I hope you have enjoyed this Romans series as much as I have. This Sunday we will bring part one of Through the Bible: Romans to an end. Romans is so full of rich theological content that I felt the best way to approach teaching/preaching it at New Hope was to break it into three parts.
Part One – Romans 1 – 5 (Began July 2019)
Part Two – Romans 6 – 11 (Begins January 2020)
Part Three – Romans 12 – 16 (Begins Summer 2020)
Preparing for this Romans series has been a tremendous challenge, but at the same time, very rewarding. You have probably noticed my references to climbing mountains over the last couple of weeks. Well, reading and researching the context and background of the Romans text and then condensing all of the information down into bite size Sunday morning sermons could be compared to spiritual mountain climbing. Which is why breaking the whole book into three parts over the course of a year was just as necessary for the preacher.
I have been so blessed to receive valuable contributions from several Romans commentaries, most notably, Jon Courson’s Commentary on the New Testament and Timothy Keller’s Commentary on Romans 1 – 7. But perhaps the most valuable resource has been the contributions of New Hope’s very own Dr. Joseph Trafton, who is a New Testament scholar with a long tenure as a professor at Western Kentucky University. Long before we started this series I reached out to Joe and asked for his insights on Romans. Each week he has sent me a treasure trove of information on the preaching text for the week. It has been so fun to receive his emails each week and learn from his years of experience exploring God’s Word.
What’s Next?
And so…after this Sunday we will put the book of Romans on the shelf until January 2020.
On Sunday, September 8 I ask that all New Hope members would make it a point to join us for worship. We will be talking all about Create Hope Studios and sharing how God has already shown His hand to be upon this exciting new ministry of New Hope. Pastor Mark is the director of the program so he will be preaching and introducing you to the What? Why? When? and How? we are bringing Create Hope Studios to New Hope’s community! Create Hope Studios is the fruition of a vision that I shared with New Hope a few years ago, and now here we are.
Friday, Sept 13 Dessert and Concert
I am a big believer in giving creators and artists an opportunity to share their talents with others. Which is why we are having a concert for some of the artists at New Hope. Our Fellowship and Membership Teams are working together to provide desserts in the Cafe at 6:00 PM, and then the concert will begin in the sanctuary at 7:00 PM.
We will have multiple genre’s of music represented on that night, including pop/rock, alternative, country, indie, folk, etc. There will be a little bit of something for everyone!
Artists Performing:
Riley Weston
Bill Bowles
One Voice
Paper Ravens
#itiswritten
Our next message series will take a closer look at the three temptations of Jesus by the devil in the wilderness. We will examine why the devil brought these three particular temptations and then how Jesus responded to the attacks. There is a lot to learn from this text and I am very much looking forward to sharing it with you.
Have a Blessed Week,
Pastor Josh
