Daily Dose of the Word of God - Romans 1: 1-7

Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship

Transcript

Erin Pacheco  0:07  

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God. Today is Friday, February 21 and Sunday is coming. I’m Erin Pacheco, and I serve as the Director of Worship here at ECRC. This Sunday, we’re listening to God’s voice through the New Testament letters, called epistles. Today’s reading is from the opening of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. Here is Romans 1:1-7 (NLT).

Erin Pacheco  0:38  

This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach the gospel — his Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

 
Erin Pacheco  1:47  

his is a kind of a unique letter, because Paul the missionary hasn’t actually visited the church in Rome yet. At this point, he’s only heard about them – and he’s really hoping to be able to come see them soon. In the meantime, he sends them this letter to encourage and teach them.   The church in Rome had a lot of Gentiles (non-Jewish believers in Jesus) as well as a sizable number of Jewish people who had come to trust in Jesus as their Messiah. And there was definitely some cross-cultural tension happening between these groups.

Erin Pacheco 2:25  

So right away in his letter, Paul links the gospel — the Good News about a new King!— to both the prophets and God’s covenant promises to King David (highlighting Jesus’ Jewish roots) and Paul’s own God-given call and authority to tell the Gentiles about God’s love and will for them. Paul calls Jesus both the “Christ,” the Messiah, and “Lord,” a title that would have been commonly used in Rome for the Emperor. And he prays that the Lord Jesus Christ would give this church grace and peace – especially in their interactions with one another.   As you gather for worship this Sunday, take a moment to look around and appreciate the variety of people who are gathered with you. It’s a beautiful mix of ages and stages, incomes, vocations, political persuasions, cultures and ethnicities. Sometimes these things can divide the church, as it did in Rome. But the church of Jesus has always been called to do the hard work of coming together across differences, so that all people may come to know Jesus as their Messiah and Lord. 

 
Erin Pacheco  4:05  

Let’s pray. God, our Father, and Jesus, our Lord, would you indeed help us to grow in grace and peace, by the power of your Holy Spirit. Make your church strong in unity, in witness, and in worship of our one true Savior and King. Amen.