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Solid Rock Christian Church

January 2009 Newsletter


“From Faith to Faith”

By: Craig Rippy


R
omans is a great letter to study. We will be in Romans for an indefinite time. Each chapter has rich teaching for the church. The theme is found in chapter one verses 16 and 17, 1 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." (NKJV)

Salvation is credited to those who have faith in the Gospel of Christ. From one’s first faithful moment, until they have developed a rich relationship with God, faith is the essential. God accepts those who place obedient faith in the Gospel of Christ.

The Christian is to grow in their faith in God and how He has provided salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. This letter gives detail about mankind’s situation before God. All have sinned (Romans 3:23). Yet, we find that all can be saved from God’s wrath through the redeeming blood of Jesus.

Paul uses a large theological vocabulary in his letter to the Romans: Faith, Repentance, Confession, Baptism, Redemption, Atonement, Grace, Obedience, Righteousness, Justification, Salvation, Love, Gifts, Church, Predestined, Sin, Condemnation, and Wrath. Also, the important personalities of the Bible are identified: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Saints, Unbelievers, and even Satan.

There are sections of the letter that many would rather overlook. I’ve always steered clear of chapters nine, ten and eleven. Yet, through 2009, we will study the less difficult and the more difficult passages of the Romans.

Romans has sixteen chapters full of faith increasing sustenance. We will learn of God’s great grace. This grace is sufficient for salvation, for strength, and service. In Romans God’s love is revealed like no other place in Scripture. The church is seen as an intimate close knit family. God’s vast wisdom and knowledge is communicated as “beyond tracing out” (Romans 11:33 - NIV).

Many well- known preachers and theologians have written commentaries on Romans. Jack Cottrell, Gareth Reese, Don Dewelt, and J.W McGarvey are all well- known theologians of the Restoration Movement. I’ll be studying their thoughts on Romans each week in preparation for sermons. Of course, Martin Luther, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Douglas Moo, William Hendriksen and others will be perused as well.

The goal is to dig into this goldmine of God’s truth and share the golden nuggets with you each Sunday morning. I hope we will grow deeper in our knowledge of God, how we are saved, and how we are to live by faith daily.

Please read Romans and ask God to grant us the blessings of the Kingdom - righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).




January 2009 Bits of News



✟Bits of News

Don’t forget, we save BEST CHOICE LABELS and ALUMINUM CANS to help with various projects.

Secret Sisters - don’t forget to let your secret sister know that you are thinking about them. Just give them a card saying that you are thinking about them and praying for their needs. They need to know that you are doing what you say you are going to do.

The Chairs have been purchased and are here! The pews have been purchased by the Rolla Bible Church in, of course, Rolla. The new chairs are now in place and will be used on the 1st Sunday of 2009. What a way to start the New Year! Of course, we still have to pay for these new chairs and there will be 1 more month for you to give to the “New Chair Fund”. They really look nice.

Men don’t forget the Men’s Fellowship “F-Troop” on January 5 and 19. It is a great time to fellowship.

Ladies don’t forget about the W.O.W meeting on January 26. This is great time for us Ladies to get together and have fun. So let all of us get together.

You know, we really do like to get together and have fun. That is why we couldn’t let the New Year’s Watch Party stop and created the Family Fun Nights. The last Friday night of each month for the next 3 months we get together again for games and food and fun. So join us even though some people take their games a little too seriously!

GOD IS GOOD - What a blessing to be able to gather as we did Sunday, December 14 for our Holiday Dinner. Thanks to the people on the Committees for a job well done. And 2 people volunteered to be on a committee next year. Now that’s a Blessing. But these committees are not your mother to clean up after you. And so many people did stay and help so that was not too hard on anyone and that was another blessing.

Cookie Drop For the Month of January is Betty Grotha. If you don’t know what this is, let’s explain. If you are a 1st time visitor to Solid Rock and you fill out our visitor card you will receive a Cookie Drop from one of our lovely ladies who have joined this ministry. They will bring cookies (or another homemade goodie) to the home, say how happy we were to have them visit us and leave, inviting them to come back. They don’t stay or intrude. Just welcome.

The new KIDMO program starts on Sunday January, 4. KIDMO is for Grades 1-6 and is at 6:00 pm at the church building. If you have any questions at all about this program, please speak to Brian Buehrlen, Minister of Education. He knows all there is to know about this program.

On Wednesday, January 7 our Home Core Groups begin. These groups will be in people’s homes, hence the name, and will begin promptly at 6:30. If you have not signed up for one yet, there are still places available. Please see the sign up sheets on the service bar.

Prayer group meets at 6:30 pm on the 1st and last Friday of each month. If you have any question on this, Ken Williams is the person you will need to speak to.