Romans 1:1-7
January 25, 2026
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“The body of Scripture is a doctrine sufficient to live well. It comprehends many holy sciences, whereof one is principal; others are handmaids or retainers. The principal science is theology. Theology is the science of living blessedly forever: Blessed life arises from the knowledge of God.”

~“A Golden Chain” by William Perkins (1558–1602) one of the foremost leaders of the Puritan movement in the Church of England

“The gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches.”

~Charles Hodge, principal of Princeton Theological Seminary (1851-1878)

“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”

~Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician and thinker

“When people give up the search for truth, people turn to propaganda. And propaganda relies on emotional power.”

~Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) French philosopher and sociologist

“Faith is a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.”

~John R. Stott (1921-2011), English minister and author

“But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”

~Bob Dylan, “Gotta Serve Somebody”

“Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat out denial of the gospel of grace.”

~Brennan Manning (1934-2013), Franciscan priest and author

“Most of us have never really understood that Christianity is not a self-help religion meant to enable moral people to become more moral. We don’t need a self-help book; we need a Savior. We don’t need to get our collective act together; we need death and resurrection and the life-transforming truths of the gospel. And we don’t need them just once, at the beginning of our Christian life; we need them every moment of every day.”

~Elyse Fitzpatrick (1950-present), American author and speaker

Sermon Passage

Romans 1:1-7 (ESV)

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh ⁴ and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.