Embarking on a Journey

Dear First Pres SLO Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, the one who came to fulfill the promises of God, and to draw the world together in love, grace and service.

This Sunday we begin a journey in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Once we do a little introduction, we’ll focus on the 8th chapter, where we see the heart of the Apostle Paul. During my study leave I read a biography of Paul by a leading scholar of the New Testament—he’s one of the most fascinating people in the entire Bible, up there with Moses, David and Mary.

Over the next two Sundays we’ll look at Paul, and also the city he was writing to: Rome. Here’s what N.T. Wright said about Paul.

“When people in churches today discuss Paul and his letters, they often think only of the man of ideas who dealt with lofty and difficult concepts, implying a world of libraries, seminar rooms, or at least the minister’s study for quiet sermon preparation. We easily forget that the author of these letters spent most of his waking hours with his sleeves rolled up, doing hard physical work in a hot climate, and that perhaps two-thirds of the conversations he had with people about Jesus and the gospel were conducted not in a place of worship or study, not even in a private home, but in a small, cramped workshop. Saul had his feet on the ground, and his hands were hardened with labor. But his head still buzzed with scripture and the news about Jesus.”

― N.T. Wright, Paul: A Biography

Paul is someone we can identify with—maybe not with his intellectual achievement and his self-sacrifice, but with his hard work and willingness to grow in his faith. Paul was just a person—he was a person called by God to do something special, but he was a working person at heart. 

Over the next few months we’ll see Paul’s heart as he pours his life and faith into a church that was trying to survive in the most powerful city the world had ever known. It’s an important letter to a congregation at the center of the western world. And what a letter! Take some time to read Romans 8 for yourself over these next weeks. I’ll provide the background, first of Paul and then of the city itself, and together we’ll see what God has to say to us in our own little corner of the world.

This week we’re in Romans 1:1-6. Come and start this journey with us!

Blessings to you and yours,

Pastor John