Romans 15:14-21
Notes
Transcript
Paul is rounding out his letter to the church in Rome
As part of wrapping it up, He has shared with the church they are to help the younger and weaker believers
Last week we are to make disciples
So Paul is going to expound a bit on that almost from what a church should be doing
He seems to dive right into this section of the letter
14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,
Right after Paul calls us to welcome and care for those younger and weaker believers
He wants to spend sometime encouraging us as believers in Jesus Christ
That is exactly what Pauls purpose in writing to the church in Rome to encourage them and help them grow as a church and grow as individuals
For the church to grow they must be growing as individuals
For the church here at Maranatha to grow in maturing and in wisdom and even numerically
For that to happen we must be teaching each other
Sunday School and Bible Studies are great opportunities for that to happen
Sunday School and Bible Studies are good places to gather together in small groups
To discuss the scriptures and to determine the meaning and then for the encouragement to apply them to our own lives
It is in those Bible Studies and Sunday School groups that friendships are formed
It is in those Bible Studies and Sunday Schools classrooms that foundations of the Word of God are laid down
It is where accountability happens
It is during that accountability that we grow church
I know it is hard but you and I need those people in our lives that will in Jesus Name and in the Love of Christ love us enough to tell us our house is on fire
In King Davids life it was Nathan
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. 6 “He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” 7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
Nathan spoke truth into Davids life and church we know the outcome of Davids life
He repented of sin and was made right with God
Church we need Nathans in our lives to speak truth into our lives
We need those people to love us enough to tell us we are sinning and we had better cut it out
More often than not those people our found in our Sunday School classes and in our Bible Studies
See as a believer in Jesus Christ one of the things that goes with that is allowing other brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ to help hold you accountable which only leads to your own personal growth in Christ which leads to the growth of the Church
Paul is encouraging the Church to be by bolding sharing with them some good and sometimes hard things
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
When we do that and say the hard things we are able to minister to the lost people
Paul so desired to see lost people come to know Jesus personally
Paul was a worshiper of Christ who sought to share that with others in hopes of making them worshipers of Christ
Paul was a worshiper because of what Christ did in His life and Paul desired to share that with other people
A few months ago we asked ourselves the same questions
Do we so desire to see lost people come to know Jesus personally
2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
Are we so broken over our friends and families lostness
Are we so broken over their own eternity that we are willing to do something about it
Are we willing to do something about to the point we asked you to spend 30 days praying for one person
Then we asked that if you are committed to see one lost person in your life come to know Jesus would you publically commit to praying for them and put their name on 1 in the back
That is our purpose to share the Gospel with people
When we grow as individuals thus growing as a church we are reaching those lost people for Christ
When that happens we boast in nothing but the work of Christ Himself
Your friend or family member coming to know Christ is not about you but all about Jesus Himself
Paul understood that
Knowing that when He shares the Gospel and shares his own testimony it is all about what Christ has accomplished
Knowing that it was the complete amazing and awesome work of Christ
That it wasn’t his ability to be good because Paul was not and neither are you
If you feel there is no way you can ever be good enough to get into heaven then you are correct
You can never
But because of the grace and mercy of God you can
Because He sent Jesus to the cross to pay for your debt and my debt
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Jesus died in your place
that is the Mercy of God you not dying for your sin
The Grace of God is receiving mercy, forgiveness and life
Paul wants other people to know what He himself has experienced
Church we want people to know what you and I have experienced through Christ
Paul has shared with the Church a Rome that they in essence should be a church on mission
Thus far they need to be welcoming and encouraging one another
They need to disciple each other to the point that in Jesus name you can say the hard things into someones life with the hope in Christ they take it and grow with it
Then to desire people to become a worshiper of Jesus just like you are
To share with them what Jesus has done in your own life
Then Paul moves right to what I would think is a mission statement for a church or a person
20 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; 21 but as it is written, “They who had no news of Him shall see, And they who have not heard shall understand.”
Paul is sort of giving us his missional statement right
Paul so desires to preach the Gospel to a people who have not had the gospel preached to them
Today we would call these people Missionaries
Which according to scripture as the basics is what each and eery believer is
We are to go and share the Gospel message
We are to go
We are to make disciples
We are to teach them what you and I have been taught through Christ
Like the Gentiles of Pauls day there are people in your lives that do not know Christ
Some of them have a skewed idea of being a Christian and by your actions and your words you can help correct that
Some people in your life know about Christ but have never had someone explain Christ to them in a way they could understand
Church like Paul we can and should be those people in their lives
So church this morning as come to our close this morning
We come to our time of invitation
During a churches invitation
You have been given a message from God and you need opportunity to respond not to me or your family here but to God Himself
Maybe this morning God is calling you to a relationship with Him this morning and you need to come down and speak with someone to do that
Maybe this morning God has spoke some hard things in your life and you need to come to the front and spend sometime repenting
Maybe this morning God has spoke something else into your life and you need to spend sometime in prayer
The altar is open
