Sermon Tone Analysis

WALK WORTHY

PAUL'S ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE CHURCH

Sunday January 30, 2022

Scripture Reference: Romans 1:8-15 (NLT)

Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.

9 God knows how often I pray for you.

Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son. 10 One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you.

11 For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.

12 When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

13 I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now.

I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles.

14 For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike.

15 So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News."

Romans 1:8-15 (NLT)

Intro.

A. We all enjoy being encouraged, don't we?

We love it when people tell us that we have made a difference in their lives.

If someone tells you that something you said or did helped them to accomplish something in their own lives I bet it makes you want to keep doing whatever it is you're are doing.

1.

I hate to admit it, but it is true so there is no denying it.

I am not a very good encourager.

Oh, you might say that I am and that there have been times that I have encouraged you, but I know I really fall short in this area.

I wish that I was more like my good friend Pastor Mike Spradlin in this area.

I guess it is why I enjoy hanging out with him.

I can come to him feeling discouraged and down and he can tell me things that make me see why I should not feel that way.

2. I think Paul was a great encourager.

In fact, we see it in most of the letters to the churches that he wrote.

He often begins those letters with words of praise even when there were problems in the church that he was going to have to address.

The church at Corinth is a great example.

Let's look.

"I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.

5 For in him you have been enriched in every way-in all your speaking and in all your knowledge- 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.

7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (NIV) Then in the verse next verse Paul says this, "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)

B. Today we are going to look at some verses where Paul does this very thing.

He does have some admonition to give the church at Rome as he does all the churches he addresses, but he always begins with words of encouragement.

So, let's look at how Paul encouraged the church at Rome.

Trans.

The first thing we see is Paul's Praise For the church.

I. PAUL'S PRAISE FOR THE CHURCH.

Paul begins by giving thanks to God for this church.

A. I Thank God For You.

1.

When Paul's says, "Let me say first" he is not suggesting an order of priority of the things he wants to say to them.

It's not as if he is saying, "This is more important than the next thing I will say."

Basically, it is him telling them that before he saying anything else he wants them to know this.

As I just said a moment ago, Paul always begins his words to the churches by finding the good in them and encouraging that good.

Now please understand this does not mean Paul is being insincere.

That he is in essence buttering them up for the kill.

Paul is totally sincere in his words, but you can't expect to gain the hearing of your teaching if you begin with what is said later in this chapter.

"Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.

30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful.

They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents."

Romans 1:28-30 (NLT)

Then Paul tells us why He is so thankful for them.

B. Because Of Their Testimony.

1.

Now before I talk about their testimony, I think it is important to point out that the reason they have this incredible testimony is because of what Paul just said.

He thanked God through Jesus Christ.

It is through Jesus or because of Jesus that they have the testimony that he is so thankful for.

It is because of that grace of God in their lives as we talked about last week that these believers could have such a glowing testimony.

2. Now I want us to see again exactly what Paul said.

He said, "...your faith in him is being talked about all over the world."

Romans 1:8b (NLT) Just pause and think about that for a moment.

Their faith is being talked about all over the world.

Should this not be the desire of every church?

I want you to imagine with me that we are having a guest missionary speaker as we had Pastor John Moore with us back in November.

Imagine they stand here at this pulpit and as they greet us, they tell us that our faith is being talked about all over the world.

How do you think that would make you feel?

I bet it would not only make you feel good, but it would also encourage you to keep on keeping on, wouldn't it?

3. Now Paul tells them that their faith is being talked about all over the world.

So, the question is, What Faith?

What is this faith that is being talked about?

It is not their saving faith as important as that is.

It is not that they are getting saved that is being talked about it is their Persevering Faith.

Faith is the central element of our Christianity.

You might even say that faith is religion itself.

That means that without faith Christianity is not possible.

Paul is praising them for their readiness to open their hearts to Christ, but also for their faith to continue to trust God and walk in daily obedience to Him.

Remember this is Rome.

This is a place where Christian faith is not celebrated, but instead is hated and persecuted.

Remember it was Claudius Caesar who had Christians expelled from Rome and then later it was Nero who had Christians fed to the lions to entertain the masses.

This was not an easy place to either accept Christ or live for Christ.

You know some churches are famous for their pastors.

The pastors are almost celebrity figures.

Some churches are known for their architecture.

They have incredibly beautiful buildings.

Some churches are known for their size and wealth, but how many churches today are known for their faith?

Having a well-known pastor isn't wrong, having a beautiful church isn't wrong and being large isn't wrong, but if the most prominent thing about us is not that we are a people of faith, then the other things mean nothing.

In the last message we talked about how Paul told the church at Rome that they were called to be Holy.

It was a calling to the church at Rome and it is a calling to the church at Chino as well.

Being called to live holy lives in the midst of a very unholy place was not an easy task.

Remember that at this time Rome was considered to be the center of the world.

We are all familiar with the phrase, "All roads lead to Rome."

That is because it was considered to be the center of civilized society, but the truth is Rome was anything but civilized.

You probably already know this so let this just be our reminder.

Rome was the only empire not conquered by another empire.

Rome crumbled from within.

Let me name a few of the things that characterized the people of Rome at this time and let's see if anything sounds familiar.

Immorality, Drunkenness, Gluttony, Partying, Extravagance, Materialism, Greed, Selfishness, Indulgence, Idolatry and Pride.

Does any of that sound familiar to you?