Blue Rocks Chapel #1 (2)
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Handout
Intro
Intro
Introduce myself
name
former player, prof. 20 years, 10+ in big leagues, experienced highs and lows, full range of things both good and bad
retired after the 2009 season
work for UPI
husband and father
This is 2nd season as Blue Rocks chaplain, 2019
my goals for this season
Understandable and relevant but accurate chapels
mid-week bible study, deeper dive
help all grow, move closer to Jesus, more mature than at seasons beginning
help create an atmosphere where all are welcome to chapel and study
encourage the “leaders” to effectively witness and/invite others
We will be in the letter of Romans for the next 16 weeks
How many are familiar with Romans?
Does anyone know who wrote Romans?
Does anyone know why the letter was written? It’s addressing division in the body, we’ll talk more about this in our study.
Well that being said, let me pray and then let’s look at two passages from Romans 1
chapel message
chapel message
English Standard Version Chapter 1
Greeting
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 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.
There are two words that need some attention in verse 1
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
anyone know what those two words are?
Servant, slave, “doulos” in Greek, a self-committed slave
Apostle, “apostolos” in Greek, means a messenger, ambassador, envoy, a sent one, a set apart one.
I like to remember an apostle this way, a man on a mission with a message.
A man of Jesus, sent on a mission by Jesus, with a message about Jesus or His kingdom.
This is how Paul introduces himself
Now the servant is one thing, but an apostle is quite another.
this word carries authority, Paul, as a servant/slave of Jesus, was sent on his mission by Jesus Himself, given His message, His gospel he will say, by Jesus Himself.
He views his life as one that has been set apart for this very purpose, for the gospel of God.
Now there’s a third word that needs some attention, and it’s the word gospel, “evangelion” in the Greek. It’s where we get our word evangelize from.
Evangelion or gospel actually means Good News. So the Gospels are accounts of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.
So what is the gospel of God, the Good News from God?
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 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,
This promised Messiah, the promised descendant of David in the body, is the Son of God, declared by the power of His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
The one the prophets prophesied about, their hope, is Jesus,
But what else is the Good News
V’s 5-6
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,
Through this death, burial, and resurrection, through Jesus we, Paul, the church in Rome, us, we have received grace, this free gift, getting what we didn’t deserve
So what didn’t we deserve? Forgiveness, salvation.
Jesus lived the life we are incapable of living, all things right, none wrong, and then He died the death we deserve, the right and just punishment for our rebellion and disobedience.
Not only have we received grace but also apostleship.
Yes, Paul, the Romans, and us, we have been set apart for the Gospel, we too are men, on a mission, with a message, the Good News of Jesus.
We may not think this way, this is not me, I’m no preacher, teacher, evangelist, but Paul would argue against this.
His claim here, his message from Jesus is that yes we are.
If we’ve come to know Jesus, been forgiven of our sins and entered into a committed relationship with Him, a journey with Him, then we are also commission by Him to share this Good News.
Now if you are not a committed follower of Jesus yet, then this isn’t you, but the hope is that one day you will be.
But for those of us who are, this position needs to be realized.
We need to be faithful followers, faithful representatives of His.
I said earlier that one of the definitions of apostle is ambassador.
Paul, in another letter uses this word, ambassador, here’s what he says.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Now what is an ambassador and what does he do?
Represents, stands in place of
Speaks on behalf of
Says and does what the one whom he is representing would say and do.
Is always on duty, never not representing, (foreign ambassadors) hotel, drugs, prostitutes, in the paper, headlines, “Ambassador Busted”, “but I was off duty”
God using us to appeal to those who don’t yet know Jesus to come to know Jesus, to follow Him.
Now what are some reasons we don’t assume this role, we don’t live up to this expectation?
We don’t “know” enough, challenged and don’t know answers
We are afraid of offending someone
We are afraid of rejection
We actually don’t care about people like we say we do
We don’t have the love of God to obey
Shame, people will say we are wrong, stupid, misguided etc.
Well that takes us to our second passage in Romans 1, verses 16-17
Let’s first look at verse 16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Paul addresses this idea of being ashamed, or offensive, or rejected, or hard to believe, in another letter, 2 Timothy
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel, of the fact that Jesus being God was killed, hard to believe for some, but that He raised from the dead, also hard to believe for some, but it is true and is the only way one can be made right with God, sins forgiven.
Don’t be afraid of the ridicule, the rejection, continue to boldly live out your faith and proclaim what is true.
It may lead to some suffering, for Paul imprisonment, but God saved us, called us to this holy calling, this set apart calling to be His ambassadors.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
This takes faith,
First to believe,
Second to trust that God is going to use you in the lives of others.
Third that some will believe
That all of this is real
But Paul defines this faith in action as “righteousness” right living.
right living is to be done in relationship to God and to others.
Love God love others, know God and make Him known to others.
Our salvation, our being freed from the power of sin and death, our forgiveness and future hope is all because of what God has done and our believing in faith.
This true and authentic faith then leads to our living, what’s believed in the heart works itself out through our mouths and actions.
Paul says that the truly right ones will live out this faith
Let me pray