Eager To Be Together

Children’s Bible Page 1223

Introduction: Not meant to be alone

Today’s sermon is entitled: Eager to be Together

When I tell you what I am about to tell you, I suspect some of you will immediately relate to what I am saying, and others of you will immediately think I am crazy and not relate with me at all.

Here it is: I hate to be alone.

It’s probably one of my greatest fears is to end up alone.

I know. There are moms in the room in the throws of raising children thinking: what I wouldn’t give to have one day alone!

And I hear you.

I have enjoyed small moments of doing something by myself, but overall, I hate it.

And I start with that because our passage today reminds us of just how relational God is.

And just how relational our faith is.

It harkens us back to Genesis chapter 2 where the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.”

Yet, whether you really value and enjoy alone time, or you hate to be alone,

There is a part of all of us that wants to do some things alone.

We want to do and accomplish certain things on our own.

We want to be considered self-made, self-worthy, self-assured, and self-sustained.

There are also parts of all of us that longs to be truly known and truly loved by others.

As we dive into our passage today, we are going to see that our faith at its very core is relational.

At its foundation, the Christian faith is about relationship with God that leads into relationship with others.

This is a very timely message for us because next Sunday begins our Community Groups and Wednesday night discipleship ministries for the Fall,

And I want to encourage you that if you haven’t signed up for a group, you can do it today.

And if you are anything like me, you feel both a bit excited and a bit hesitant when it comes to community.

Last week, we began the book of Romans by walking through Paul’s introduction to the Roman Christians.

And you may remember that Paul did not plant the church in Rome.

He had never been to the church in Rome.

And no doubt, while the Christians in Rome had heard of Paul, they probably had mixed reviews of him given the fact that the New Testament tells us there were some in the church who spoke ill of Paul and sought to diminish his ministry and influence.

So, Paul began his letter by establishing his authority as a called apostle of God, and establishing His credibility by introducing His beliefs about the gospel of God, which the Roman Christians would have agreed with.

Paul now moves on from his introduction to now tell the Romans why He is thankful for them, and why he is eager to come and visit them in person.

And as we walk through this passage, I pray we see clearly the value of sharing relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith to the point that we would be the kind of followers of Jesus in the kind of church who are eager to be together.

Romans 1:8–15

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Let’s look at three ways Paul encourages us to consider our relationships with our brothers and sisters in the church:

1. Offer Prayers and Thanksgivings For The Faith Of Others

We see Paul speak very personally and relationally as he thanks God calling Him “my God through Jesus Christ.”

It’s a phrase pointing to the deep intimate personal relationship he shares with God understanding this relationship has been made possible through His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And because of that personal relationship He has with God, he is thankful to God for all the Roman Christians.

For though Paul does not know them personally, their faith is proclaimed in all the world.

Which is a phrase they would have used at that time for the Mediterranean world.

So, you can imagine as Paul ministers in Philippi and Ephesus and Corinth, the churches are talking about how faith in Jesus has made it all the way to Rome and there is a church established there!

And of course, as an apostle of God concerned about the spread of the gospel in the world, he is thankful to learn of their faith.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book Life Together, writes about the inexpressible privilege it is to know and be in relationship with another believer in Jesus.

Because it did not have to be so.

For there are places in this world where you can walk for days without running into another person who professes faith in Jesus.

Yet, here we are in a room of more than one hundred Christ followers connected to and supporting one another in our faith.

In a town with many other faithful gospel preaching churches with Christ following friends that we know and love.

We are also privileged to be connected to faithful works of the gospel from Rocky Mount to Greenville to Philadelphia to England and Scotland, to Central and South Asia.

And I wonder how often we stop and say “thank you.”

Thank you to God for giving us one another.

Thank you to others for being faithful to show up and encourage us in the faith with their presence and involvement.

A profound gratefulness that we do not walk this journey alone but with one another, no matter how imperfectly, is a powerful tool God uses for unity within His church and witness to the watching world outside the church.

How often do you intentionally express your thanks and gratitude toward God and toward the other believers in your life?

Paul continues his expression of thanksgiving by expressing His prayers for the believers in Rome.

Romans 1:9–10

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

Consider how appreciated and special the Romans Christians must have felt reading these words.

I said last week how we don’t even know who started the church in Rome.

We just know that some Roman visitors to Jerusalem heard Peter’s Pentecost sermon and believed, and then there ended up being more believers and a church in Rome because of their witness.

So, it could have been tempting for them to feel inferior to other churches that had been planted by apostles like Paul.

So, Paul seeks to honor them and make them understand how appreciated and special they were by the witness of God,

And by the authority of an apostle who serves in the gospel of God’s Son, that he never skips over mentioning them in his prayers.

And his central prayer for them is that God will make a way for Paul to come visit them.

Which was a big deal, traveling in the ancient world was not as easy as getting online and buying a ticket.

You had to have time, and resources, physical ability, and support from others.

In Paul’s case, you had to be free and out of prison in order to travel.

So, knowing that Paul plans to travel to visit them and that he has hoped to do so for quite some time and been praying God would let him would have meant the world to these Roman Christians to have an apostle of Jesus come to them.

When I was a pastor in Louisiana, I pastored a church in a town whose whole population was 2,000 people.

We had a stoplight in town, but we didn’t really need it.

And I had on my heart to bring some really good biblical teaching on marriage to the church there, so I got this crazy idea to invite Dr. Akin, the president of SEBTS to come and do a marriage conference because I had heard him do it when I was at Southeastern, and it was really good.

Now, I thought there was about a 0.000001% chance that he would ever come, to our little tiny town all the way in South Louisiana to do such a thing,

But I cannot tell you how encouraged I felt the day I got the email from Dr. Akin’s office thanking me for the honor of inviting him and the date he would plan to come.

It made me feel seen and special.

That’s what Paul did for the Roman Christians here.

And it’s something simple yet profound we can do for one another by taking the time and effort to pray for one another, be intentional to spend time together, and speak words of kindness, encouragement, thanksgiving, and life to one another, letting people know we are praying for them.

Remember, it is the souls of brothers and sisters in Christ who will live for eternity with you and Jesus, so to touch a soul in the faith is an eternally powerful and meaningful thing.

Offer prayers and thanksgivings for the faith of others.

2. Seek Mutual Encouragement In The Faith With Others

Romans 1:11–12

11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

I had a best friend in Louisiana who took me out to lunch every Monday, and he loved me and my family so well and was so generous to us, and it was so hard to leave them when we had to move.

And he and his wife plan to come visit us in a few weeks, and I just can’t wait.

I long to see them.

I just know it will be a sweet time of catching up and encouraging one another in our faith.

In the same way, Paul longs to see the Roman Christians.

He longs to see them so that he may impart to them some spiritual gift to strengthen them, and while that seems a little vague,

We don’t have to wonder what kind of spiritual gift Paul is talking about, because he goes on the say that the gift would be the mutual encouragement of each other’s faith.

I think sometimes we are tempted to think about spiritual giftedness as some sort of level of Christianity that only a few elite Christ followers get to as they perform some sort of big and supernatural service to God.

But, that’s not how the New Testament teaches us about spiritual giftedness.

Here, the great apostle Paul, and some no name Christians in Rome were going to share on an equal playing field the spiritual giftedness of being encouraged by one another’s faith.

No matter how many great things God did through the apostle Paul, he still needed fellow brother and sister Christians to love him, talk about Jesus with him, encourage him, ask how he was doing, pray for him.

And we all need that too.

You see, one of the greatest spiritual gifts that you give your fellow church members is showing up, being involved, asking how someone is doing, encouraging them, and praying for them.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of this very thing when we read

Hebrews 10:24–25

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

And can I just encourage us, that while the details of church service, and church programs, and church ministries are important, and while we want our processes to go well, and we want to manage ministry in a way that serves people well and makes sense,

May we never be so caught up in the details, and the processes, and the mechanisms of ministry that we miss out on the blessings and joys of looking one another in the eye, asking how one another is doing, and speaking words of life and encouragement to one another.

And the truth is, details and processes can break down and go wrong, and we can still be thankful we came together because we got to look one another in the face, speak encouraging and life giving words, and encourage one another in our faith.

When it comes to our Community Groups ministry about to start, I would encourage you to consider that groups ministry is always a little bit messy.

There’s always things to figure out about who goes where, and we are not all as comfortable with some people as others, and we may not be in a group with just people we are super comfortable with, and how are we going to do children, and all those sorts of things,

But Paul is instructive here that he is first thankful to God, and it is His gospel that has saved him into the community of believers, so it is first about God.

Then, it is about mutual encouragement in the faith, that means sometimes you don’t feel like going, but you go because of God, and you go because you will be a gift of encouragement to others.

And I promise if you commit to going to a community group regularly because of faithfulness to God and because you will be an encouragement to others, it will be a mutual experience where you will be encouraged as well.

I think about our students who have just started back to school or just gone to college, and maybe they feel apprehensive about not being in a class with a certain friend, or not knowing their dorm mate, and just all the fear of the unknown,

But who knows all the ways that God will work to create new relationships and friendships, and spur on conversations about faith, and so many times we look back and see what God did through those times when we were just faithful to take it one step at a time.

I’ve talked with the staff here lately about wanted to have a heart of gratefulness toward everyone who is involved in Christ Covenant Church, and gives of their time and energy to serve the Lord in the nursery, and children’s ministry, and youth ministry, and teaching, and being elders, and helping make events happen, and all the things.

We want to be intentional to say thank you and to make one another feel appreciated and valuable.

Paul wanted that for the Roman Christians, but notice, Paul was also certain that it was going to be mutually an encouragement for him as well.

And I get the privilege of hearing so many kind words about my preaching at the end of the service, and I want to encourage you all to share appreciation to the other staff as well for things you see them doing well and to fellow church members when you see them serving.

And you all are gracious to do that even though we are so far from perfect and we all make mistakes.

And I pray we all do this for one another.

The last point of application under this point I want to share on seeking mutual encouragement in the faith with others is please please please take the initiative to reach out and ask if you are in need of help or encouragement.

We have a wonderfully caring and loving body of believers here and a wonderfully caring and loving elder team, and we want you to feel loved, appreciated, cared for, and encouraged in your faith,

But, that means we need you to let us know what you need.

We try to be attentive, and catch on to needs on our own, but a need can fall through the cracks if you don’t let someone know about it.

And it is always hard to learn afterwards when someone felt like their church did not care for well, and I promise your church and your leaders don’t want that.

But we need to you communicate your needs.

There is some precedence for this in

James 5:14

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Notice, if someone is sick, they are told to call for the elders of the church, don’t wait and hope that the elders figure it out.

We want you to feel cherished and loved as you are, but just as in any good relationship, sometimes we need to communicate clearly what we need.

Seek mutual encouragement in the faith with others.

3. Live Out The Gospel For All Kinds Of People With Others

I know it is awkward wording, but every word is important to say what I think Paul is saying.

Romans 1:13–15

13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Paul speaks again to his desire to come and visit the Roman Christians, and He assures them that he had desired that for quite some time.

Yet, he says, so far I have been prevented from doing so.

Which is instructive to us because sometimes we may have concern on our hearts, a ministry, something we would love to see our church do or be involved with, something we would love to personally do, but it may not be the right timing.

Although Paul had a great desire to go to Rome, he did not abandon the churches and the ministry God had put right in front of him at that moment in order to go off to Rome.

Instead, he embraced that He was limited and finite.

He was faithful to the next thing God put in front of him.

Yet, all the while, he prayed that God would at some point open the opportunity for him to go.

We can learn to do the same by God’s grace as we embrace our limitations and remain faithful to what God has put right in front of us, while all the while, pray God would open a door for whatever it is that is on our heart.

And Paul says that the reason he intends to come to them is to reap some harvest among them as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

Remember, Paul was specifically called of God to be an apostle to the Gentiles, so his greatest focus was on proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentile world and helping the gospel be firmly established through the churches in Gentile areas.

Paul had experienced God’s grace work through him as he ministered the gospel in Philippi and Ephesus and Corinth, and he longed for God to do the same through him in Rome.

And in verse 14, he clarifies that the obligation of his calling is both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

In the Gentile world, Greeks were considered the cultured people of the Greco-Roman world.

Greeks lived in the cities, were highly educated, understood the philosophies of the day, which the Greeks called wisdom.

The cultured Greeks were contrasted with the barbarians, who would have been the Gentiles who were not educated, did not live in the cities, did not understand the philosophies of the day.

The word barbarian was used based on how their language sounded to the highly educated Greeks.

It sounded foreign, strange, and repetitious to them.

So, Paul is intentional to make known that this gospel that he is under obligation to preach will be for all the different kinds of people.

All the different kinds of people will make up the one church of Jesus Christ in Rome.

So, the first chapter of Romans introduces us to three different kinds of people with different types of backgrounds, educations, philosophies and lifestyles when Paul mentioned Jewish background, Greek background, and Barbarian background, and the gospel is for all of them, and they are learning to live that out in the one church of Jesus Christ.

As we continue to walk through the first three chapters of Romans, we will follow Paul’s argument as he places all of humanity on the same playing field.

The Jew and the Gentile, the Greek and the barbarian, the man and the woman, the rich and the poor, the doctor and the addict, the politician and the peasant, the naturally born and the immigrant, the estate owner and the homeless, the married and the single, the successful and the struggling, the PhD and the simpleton, the home born who has lived here all their life, and the transplant who moved here last week,

Paul levels them all as unrighteous sinners deserving the just wrath of God in great need of salvation only to be found in Jesus Christ alone.

You see, the gospel obligates us to learn to love the other.

The gospel obligates us to learn to view ourselves in light of our great sinfulness and our great Savior so that all kinds of people in the church are honored the same.

That the one whom the world looks down on the most and casts out first would here in the midst of brothers and sisters in Christ be welcomed, be encouraged, be honored, be brought near, be part of my friends, my community group, my volunteer team.

That the other would be valued as a person I need in my life to give me valuable perspectives and show me things I do not naturally see.

Because this gospel reconciles us to a personal deep and intimate relationship with God, leading us to be thankful and prayerful for others, leading us to mutual encouragement in the faith with others, and leading us to live out the gospel for all kinds of people with others,

Paul completes his thought in verse 15 by stating: So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

It’s helpful to note that Paul is obviously writing to the Roman believers when he states that he desires to come preach the gospel to them.

Yet, at the end of Romans, Paul will say that he desires to preach the gospel in places where Christ has not been named.

And the reason both statements can be true and consistent is because to hear the preaching of the gospel is the need of every human soul both saved and lost.

Because the gospel is not only the power of God for the moment of our conversion, it is also the power of God for all moments of the Christian life.

It’s not like you receive the free gift of the gospel for your salvation and then you live the rest of your life trying as hard as you can by your own strength to live out a godly life.

No, this good work that God begins in you when you first believe the gospel is the same work that God will continue and complete in you when you finally stand before Jesus face to face.

No doubt, we will all stumble and fall and be imperfect in our giving of thanksgivings and prayers for others, in our being an encouragement to others, and in our living out the gospel for all kinds of people with others,

But we will grow in these ways, as the same God who gave His son for us and adopted us into his family the church continues to grow us as we trust in the free gift of the gospel of grace.

Creation

Fall

Redemption

Restoration

Elder at couches.

Pray.