Sermon – Michelle Lesley

Title image courtesy of Woodlawn Baptist Church

It used to be that John 3:16 was the most well-known Bible verse around. Then it was dethroned by Matthew 7:1. Nowadays, Romans 13:1-7 is giving them both a run for their money.

Christians are to obey the governing authorities, but what exactly does that mean? Just how far does the government’s authority extend? And when, if ever, is it biblically good and right to disobey the government?

I’d like to share with you today one of the best expositions and explanations of Romans 13:1-7 I’ve heard since this whole COVID thing began. It was preached by my own pastor, Lewis Richerson. He has been preaching through Romans for a while, and on October 3, we arrived at chapter 13. I found his sermon helpful and clarifying, and I hope you will too.

A few words about the sermon itself before you dive in: In my experience, this is a very atypical sermon format for Lewis, so, like it or hate it, you need to know it’s not the norm for him. This one is almost twice as long as his usual sermons, although, honestly, it flew by for me. Also, he includes a significant amount of historical information and a number of quotes in this sermon whereas he usually just preaches straight exposition of the text. It is probably more akin in style to what you’re used to hearing at a Christian conference rather than on a Sunday morning at church.

Toward the end(ish), Lewis references a number of slides that were projected on the screens. I’ve added those below the audio (in order, I hope!) so you can refer to them.

Here are a few of my favorite recent online finds…

In February’s edition of Favorite Finds, I mentioned that I was hoping to have the opportunity to see the movie Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy, which was in theaters in mid-March. Well, life intervened and I wasn’t able to get to the theater when it was playing, so I guess I’ll have to wait for it to come out on Netflix or something. Did you see the movie? What did you think of it? I’d love to hear a little feedback…or maybe you’d like to write a review of the movie as a guest post?

“I’m not sad that I’m not and couldn’t be a church planter or lead pastor. I don’t feel restricted or resentful. Instead, I feel full.” I always appreciate the voices of sisters in Christ who are leading unashamedly under the banner of strong, biblical complementarianism. Complementarianism is a blessing, not a burden, so I really enjoyed Whitney Woollard’s* article Delighting in Authority: How to Create a Culture of Happy Complementarians over at Eternal Perspectives Ministry.

“…since loving Christ entails loving the Church; it’s time for you now to heed the summons of God’s Word and go back into a local church, a local expression of the Body of Christ.” I really appreciate Jennifer Brogdon’s* gentle and compassionate approach to encouraging wounded saints to go back to church (especially compared to my usual “bull in a china shop” treatment of the same topic) in her article Go Back to the Local Church.

Image result for life in four stages

Who’s in the mood for a free book? Here’s a PDF copy of Al Mohler’s Life in Four Stages: A Biblical Celebration of Childhood, Youth, Adulthood and Age.

Want to study the Ten Commandments? Here’s a free devotional excerpted from Kevin DeYoung’s book, The Ten Commandments: What They Mean, Why They Matter, and Why We Should Obey Them.

If you’re looking for great listening and reading material, you cannot go wrong with Steve Lawson. I highly recommend him. Here’s an excerpt from his sermon It Will Cost You Everything. (Subtitles in various languages available.)