Romans is one of the more technical letters of the New Testament, almost a scholarly treatise on the nature of righteousness, salvation, and faith. But, it’s also framed in the form of a conversation. Paul anticipates and answers questions and objections that the reader will inevitably make to his core arguments. Keeping the “conversation” of Romans in mind can help us appreciate its message better.
The latter half of Acts centers on Paul’s mission work and eventual arrest and journey to Rome. I hope these maps will help you keep the flow of the story in your mind as you read.
As we transition out of the Gospels in our reading into the story of the early church in Acts, it can be helpful to be able to visualize what you are reading. Of course, you can find many versions of these kinds of maps online, but I hope these can be helpful to you.
The turn from 1 to 2 Chronicles focuses on David’s and Solomon’s efforts in building the temple, but during this process both David and Solomon recognize a puzzling aspect to their work; God doesn’t actually need a temple, everything that they used to build it came from him, and a temple can’t contain him anyway. So why build the temple? This question is a microcosm of a much larger question: why did God create anything at all? What is the point of our existence? David’s and Solomon’s prayers provide a good foundation from which to explore this deep question.
(Preaching through Chronicles. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on September 7, 2025.)
Jesus makes a few appearances in the Bible after the ascension at the beginning of Acts. The first of these is on the road to Damascus. What can we learn from this encounter with Jesus?
(Preaching on the life of Jesus. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on February 18, 2024.)
As we transition into more specific areas of living Biblically, we begin with men: what does it mean to be a man, according to the Bible? What can we learn from men of God throughout history?
(Preaching on living Biblically. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on July 2, 2023.)
For the rest of the year (the holiday season) we will be looking at topics that are on people’s minds, or that people are inclined to think about. We begin this week with thanksgiving!
(Preaching on holiday topics. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on November 24, 2019.)
Watts in the Word 