Grace Outpost

Welcome again to Grace Outpost.   We are the midst of the Advent Season, last week we looked at the four women found in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus.   We talked about how the genealogies are often overlooked though they contain a great deal of purpose in them.   How many of you remember a Charlie Brown Christmas?   If you do you will recall there is a part where Charlie Brown loses it and yells “Can someone tell me what Christmas is all about?”   I don’t know about you, but I remember many times in the past wanting to shout out that very question.   When Charlie Brown shouts this out his friend Linus answers him with Luke 2:9-11. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the...

Welcome again to Grace Outpost.   Well Christmas season is well underway, it seems that this year it didn’t even wait for Thanksgiving to come!   For some this is the best time of the year, it brings found memories of gathering as a family and the excitement of presents.   For others this is a deeply painful time of year that is a reminder of rejection and hurt.   For the Christian our minds turn to a specific part of the Gospel during this time of year and we wholly focus on the coming of Jesus into the world.   Most of us know the account; even most Non-Christians have a rough idea of the story.   Often when we look at the coming of Jesus, or what we call the Advent, we generally skip over Matthew 1:1-17.   I must admit I too often skip over the genealogies found in Scripture, it can be tedious, but I have found the longer I have been a Christian and the deeper I have come to know Scripture the more I see that there are things to be learned from the...

Welcome again to Grace Outpost, I’m so glad that you have joined me here again today.   Last week we took a break from our Romans series, this week we will finish up our look at the book.   So far in our look at Romans we have seen Paul layout the reality that no one can fulfill the requirements of the Law.   No one is saved by works, or by upholding the Law.   That is not where Paul will stop; if he did we are left with the reality that everyone deserves the punishment for sin, which is death.   In a fair world this is what we deserve.   Today we will see Paul layout the good news of Jesus.   Through faith in Jesus we are made righteous.   3:21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. (Romans 3:21-22a ESV) We will begin in Romans 3:21-22a.   Here Paul states that God...

Welcome again once again to Grace Outpost.   This past week I cut my finger bad enough to warrant a trip to the Emergency Room, where they promptly Derma bonded my finger back together.   Needless to say this has made for a tough week of getting anything done, as I have not been able to use my index finger for much.   This past week was Thanksgiving and I hope that all of you had a great holiday.   At my house it didn’t feel much like a holiday as my wife had to work and we decided not to cook the traditional Thanksgiving meal.   Normally I have a swell of feelings of thankfulness for family and provision.   This year that didn’t happen, perhaps it is because we chose not to partake in the normal festivities.   However, in the midst of this I came across Acts 3, which reminded me that all I need is Jesus and he is at the center of everything I give thanks for.   So we are going to put the Romans study on hold for this week. As we turn to chap...