David Schmitt’s new sermon series follows the upcoming series of readings from Paul’s letter to the Romans in Year A of the lectionary, which kicks off the Pentecost season (after Trinity Sunday). The sermon series works perfectly for this time in the church year, but can be used anytime a preacher wants to preach from Paul’s provocative magnum opus. You can get the sermon series here.
Dr. Schmitt’s introduction to the series is below.
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GOD’S GREATER STORY
A SERMON SERIES ON ROMANS 6-14
Introduction to Series:
Since 2005, National Public Radio has been airing a series called “This I Believe.” Individuals from all walks of life have written and submitted their stories of faith. Essays on what they believe.
These essays are exploratory. Finding blessing in work. Discovering joy in being a neighbor. Trying to have faith in the midst of the messiness of life. The essays are also fragmentary. With over 9 years of testimony and over 70,000 stories archived on the web, “This I Believe” invites you into a world of many beliefs, many personal approaches to the self, to one another, and sometimes to God. One soon discovers that there are as many stories of belief as there are people believing and belief becomes a fragmentary collection of various experiences in the world.
In this sermon series, we add one more story to the collection. This one dates from around 55–58 AD and comes from the apostle Paul. Paul was in Corinth, about to journey to Jerusalem to bring an offering from the churches to the poor. As he anticipated that journey, however, he lifted up his eyes and saw something much larger: a missionary trip to Spain. Along the way, he planned to stop by Rome, a place he had never visited. So he sent a letter ahead. To introduce himself as an apostle and to give the Roman church a vision of what he believed. “This I believe,” the apostle Paul said.
As you listen to Paul’s belief, however, you hear a greater story. Paul is not speaking of a belief that is only for himself, a personal theology or a record of his personal spiritual journey. Paul is speaking of God and God’s work among his people, a saving work that includes all nations and that extends throughout all time. Paul’s words of faith are not for himself alone but for all peoples. Paul tells the Romans and us God’s greater story.
Join us now as we enter into the sermon series, “God’s Greater Story.” Listen in as Paul offers his theological vision: a vision of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at work to raise a people for his purpose in the world. Experience God’s claim upon your life as he joins you to a people who have a purpose in his plan to renew creation and reclaim all nations for him.
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