Southland Weekend Message Series (Video)

In the first few chapters of Romans, Paul paints a clear picture of our plight apart from God's grace. We are enslaved to sin, unable to ever attain to righteousness. Fortunately for us, God has shown us a way to become righteous that is not based on our merit or effort but instead based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory, but we are also all justified freely and declared righteous by the saving death of his son--a price he was willing to pay while we were still sinners. Sin ruined us, but God saved us and restored us to his original intention, recreating his image within us.

Guest speaker Matt Proctor teaches on the book of Romans, which begins by highlighting the consequence of mankind's refusal to worship God. In Chapter 1 Paul highlights all the moral wickedness and depravity that comes in the wake of Gentile idolatry. In Chapter 2 Paul reminds the Jews that just because they have the law, they are no better because they too commit sin, just in a different way. Apart from God's grace, mankind is enslaved to sin and unable to experience true righteousness. Paul specifically highlights the way in which sin damages us. No one ever gets the best of sin, sin always gets the best of us. Sin always uses us and tarnishes the beauty of God's image in us. Luckily, as we see later in Romans, we have not been left in our sin!

When God originally called Abram he told him, “All the people on earth will be blessed through you.” In Acts, we see the way in which God fulfilled this promise. Throughout Acts the gospel overcomes gender, ethnic, geographic, linguistic, political, cultural, economic, and religious barriers. Just like the early church stepped out in faith to take the gospel to those who had not yet heard, the church today must take the same step.

Jon covers what it means to be the Church. When the gospel comes, it doesn't just save people, it saves a people. When the church is under the guidance of the Spirit, it forms a life marked by generosity, love, kindness and servant heartedness. The local church is to be a living picture of Christ and the gospel.

Dan talks about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Everything in Acts is moved along by the Spirit–He transforms them into a living temple, empowers and directs them, makes them holy, and even performs miracles through them.

Rewind: Rewind

John uses Jesus' raising of Lazarus to set the stage for Jesus' own resurrection from the dead. Nothing will stand between God and his friends, not even death. This is the ultimate picture of God's glory on earth.

Like a lot of families, Jesus had to deal with sibling rivalry. John informs us that his brothers didn't believe in his claim to deity and ridiculed him for it. Jesus takes the opportunity to defend his Sonship in public.

John uses themes of light and darkness, grace and truth, to capture the glory of Jesus' life. He avoids many of the other stories and themes that the other gospel writers focus on. Instead, he invites us into several one-on-one encounters that Jesus had with friends and family members. The first is with his mom at a wedding in Cana.

Once again we see Jesus' love for the most hated of society when he sits down for a meal in the home of a vertically-challenged thief named Zacchaeus. Jesus' love for this man causes him to want to change his lifestyle. It is a unique brand of love that has the potential of changing every person it comes in contact with.

This is one of the most beautiful scenes in all of scripture. A notorious woman weeps on the feet of Jesus because no man has ever treated her the way that he has. Jesus not only eats with her, he forgives her and sets an example for all of us to imitate. We love people no matter what they've done or who they've become.

Luke is a gentile doctor who seems fascinated by Jesus' love for people. He structures his entire gospel around meals that Jesus shares with outcasts to demonstrate that nothing will stand between Jesus and people. And Jesus was a popular man by the time he wrapped up his first tour of Galilee. As he visits a familiar home in a familiar town, crowds refuse to give up their seats to those who need his attention the most. Luke always emphasizes Jesus' love for those who had been pushed to the margins of society and this scene is no different.

Again, using a familiar analogy of shepherding, Jesus paints a vivid picture of what the judgment day will be like. Even though sheep and goats look alike, they are different animals and will be treated differently by the shepherd. The same is true of people. When he returns, Jesus will treat those who believe in him differently from those who choose not to.

In this chapter, Matthew records a series of farming parables about the heart. Jesus stands in a boat and speaks across the water to a crowd that is gathered on the shore and surrounding hillside. He uses terms they would be familiar with—seeds, soil, weeds, and roots to help them understand that his kingdom will not be built on land, but in the human heart. It will advance, not by conquering cities, but by conquering sin.

Matthew writes to introduce Jesus as the King of a new Kingdom and he uses five of Jesus' sermons to do it. The first of the five sermons is the most famous—The Sermon on the Mount. It has been called the Magna Carta of the Christian faith and for good reason. In it, Jesus flips everything upside down and turns everything inside out.