New Testament

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

            In life we see contrasts displayed in many ways, one of those ways is seen in opposites.  For example: light compared to darkness; love compared to hate; sweet compared to sour; man compared to woman.  When we compare things to one another we find the differences or the contrasts between them.

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

            Growing up in the church, the son of the church’s pastor I remember each Christmas my dad setting up on the church lawn a life-size nativity.  It had everything:  Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manager.  It had sheep, a donkey, and shepherds.  It had wise men and camels, and they were all life size.  They were only two dimensional, life-size pictures mounted on plywood but impressive looking none the less, especially the camels.

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

            This morning we come to the closing verses of Romans, a beautiful doxology that praises God for what He has done through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  These three closing verses are very similar to the first eleven verses of Romans 1.  We will look at these similarities as we go through this passage. 

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

            As we near the end of our study of the book of Romans Paul becomes more personal in what he writes to the church in Rome.  Remember the major portion of Romans was written by Paul to establish himself with the church in Rome doctrinally.  Now as he begins to bring his letter to them to a close, he seeks to establish himself with them in a personal way and he does this by again revealing to them his heart’s desire to minister to them and to have them minister to him thus having mutual fellowship and refreshing one another in the faith.