The Gospel of Matthew opens with the genealogy of Jesus, although it’s a list of names most of which we are unfamiliar with and may be tempted to skip over. It may be a good little bit of historical information, but what does a list of names actually have to offer us? However, don’t we have some appreciation for our own family trees? What might be uncovered when we study our own family histories? If our own family trees contain…

Romans concludes with a doxology (Romans 16:25-27), an explosive word of praise. These final verses contain much that is theologically rich, but the point of doxology is not to study them, but to joyfully proclaim that God is wonderful and infinitely worthy of praise. While we shouldn’t dissect a doxology too much, it is still good to bask in the reasons Paul feels our God is so praiseworthy. God is able. Able to strengthen us. Our strength is not enough.…

In the season of Advent, we wait. God is on his way and we anticipate with joy and longing. The news that God plans to soon show up in our day, in our schedule, in our moments of hurt and confusion, ought to stir something up within us. Excitement, hope, and perhaps some uneasiness about the things in our lives we’d like to rectify as we prepare for his sudden presence in our midst. “You know what time it is,”…

Typically, the letters of Paul in the New Testament are addressed to churches that he was directly involved in planting. He likes to draw from his personal history with the specific churches in order to then offer his validation of and challenges for them. But Rome is different. Paul didn’t plant the church there. He’s never even been there. Whatever information he has about them is secondhand. His ministry has taken him to many other places, places where “Christ has…