By Faith - Romans 15
Notes
Transcript
Unity is not uniformity
Unity is not uniformity
As we get ready to close out Romans we need to back up. we started this journey last November. We took a few breaks and side roads.
As we close we should remember a few foundational things about Romans.
Romans, helps build and develop our understanding of how to interact with others who are different.
Part of the reason Paul was writing this letter was because there were questions about how Jews and Gentiles were supposed to be living together in a community of faith.
At first the Gospel, the Good News, belonged to the Jews. It was theirs. It started as a reformation within Judaism. It was a sect of the Jewish faith. But now Gentiles were included.
From AD 41 - AD 53 the Jewish people were expelled from Rome. So they own the religion, the church is theirs. They picked the drapes, the carpet, communion wafers, the music, everything. Then they have to leave and for 12 years the Gentiles have to figure it all out on their own. They eventually “take over.”
About 3-4 years later when they are all together Paul writes this letter in AD 56/57 to help these two groups of people realize that the church does not belong to this group or that group, but that what they need to do is;
Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.
Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.
The church is God’s and we are part of His body.
Let’s jump into this week.
Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.
Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus,
so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
Unity is not uniformity
Unity is not uniformity
We are called to desire unity, we are called to work for unity, but this unity is not uniformity.
We can read something like Romans 15:6 and feel like it is saying we are to be the same but what it means is we are saying the same thing. We are unified in what we are proclaiming.
Look at Revelation 7:9
Revelation 7:9 (CSB)
After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.
Each person, still identified with their uniqueness, is saying the same thing. The message is the same and it is unified but this never means uniformity. We all have different gifts, abilities, histories, talents, and so on. We even have different preferences but we can sing the same song.
But we are unified from our source and in our goal, and because of that we have unity.
It’s like a band different instruments but one song.
Or like a marriage, different gifts but one goal.
Different is not wrong, wrong is wrong. Different is just different.
Unity = Hope and Power
Unity = Hope and Power
Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.
For I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers,
and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name.
Again it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people!
And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples praise him!
And again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse will appear, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; the Gentiles will hope in him.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Unity = Hope and Power
Unity = Hope and Power
The joy, the peace, the hope we have comes from the power of the Holy Spirit. But it is not just through our singular connection to the Holy Spirit. Do we each have the Holy Spirit? Yes, but we also have a corporate connection to Him.
In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.
We together are being built into the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, this is why the unity is so important.
If we think of it like a chain, which link is the most important? All of them!
Any power or strength or joy we have individually is multiplied when we gather together.
Sometimes the reason we are not able to do the things we want to do or desire to do is because we are supposed to have other people with us.
Our connection to the Holy Spirit is awesome. That we hear from Him and He speaks to us as individuals is amazing. But when we gather together to hear from Him something bigger happens. Our hope and joy is magnified.
Unity = Mission
Unity = Mission
That is why I have been prevented many times from coming to you.
But now I no longer have any work to do in these regions, and I have strongly desired for many years to come to you
whenever I travel to Spain. For I hope to see you when I pass through and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while.
Right now I am traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints,
because Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs.
So when I have finished this and safely delivered the funds to them, I will visit you on the way to Spain.
I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers to God on my behalf.
Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
and that, by God’s will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.
May the God of peace be with all of you. Amen.
Unity = Mission
Unity = Mission
When we have unity we also work the mission together.
We should be clear here the mission is the mission.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This is the mission. We can also call this the Missio Dei, or the Mission of God. We are calling people to Christ. We are calling people to be reconciled to God.
This is the mission of the Church. Yet the way this plays out in individual lives and individual churches can have different flavors.
For example, Paul says here in Romans,
My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation,
But He also says,
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.
Paul was not looking to be the pastor of the church in Rome. He was focused on starting new churches and moving on.
Billy Graham is not known as a church pastor but as an evangelist. He pastored a little but his focus within the mission was like the Apostle Pauls, sharing the Gospel.
We are all participating or at least we are called to participate in the Missio Dei, but the expression and focus can vary a bit. For example, here at Journey our place is in the greater mission is to
Encounter God, Engage Together, and Empower Change.
This is how we are expressing the mission. We are seeking Jesus together and seeing lives changed in the process. Everything we do from Trunk or Treat, to small groups, to livestream is within the context of that mission.
This means we have to say no to a few things in order to say yes to what God has called us to. When we do that though we can have the impact God wants us to have and we can do it with Holy Zeal.
As we engage in the mission Holy Zeal is created.
Participation in the mission produces Holy Zeal.
Holy Zeal is a Spirit-prompted discontent with the church being only about keeping the sheep in the pen and well fed. It is a burning desire to see people enter a relationship with the God who loves them and who entered human history to show them the way back home and into His arms. - The U-Turn Church
Because we are unified, because we are together we start to get all amp’d up!
Remember, Paul is talking to people who are in the church, they are working on living in unity, and because of all this they are working the mission together.
It is in being united that the church receives power to do the work of the mission. Together we are all doing the mission.
Some people go
Some people bring candy
Some people decorate a car.
Some people sing.
Some people preach.
Some people do different things but we are all participating in the mission. At a minimum, and this is not a small thing, we can and should all be praying.
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers to God on my behalf.
Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
We are all praying that God brings people to Journey so that they might hear the Gospel. You can give them the Gospel yourself but a base level we are all praying.
We are all putting our hands to the mission in some form or fashion. We are all called to the work. There is a place for everyone at the table and a role for everyone in the work.
First we need to be united together, then we receive what we need, then we join in the mission.
Again, here at Journey we are calling that Encounter God, Engaging together, and empowering Change.
We believe that we need God and each other to see change happen.
This is because on our own we can only think what we can think and we can only do what we can do. But when we get together we can do anything.
There are three things I want to mention with that.
We are helping feed some families that need it this Thanksgiving. We are providing turkeys and sides. We have cards in the lobby so if you want to be part of that you can grab a card at the new missions wall.
Next week we have a faith in practice panel. We have invited three different organizations to come in and share how they are working their part in the mission of God.
We are also relaunching the Shift campaign.
We have raised $777k. I met with Spence this week and we are going to start getting bids for phase 1 . The hope is to break ground on our 10th birthday this coming April.
We also still have about $280,000 left on the mortgage.
We are not building just to build. And building is expensive. It is more expensive now than it was when we built the kids wing. But we want to bless the community with our building.
Phase 1 will give our students and prep more space and open up additional space for small groups and other gatherings.
We did this for Trunk or Treat and had about 1000 people. We do this for elections as a polling place. We will do this next week with a special panel. We can do this by hosting concerts and we have done that. There is so much we can do.
We want to get the church in the community and the community in the church and not just on a Sunday morning.
