The Gospel should effect the way we live our lives
Notes
Transcript
Jan 7th, 2024
This morning we begin our New Series and New Preaching Series for the Yr
2 yrs ago I worked with our Director of Missions and made a preaching outline for 2023, I only had a few months done
It was great for me
I was able to finish the teaching outline
A teaching outline is just a guide of what we plan to teach
Which makes it super easier on me as I prepare each week when I know what I am preparing
So after I worked through the 2023 Preaching outline
I started working on the 2024 preaching outline
I enjoy preaching through books of the Bible
So this year church we are going to preach through the Book of Romans
My hope is that each sermon is a stand alone sermon but they also all go together
I found some Commentaries that broke it down this way so that is what I am going with
So this morning we begin Romans
Romans is one if not my most favorite book in scripture
I did a study through Romans while I was in College and just fell in love with I think
It is full of so much rich theology and doctrine
If you will recall Theology is defined as the study of the nature of God and what you believe
Doctrine is what is taught and believed by a church
Romans is full of both
1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Paul is the author of this letter
This letter is to a group of believers in Rome
Paul identifies himself as a bond servant of Christ Jesus
He does this in some of his other letters
Bond Servant
Someone who serves without payment
We know because we have Paul’s history that He willingly went to work for Jesus
That He considered that more important than anything else in his life
Paul was an apostle
An Apostle is someone who got the information or the message straight from Jesus Himself
15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
Paul spent time with Jesus being taught and be prepared to teach the message given to him by Christ
We also know that Paul was different then the other Apostels who were called to reach the nation of Israel, Paul was called and sent to reach the Gentile people
To share the Gospel Message with the rest of the world
2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Paul is a herald of the Gospel Message given to him by Christ Himself
It is not a new Gospel
It is not a new fade that is here today and gone tomorrow
This is eternal
From the beginning of time this has been the Gospel Message
As we will see later on the Gospel Message is salvation from Sin through faith in Christ
It was always Jesus
This is the Gospel from the Beginning
It is not the God of a the New Testament or even the God of the Old Testament
It is the God of the Universe
We serve the God of the Universe
And Paul explains who that is
The Gospel concerned Jesus
God’s son who was born of a descendant of David
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
Some 700 yrs before Jesus is born and some 250 to 270 yrs after David has died Isaiah writes that the root of Jessie will rise of up
Jesus is a descendent of David and church He is currently sitting on the throne
The Kingdom of God that is established , was , is, and will continue to be established
Remember this is all the intro to the letter to the believers in Rome
Paul then said that Jesus has and is declared the Son of God
16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
This particular verse is absolutely amazing
We see the Trinity at work together
We see the Triune God
Please don’t get into the weeds about well please explain how the Trinity Works
I dont know we are not meant to understand it but we are meant to believe it
Church it is called faith
But what I can tell you is that we see the Trinity at Work in this verse
God the Father - the Voice from Heaven
God the Son - My Beloved Son
God the Spirit - Spirit of God in the form of a Dove
We see the Triune God
Understand church when God says this is my son, there is no reason to question that He is not His son
This rounds out Paul introduction of who Jesus is
Jesus is at the center of the Gospel Message
Jesus is the center of the Gospel message that has been here from before time
It culminates with the resurrection of the risen savior
with Jesus ultimately defeating death
That is why Romans is so very important
If this is just the introduction you can only imagine how the rest of the book will go as Paul writes it
The Book of Romans is more than here is the Gospel Message for the non believer
It is the Gospel Message for the lost person but it is also growth in Christ to the Believer
Exalting Jesus in Romans (The Gospel: The Power of God for Salvation (Romans 1:1–17))
Rather, the gospel shapes the very life of the believer and empowers the believer for service.
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
The Gospel is important to the believer and should continue to be because of this
It is through the grace that we have been called sons and daughters of the most High God
And because of that church
It changes everything
The Gospel changes the way in which we live our lives
We should be different after having encountered the living God
We should be living for Him because of what He did
It is no longer about what we want or what we think but it is all about what has God called us to do and how to be obedient
Church the Gospel should change the way we live our lives
That is Pauls message to the believers in Rome
To the gentiles in Rome
To the non Jew People living in Rome
Because you have encountered the living God you should be different and that should affect how you live your life
This morning church The Gospel Message that was here before time began changes the way we live our life
Paul explains in his introduction who He is writing to
7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember Paul was called and commissioned to reach the gentiles for Christ
It is not that He doesn’t care about the Jewish people
But God has called him to go into the Gentile people and preach the Gospel Message
Because the Gospel Message changes the way in which you live your life
We are not sure how or who planted the church in Rome
It wasn’t Paul but Paul wants to encourage them how to become a church
How to act, and opperate
Because Jesus should change the way in which you live your life
From what I could find
There could of been Romans present during the day of Pentacost and they took what happened there back with them to Rome
Again evidence it changed the way they lived their lives
It is also thought that Christian Merchants visited Rome and because they had encountered the living God it changed how they lived their life to the point that others say how they lived and glorified God
I am certain I have seen or heard that somewhere
But we don’t know if someone planted them but it is certain that Paul wanted to encourage them in their growth as individuals and as a church in Christ
That is what Paul intends to do
This morning though we have seen Paul start with the Gospel Message
The Gospel Message is pivotal to growth in Christ not only to the lost person but also to the Christian as well
CLOSING
As we move to our time of invitation
Maybe you are here this morning and you do not have a relationship with Jesus
If that is you I would invite you to the front to speak with someone who can show you through scripture
How Jesus loved you and went to the cross to pay for you debt of sin and how 3 days later got up and walked out the grave defeating death once and for all
They can show you in scripture how Jesus bridged that gap to a personal relationship with God
Or maybe you are a believer and you understand church that the Gospel should and must effect the way you live your life
And maybe you haven’t been living like that
I would encourage you to come forward to the altar and do business with God and repent and run back to Jesus
Or maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer
The altar is open
Exalting Jesus in Romans Romans Is a Community-Building Letter
We know that some Romans were present on the day of Pentecost discussed in Acts 2. It is possible they returned home with news of their new faith and shared it, perhaps in their own synagogues (Moo, Letter, 4). Further, merchants visiting Rome also would have made a gospel impact contributing to the growth of the church. What likely happened is the witness of Jewish Christians in the marketplaces and synagogues eventually impacted Gentiles, resulting in a diverse group of believers in Rome. These believers had a variety of questions about how to relate to one another, and Paul provides important instruction for how to live in harmony to the glory of God.