Sermons by Jonathan Romig (Page 14)

Sermons by Jonathan Romig (Page 14)

The Certain Gospel: How To Survive The End Of The World | Luke 21:5-38

What’s your worst fear when you’re a child? Quicksand. There’s nothing like quicksand to strike fear in the heart of a child. I can’t wait to tell Elijah about quicksand. This week I came across a wonderful game published in 2001 called The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Game. It teaches you how to survive bad things that can happen. So I thought, let’s play a little game today. Let’s see how well you would do surviving some worst-case scenarios. I thought…

The Certain Gospel: Where Jesus Stands Politically | Luke 20:20-26

Today I’m going to preach one of those sermons that I hope you will talk about on the drive home or at dinner afterwards with your family. Today I’m preaching on politics. I didn’t choose this topic because I thought, “You know what would go well with my son’s baby dedication? Politics!” No, I chose this text a while ago. Now this isn’t the first time I’ve preached on politics, but I think it’s good to have a refresher before…

The Certain Gospel: Consumer Christianity | Luke 19:45-48

I want to start out by playing a little game. I want to see if you can guess each answer. I’m going to ask you a “how many” question and you’re going to see if you know the right answer.  How many cars and trucks did Americans buy in 2017? Answer: 17.3 million How much did we spend on movie tickets domestically in 2017? Answer: $11 billion How much did Americans spend on donuts in 2014? Answer: $581 million How…

The Certain Gospel: Pray for Justice | Luke 18:1-8

Does prayer work? When you’re going through something and you ask people to pray for you, does it matter? Does it help? Maybe you’ve seen this meme on Facebook about the uselessness of prayer. “I named my cats ‘thoughts’ and ‘prayers’ because they’re useless.”  I actually think that’s pretty funny, but it’s sadly popular because people believe it. Prayer doesn’t work. Maybe some of you were on social media after the recent Parkland Shooting and you saw this meme showing…

The Certain Gospel: Divorce & Remarriage | Luke 16:18

I think I’m a bit naive. When I chose preaching on divorce and remarriage this week I thought it would be an easy sermon. I mean I’m preaching on one verse, right? How hard can it be? Don’t the majority of pastors and scholars agree about what the Bible has to say on divorce and remarriage? No they do not. The more I studied this topic the more I realized I don’t know, but I’m still going to try and…

The Certain Gospel: What is the kingdom of God? Part 2/2 | Luke 18:15-17

We’re starting this sermon by watching a clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This clip shows how many people feel about the idea of kings and authorities. Dennis really didn’t like the king, did he? He saw no reason to respect King Arthur and King Arthur was not very respectable. He used his authority to repress his subjects. If you could have a good king, would you want him? Would you want a king to lead you, protect…

The Certain Gospel: What is the Kingdom of God? Part 1/2 | Luke 17:20-37

I want to start today with an ice-breaker question. “If you could choose, who would you prefer to be in charge of your life?” Myself Scientist Celebrity Politician King Now I want you to be honest. Don’t just give the answer you think I want to hear. Who could you trust to handle your life well? Maybe some of us would say, “I want to be in control, so I choose myself!” Are you sure you want that much responsibility?…

The Certain Gospel: Bait & Switch Christianity | Luke 14:25-35

When I was in college I was walking to my car when I found a poster slipped under my wiper blades. It advertised free pizza. All I had to do was go by the local Dominos and I would receive my own pizza. I looked at this poster for a long time. It didn’t say I had to do anything to get that pizza. It simply said that I had to show up and I would get my pizza. But…

The Certain Gospel: The Ministry of Food | Luke 14:1-24

I want us to start by thinking of the last people we had over for dinner. Whether that was last week or a month ago, think of the last people you shared a meal with. And if you didn’t have them over for dinner, think of those you went out to dinner with. Do you have them in your mind? What are they like? Are they similar to you or different than you? Do they share a similar education background?…

The Certain Gospel: Will I be Saved? | Luke 13:22-30

One of the most important questions any of us can ask is this. Will I be saved? Will I go to heaven? How can I know God will save me? Will I be saved when I die? Can you think of a more important question with such long-term implications? I mean, we’re talking eternity here. How do people answer? I’ll go to heaven because all paths lead to heaven. It’s like we’re all hiking up the same mountain we’re just…

His Love Endures Forever | Psalm 136

As I prepared this week I listened to a sermon on Psalm 136 where a pastor asked his congregation to write down “One thing God has changed, saved, or redeemed in my life.” We’re going to do the same thing. Would you write down “one thing God has changed, saved, or redeemed in my life”? We’re going to come back to these as part of the service, so write something you’re comfortable with others hearing. Would you do that? (pause…

An Example of Honest Prayer | Psalm 73

Honesty is refreshing. In our current culture people aren’t honest. I don’t think it’s because we’re intentionally dishonest. We just want to put forward our best selves forward and we do that by posting happy photos of ourselves on Facebook and Instagram. Have you ever posted a photo of how you’re actually feeling? How did people respond? Did people want to see it? When I climbed Long’s Peak back in 2010 I posted this picture of my face from the…