Psalms 94-96, Romans 15:14—33 • Key Verses: Psalm 95:1, 6 Do you have a preferred “style” of worship? In some churches only a piano and organ are allowed for accompaniment, and if it isn’t in the hymnal, it isn’t sung. In other churches the drummer sits behind a Plexiglas wall...

Psalms 91-93, Romans 15:1—13 Key Verse: Psalm 91:1 Did you have a secret hideout when you were a child? A place where you could go to feel safe and protected? Mine was in the woods behind our house, beside a bubbling brook. God has a secret place too. It’s called...

Psalms, 89-90, Romans 14 Key Verse: Romans 14:19 Some of the most difficult disagreements are over what is considered right or wrong; The Bible is very clear on some things, but not on others; hence, the disagreements. We call these issues “gray areas.” • How to handle the gray areas...

Psalms 87-88, Romans 13 • Key Verse: Psalm 88:1 The words “and they lived happily ever after” are usually found at the end of fairy tales, We read the last line of the story, sigh at the nice ending, close the book and return to the reality of a world...

Psalms 84—86, Romans 12 Key Verses: Romans 12:1—2 In his commentary on Romans, Ray Steelman tells the following story. “Many years ago a man was walking through Union Station in Chicago. It was busy and crowded. He had been thinking of what he might do with his life. It suddenly...

Psalms 81—83, Romans 11:19—36 • Key Verses: Romans 11:33—36 The first verse of Romans 12 says, “Therefore.” What Paul says next flows out of the first 11 chapters. You cannot rightly understand and practice Romans 12:1 if you do not consider Romans 1-11. The first chapters teach us about God;...

Psalms 79-80, Romans 11:1-18 • Key Verses: Romans 11:7-8 Ever hear of “selective hearing loss”? I don’t know if the condition is medically valid, but at times I have seen it. Here is what it looks like: A person hears some things but riot others. What he hears is not...

Psalms 77-78, Romans 10 • Key Verse: Romans 10:13 If anyone could have achieved salvation by his own efforts, it was Martin Luther. In 1505, when he, was 21, he abandoned his career in law and entered the monastery, but not to study theology. His motive was to save his...

Psalms 74—76Romans 9:16—33 • Key Verses: Romans 9:30—32 We sometimes describe a person who has accomplished much on his own as one who has pulled himself up by his bootstraps. Though today it might be hard to visualize what a bootstrap is, we nevertheless understand what this phrase means. It...

Psalms 72-73, Romans 9:1-15 • Key Verses: Psalm 73:2-3 When the parking lot of our church was slippery due to snow, ice or a combination thereof, often at the end of the service I would remind people of Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 10:12: “Let him that thinketh he standeth...