Sermon Tone Analysis

Secular:

* In NT Rome and Greece…

* Big in to the Arts

* Communicate values, humour, current events…

* Oddly Christians were one of the favourite characters…

* Because they were different…

* Rescue babies… abortion in those days was drop your kid at the edge of town

* Care for one another… physical, emotional, spiritual…

* Didn’t stop hanging out… forsake meeting

* Very different!!

* The Christmas Card…

 

Biblical:

Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.

11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even 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, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Personal:

* Have you ever done…

* Personality testing…

* Spiritual Gifts tests…

* Aptitude testing…

* Career testing…

 

* Professional certification…

* Trades and professions

* Relationship Tests… that appear in the paper around Feb 14th… (Guys ever feel that panic…)

* They disclose to us a little more about who we are… some are barely helpful… others give us substantial insight…

 

Bridge:

When we look at the intro to Romans… we see Paul’s heart…

We get to see who he is… his passion… his love… his desire to serve Christ.

Body:

8 Signs of True Spiritual Service

#.

A Thankful Spirit (v.

1:8) 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

*  The Ripple…

*  Many a relationship complaint…

                                                              i.

He takes me for granted…

                                                            ii.

She doesn’t recognize what I do…

* Thank-you for living your faith out front!

*  NAU 1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

* NAU Philippians 1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

* NAU Philemon 1:4 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers

* True Spiritual service is marked by a Thankful Spirit…

 

#.

A Concerned Spirit (v.

1:9-10a) 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request,

* Care and concern… *  Not forgetting…

*  Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you…

* I can tell you the impact of comments like… we are praying for you…

                                                              i.

Jack and Shirley… always remind me…

                                                            ii.

When others are in their troubles…

1.      Health

2.      Rolf and Christina

3.      Loved ones…

* True Spiritual service is marked by a concerned Spirit…

 

#.

A Willing and Submissive Spirit (v.

1:10b) … if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.

* Remember when we had chalk brushes and chamois … I loved to do brushes… Janitor room… vacuum brush thing…                                                               i.

When asked hands would dart into the air…

                                                            ii.

The chamois… on the other hand were no fun… wash….

Rinse… wash… rinse… ringout… I think more times I offered to serve I did chamois…

* Paul’s passion was the Gospel and the children of God… and here we know of his passion for the people of Rome…

*  But it was to God to whom he submitted…

*  He was willing to serve… even to be beaten for the sake of the Gospel… obedient even to the point of suffering…

* He was willing to serve… even when he desired something else…

* Hard sometimes… we all want to serve God our way… in our time…

* But God… Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

* We can’t stomp about… wishing it went our way… we need to seize the opportunities God places before and serve as He has called…

* Sometimes you have to clean the chamois…

* True Spiritual service is marked by a Willing and Submissive Spirit

 

#.

A Loving Spirit (v.

1:11) 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;

* Longing and loving… *  I can’t imagine… distant grandparent… or worse… distant father…

* The desire to love and to share…

*  To be close and express our love…

* When asking can a Christian be a Christian without going to church… the answer is like a soldier can be a soldier without belonging to an army…

* Love draws us into communion with each other and God.

* The highlight of my week is to be with you…

* Many things in life I enjoy… but the longing of my heart is to worship with… and love the family of God.

* We need to ache for one another…

* We need to desire to bring that which God has given us… here to bless others…

* The spiritual gift of which Paul speaks in this text  is the rich treasure of scripture, truth and power of God… He aches to share it with them…

* 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

* True Spiritual service is marked by a Loving Spirit

 

#.

A Humble Spirit (v.

1:12) 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

* If you keep your eyes peeled almost everyday of the week you can see Rick, or his Brother or Dad… or one of their trucks hauling water down to the city… POLARIS

* When it gets there they fill 18l, 4l, 1l, 500ml, 330ml, bottles… from the big truck to the little bottles…

*  Sometimes we come to a seminar or to church like little bottles… crying out fill me… fill me…

* In v. 12 Paul shares that he too needs to be filled… encouraged… by their presence… by their faith…

* He humbly recognizes that he needs his brothers and sisters in Christ to build up, encourage and strengthen his faith…

* We don’t have it all together… no matter how long a Christian... no matter how much education… we need one another… NEED…

* The church is not a body of independent parts…

* Eyes bouncing around… limb here… limb there…

*  We are bound together and need to recognize in humility how much the faith of our family can impact our lives!