The Trails Church

Romans 1:16 has been called one of the greatest verses in Scripture. Here we see that Paul is “Not Ashamed” of the gospel, rather he glories in the good news of Jesus Christ more than anything else in his life. These truths have sunk into his heart, and into the marrow of his bones. Now, he longs for others to share in the joys of the gospel, both in this life and in the life to come.

Our passage this morning takes us back to the very beginning of Christ’s official ministry on earth. Just to recap briefly, since it has been a minute since we have been in Mark, the story in Mark picks up in chapter 1, verse 1, with John the Baptist’s ministry, and then it quickly progresses through Jesus’s baptism and his temptation in the wilderness, and then today into the beginning of his min...

In Romans 1:8-15 we find a window into the “Great Gospel Expectations” that Paul has planned for the church in Rome. He is thankful yet not satisfied. He is prayerful, yet not idle. These verses call us to think, pray, and labor for the strengthening of Christ’s body, so that the church may become all the Lord has called her to be.

The Apostle Paul repeats the word peace eleven times in the letter to the Roman church, and never once is it used in a random or tertiary way. Rather, there is a logical flow to how he wants us to understand the comprehensive peace that is meant to mark the life of every believer, and the order of how it is used is vital.

Romans 1:7 greets us and blesses us. It rings out truth and assures us of things that we are meant to deeply know. Specifically, we learn here that the grace and peace of God are given through Jesus Christ and fill the life of each believer.

The emphasis of the part of Romans 1:7 we are studying is seen first in who is it that has called us to be saints, namely God himself. But second, it is a summons for God’s people to live different from the world they live in.

In Romans 1:6-7 we find a trio of beautiful truths that help us understand who we are and whose we are as the people of God. Following his personal introduction and familiarizing his readers to the substance of his letter, Paul now turns to addresses his audience. He writes to all those in Rome, but more specifically to, “A People Called and Loved.”

Romans 1:2-4 includes a brief introduction to “The Glorious Gospel of God.” The good news that reached Paul is the good news he now longs to share, so that the gospel might gladden our hearts and set us singing, dancing, and leaping for joy. We will organize our thoughts under four headings: the source of the gospel, the promise of the gospel, the message of the gospel, and the heart of the gospel...

Romans 1:1 opens with the greeting of its author, the apostle Paul. Yet even in this brief introduction, we are given more than a name. Paul tells us how he understands himself and how he sees his Savior. From this opening verse, we are invited to look a little way down what has often been called “The Romans Road,” catching a glimpse of what lies ahead in the letter and why it was written in the f...

John 14:1–6 records a conversation on the night of the Last Supper, as Jesus comforts his disciples. Their hearts are heavy with the thought of him leaving, so Jesus steadies them with the promise of his return and the assurance that his going is for their good. We will organize the sermon in two parts. First, we will look at the text itself. Then, we will consider it theologically through the len...

John 3:16 captures the heart of the gospel message in one of the most beloved and memorable expressions in all of Scripture. As we continue our journey through the Nicene Creed, we also come to very heart of its confession: the One True God has made a way for sinners to be saved, to know forgiveness, life, and joy found only in him. Inside the phrase, “For Our Salvation,” we find the motivating re...

John 1:14 brings us to one of the most glorious truths about our Savior: that the Son of God was “Begotten, Not Made.” We will explore this in the text and also examine how this doctrine is stated in the Nicene Creed, but ultimately my prayer is that our minds would be filled with truth about the son of God, our hearts moved with love for Christ, and our lives more clearly reflect our Savior.

To understand the true identity of the baby born in David’s City on that Christmas Eve so long ago, we must look to the book in which God himself speaks to us about his Son. In the opening three verses of John’s Gospel, we find an ocean of truth held in a thimble-sized passage. There we learn three massive truths about the second person of the Trinity.

In 1 Peter 5:1-5 we find a summary statement that speaks to the nature of, and relationships between, Christ, the elders of the church, and the people of God. In this exhortation to men who are called to lead, we also receive important instruction for the entire body, and our eyes are lifted to Jesus, the chief shepherd.

In 1 Peter 4:7–11, we find “A Picture of Life Together.” As the apostle writes to believers living in a world that is hostile to the message of the gospel and its messengers, we find three characteristics that by God’s grace should mark the people of God, and each local church.

The final words of the book of Micah are a word of doxology, a crescendo of praise that teaches much about God in only a few words. Micah 7:18–20 begins with a rhetorical question, “Who is a God like you?” and then answers it that we may know about, and even more, that we might know the Lord in three specific ways.