, listen to the audio of the conversation, and chip in on the comments section below with your own thoughts on the Scripture and to these three questions:
- What word, phrase, or theme most resonated with you personally as you read this section of Scripture?
- What does this letter invite us to as a community of disciples?
- If you’re sitting down to read this letter, what drink or snack would pair best with the reading?
For next week’s Bible Convo we will be discussing the letter we know as 1 Corinthians. You’re invited to read that section of text and come up with your own thoughts on the the same three questions we used today.
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It has come to my attention that a Caesar uses CLAMATO juice…. I thought it was just regular tomato juice! I might have to change my pairing choice.
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Clamato is WAY gross.
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Is it sad that the 3 hosts of the bible conversation are the only comments on said bible conversation?
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Jen: Alright, just sayin’…..I always order spicy clamato juice on flights. Westjet sometimes adds a little package of lime-flavoured salt…..it is Delicious!
Major Tom: my verse was in Chapter 12– not conforming to the current world, but transforming your mind—kinda like the Matrix? My quick 1 sentence challenge was: Foreknown, forgiven, forever, with Christ Jesus. Food and drink: Romans is a loooong book so need something of sustenance: maybe some oatmeal with fruit and yogurt mixed in, along with a pot of coffee and a bottle of Hazelnut creamer.
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I finally had a chance to listen. Enjoyable as always. I read/listened again this week in the message translation. A couple passages that stuck out to me:
– In 4:21, while talking about Abraham trusting God it says, “He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said”. I loved how this was stated with such confidence and passion, I saw it as an encouragement to keep trying to live my own life with that kind confident trust in God.
– In 5:20, it says, “But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace”. I thought that was a powerful definition of grace.
On a side note, there were a few times this week that I had passages from Romans come to mind which applied very specifically to conversations I was having. It was awesome to see God’s Word come alive! I was encouraged to continue making time for this reading and reflecting. The more familiar I am with Scripture the more opportunities there will be for God to speak through his Word.
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The Word coming alive is an amazing testimony of it taking root in your life. Keep on responding to grace! I also love the Ch 5 definition of grace in the Message.
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Hey Gavin, did you ever thing about writing a “Coles Notes” for the books of the Bible? I mean for those of us who don’t wanna get bogged down with reading!! Don’t know if those are still a thing, but you are very good at summarizing.
I listened to Romans while exercising…Both activities are somewhat new to this old codger! The New American Standard version(?) has a lot of “be it not so” and “let it never be” which means Paul is making a point about heritage or salvation or grace. I need to find more time to study and ruminate on this book, however I think the general call is to “read the Book”!! The whole collection, not just a few verses that make us feel good or guilty the whole thing…I think the grace thing is hard for a self sufficient individual, I can give it but don’t rely on it in practice. There’s my lesson, not to slack off, but see service as a reaction to grace not as a means to grace.
Need a full meal for this, meat, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, paired with good clean cold water.
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Reading the Song of songs is like watching an opera in a foreign language. You can see the passion, the anxiety of some uncertainty, the separation, the longing,and finally the reuniting of lovers but the language is very strange to our modern sophisticated ears. The plot is somewhat reminiscent of the Hallmark movies where there is growing passionate love, followed by some kind of misunderstanding or interruption, and then the grand reuniting of hearts and I would say minds (except it seems much more physical than that.) I probably misunderstood the whole point but there you are.
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Hallmark movie! I love it! Maybe a slightly higher MPA rating than most of those Hallmark movies.
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