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July 31st 9:00am

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Communion Reminder

Introduction

Christians think a lot about end times - I do

Looking around, many think we’re at the end

Imagine someday opening a history book - you might read this:

Once a great and powerful nation

Massively wealthy, pinnacle of entertainment, immigrants wanted citizenship

But the country was great too long

Younger generations were spoiled

Didn’t care about their nation

Didn’t want to work

Everyone turned to sin

Aborting babies was commonplace

Homosexuality was rampant

There were special celebrations and holidays for them

They scientifically prevented children from going through puberty

They mechanically mutilated their reproductive organs to change genders

And the government said that was the right thing to do

You may hear this and think: Oh gosh, this has to be the end times

Look at how horrible we are! This is unprecedented!

Except, I’m not talking about the United States… I’m talking about Rome

Rome was a superpower… but things changed

No one wanted to fight in the military - so they used barbarians

Had no loyalty - final invaders had fought in Roman armies

They didn’t want to work, they just used slaves

But with no military to conquer, slaves became hard to get

The rich abandoned Rome and setup private territories

Abortions and homosexuality were so common, the population shrunk rapidly

Caesar changed laws and rewarded married couples to turn it around

They castrated boys so they would never go through puberty

Emperor Nero castrated a boy named Sporus

Dressed him in women's clothing, married him, and called him “Empress”

Of course, this was after he married a gay man named Pythagoras

You see, Rome was progressive before progressive was cool!

Why mention this? 3 reasons...

As bad as we are, humans have always been bad

The book of Romans applies just as much today as it did to the early church

Maybe we could learn a thing or two

Instead of just giving up because we’re fatalists

YouVersion: What’s Your Problem

We’re in Romans 1:18-2:2

Looking at Romans Road, answering four questions:

Answering 4 questions:

Why do we need salvation?

How did God provide salvation?

How can we receive salvation?

What are the results of salvation?

Today we’re looking hard at why we need salvation

The simple answer:

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We’re all sinners, and sin leads to death!

Let’s jump in and see why that is:

Romans 1:18–20 (ESV)

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Three things we have to know about the wrath of God:

God’s wrath is:

1. ...mankind’s greatest burden

2. …always righteous

3. …deserved by all people

Actually, the wrath of God is a good thing!

It’s hard to see that - we compare it to human wrath

Different from human wrath

Human wrath is based on selfishness and revenge

We’re not good enough too know what perfectly what good is

For God, it’s different - He knows what we don’t

At 7 - I’ll take my kids to Disneyland whenever they want

At 10 - I’ll never regret being mean to my brother and sister

At 14 - I found the only person I’ll ever love

At 15 - Now that we broke up I’ll die alone

At 18 - My parents don’t know anything

At 25 - Man I was an idiot...

I was confident I knew what I was talking about

But I was a child/teenager

As an adult, I see things in a more accurate way

Maturity, experience, knowledge...

As a child/teen I was incapable of admitting I was wrong

Because I didn’t know

Think about that - the gap between adult and child

Significant, right?

Now think about the gap between you and God

Which one do you think is a bigger gap?

You know it’s you and God, but do you accept it

When a parent says, “You’ll understand when you’re older...”

Should the child listen? Yes!

Does the child listen? No!

Because it’s hard to accept we don’t know and someone else does

Mankind struggles with that same thing - with God

It’s hard to accept there are things in here He knows more about

But this passage says more than that - very interesting

God doesn’t say, “Eh, mankind didn’t know any better...”

What does it say, “You’ve seen the power of God, you have no excuse.”

I love this verse! (v.20)

There is no excuse to not believe in God

That’s not true! I believe in science!

Doesn’t science say big bang, evolution and

Let me paint a picture - bear with me

OJ Trial - different than example I used before

What does science say about OJ Simpson?

1. Simpson’s blood was at the scene (1 in 170 million)

2. Simpson and victims blood in his Bronco

3. Glove had blood from all 3 and matched glove at house

4. Bloody footprints from rare brand of size 12 shoe Simpson owned (199 in US)

5. Browns blood on Simpson’s socks (1 in 21 billion)

How many think science says OJ was guilty

How many think science says innocent

How many too scared to say

Does science say OJ was guilty? NO!

What? Why?

To borrow a phrase from Frank Turek: Science doesn’t say anything; scientists do!

In 2004, 77% though OJ was guilty

87% of whites

29% of blacks

Different opinions, SAME SCIENCE!

Here’s the question: Does God give us enough evidence to prove He’s real?

I always say, “It could almost make sense to me that there was no God, except we’re here.”

God shows His existence by the greatest miracle EVER!

So obvious, the ancient world never even questioned if there was a God!

Why? YOU EXIST! The world exists! How is that possible with no God?!

There’s really two possibilities:

This universe was an accident OR

The universe was created on purpose

At one point, there was no life

Then randomly, accidently, life started

To even start life, you need all of the components to come together...

HALFWAY POINT (17 minutes in)

Decks of cards

Odds of pulling ace of spades on first pull - 29 times in a row!

And you only get one shot...

But then it gets worse...

That one shot must

Survive its environment (temperature, oxygen, food)

Be able to reproduce (otherwise when it dies life is over)

Improve w/o help (Otherwise we’d only ever have single cell amoebas)

The odds of that are astronomically worse!

Do you know how fine tuned the universe is?

We must have a perfectly balanced expansion rate

AND perfect energy balance

AND it has to stay that way

For every proton in the universe, there is an electron to cancel it

Making the universe electrically neutral

The bull giraffe is around 18 feet tall - huge neck!

To get blood all the way up there, he needs a powerful pump!

Heart can be more than 2 feet long - that could be evolved...

Problem! giraffes bend to drink water

With gravity, pressure of blood would blow his brains out!

So he also has a valve system in his arteries

They close off as he bends down to drop the pressure

Problem! The last pump still has pressure after the last valve!

It’s still enough to blow his brains out!

So he has a sponge to absorb the blood before it hits his brain

Problem! He has to stand back up!

The valves reopen to take blood to his brain

He could take his time, but...

Problem!

If there’s a lion… he’s dead meat! So he has to get up and run fast!

Problem!

If he stands up too quickly, the valves open and blood has to get there...

If there’s no blood and he passes out

Lion gets a free meal… But!

That sponge that took the blood while he bent down

Also contracts to push that stored blood into his brain

While valves in the return side slow the flow so it doesn’t rush back to the heart

Now, which of those things evolved first?

You need the neck, the heart, the valves on both sides, and the sponge (which needs to both absorb blood AND pump it)

The odds of all of those mutations happening by chance at once...

Here’s what I’m saying:

The odds of a universe beginning by chance...

…of it being perfectly balanced by chance...

…of life beginning by chance...

…of being sustainable by chance...

…of being repeatable by chance...

…of being self-improving by chance...

…of starting in a habitable environment by chance...

…and of being as intricate systematically functional by chance...

…AND all of those things happening together on the first try...

It’s impossible… Unless...

Unless it was done on purpose

To look at the universe around you leaves only one possibility: There is a God!

How much more evidence do you need than that?

Here’s what Paul is essentially saying:

Mankind has the ability to look at evidence and be wrong!

Watch:

Romans 1:21–23 (ESV)

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

To know something doesn’t make it valuable

If I took all I knew about money and eating I’d be rich and skinny

You have to use what you know!

They KNEW God

Adam and Eve walked with Him in the Garden

Israel followed Him as a pillar of fire and smoke

Thousands of men watched Jesus teach and perform miracles

And yet we always go back to puffing ourselves up

Looking for other things to worship

Humans chose sin anyway

Watch the news - it’s full of terrible stuff

How much sin is on TV that is bragged about as if they are good

How many random statistics are used to prove their point of view

When the same statistics are used to prove the other view as well?

Arthur James Balfour: “There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”

Twisting Scripture, denying it’s accuracy, refusing it’s authority

So many claim to be wise - but they are fools

When you don’t know God, you believe some dumb stuff!!

Paul talks about that in a minute… but first he mentions the biggest error:

Romans 1:24–25 (ESV)

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Look at our society:

Do we exchange Godly truth for lies?

Do we serve God’s creatures - like us - more than we serve Him?

Have you ever worshipped and served a created thing rather than the creator?

I have… Money for one...

Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

I felt called to be a pastor (calling = God’s idea not mine!)

My pastor said, “You won’t make as much as you’re making now...

Guess I’m not going to be a pastor!

Truth is, I still don’t make what I was at 22

I may not hit that again before I retire!

Why? Do I want to serve God, or serve money?

How about sex?

Hooking up with someone on Saturday night

Worshipping at the church on Sunday morning

Substance abuse? Football? Work? Come on, what are you putting before God?

Whatever it is, that is your worship!

Worship isn’t just singing songs or kneeling at an altar…

It’s allowing something to dictate your actions…

We love worshipping, until is costs us something

I’m not passing unfair judgment, I have lived a life of sin

But repentance is a beautiful thing

Leaving that ugliness and turning to God!

But sometimes we just don’t want to leave it

Matthew 19:21–22 (ESV)

21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Often, we are wrong about God and ourselves

Not based on an analysis of evidence, but an analysis on what it costs

Something called an “argument from consequence.”

“Experts agree, cow emissions are killing our planet.”

“Well, if we get rid of our cows, then we will have to walk everywhere, and that would be terrible for morale. Therefore, cow emissions are not killing our planet.”

People choose what they believe not based on truth around them

But rather what’s convenient for them!

Here is God’s response to that:

Romans 1:26–27 (ESV)

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

God simply says, “you can have it.”

So God let us reap the consequences

Here is where we learn of God’s opinion on homosexuality

You may not like it, I don’t know that I like it, but God knows way more than I do!

Argument of Old Testament homosexuality

Leviticus 18:22 (ESV)

22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

Problem is, that’s OT

You’re either under the whole thing, or none of it

Truth is, many like to pick and choose from OT

Tattoos are bad, but I’ll wear a dress with different fabrics

Homosexuality is an abomination, but I’ll shave my beard

We don’t live under the Law because Christ already fulfilled the Law for us

Romans 6:14 (ESV)

14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it

But we’re not under it

It’s true the Law says homosexuality is a sin

But so does Romans - in the NT!

Like it or not, homosexuality is a sin - Law or not...

Want to be mad at me, that’s fine

What does God say? It’s clear as day...

We’re going to be talking about this with you all soon

As elders, we’re planning a roundtable discussion

Talking about our culture and sin creeping in

Explaining why things are sin, how we should behave, and treat others

There are a lot of hot topic issues right now

Abortion, homosexuality, gun control, transgender...

It’s important that we navigate all of those in honor to God

Paul doesn’t stop there:

Romans 1:28–32 (ESV)

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Because we don’t acknowledge God

He let’s us become “spiritually insane”

Notice you have a socially unacceptable sin - murder

Followed by stuff we don’t worry about

Eh, so he’s boastful - annoying but whatever

So she gossips a little - but it’s so juicy!

Looking at this list, there’s no one in here who can say, “Me? Never...”

One more little point - we’re not covering today

But that’s not the end

So what do we do with it?

Conclusion

To conclude, I want to answer the title of this message

What’s your problem? Sin...

From the beginning, that’s our issue

We all have to face it - one way or another

Fortunately, if you are a follower of Jesus, He took care of it

Communion