Good Friday: Jesus is the Love of God (Andrew Allison)
St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
Release Date: 04/09/2020
St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
I love it when people have the gift of communicating clearly. Paul, following Moses in the second half of Deuteronomy 30, does exactly that: communicates clearly. Here’s what it means to become and be a Christian: it means believing the Resurrection and not keeping that good news to yourself! Clear, but not easy! This is something you’ll do for the rest of your life!
info_outline Included | Romans 9 - By God's Choice (Andrew Allison)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
The word “predestination” tends to get the hair on the back of people’s necks standing on end! Nobody likes the idea of God choosing who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’. Paul doesn’t really mean to tackle that question in this passage but he does intend to talk about what God’s plan is for humanity and how we are included in carrying that plan.
info_outline Included | Romans 8:18-39 - Included in Suffering (Lynnita Weber)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
The world is broken and in pain, and so are we. All of us suffer, including (maybe especially) followers of Jesus. But Jesus gives us resources for walking through suffering: a perspective shaped by hope, prayer to process pain and grief, and the promise of his forever, unlimited love.
info_outline Included | Romans 8:1-17 - Children of God (Andrew Allison)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
One of the struggles with Christianity is knowing how it really works. We can feel shame because we do something wrong or we're not doing enough. We re-dedicate ourselves hoping the next time is a charm. Or we think the point of life is to ‘go to heaven and take as many people with us as possible’. Is that what Jesus intended? How can we know what Jesus intends? Romans 8 is a power-packed, super-condensed explanation of how Christianity works.
info_outline Included | Romans 7:14-25 - Following The Rules (Lynnita Weber)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
Paul is really getting to the heart of the matter! Many of us who read the Old Testament come away scratching our heads. Why didn’t these people, God’s Chosen People, do what they were told? Why are the early Scriptures so full of failure and frustration? They had everything going for them. God was on their side, yet they experienced failure after failure. Perhaps you identify! Paul looks into the reasons why this happened and the only solution for rescue.
info_outline Included | Romans 5:1-11 - Poured His Love (Andrew Allison)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
One of the modern struggles for those who trust Jesus is what to do with suffering? How can a loving God allow suffering? That question did not trouble Paul in the least. He knew that suffering, at least for now, is a universal human experience. The real question for Paul was: How does the cross of Christ redeem suffering? He dives into that, and, not surprisingly, it gives him one more reason to talk about the fantastic love of God expressed in the death of Jesus.
info_outline Included | Romans 4:18-25 - Against All Hope (Andrew Allison)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
What does it mean, and what does it look like to ’trust God’? It’s one thing to talk about theories or doctrine; it’s another to actually do it! Enter Abraham and Sarah, two people staring down the barrel of a hopeless situation. Faith may not look like what you think.
info_outline Included | Romans 3:21-31 - Included By Faith (Lynnita Weber)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
We have a problem: sin. It has us trapped. But God has an amazing solution! By grace, he justifies us, giving us what we could never earn. The good news of Jesus is that by faith, we are included in God’s rescue.
info_outline Included | Romans 1:18-2:1 - Dark Minds, Dark Lives (Andrew Allison)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
Paul explains the Christian faith by pointing out our sin and God’s wrath, not your typical pitch for someone trying to make a sale! Thankfully, Paul isn’t trying to make a sale; he’s playing for keeps and knows there’s only one right way to do that: “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” With much restraint, Paul gives a summary of how wrong things have gone with humans and how God has responded as a horrified parent. How are you supposed to respond when someone you love tells you to drop dead?
info_outline Included | Romans 1:1-17 (Andrew Allison)St. Paul's Leaskdale Audio Podcast
Paul wrote to the small church in Rome even though he’d never met them. They were one church he hadn’t planted. In some ways the letter is him making friends. Good friends make us feel included; they let us know that we belong. It wasn’t something that Paul did that included the believers in Rome; it was what Jesus had done and was doing in them through his Spirit that allowed them to belong. The letter begins with Paul telling them just how ‘included’ they were!
info_outlineThis Good Friday, we look at a passage in Luke. You can follow along in Luke 23:44-46.