Cultivate a BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW.

This page will serve as a guide as we go through the book of Romans on Sundays starting April 18, 2021. What a time to be alive and serving the King of Kings! Gladly it is not without challenge, and one of those challenges is to keep a biblical (bible-first) worldview in a world growing more at odds with the authority and teaching of scripture. This should not surprise us because the scriptures themselves tell us this is what happens in an unbelieving world (Romans 1:18, John 3:19, 2 Timothy 3:8, Matthew 5:11-12). In fact, no one is neutral when it comes to God. The bible tells us that we are all born sinners, in rebellion to God, so not only is no one neutral, but we all have the disposition to turn away from the Truth of God to our sin, and our own peril. The book of Romans is one of the best books to help us cultivate a biblical worldview for the days ahead.
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.” 
   ~ C.S. Lewis

What is a Worldview?

A "worldview" is defined as, 'a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.' It is shaped at the core of what you believe is real, or what reality really is. Everyone has a worldview whether they realize it or not, and it impacts ultimately what they do and who they are. No one is "neutral" when it comes to worldview since there is no such thing as neutrality in how reality is perceived, therefore, the burden of proof is on everyone to make sense of it all.
>> Check out our Truth page which is an online hub for The Truth Project which was made to cultivate a Biblical worldview.
All Messages from Romans

Your Worldview is Showing

(Romans 12:1-2)

2020 actually ended up being the year of "vision" as it revealed what our worldview truly is (at the core) - it all came out. Whether it was the pandemic or the politics, what we truly believe about reality manifested itself in how we lived out this last year+.

As Christians we have (or should have) a worldview that is coherent, consistent, and comprehensive. Every worldview, at minimum, should answer the following questions:

  • Origin. How did the universe begin? How did life originate? Where did we come from? 
  • Meaning. What is the ultimate meaning of life?
  • Morality. Is there a standard of morality? What is that standard and why?
  • Destiny. What happens when we die? What is the point of it all?

The scriptures give us beautiful answers to these questions, and we will see these fortified as we go through the book of Romans.

MASTERpeace

(Romans 1:1)

This masterpiece of a letter opens up into glorious splendor as the author launches into the greatest of all truths -- that we can have PEACE with the MASTER, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Romans has been called the "Manifesto of the Christian Life" and it will shape our worldview from the bible up. Almost every major revival in church history can trace back to the spark ignited from this book. It also contains every major Biblical doctrine and breaks down into these 4 themes:
  1. The wrath of God (Romans 1:18 - 3:20)
  2. The Grace of God (Romans 3:21 - 8:39)
  3. The plan of God (Romans 9:1 - 11:36)
  4. The will of God (Romans 12:1 - 16:27)

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It

(Romans 1:2-7)

Approx. 90% of news we read/hear is negative.
 
In an article on Industry Week it said, "Bad news is more likely to attract a casual readers eye than good news. It’s a secret that journalists have known for years that bad news gets more attention than good news, meaning more people are likely to read a story if the headline implies something rotten rather than something wonderful.”  Tom Stafford (PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience) wrote in the BBC: “Our attraction to bad news may be more complex than just journalistic cynicism or a hunger springing from the darkness within.” Yikes!

Praise God that He has given us such good news! In fact the word 'gospel' means "good news", so to share the gospel with people is to share with them good news, and in the midst of a sea of constant bad news, what a privilege we have.

In these verses we learned:
  • The Promise of good news (v.2)
  • The Person of good news (v.3-4)
  • The Provision of good news (v.5a)
  • The Proclamation of good news (v.5b-6)
  • The Privileges of good news (v.7)

Love By Faith

(Romans 1:8-15)

We often hear that we should "live by faith", and here we see that applying to Paul "loving by faith" the church in Rome that he had not yet met. The common faith we have in Christ fills our hearts to love others, and especially those of the household of faith.

In this message we looked at the following traits of Godly faith:
  • Thankful Faith (Romans 1:8)
  • Genuine Faith (Romans 1:9)
  • Willing Faith (Romans 1:10)
  • Courageous Faith (Romans 1:11-12)
  • Fruitful Faith (Romans 1:13) 
  • Obedient Faith (Romans 1:14)
  • Eager Faith (Romans 1:15)

The Beating Heart FOR Rome, & The World

(Romans 1:16-17)

The Roman Colosseum was, and in many ways still is, the beating heart of Rome. A popularized saying is, "The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum." We know that many believers faced martyrdom for their faith on that sand as spectacle and we should ponder upon the glorious entrance they received into Heaven after taking their last breath on earth -- more glorious than anything any of the Caesar's could imagine.

These verses in Romans chapter 1 are the heartbeat of the book, and should therefore be preeminent in shaping our worldview as Christ followers as they exalt The Gospel.

Key tenets of The Gospel:
  • Creation. God created all things, and they were good. (Genesis 1-2)
  • The Fall. Through the disobedience, all of creation is now in a fallen state. (Genesis 3)
  • Redemption. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (Genesis 3:15, John 3:16)
  • Restoration. God redeems us in the midst of this broken world now, and He will also eventually and ultimately make all things new. (Revelation 21:5)

We looked as these 7 key aspects of this beating heart:
  1. The Gospel.
  2. Being Unashamed of it.
  3. The Power of God.
  4. The Salvation it brings.
  5. The offer is extended to Everyone.
  6. Received by believing God (Faith).
  7. It reveals the Righteousness of God.

Where The Gospel Begins

(Romans 1, 2, 3)

The Gospel is the "good news" and this is where it begins.

Recap and overview of the book of Romans, especially the first 3 chapters.

The Gospel is glorious and good, but it is set against a dark and hopeless backdrop, namely, the wrath of God upon sin / sinners. In this letter Paul begins with the good news that he is unashamed of, but he pivots to pointing out the bad news that we all experience, almost daily in some aspect, and will all deal with ultimately. The reality of the world is that we are all sinners, deserving God's just wrath, but He has made a way of escape by Christ Jesus taking the wrath for our sin upon Himself and overcoming death.

Being a Watchman

(Ezekiel 3 + Romans 10)

Brief summary here soon.

Indictment Of All Mankind

(Romans 1:18-20)

Brief summary here soon.

Darkmode

(Romans 1:21-25)

Brief summary here soon.

God is Love & Truth

(Romans 1:26-27)

Addressing our stance on LGBTQ+.

Downward Spiral

(Romans 1:28-32)

Brief summary notes here soon.

Equal Opportunity Condemnation

(Romans 2:1-11)

Brief summary notes here soon.
All Messages From Romans 📖

Here to help.

The below videos are from The Bible Project and they do a great job in giving overviews of all 66 books of the Bible.

The 2 below are for the book of Romans.
Questions?