A New Message: The Gospel of Christ…

Our church has as one of its key purposes…

To Share Christ with our world.

Why?

Why in the world do we take the Gospel to the world?

Why do we do AWANA Kid’s clubs EO Camps?

Scripture answers these question for us.  [Pray: Psalm 67] 

This morning, I want us to ASK the question:

WHY we do…WHAT we do as a church?

Why do we have Global Partners?

Why do we support people to learn a new language…a new culture and then go to another part of the world to reach a people group…maybe a group we have never heard of…and will probably never see face to face this side of heaven…and they go & live & work among the people and serve them by introducing them to the Saviour.

Why do we as a church…hold this as a value…to go into God’s world?

Both LOCALLY…where we are…and GLOBALLY…around the world.

Why does that matter to us? So I want this morning to answer these questions from Scripture.

Because Scripture provides these answers.

Our message series over the past month has been how God is Making All Things New…

Taken from Paul’s letter to Romans..what God is doing, has done & provided a wonderful thing for us.

A New Solution…the GRACE of Christ…

A New Relationship…through the DEATH of Christ…

A New Life…in the RESURRECTION of Christ…seal & power of what God has done…

A New Way…in the SPIRIT of Christ…

A New Message…The GOSPEL of Christ…

1. What is the NEW Message?  Romans 10:9-13

Paul shares with the Romans…the very simple truth of what it means to be MADE RIGHT WITH GOD.

Romans 10:9 “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

“saved”…a beautiful, wonderful, Biblical word that may have lost some lustre in our English language.

It basically means that at one point…while we were sinners…we were far from God…facing eternal punishment because of our sin…God did what was necessary to bring us into a right relationship with Him…and if we believe and understand and confess Jesus as Lord we can be in a right relationship with God.  He goes on to write:

Romans 10:11 “For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 10:12 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him.”

Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

“everyone”…there is no dividing wall…no race division, gender, political, or social division.

“calls on the name of the Lord…” implies that we believe He can & will save us…

“will be saved…” will be in that right relationship with God.

We know & proclaim to the world around us that…Jesus’ death on the cross has transformed our lives.

So God graciously offers everyone the opportunity to be a in a right relationship with Him

“all” used 2x “everyone” used 2x everyone who believes.

2. How Will People HEAR?

Paul then goes on to ask a lot of rhetorical questions about people who haven’t heard.

Rhetorical Questions are questions asked…to make a point…These questions should come to our mind as well.

Romans 10:14-15 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”

Follow Paul’s line of progressive logic…

How will people call on Him whom they have not believed…??

How will people believe in someone whom they have never heard of…??

How are they to hear without someone preaching to them…??

How are they to preach unless they are sent…??

Then Paul quotes a common OT phrase that spoke of the joy of the coming of good news. 

“…As it is written “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”   

(Note: Paul is not talking about the pedicure of preachers.)

He is quoting an OT phrase that referred to a messenger comes over the hills people would say: “He has beautiful feet because he was bringing the message…the good news.” It was used 2x in the OT.

Nahum 1:15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace  

Time of Nahum…Assyrians…specifically the key city of Nineveh…whom Jonah had gone to 150 years before…had repented…but had now become a real problem for God’s people…

So when the news came of the destruction of the Assyrian Empire…this was good news for God’s people.

God had patiently dealt with Nineveh, but now His judgment was going to fall. 

This was the “good news” the messenger brought to Israel…this is what made His feet so beautiful.

Isaiah 52:7-10 also used this statement pointing to the good news of a future event…the return of Messiah and He will establish His glorious kingdom. “Your God reigns!”

The messenger with beautiful feet…announced God had defeated Israel’s enemies and Messiah was reigning from Jerusalem. The Good News is that God has made a way for us.

CHALLENGE:  The Gospel of Jesus…God has made a way…God has defeated the enemy…Jesus died on the cross…as payment for my sin…He took my punishment…so that we can be reconciled with God…His resurrection sealed the deal!! 

This is the Good News that our God reigns!! (euangelion)

This is THE GREATEST NEWS that could possibly be shared!!!

Paul will say later in

Romans 10:17 ESV

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

In other words…when we get the message of what Christ has done…

We hear it & understand what it means for our own lives…is what makes us in a right relationship with God.

BUT FIRST….we must UNDERSTAND…The SERIOUSNESS of our SITUTION…

God has said …the soul who sins must die!

God is holy and perfect and His law demands perfection. That is bad news!

Because I know that I can’t be perfect. I can’t keep God’s Law if I tried!

None is righteous, no, not one. no one understands, no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside…no one does good not even one.

It begins by understanding the problem…I am a sinner who cannot save myself.

WE CAN’T DO IT ON OUR OWN!

The book of Romans outlines this for us in the previous chapters…It helps us understand simply…

The PROBLEM…

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

“all”…there’s that collective all again…every one of us…no one is exempt…there is no one righteous.

“sinned’…we might not like that word….our society does not like the word.

“sin, sinners, sinful” = means everything we HAVE done…that is not in the character of God we have fallen short of being like God. (commission)

And it means everything that we HAVE NOT done…that is in the character of God we have fallen short of being in the character of God. (omission)

So by our sins of commission…things we do…and sins of omission…good things we do not do…

Because we’re born with a bent to sin…we are fallen, imperfect people…what the Bible calls sinners.

It is not a bad word…it simply says…we all have the propensity to sin.

That is everyone’s condition…and because of that…we are not in a right relationship with God.

God has a SOLUITION…He has wonderfully, beautifully, graciously…made a way out for us…described in Romans as well

The SOLUTION…

Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“wages” = what we deserve for sin…sin brings death…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“free gift”…This can be difficult for many to understand this FREE GIFT…a righteous, holy, just God saying “Hey you can be in a right relationship with Me…it’s free!”

We assume there is something we have to DO…a catch…

Other world religions you have to DO something…

Pray 5x a day…light incense…give alms, you have to believe a certain thing…

Or trust, meditate and hope that maybe nirvana comes in to your life.

But it is so simple…God says it is a FREE GIFT…there is nothing you have to DO…It has all been DONE.

All we have to do is…believe (understand & accept)…receive it…and we can have eternal life with God.

To understand and know that I am a sinner need of God’s grace…

I acknowledge what He has done for me…and I repent of my sin and follow Him.

HYMN: Charles Wesley…18th Century hymn writer wrote the hymn “And Can it Be”

This is what God does! Beautiful & free! Doing what only He can do!  Offering the free gift of salvation!!!

So now I know that…and most (if not all) of you KNOW THAT & understand that!

{A pastor’s warning…beware no longer being amazed by the Gospel} Paul Tripp No Longer Amazed but Grace (2012)

3. So What Do We Do With That? How do we understand & apply this for ourselves?

Understand that we received that blessing in order that we have bless others.

Romans 10:14-15  Remember Paul is asking the reader these questions…we should ask ourselves.  

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Rhetorical questions… He is not asking them because he loves rhetorical questions…

He is asking them because he wants us to think about what it means that we are in that relationship…that we have been saved…

So he says…how about those other people?

Romans 10:14a How will they (unreached) call on Him in whom they have not believed?

These are the questions he is asking…and we also should be asking:

What Should I Do About what I Have Received?

What do I do with this blessing I have received?

Let me give you a start…everyione has a circle of influence…

STUDENTS…If you are a student…you are called to take the message of God’s salvation to your peers, fellow students, teachers, teammates, coaches, the people around you.

WORKERS…you are where God has placed you…so you can tell others around you about what God has done in your life.

RETIREES…you are where you are for the purpose that the world may know.

NEIGHBOURHOOD…God placed you in your neighbourhood so you can tell the people around you the truth about what has transformed your life.

The Fact is….you & I are SENT into the world right around you…our immediate vicinity.

4. What About Those Who NEVER Hear?

The next question is: What about those who never hear?

It is not a comfortable question for me to ask…let alone for me to answer.

What about the millions of people who live and die…and they never hear about Jesus?

How can a loving God let millions of people die without knowing who Jesus is?

I have wrestled with that question…I am not sure if you will like my answer

There are Bible-less people groups…who have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ!

We must first remember…God is Good…Gracious, Loving, Merciful, Holy, Just & Righteous…

At the same time…ALL people are accountable to God whether or not they have “heard about Him.”

The Bible tells us God has clearly revealed Himself in nature…Romans 1:20 and God has put eternity into every human heart Ecclesiastes 3:11

But man being sinful…continues to REJECT the knowledge of God & rebel against Him Romans 1:21-23 

Scripture is very clear on this point. 

Jesus said we have to understand the uniqueness of who He is. John 14:6 “I am the Way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

People need Jesus! 

People need to understand what we know about the cross of Christ paying for all their sin…their sin…placed upon the cross…and if they believe/trust in Him…they too can be in that forgiven relationship with God and have eternal life. This mentioned in quite a few places in Scripture.

Acts 4:12 ESV

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?

Parents ask their children…Let me ask you the same thing…What on earth are you doing?

If we understand Scripture correctly…that the only way to come to faith is through Jesus Christ!

If we understand the reality of the world…there are billions of people who live and die and never hear the message of Jesus Christ…

WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING?

What are we here for? What is our purpose? How do we go and take this blessing we have received and bring it to others? That has been God’s plan all along when He first told them!

This Has Always Been God’s Plan for God’s People…[We are BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING]

Genesis 12:3 “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God chose Abraham to be His special possession. He said this in Genesis 12:3

Abraham was blessed by God…by receiving a wonderful blessing & connection with God…so that he would be a blessing to the rest of the world. From Abraham would come God’s Word, the Messiah

Israel…got the picture…they were God’s chosen people…but stopped being the light to the world around them.

God came to the prophet Isaiah to bring the message.

Isaiah 49:6 “It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel I will make you as a light for the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

NLT God was saying: “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.” 

Then at the end of time we get this picture we looked at a few weeks ago:  This is God’s END GAME!

Revelation 7:9 “And after this I looked and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne…

This is what God wants…This is His purpose…this is what He will ultimately fulfill.

So what needs to change? 

What needs to be different in our lives to be in line with God’s purpose?

If God really wants people from every nation…

If God has has said I brought Abraham into a special relationship so that all the families of the world will be blessed…

If God has said it too small of a thing just one action Israel…

We must appreciate the fact that God did not just stay with one nation.

If His purpose is for every nation to be standing before the throne of God in Heaven…

What do I need to do differently?

Paul goes on in the book of Romans to nail the point home for us…

Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

“by the mercies of God”  …because you have been in that relationship with God…

Because God has been so merciful to you and to me…to offer us the free gift

“I urge you” …I appeal to you…

“worship”…we sometimes think of worship to only be our time of singing on Sunday.

But worship according to this…is the giving of ourselves to God…

Laying our lives down for God. 

God, whatever you want me to do…to make the appeal known to other people…I will do it.

When do we stop doing what we want to do…and start doing what God wants us to do.

Why? Because people are worth it….and the Lord is worth it.

That is presenting yourself as a living sacrifice…

What about you?

How is God asking you to live out a living sacrifice?

Is it talking to that peer? coworker? friend? neighbour? Giving? 

The fact is simple…we have been blessed…in order to be a blessing.

My reason for being in a relationship with God is so that others may know who He is.

If I could get everyone in the world 8 billion people on stage here with me.

1/3 of them would live like you & I…

They have some knowledge of Jesus…what He did…they have a Bible in their own language.

1/3 of them live in a place where there are Christians…

They may understand a little bit of Christianity because of culture and heritage…they may have heard or had access through the internet…but not a lot of Christians living nearby.

1/3 of them live in a place where there is no Bible in their language…

No church to attend, no known Christians near them to tell them the message. (Ethnos Canada 6000 people groups are considered UNREACHED.)

That is what we call unreached people groups.

If they live across the street from you…you are to reach them!

If they are in that 1/3 of the world where there is no body to reach them

Unreached does not simply mean that they don’t know about Jesus…

Unreached people cannot know unless somebody goes and preaches to them…and tell them the truth that you and I know so well

Here is how Paul said he was going to do it:

Romans 15:20 “…and thus I make it my ambition to preach the Gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.”

Paul is saying…I have chosen to make it my ambition…

We need to care about unreached people groups….

Yes we are to care and to be a light for the people around us.

But something about our lives …we need to understand that there are people who have yet to hear…outside the reach of the Gospel…because there is no one to tell them.

All nations…the Ja Eue family…are currently with the Isaan people group in Thailand…whatever group…need to hear the message of God’s redeeming love.

What we do…how we pray…what we give…how we encourage and support people who do go…needs to be a part of our ambition in life.

REFLECTION & ACTION…

WHAT STEPS CAN I TAKE TO MAKE IT MY AMBITION TO TELL PEOPLE OF GOD’S LOVE?

BTW…I am asking myself too…to make it my ambition

Across the street and across the world.

This is what Fellowship believes…because that is what the Bible tells that we are to go into God’s world both here and around the world.

PRAY…in the sermonnotes…Operation World…published by Navigators…how to pray for every country of the world.

GO…maybe God would have you consider going…ETHNOS Canada…trains and prepares peopel to go to the unreached.

GIVE…to support a global partner reaching the unreached….

We are going to close our time this morning with a song…

It will describe the unsurpassing love…a love the world has never known

The greatest love…yes the song is speaking of the incomparable love of God…it is greater than any other love…

But for 1/3 people of the world… it is truly a love they have never known…or even heard about.

What can I do to make it my ambition, to live my life as a living sacrifice so people can know the greatness of God’s love.