Identity and Intention

IDENTITY

Romans 1:1 “1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,”

it was customary in those days to open a letter with the writers name —- as opposed to at the end that we do today.

So Paul opens Romans with his NAME, IDENTITY, TITLE and MISSION.

Paul is a SERVANT

IDENTITY is that he is an APOSTLE

and

his mission is the same as ours to SET APART THE GOSPEL

Today we discuss IDENTITY and INTENTION

It starts with knowing WHO YOU ARE?

Seeking your Purpose — your mission

and then focusing those two TRUTHS on spreading the Gospel

at our work

at our interactions with others

at sporting events

what if FANS of FOOTBALL —- had that same energy and commitment being poured into our CHURCHs

as we journey through Romans we need to keep this in mind

Paul’s letter is FOR US

This letter is the OPERATIONS MANUAL

We are with CHRIST in our MISSION, same as PAUL

SO WE NEED TO ASK A QUESTION OF OURSELVES

Who are you?

it is the first question we ask in our REMODEL Projects —- so that we become more like Christ

Who are you?

Paul knew this completely and it made all the difference

Paul is a great example of what we discuss at Horizon

Aligning with His Design

Submission to the Will of the Father

Paul knew he was — and what his mission was

Acts 22:3–5 “3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.”

Act 24-26 tells us even more

Pharisee

trained by one of the great Jewish teachers of the time.

Paul had the education, the upbringing and the position —— all planned by God

Paul knew this and rested in it.

Paul’s identity went from Jewish Leader to Servant of Christ

from Pride to Servitude

One of the great parts of Paul is that you can see through the Epistles that Paul is aware of his gifts and faults

So knowing yourself is KEY

but what you do with it is what MATTERS

INTENTION

Romans 1:2–7 ESV

2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul knows his CALLING

and lives it out

Paul clarifies to his majority audience

that THE GOSPEL IS NOT A NEW IDEA

it is the Prophesy in the OLD TESTAMENT that is coming TRUE>

This is one of the reasons that he mentions DESCENDING FROM DAVID

John 7:42 ESV

42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

But this verse is also based on the Old Testament book of Samuel —- where the prophet Samuel is anointing KING DAVID

Keep in mind what i taught you LAST WEEK

the Book of John was not written for another 40-50 years —— so PAUL is referring to the OLD TESTAMENT

Paul is addressing this Letter to THOSE IN ROMAN —— The Saints and the Believers living out Christ in ITALY

____________________________________________________

Have You Accepted Your Calling?

not to be saved — though of major importance

BUT TO SERVE

our commission

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

again Matthew written later

so we see that Paul is modeling this ——

Longing to Serve

Have you ever wanted to visit somewhere?

Maybe another state or country

maybe it would be more of desiring an experience

It happens all the time

BUT Paul’s Desire is not to see the Colliseum or a show

Pauls desire it to serve and proclaim

Paul’s is on what is called the THIRD MISSIONARY TRIP at this time

SO PAUL HAS LEARNED and is FOCUSED on the MISSION

Paul would travel and now used PSA

Preach the Gospel

Strengthen the Believers and Church

and then Appoint Leaders

Paul is serving out his role as OVERSEER

it is much like the General coming to a meeting or the CEO of a Company coming to give you

clarity of Mission and VISION

SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS

Romans 1:8–15 ESV

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.

This is a new paradigm for some of us

To ONLY WANT THE WILL OF GOD

we are all guilty of wanting to serve but on our TERMS —- or at least a mix

Think about an advertisement to go on a mission trip at this church

If i ask you to join me in BELIZE or TRINIDAD or ECUADOR

What is your FIRST GUT REACTION?

Common Mission Reactions:

Want to see a foreign place

Want to have the side trips

Want a degree of comfort

Yet Paul talks nothing about these things

So we must have our IDENTITY —- the WHO WE ARE? CLEAR in our heart

then we LIVE out our INTENTION

Paul’s mission is to spread the Gospel AND SO IS OURS

We are called to

PSA

Preach

Strengthen

Appoint

Paul’s Intention is stated and is THREE FOLD

to BUILD OUT — STRENGTHEN their FAITH

TO be a BLESSING

and to help PRODUCE FRUIT in the CHURCH

THIS IS SHOULD BE OUR INTENTION

What would it look like if in EVERY INTERACTION that you HAD

Honestly —-what if you came to CHURCH with the SAME INTENTION WEEKLY

to be strengthened

to be a PERSONAL TRAINER FOR OTHERS

To look for HOW CAN I BLESS THE CHURCH

and what do i need to DO TO PRODUCE FRUIT

THIS IS THE MISSION

but the MISSION is NOT always PRACTICED in the CHURCH TODAY

As i spoke on last week our CORE mission in this SERIES is to BUILD, CHECK, and FIRM UP our FOUNDATIONS

one of the KEY PARTS is ALWAYS our HEART

What is in your HEART to SERVE Today?

How can we help you to REMODEL this area of our Heart?

Next Week we will see the MAJOR THEME OF THE LETTER

THE GOSPEL REVEALS THE RIGHTEOUSENSS OF GOD

BASED ON FAITH and NOT WORKS

THAT THE GOSPEL IS AVAILABLE TO ALL

Here is a PREVIEW of NEXT WEEK for you to PAUSE< PRAY> AND PONDER

Romans 1:17 ESV

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Conclusion WRAP UP

So Paul opens Romans with his NAME, IDENTITY, TITLE and MISSION.

Paul is a SERVANT

IDENTITY is that he is an APOSTLE

and

his mission is the same as ours to SET APART THE GOSPEL

Today we discuss IDENTITY and INTENTION

It starts with knowing WHO YOU ARE?

Seeking your Purpose — your mission

and then focusing those two TRUTHS on spreading the Gospel

Lets Pray