Romans 4

Mt. Olive Baptist Church

November 8 2026

Genesis 2 revisits the Creation story with a focus on some of the specifics of how God worked through the processes of creating. Genesis 1 had given us the summary of the first six days, but now there are some details that flesh out “God spoke” and how the elements responded to His word. Don’t rush past the wrapping up of the Creation Week at the beginning of the chapter, though.

That is the first place to look in this chapter. Do not disconnect the Seventh Day of Creation from the rest of God’s initial design. People who stop working, stop striving, and pause to rest and worship are the kind of people we are designed and created to be. When you wonder about eternity, remember that work and worship are both part of the original design.

Now, the rest of Genesis 2 gives us some interesting quirks. The land has been made, but nothing has sprouted. The text connects the lack of growth due to there being no rain and to the lack of mankind to till and work the earth to bring forth growth. We are a necessary part of how God designed the world. We also see in this chapter a general description of the location of the Garden of Eden. I am inclined to agree with the idea that later rivers were named by people in memory of Eden, not that we should look for the remnants of Eden in modern-day Iraq.

God gives Adam an assignment and some limitations for his life in Eden. First, he is supposed to work the garden and take care of things. Second, he is to eat from all but one of the trees. That was about it. Then God takes action on man’s need for community. This God deals with by creating the woman, to establish human community. This also establishes marriage and family units. People are intended to work well together.

In Focus:

Let’s focus on God’s command to Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. I would take this literally, that there was a real tree that God used to symbolize obedience and trust. One thing that appears to be the case here is that God tells Adam this command, and then entrusted Adam with telling Eve after her creation. We do not know that, but if the text here is sequential, and being a narrative story it definitely reads sequentially, then that’s the order of events.

This suggests that an unstated command is that Adam was supposed to help Eve know how to relate to the Lord God.

In Practice:

Practically, then, I would suggest we see helping one another know how to relate to the Lord God as part of our creation design. This lines up well with our New Testament commission to tell the world about the grace of Jesus. Part of original Creation involved sharing God’s Word and works, our New Covenant commitment includes telling people about God’s Word and works, and so likely one thing we will do in the New Creation is share what God has said and done.

Might as well practice now!!!

In Nerdiness:

Note that some translations use the “Orchard” for what we traditionally call the Garden of Eden. Why? Well, because the word in Hebrew refers to a “fenced or walled garden” or even “oasis.” Garden tends to bring in our cultural assumptions of row crops and orderly planting and scarecrows. This was probably not the approach of the Garden in Eden. It was more common in that era to see orderly growth in orchards, at least per the notes in the NET Full-notes edition. It also lines up well with general history. Plants for food were usually on farms. The “Garden” of Eden had trees, which fits more with a relaxing orchard idea. Either way, though, it’s a planned location with purpose and intention.

Boom! Video first. Then, sermon discussion: first, we continued through Romans in the morning service. Covered chapter 3, and we’ll be looking at Romans 4 this coming Sunday. We’ll stick with Romans until the Sunday before Thanksgiving, then kick over to Advent as we move toward Christmas.

Sunday evening we were in 1 Timothy 2 and talked about the necessity of praying for whoever is in the governing roles of the country in which we live. And that there’s no excuse for saying “Well, but our government is soooo bad…” when you consider the state of the Roman Empire and Nero when Paul is writing to always be in prayer for the government.

Mt. Olive Baptist Church

November 1 2026

Romans 3

Matthew 1

In Summary:

Matthew opens his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus. It is likely a representative genealogy, meaning that the facts are accurate but some generations may be left out or compressed. How does that happen? There is precious little difference in the words for son/descendant and father/ancestor, because culturally there is some compression on the issue. One is not just a “father’s son” but also a “grandfather’s grandson” but all fall under an “ancestor’s descendant.” The rest of this debate is better suited to the “nerd note” section.

The opening genealogy traces Abraham down to Jesus, passing through David and the deportation to Babylon. Matthew moves on to the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, though the nativity itself gets only a passing mention in Matthew 1:25. Which, by the way, is an interesting side note about Christmas chaos: there’s hardly any clear Scripture about what happened that day/night. To what end do we get so worked up about it?

Matthew does highlight Mary’s virginity three times in eight verses. That indicates significance, and that the Virgin Birth was not something created out of nothing by the church later on. How do we know that? The antiquity of Matthew is a reason--Matthew is written sometime between 60 and 100 AD. This is the range that works with history, with one’s theology pushing towards the varying ends of the spectrum.

In Focus:

Let’s put Joseph in focus today, looking at Matthew 1:18-25. Matthew provides the facts first: Mary is pregnant, she and Joseph are not married yet. There’s much not said here, like how she “was found to be with child.” That phrasing hints that there was more going on here than just Mary knowing she was pregnant. There’s also the side note of how TV networks refused to use the word “pregnant” in the early days, but would use “with child.” I think that was on I Love Lucy. As if the meaning is any different. (Although, thinking about it, I wish we use “with child” all the time. It’s much clearer about what is happening.)

Mary already knows the facts while Joseph is in the dark. She is pregnant by the Holy Spirit, with details clearer for us in Luke 1:26 and following than they are here. Joseph, though, does not know what has happened. We have the benefit of history, looking back at the whole picture. He’s living it.

And he likely doesn’t know what to do at this point. His options, not knowing about the divinity of Mary’s unborn child, are the she either loves another or has no morals. Those are his choices for how this happened, and to his credit, he’s neither jealous or angry. Apparently, that is, though I doubt Matthew recorded the first words out of Joseph’s mouth. Instead, he wants to simply release Mary from their marriage. If she’s in love, she can chase that. If she’s immoral, he’s out of having to deal with it.

Joseph, though, didn’t have the full picture. There was an option that he never thought of, because the idea that the prophets of old would come true for his day was extreme. Instead of Joseph’s righteousness on display, Mary’s being “with child” would show the righteousness of God Himself. She was, indeed, a virgin and the one who bring forth a son called Immanuel.

In Practice:

Making it a given that Jesus came that way one time, and will return triumphant the next time, what do we do with this?

First, we acknowledge this: our own experience is not enough. Our imaginings and wonderings will get us so far, but never far enough. We cannot conceive of all the ways that God fulfills His Word. This is actually why many formulations of doctrine are negative: it is often very clear from Scripture what God said He will not do, but that leaves open many things. Further, Joseph could see in Isaiah that a virgin would have a child...but how was he to figure it would be his future wife? Let God work through the ways God works, being whatever part we can be.

Second, know this: our righteousness is limited. It is based on our understanding, which can be flawed. Be committed to walking in obedience with God--Joseph was. Once God made Mary’s situation clear, Joseph followed God fully.

Third, be cautious about judging the ups and downs in another’s life. If Mary’s condition is known, and Joseph married her anyway, then he took on public scorn alongside her. His “righteous man” status would have fallen in the public eye, for he couldn’t wait until the wedding, could he? But we see that privately, not only was he righteous at the beginning, he held on through the rest of the time to allow not only a virgin conception but a virgin birth.

Keep your body and will fastened to the righteousness of God.

In Nerdiness:

1. Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew is different from the one in Luke. We have to deal with that--the traditional Joseph in one, Mary in another, may not be right. But it’s a start. There’s also a possibility of tracing legal heads of household vs. actual parents, but I can’t find the reference work on that one. Suffice it to say that both are accurate, so somehow it works.

2. Genealogy of Jesus: the inclusion of some of the women is important, as are their stories. Learn and read.

3. Genealogy of Jesus: note the symbolism of 14, 14, 14 to make the generations.

4. Authorship: How do we know Matthew wrote Matthew? Mainly through early church history. It’s also logical, as there’s precious little reason to scrape up the former tax collector as a potential author when others, like Peter, could have been suggested.

5. Date: most of the date debate is inconclusive. Does Matthew write about the Temple’s destruction as prophecy? I think so, and I think that makes his Gospel pre-70 AD. Others disagree.

That being said, here’s the sermon from yesterday. I’m not fishing for compliments nor am I fishing for constructive criticism. One of these days I’m going to put together a sermon feedback group but I’ll ask for volunteers then.

Mt. Olive Baptist Church

Romans 2:17-3:8

October 25 2026

In Summary: Grab your Bibles and take a look at Genesis 1. This is where the revelation of God’s Word begins in the Christian tradition. We see a summarized version of the way in which God created all things. Genesis 1:1 is probably in the Top Ten of Famous Bible Verses, and it’s pretty straightforward in translation: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” is about the only way to put it and pass your Hebrew test. There are some suggestion that add additional prepositions or qualifiers, but it’s really not necessary.

The rest of Genesis 1 spells out the first six days of Creation. I say “first six days” because I think we do a disservice to the narrative and the rhythms God has given us by excluding the Seventh Day. Taking a Sabbath is not an option and not the result of the Fall. It’s part of Creation.

The rest of the chapter summarizes with different days in which God created. While these were not really heavily debated until the last couple of hundred years, these days there are some serious disagreements about whether each of these days is a literal 24 hours or symbolic of something other.

On the one hand, the language is more narrative than poetry, suggesting the labels are not symbolic. However, practically, you do not see the Sun created until the Fourth Day, so how one marked the hours would have to be different. That’s why there are several theories that attempt to take the text seriously while also explaining the meaning.

I will simply assert here that the core of the text is this: all of Creation was made by the One True God. Most of the cultures surrounding the Hebrew people at the time of Moses (and any later editors) would have attributed creative acts to a variety of gods, goddesses, demigods, and so forth. This text counters those ideas and sets forth one Creator God responsible for an all-good Creation.

In Focus: The focal point I would make here is that God’s Creation was good from the beginning. There were no flaws within it, including in the people that are made on the Sixth Day. There is a tendency to see the world as it is now and assume it has always been wrong, broken, out-of-whack. But it was created “good” and ultimately evaluated as “very good.” When God works, He works well.

In Practice: What do we do with this, practically? First, if what God had made was very good, then God’s redemption will bring it back to very good. Our future hope is not something totally alien to this idea, but instead this is our future hope. Restoration of all things. Second, if God’s work was very good in the beginning, then part of our work as His people is the restoration of that goodness in our time. We cannot remake all the world, nor can we get it quite as perfect. However, we can spend our effort and energy bringing restoration. It’s one of the ways we proclaim God’s Kingdom Good News, by living in God’s goodness. There does not have to be a gap between “sharing the Gospel” and “practicing Kingdom restoration.” We do both.

In Nerdiness: Mercy, there are a lot of nerd-points to hit here. First, we see hints of major doctrine even in the first verse. The word for “God” is plural in the Hebrew, but we refer to it as “plural of divine majesty,” communicating the idea that God exceeds normal language barriers. Then we have questions like those raised in John Walton’s The Lost World of Genesis One (and follow-up works) about whether or not the Creation Days are symbolic of God ordering the visible world into His temple.

The last bit of Nerdiness here is a look ahead: Genesis 1:26-27 gives a summary of God’s creation of humanity. We’ll pick up more detail on that in Genesis 2, because that’s where the mechanism chosen comes up. But it should be noted that God is referenced as creating “male and female” in God’s own image. One thing this tells us plainly: Male and Female are both in the image of God. This also suggests that, while Male pronouns are used for God, the reality of God most likely is beyond our categories of male and female. It also tells us that a male-only situation, or a female-only situation, does not capture the full imago Dei. We need each other.

Today’s book is The Great Remembering by June Cohen. Currently available in digital format and hardcover, the author was one of the creators of the TED Talks and creator of the podcast Masters of Scale. She has earned multiple Webby honors (for Internet content,) “Podcast of the Year” from Apple several times, and a Peabody. I suppose, for me, the Peabody is an award with a deep legacy and it feels more appropriate to the content here.

Why? Well, for all the irony of being available in e-book formats and digital audio, The Great Remembering is a book about looking to the past for mental health and development. Most of the practices that Cohen explored and experimented with have a heritage that runs into the thousands of years. The ones that are not that ancient are only centuries old. Honestly, the difference here is not significant.

The Great Remembering is written in a friendly style, presenting what Cohen calls “wisdom systems” for various domains in life. These touch on the very intimate in the last chapter and personal growth in the beginning chapters, as well as speaking of community practices in the middle chapters.

There are some caveats for me, as a Christian minister, when considering the content here. Cohen’s beliefs are different from mine and as such, she does not offer an evaluation of the spirituality in any of the practices. While she is cautious about anything pushing itself as a universal truth and certainly insists that personal consent is a necessary part of any spiritual activity, my understanding would point out that some things are inherently right and some are wrong. This right and wrong differential overrides effectiveness: a wrong practice should not be engaged, even if it appears to have a positive effect.

However, every book cannot cover every eventuality. If you are not learning about your own beliefs, then you cannot hold an outsider responsible for not promoting them. I would simply note that I would not add this book to a church library, even though it reflects in general a truth that churches and ministers have been advocating for quite some time: the modern world left behind practices and habits that we need to recover.

Now, for the quick rundown on what is good here in The Great Remembering. First, the approach is thoroughly researched and followed-up with personal experience. Cohen did not just read about Irish sweathouses or the value of festivals, but participated in them. And searched for the remains of them, in the case of physical artifacts. Naturally, of course, there was no visiting an ancient Aztec Festival, but modern-day festivals reflect the parallels.

Second, I personal like the occasional corner drop-in of a referenced book. Cohen (and Authors Equity, the publisher) have not placed footnotes throughout the text to check sources, instead including quick references to other books, including several that are on my list now to read in follow-up. The back of the text includes a selected bibliography and a chapter-by-chapter look at primary sources. If you are wanting to develop a deep research, the starting points are here.

Third, each wisdom system is followed by a “Practical Coda” (Cohen’s term, I do like it) that gives the reader ideas of how to try out each system. These practicals are more than just the “oh, go do it!” type of suggestions, but engagement concepts from beginner to advanced. This includes cautions when exploring the physical limits ideas and guidance for organizers of large group events.

In all, I find this a good read as the world keeps on spinning a bit more crazy every day. The technology we have to be able to do so many other things has cut us adrift from the useful moorings of tradition and community. These are some excellent pathways to recover what carried many of our ancestors through the chaos of their own times.

More info is here

https://www.thegreatremembering.com/

I was sent a copy of this through the Next Big Idea Book Club.

One of the things I’ve intended to do is go back and clean up the existing entries and then also finish the work. So I’m going to bring it back on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ll probably start by revising and editing the existing posts, which means Thursday will see us pick up with Genesis 1. I’ll aim to alternate Old Testament and New Testament as it goes.

Part of what I want to accomplish is to finish a project I started. Part of it is to also take the time to examine the Bible slowly and share the thoughts I find there.

Hopefully this time, I’ll finish the journey.

First, the morning sermon:

Read more

Mt. Olive Baptist Church

Romans 2

October 18 2026

It’s very much like walking up a low hill. On the one hand, it looks smooth. Each step looks not that different from the one before it. But they are. Over time, it takes a bit more effort than you realize.

Add to it that you are striving to push, pull, or carry something up that gentle incline and it builds up. Don’t quit because you’re tired.

Keep pushing uphill. The thing is, a year from now, you will look back see that you’ve come up a great distance. It’s not as flashy as climbing the mountain overnight. But the growth is worth it.

And then worked on developing what all that means: that the righteousness only comes from Jesus Christ and being in right relationship with Him. That living by faith is living in obedience to the call of Christ.

Here’s the sermon:

Mt. Olive Baptist Church

Romans 1:16-32

October 11 2026

However, one thing to remember as your church considers engaging as a sending church: you’re also stepping into some dangerous territory as well. After all, you’ll be the supply base for efforts to reclaim what the Devil wants to keep stolen.

Now, remember, though:

Jesus is the winner. He has already conquered, and He is more than enough not only to supply church planters but also senders of church planters. If you’re engaged in Kingdom work, the enemies of the Kingdom will target you.

So be certain that you are praying and working not only to send out but also to shore up your church as you get started on this journey. It’s worth doing.

You won’t get here the Sunday night add-in from last night running through various resources on Romans for study purposes. Primarily I noted my preferred commentaries, such as the entry in the Story of God Commentary series from Michael Bird and C. Marvin Pate’s entry in the Teach the Text series. I also use both editions of IVP’s Dictionary of Paul and His Letters for reference purposes. I had forgotten about Jackson W.’s Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes, but I’m going to add that in this week.

Meanwhile, here are the sermon links from Sunday morning. Audio will be there first:

Then we have video:

Audio can be subscribed to here.

Video can be subscribed to here.

Oh, here’s the working text that I used while preaching:

Our Forever Debt

Doug Hibbard

RomansMOBC / Romans 1:1–15

Context: Where does this fit in the Big Picture of God’s Glory?

Romans: Paul’s letter to a church he’s never been to. More background tonight.

Comes right after Acts, so you’re in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Hit the “ians” and you need to back up. If you’re in the “iahs” go forward.

If you’ve somehow found a chapter on Chaos Theory, you’re in Jurassic Park. Put it away for later.

Overview: What’s going on here?

Romans 1:1–15 NET

From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.

This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh,

who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through him we have received grace and our apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

You also are among them, called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those loved by God in Rome, called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.

For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness that I continually remember you

and I always ask in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God.

For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith, both yours and mine.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Thus I am eager also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.

Overview: What’s going on here?

1. Identity

2. Gospel

3. Gratitude

4. Glorification

5. Intentions

Reflection: Why does this matter?

The Gospel of Grace creates a debt, an obligation, that our whole lives are spent repaying: to share the good news!

Expectations: What do we do about it?

Salvation: One more time: your sins have separated you from God. You can never buy, work, or sneak past the consequences. You either accept the grace of God through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus or you face an eternity facing the wrath of God.

Believers: do you see the debt? Do you understand that we spend our lives gloriously sharing that? That we are in debt, under obligation, to the world that needs Jesus because we have what they need. We have the truth. We have the love of God.

We have this truth. We have this gift.

And notice that Paul isn’t satisfied with what he’s done so far. Neither should we be: a ship does not sail with yesterday’s winds, nor a Christian say yesterday’s disciples are enough. There is no time or generation that we get to write off as unsavable. He wants to share the Gospel with the Jews; the Greeks; the Barbarians (everybody else).

Who do you want to share the Gospel with?

How far will you go?

Paul won’t share the Gospel and God’s work in his life with the Romans until he arrives in Rome as a prisoner. He’s shipwrecked, nearly drowned, bitten by a snake...

So get involved. Teach a Sunday School class. Invite someone to come to Sunday School with you. Bring somebody to church. Be part of the outreach activities we do here like the candy giveaway. Share your creative ideas about how to reach unchurched people with the pastor so we can try those. No, telling someone else to tell someone or simply opining loudly “why don’t we ever do this like we used?” in hopes that I’ll hear it isn’t the same thing. And your Sunday School class can launch your own projects.

Much of what we do tends to be good, but it’s not Gospel-driven and reaching lost people. We can and should do good things but we must never substitute things that make us feel good with things that spread the Gospel.

Church

What are we organized for? We have limited resources: our budget will need to shrink going into next year because we just do not have the money. So where do we spend what we have? Old habits? Certainly, some of it has to go to building maintenance.

But must look at how we can prioritize our energies not into institutional preservation. The church that follows God into spreading the Gospel will be preserved in what needs preserved. We need to rethink why we do each thing we do.

We need to remember why we are here in the first place. We’re not a museum for saints.

We’re a hospital for sinners and a launching point for rescue missions.

Our comfort is in Christ Jesus not plush pews. It’s hard: the world is changing, there are boatloads of chaos out there.

But the real answer is the Gospel. Not something we enshrine here but good news that we all go out and proclaim.

Exported from Logos Bible Study, 3:31 PM October 5, 2026.

Romans 1:1-15

October 4 2026

M.t Olive Baptist Church

Mt. Olive Baptist Church

Psalm 75

September 27 2026

September 20 2026

Morning Sermon

Mt. Olive Baptist Church