First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, CA


Learning Communities Schedule

The discipleship expedition that the apostle Paul calls us to in his letter to the Romans is exceedingly challenging. It is an invitation to radical discipleship that will demand of us our entire lives. There will be no holding back if we truly want to know the liberation that comes when we settle down and build our lives upon God’s "Yes!" spoken to us in Jesus Christ and when we respond with our own "Yes!" to the leadership of Christ in our lives. Our journey through the book of Romans will be more than an academic exercise. It could very well shake and remake the foundations of our lives.

A schedule of topics and texts for Fall 2008 can be found in the table below. We encourage you to read the texts before coming to class; we think you'll get the most out of the material by getting a sense of context and by letting the text soak in during the week. 

Date Topic
Sep 7 Meet the Apostle Paul and the Romans
Introduction to Romans
Sep 14 God's Gospel and God's Righteousness
Romans 1:1-17
Sep 21 Worshipping What is Not God
Romans 1:18-32
Sep 28 Failing to Practice What We Preach
Romans 2:1-3:8
Oct 5 All of Us Need the Gospel 
Romans 3:9-20
Oct 12 God is Faithful
Romans 3:21-4:25
Oct 19 No LCs — Global Church Conference
Oct 17-19 at First Pres
Oct 26 From Faith to Hope
Romans 5:1-11
Nov 2 From Adam to Jesus Christ
Romans 5:12-21
Nov 9 Dying and Rising with the Messiah
Romans 6:1-11
Nov 16 Slavery and Freedom
Romans 6:12-23
Nov 23 Released from the Law
Romans 7:1-6
Nov 30 The Law Cannot Give Us Life
Romans 7:7-25
Dec 7 God's Gift of Life
Romans 8:1-11
Dec 14 Nothing Will Separate Us from the Love of God
Romans 8:12-39
Dec 21 No LCs — Christmas Break
Dec 28 No LCs — Christmas Break