“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:3-4
WELCOME to CENTRAL CHURCH OF CHRIST: Not a place, but a people connected by a common bond of Christ our Savior with a common mission to show HIS love, tell HIS story, and be HIS people! We’re beginning a new expository sermon series this week that I’m calling the “ROMAN ROAD.” Expository means we learn from the text, and bring out it’s points, rather than topical, which is where we have a point and use the text to support it. So here we are digging in for a while in the beautiful letter to the Romans from Paul. I learned that there is this “Roman Road to Salvation” that has been preached & taught in religious circles today, but it seems more like a cherry picking of verses. We want to walk through Paul’s words and see what God’s Holy Spirit inspired him to say to believers. And so he starts with Creation:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:3-4
Psalm 136
”Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever
to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20
(GOLDILOCKS ZONE)
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/323/goldilocks-zone/
Back in 1968, Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders took pictures of the earth and he noted that “It was the only color we could see in the universe…”
Romans 1:18 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness”
“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator— who is forever praised. Amen.” Romans 1:25
One site declared “Enjoy Nutrition as Nature Designed:” – Raw Food Diet
https://www.naturalnews.com/raw_foods.html
Another site proclaimed “Jewelry Designed By Nature”
In another place someone stated “nature designed you to hold as little muscle and as much fat as possible” (that should give us at least good excuse for being overweight!)
https://indexarticles.com/retirement/mens-fitness/ask-the-strongman-2/
But my favorite quote was from the title of a book by an evolutionist at Amazon.com:
***“Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong”.
https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Minds-Nature-Designed-Universal/dp/B001PO6ACW/ref=sr_1_2?
***Back to ROMANS 1:18 – THE WRATH OF GOD – ME & PHOTOGRAPHER PIRACY!
https://www.stockphotosecrets.com/questions-answers/can-i-use-photos-from-facebook.html
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20
One person said it this way: “Only God is in a position to look down on someone.” Habeeb Akande
https://www.quotes.wiki/only-god-is-in-a-position-to-look-down-upon-som/
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
Paul gives us a whole litany of the sins of people who are
“filled with every kind of wickedness,
They are evil, greedy and depraved.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful;
they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
And although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” – Romans 1:29-32
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Romans 1:16
Consider the simple “wooly worm” or caterpillar. (saw my first one yesterday)
https://www.almanac.com/woolly-bear-caterpillars-and-weather-prediction
Isabella Tiger Moth – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella
CLOSE: Astronomer Allan Sandage
“It was my science that drove me to the conclusion that the world is much more complicated than can be explained by science. It is only through the supernatural that I can understand the mystery of existence.”