Last Sermon from Romans -- here Chapter 12, Verses 1 and 2 -- for a while. This was intended to focus on encouraging people to take part in the Disciple Growth within the Church.

My next to last look at Romans for a while. This is drawn from Romans 10: 5-15. That is here. I use the N. T. Wright observations from New Interpreter's Bible on Romans about larger enterprise and focus on the end of the passage on the ideas of called but who will reach the unreached? I hear echoes of Exodus 2/3 in this and clearly felt called myself to go there.

Sermon is from Romans 9: 1-5 but is as much about Paul's context with the house churches in Rome as it is about Romans 9: 1-5.

From the comments after the service, this Sermon may be described in the future as "The Carrot, Egg, Coffee" Sermon. We'll see.

The text is Romans 8: 12-25. Dense passage. When Marilyn and I were working on this, her comment was "there are about ten sermons in that." Yes. Grace Acosta, the Liturgist, also mentioned how dense it was.

I normally shy away from Romans for that reason, but the lectionary, if a little "out of cycle" (this was the reading for the third Sunday in July, not the second Sunday in August), but for some reason (the Holy Spirit?), the urge to adjust the cycle a little to give us five Sundays on Romans emerged.

Next week -- Romans 9: 1-5.