"I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change that God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ--Christ alone for my salvation. And an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins and death." - John Wesley
God used the book of Romans to save a man, and this man was to go on and to touch the world. John Wesley, after he was saved, went on to be used by God to start a revival in the New England colonies of America that began to be such an inferno of revival--the blaze was so great that it's still known today as the "Great Awakening." And hundreds of thousands of people were saved. The awakening went over to Europe. One of the most amazing we see as we study the history of the Church--the past 2,000 years of Church history--is that most if not all of the great revivals and reformations and spiritual awakenings of the Church of Jesus Christ can be traced back to the book of Romans. That's significant. All through history when the Church has fallen into spiritual error and deadness, the Lord Jesus has brought the book of Romans to somebody's attention, and the result is that the Church bursts into life. Great spiritual awakenings have occurred whenever this book has been dusted off, opened, read, and understood. The power of the book of Romans is not just something that worked 2,000 years ago. The power of the book of Romans is something that can effect our lives today. If you're spiritually dry or dead, this book of Romans can quicken you, can cause you to come alive. If you're not a Christian, the book of Romans--if you read it and listen to it--you can't stand not being a Christian. You will become a Christian, if you listen to the book of Romans, and you begin to understand it.
Join us Tuesday nights, beginning on January 31, at 7pm at Grace Lutheran By-The-Sea for an in-depth study of the Book of Romans, and bring anyone you know who may have never heard St. Paul's letter and is in need of a spiritual awakening.
