1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,040 Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119 Thank you so much for tuning in to our podcast. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,320 You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word 5 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,080 about important issues facing your life that can guide you 6 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:22,000 according to the Bible. Well, good morning, Inglewood. 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,200 Take your Bibles and turn to Romans Chapter 1 if you would. 8 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:27,480 Good to see you here this morning. 9 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,200 Thank you for being here. If you're a guest. 10 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:30,640 Thank you so much for being here. 11 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,520 Let me just continue the missions report for just a 12 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,560 second. Yesterday, we also were up in 13 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,840 Roanoke Rapids conducting a soccer camp clinic for our 14 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,840 Hispanic church plant up there. We appreciate so much the effort 15 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,640 of Pastor, Pastor Oscar and his wife Catalina for Cassidy Green 16 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,560 in the missions office, for Coach Mark Bowman bringing his 17 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,640 team from Wesleyan up there. And they had a good time playing 18 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,640 some soccer. We had some great food and and 19 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,960 the gospel was shared to several folks who'd never heard it 20 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:04,200 before. So pray for them up there that 21 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,120 that'll continue to bless that church and they'll be new folks 22 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,840 joining them very soon. This afternoon there's a reach 23 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:12,840 meeting. Well, actually, if you'll look 24 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,080 in your worship guide, there's a reach leadership meeting. 25 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,120 Meeting is intended for connect group leaders, attendance 26 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,120 takers, prayer leaders, outreach leaders for all the different 27 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:22,800 age groups. I'm going to be speaking to you 28 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,840 today, so I need you all to be there. 29 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:27,960 I will take attendance, so hopefully I'll see you there. 30 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,080 Some of that's a joke, some of that's not. 31 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,400 So there you go. Thanks for being here. 32 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,640 Listen, I appreciate so much you coming. 33 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,040 We're going to be kicking off our series here in just a moment 34 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:42,840 in Romans and appreciate that at midweek on Wednesday nights, 35 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,600 having a great time, we're going to be, we're talking about 36 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,680 heaven, hell, and the hereafter. And this week we're going to 37 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,120 talk a little about some of those false paths to eternity. 38 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,360 We talked about the eternality of God last week and had a good 39 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:55,760 time. So I hope that you'll be here 40 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:57,160 having a good crowd on Wednesdays. 41 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,040 Appreciate that very much. Listen, I need to start before 42 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,760 we get to Romans with some confession. 43 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:09,000 So Teresa and I have some kids and some grandkids that live on 44 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,360 the other side of Bunn and we go over there quite often. 45 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,840 As you can imagine. And I don't know if you travel 46 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,720 through Bun much, but it's 25 miles an hour through Bun. 47 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:28,320 So the other day I perhaps, possibly maybe was not doing 25 48 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:33,760 miles an hour through Bun and, and as the policeman pulled me 49 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,920 over, I realized that I didn't have my seat belt on. 50 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,840 Now I was alone and, and so I knew I had this moment. 51 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,800 I'm just confessing, all right? I'm just confessing. 52 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,000 I realized I had this moment when the police officer looked 53 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,000 down to open his car door, that maybe I just had a moment. 54 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,960 And I'm, I'm just telling you. I did it as I was looking in 55 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:00,800 that rearview mirror, watching real closely. 56 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,840 And when he opened that door, I reached up and grabbed that seat 57 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,920 belt, put it on. He came up and was talking to 58 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:09,520 me. You know how fast you were 59 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,840 going? I said something like 25 1/2. 60 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:14,280 But anyway, he didn't agree with that. 61 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:20,360 And, and I said, listen, I said I'm, I'm just a pastor, you 62 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,760 know, from Englewood Baptist Church and Rocky Mount, just 63 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,400 trying to spread the gospel to people, just trying to share the 64 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,320 love of Jesus. And the officer looked at me and 65 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:34,840 says, well, I appreciate that preacher. 66 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,440 So I got one question for you. Do you always run that seat belt 67 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:39,720 through the steering wheel like that? 68 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,200 Now let me make another confession. 69 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,520 None of that really happened, but I was thinking about how 70 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,960 amazing and how hard sometimes we try to justify ourselves. 71 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,680 Yeah, none of that happened. I always go 24 1/2 miles an hour 72 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,880 through bun. Yeah, I'll confess that one 73 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,720 later. But anyway, it's amazing how we 74 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,200 try to justify ourselves and justify things. 75 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,399 Fortunately for us, we we have a much greater source of real 76 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:20,800 justification through Jesus Christ. 77 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,080 And and that's the name of our new series in the book of 78 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,640 Romans. In fact, our series is going to 79 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,000 be justified study of Romans because we're going to talk 80 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,800 about that justification. We're going to feed, well, we're 81 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,760 going to feed deeply from this book over the next several 82 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,360 weeks. Romans is the first systematic 83 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,720 theology that you could find in the Christian faith, but it's so 84 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,040 much more. And this is really, really 85 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,520 important because sometimes that's all people might think 86 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,560 Romans is. It's just a doctrinal study and 87 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,920 that's not true at all. Romans also provides a guide for 88 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,240 living the Christian life. And this is going to be just as 89 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,520 important, especially for living the Christian life today in a 90 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,200 culture that does not share our biblical worldview, because 91 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:02,960 that's exactly where the Romans were. 92 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:06,520 And so this is a very relevant and timely study. 93 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,840 Chuck Swindoll and his commentary on Romans wrote it 94 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:12,880 may be considered the believers constitution the the the 95 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,240 Christian Magna Carta. This is a really important book 96 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,400 and and many Christians throughout church history that 97 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,000 you'll become the next one. But many Christians throughout 98 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,840 church history have been impacted mightily that in fact, 99 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:28,200 they can trace their conversion back to the book of Romans. 100 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,440 Augustine or Augustine of Hippo can actually trace his encounter 101 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,360 with Christ or Romans chapter 13. 102 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,680 It's a well known fact about Martin Luther and the the 103 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,560 reformer who wrestled with his own guilt before God until he 104 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:45,040 actually grasped the meaning of Romans chapter one, verse 17 105 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:49,440 that we're going to see today. The passage he says in quote 106 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,520 Luther, he said it opened the gateway to paradise for him. 107 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,320 It's a powerful book. John Wesley was completely 108 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,800 changed after the preface to Luther's commentary on Romans 109 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,120 was read to him. Just the preface of the book of 110 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,480 Romans in that study being read absolutely transformed John 111 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,160 Wesley. Romans ignited the mind of 112 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,080 Jonathan Edwards, the great reformer. 113 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,920 It fueled the revival fire of George Whitfield, which led to 114 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,560 historical spiritual awakenings in our country. 115 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,520 This is a powerful, powerful book. 116 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,080 So we're also going to celebrate, obviously, the 117 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,920 personal spiritual awakening of the author as we, as we listen 118 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,480 to Paul share about what what he's learned over his years of 119 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:35,880 ministry through the book of Romans. 120 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,800 So we see Paul's encounter with the risen Christ absolutely 121 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,560 transforming him. And instead of seeking to 122 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:47,240 destroy Christianity, he becomes this, this tireless apostle 123 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,520 travels over 20,000 miles before he's done at proclaiming the 124 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,920 gospel. But he recognized his future was 125 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:55,720 not back in Jerusalem as a Pharisee. 126 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,080 He recognized his future is not in the works of the law, but 127 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,280 that that it would be among the Gentiles preaching the gospel, 128 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:06,560 preaching grace, and preaching living by faith, which is both a 129 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,120 part of this book as well. So after years in mission 130 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,560 service, Paul is actually at this point trying to wanting to 131 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,320 go to Spain. He wants to go West, which 132 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,600 that's about as far West as he could probably dream of in his 133 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,600 Mediterranean world. And so he wants to go to Spain. 134 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,760 But before he goes there, he intends to go to Jerusalem and 135 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,920 deliver the love offering. If you read the letters of Paul, 136 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,360 you'll know that he takes up a love offering for the believers 137 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:35,040 back in Jerusalem who are suffering. 138 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,800 They're suffering persecution, famine, all kinds of problems at 139 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:39,800 the home church. And he's going to take the love 140 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,720 offering back to them first in Jerusalem and then he's going to 141 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,200 go to Rome on his his way to Spain. 142 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,360 That was kind of the idea that he had in his mind. 143 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,040 Now at this point, he's been preaching for about 25 years. 144 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,400 And so this is this is moving along in his ministry. 145 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,520 He's planted churches in much of the northeastern part of the 146 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,040 Mediterranean world as part of the Roman Empire. 147 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,840 So this book is probably written somewhere around the year 8057 148 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,600 while Paul is on his third missionary journey in Corinth. 149 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,920 Now, for those of you who are deep into Bible study, you cared 150 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:13,960 about that. For those who aren't so much 151 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,520 into it, he just wrote it later in his ministry. 152 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:19,720 Now at this point, the Roman Empire that is zenith this is 153 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:21,680 this is at the height of the Roman Empire. 154 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,320 The the city of Rome is a melting pot of culture and 155 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,000 religions, which is a backdrop to this letter that you cannot 156 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:30,960 ignore. You cannot forget that. 157 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,600 Don't take this book out of context. 158 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,440 Paul had never visited Rome. Obviously he did not plant the 159 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,559 church at Rome and that's an important part. 160 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,960 He's still loving and writing to churches that he did not plant. 161 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,560 He respected the body of Christ and wanted to help the body of 162 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:49,800 Christ wherever it was. We don't know exactly how the 163 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,360 church was founded. We do know that there were 164 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,320 people from Rome at the day of Pentecost, and so it might have 165 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,880 been that they went home after the day of Pentecost with the 166 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,520 gospel and started the church. It might be that people who were 167 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,320 encountered on some of Paul's other missionary journeys went 168 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,200 back to Rome and started the church. 169 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:08,440 There were also Christian merchants and this. 170 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,120 This may be a new thought. As the As Christianity spread in 171 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,320 the Roman Empire, both Christian merchants and Christian soldiers 172 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,560 in the Roman army itself who were converted would share the 173 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:21,560 gospel. So it could be that these 174 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:24,080 merchants, who would have probably been Jewish background 175 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,120 believers, took the gospel there or somebody else. 176 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:29,480 But we know that in the beginning they were Jewish 177 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,520 Christians. Eventually they start impacting 178 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,440 the gentile population of Rome around them. 179 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,920 So this church becomes a very diverse group of people. 180 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,600 And that is vital to remember, to understand the book of 181 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:44,560 Romans. You've got to understand that 182 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:47,840 this is a, that this is part of the backdrop, part of the issue, 183 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,280 that people are coming from all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds 184 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,280 of ethnicities, all kinds of previous religious experiences, 185 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,680 all gathering together. So the city had had its large 186 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:00,440 population of Jews for centuries. 187 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,800 Frankly, Jews had been in Rome for a long time. 188 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,640 But because of some of the problems that Rome was having, 189 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,680 they blamed the Jews for that. And so the Emperor Claudius 190 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:11,960 actually kicked the Jews out of Rome in the year 49. 191 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,800 So they all get booted out. So while they're gone, the 192 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,120 church, which had been started, that becomes more and more 193 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:21,040 gentile. Now this, just bear with me. 194 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:22,840 This is all very important to the book. 195 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:25,440 So it becomes more and more Gentile. 196 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,160 So when the Jews are allowed back, they come and they find 197 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,840 that the church has a gentile Christian community toward bent 198 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:34,520 toward it. And they develop different 199 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,480 customs and different practices. And this creates A cultural 200 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,320 clash. And that's part of what what 201 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,480 Paul has to write about. And so we see that Jewish 202 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,920 Christians raised under the law of Moses often struggled with 203 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,520 the Gentiles lack of adherence to their customs. 204 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,520 While the Gentile believers didn't believe they had to had 205 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,040 to worry about the law. They were beyond that and, and, 206 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:58,400 and without it. So the issue of integrating 207 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,960 Gentile believers into what was an initially a Jewish movement 208 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,880 and then vice versa was a very defining challenge for the early 209 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:08,000 church. Don't miss that. 210 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,040 So Paul's letter was written to them. 211 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,480 Romans was written to some degree dealing with these 212 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,720 significant tensions between these two groups and, and 213 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,240 sometimes we would read it today and we wouldn't recognize that, 214 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:21,760 but that's a big part of this book. 215 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,080 Tony Morita in his and I appreciate Tony Marita's work in 216 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,520 his commentary, he he says the book of Romans reflects Paul's 217 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,800 attempt to address these concerns by emphasizing the 218 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,240 shared foundation of the gospel that salvation is through faith 219 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,280 in Jesus Christ for both Jews and Gentiles alike. 220 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:42,720 And we may say, well, what's that got to do with us today? 221 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,080 Well, we come from all kinds of different backgrounds and we're 222 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:46,960 going to continue to welcome people from different 223 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:49,160 backgrounds and we need everybody to understand the 224 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,760 gospels for everybody. Your socio economic, ethnicity, 225 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,120 education, where you grew up, where you didn't grow up, what 226 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:58,360 county you're from, none of that's got to matter when it 227 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,360 comes to the gospel. And so Paul also wanted them to 228 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,400 to to become, frankly, in a practical way, he was writing to 229 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,720 unite these two groups, but he also wanted this church to 230 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,240 become a base of operations from which he could go to Spain. 231 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,840 He wanted them to help him and and be a place where he could 232 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,600 come back and report. And so his letter is helping to 233 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,960 shape the church's understanding of unity, the inclusive nature 234 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,320 of the gospel, which was crucial. 235 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,200 This is such a big deal because as Christianity is going to 236 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,960 spread across the Roman Empire and beyond, that inclusive 237 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:37,840 concept has got to be a part. Everybody must be welcomed into 238 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,600 the faith, and it can't simply be something we try to hold 239 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:43,760 onto. And so he does this as he 240 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,000 provides this very comprehensive explanation of the gospel. 241 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,080 He addresses both faith and practice. 242 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,720 It's a very practical study we're getting ready to get into. 243 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,040 And he clarifies salvations available to all, regardless of 244 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,520 your background. And he encourages folks to live 245 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:00,880 in harmony. So he also clarifies that 246 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,800 righteousness comes from from from faith, not from the works, 247 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,120 not from law. And and these and so these these 248 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,720 Roman believers needed this as well to kind of work through 249 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,640 that. But here's a whole nother part 250 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,080 of the story. See this first sermon, I got to 251 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,560 give you the backdrop. These Romans weren't just under 252 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:22,440 this internal pressure. These Romans were facing massive 253 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,080 external pressure because they lived in Rome. 254 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,800 And so the empire was incredibly pluralistic. 255 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:33,720 They had many, many, many competing beliefs that would 256 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,640 just counteract one another. What's the truth? 257 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,200 What's not the truth? What and, and different Pagan 258 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,640 beliefs and backgrounds. As you can imagine, they stole 259 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,080 from the Greeks, they stole from others, they had their own. 260 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:45,520 And so there's this conglomeration of religion 261 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:47,840 there. And so their environment posed 262 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:49,760 real challenges for early Christians. 263 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,480 And these early Christians were pressured to conform to societal 264 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,800 norms in the Roman in the Roman concepts and, and, but also they 265 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:00,640 had to figure out how to maintain their faith. 266 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,120 So this book is really for us today. 267 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,200 Marita again writes Paul's teaching in Romans encourages 268 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,800 believers to resist cultural pressures and to find their 269 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,520 identity in Christ. I just preached about our 270 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,040 identity in Christ at Southeastern Seminary's Chapel a 271 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,880 couple of weeks ago because my study in Romans actually led me 272 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:22,880 down that road a little while as well. 273 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,600 Because because we recognize that in our culture today we're 274 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:32,320 in Rome and it's very much the same as it was then. 275 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,560 This is one of the reasons, and you've heard me use this phrase 276 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,200 before, that I refer to our culture today. 277 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:40,480 We're not just postmodern, we're we're pre Christian, post 278 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,160 postmodern. In our culture today, we are 279 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,720 more like the 1st century than we've ever been before, where we 280 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,200 have people with no background in Christianity, no background 281 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,480 in the Bible, no background in their understanding of God or 282 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,720 what this word means. And we're going to have to 283 00:14:55,720 --> 00:15:00,080 approach them much like the Romans were approached by the 284 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,320 church there. So we see this very rich 285 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,080 theological content then that comes along with this. 286 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,760 I mean, this is a really a significant theological work. 287 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,240 So we're going to discuss justification by faith. 288 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,840 We got to discuss the role of the law because of this tension 289 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:15,480 they were having. We got to talk about the 290 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,520 transformative power of grace that we see here in Scripture. 291 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,080 So Paul's going to explain the fundamentals and the foundations 292 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,600 of the Christian faith, as well as how we live that out. 293 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,120 And so the Romans needed this to continue to be strong just like 294 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,520 we do. So the emphasis on that 295 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:36,240 righteousness, that ability to be seen by God as forgiven and 296 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,520 and then to live the right way for Christ based upon what 297 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:43,000 Christ has done for us and, and based upon his truth and how 298 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,960 that comes from God and is accessible to anybody who 299 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,960 believes in Jesus. So this, this letter becomes the 300 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,200 cornerstone for all kinds of our doctrines along the way. 301 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,040 But again, don't see this is just a doctrinal book. 302 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:01,520 This is a study for all of us. It addresses the complexities of 303 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,880 faith in a very diverse and challenging cultural landscape. 304 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:10,000 And if that doesn't describe our world today, I'm not sure I 305 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,920 could write a better sentence. We're in an incredibly diverse, 306 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,320 pluralistic, sometimes universalistic, sometimes 307 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,240 atheistic cultural dynamic today, and this study will help 308 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,880 us a lot with themes of unity, grace, power of the gospel. 309 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,080 This is very relevant for us. So Paul's going to teach about 310 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,800 the sinful nature of all men. He's going to teach about, 311 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,280 again, justification only by faith in Christ Jesus, freedom 312 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,280 from sin and victory in Christ. So this is a gospel message. 313 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,480 It's a gospel message which we're commanded to share with 314 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,760 the entire world. And because Romans also contains 315 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:51,360 60 Old Testament references, this this book also helps tie 316 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:56,240 all of the scripture together. This is 1 story, 1 redemptive 317 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,760 grand narrative about Jesus Christ from Genesis to 318 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:02,600 Revelation. Again, Chuck Swindoll writes 319 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,480 this is a great paragraph. He says more than a mere fire 320 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,599 escape. This grand plan, of which all 321 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,680 are invited to become a part, is nothing less than the Creator's 322 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,720 intention to bring His creation back under divine dominion, to 323 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,000 be cleansed of evil, to redeem, reclaim and renovate the 324 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,560 universe so that it might fully reflect His glory again. 325 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,920 Someday Christ will tear the veil between heaven and earth, 326 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,720 and the righteousness of God will sweep the Prince of the 327 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,040 power of the air off his temporary throne. 328 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:34,840 And this future is inevitable because God's plan is 329 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,840 unstoppable. So in the meantime, the 330 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:43,440 righteousness of God lives in the hearts of those of us who 331 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:48,680 have received His grace through faith in his Son Christ Jesus. 332 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,720 So here's a man on a mission, Paul, to distribute the most 333 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,560 precious commodity the world could ever see. 100% effective 334 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,440 cure against the terminal disease of sin and and Roman's 335 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,640 going to teach us what human beings are really like, what we 336 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,160 really need, what God has done to provide a way for us and what 337 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:11,680 kind of lifestyle we ought to live in the Christian worldview 338 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,080 versus this culture in which we're now engaged. 339 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,560 So we need to drink from the deep waters of this book. 340 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,640 And we'll start in chapter 1 as we're challenged this morning 341 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:27,920 specifically to be called and not ashamed. 342 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:35,760 Look at Romans one one with me. It says Paul, a servant of 343 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,560 Christ Jesus called to be an apostle, set apart for the 344 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,480 gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets 345 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,160 in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son who was 346 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,560 descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to 347 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,680 be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of 348 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,280 holiness by his resurrection from the dead. 349 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,440 Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and 350 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,760 apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake 351 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:05,320 of His name among all the nations, including you who are 352 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,160 called to belong to Jesus Christ. 353 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,280 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be 354 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,400 Saints. Grace to you and peace from God 355 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,880 our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 356 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,560 I have just a few simple points from this first chapter this 357 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:21,800 morning that we're going to talk about. 358 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:25,200 The first one is, is that in order for us to, to not only 359 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,600 understand this myth, this, this calling of God, this 360 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,200 justification by faith, but to live it out, we have to be 361 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,600 called by God, God's calling us to himself. 362 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,360 The 1st 7 verses, if you'll notice, if you'll look at your 363 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:41,800 English translation, the 1st 7 verses have a lot of comments. 364 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,560 This is 1 long sentence. You can do that in Greek. 365 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,040 It's hard to do that, a run on sentence in English and get away 366 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:50,320 from it. Pastor Dylan's got to write some 367 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,960 of his PhD papers. He can't do run on sentences. 368 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:56,400 He'll get pegged for that Doctor Red ankle stands to step in and 369 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,880 mark them for him. But in Greek you can get away 370 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,120 with it. You can do all kinds of run on 371 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:03,120 sentences. You just keep adding a common. 372 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,200 It keeps on going forever. And so we see this one long 373 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,080 complex sentence with a lot of different clauses, but we 374 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,240 recognize that most of the Christians in Rome. 375 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,320 Only knew Paul from a reputation. 376 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,720 Now it may be that some of them had met him along the way. 377 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,280 And he's going to list some people by name at the end of the 378 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,280 book that seemed to have met him somewhere along the way who are 379 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,120 part of the church. But most of these people had 380 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:27,240 never met him. Most of these people didn't know 381 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:28,160 him. They'd heard of him. 382 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,680 His reputation had spread. And so he's he's in a sense, 383 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,880 giving a formal introduction, making sure they understand who 384 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,000 he is and what he represents. And so he refers to himself 385 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,320 first of all as a a servant of Christ Jesus. 386 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,760 And this was an interesting term for both Greeks and Romans. 387 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,000 They wouldn't have liked this. See, Greeks and Romans thought 388 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,520 that servitude, being a servant or slave of some kind. 389 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,240 The Greek word obviously is doulos for those who know 390 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:55,680 anything about the Greek language. 391 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,720 But but for a Greek or Roman, this was beneath them. 392 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,400 Nobody wanted to be the servant of somebody else in that 393 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,360 culture, in that climate, that would that would be beneath you. 394 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,600 And so no one wanted this title but Paul showing them and 395 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,000 showing us that that has to change when it comes to Christ. 396 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,520 When it comes to Christ, we are submitted. 397 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:19,920 When it comes to Christ, we recognize Our Calling. 398 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,920 When it comes to Christ, we're here to serve not only him, but 399 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,160 others. And then he goes on and he says 400 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,200 that he'd been set apart for the gospel of God. 401 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,480 That word means to be separated or or to reserve. 402 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,280 And so he's an apostle. He says that which means to one 403 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:38,720 who has been sent. So you've got to think about it. 404 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:44,080 Separated, separated to be sent. That's who he is. 405 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:49,480 That's his calling. The word missionary, that word 406 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,800 we use in English all the time is simply Latin for apostle. 407 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,960 And so the the one who has sent, the one who has called, the one 408 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,040 who has separated. And I wonder if that's not all 409 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:05,280 of us, if that's not all of our responsibility, maybe some go 410 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:11,320 overseas, maybe some go to a Hispanic church plant, maybe 411 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,160 others just need to go to their neighbor, But we're all 412 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,440 separated. We're all set apart in order to 413 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,160 be sent. And then Paul wastes no time 414 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,400 getting to his major theme, the theme of the whole book, the 415 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,120 theme of what he's after. He's right. 416 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,160 But but you got to remember this, and this is really 417 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,560 important because this is a weird book in the sense that we 418 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,480 often quote from Romans when we share the gospel with somebody. 419 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,640 We often use the Roman road or we use verses out of here when 420 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,480 you're going to share the gospel with a lost person. 421 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,280 But that wasn't the purpose of the book. 422 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,320 The purpose of the book was written to Christians. 423 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:47,280 And so this is a book written to the church, but he's trying to 424 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,640 unpack the gospel for them so that they would be equipped to 425 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,760 share with people in Rome, to share with people in their 426 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:56,800 world. But this is primarily a letter 427 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,160 of remembrance. It's a letter of clarification. 428 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,000 It's a letter of calling. It's a letter of discipleship. 429 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,000 Not, not not necessarily an evangelistic message for 430 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,840 salvation, although we certainly can use it for that. 431 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,200 That was not his original intent. 432 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,040 For Paul, the gospel does not just save. 433 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,280 Here's the here's a big point. The gospel doesn't just save 434 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:22,800 you, it shapes you. It shapes the life that you're 435 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,640 supposed to live, and it empowers you for service. 436 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,880 And so we recognize that Romans isn't just about spiritual 437 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,800 salvation. Romans is also very much about 438 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,320 spiritual growth. Who are we supposed to become as 439 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,960 disciples? And so the word for gospel, 440 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,040 evangelion, if that sounds like evangelism, it should because 441 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,320 it's the same word. And so when we look at the the 442 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:51,840 word, the Greek word evangelion for gospel or good news, you got 443 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:53,600 to stand this isn't a Christian word. 444 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:55,960 It didn't start there. It became one. 445 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,320 But this word was a common word to the Romans. 446 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,000 This word was used in emperor worship. 447 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,840 This word was used as they worship the the emperor himself 448 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,320 would raise himself up to Augustus, to the place of 449 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,680 supreme, to a place of godship. And so in emperor worship, they 450 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,640 actually used the word of angelion. 451 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,920 But what Paul's doing is showing that this was something more 452 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:25,160 specific and not about the emperor, but about the emperor 453 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:30,600 of all creation. And so he also points out that 454 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:31,840 this is something that's not new. 455 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,440 This was promised ahead of time. The Old Testament is the 456 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,640 foundation for the gospel. Don't don't miss the whole point 457 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:43,400 in this passage when you see that this was all declared ahead 458 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,440 of time. It was declared according to the 459 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,440 Spirit, but also beforehand by His prophets in the Holy 460 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,960 Scripture. This is not some random thought. 461 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:55,680 This is not some random accidental plan. 462 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:59,400 This is this is the divine inspiration of Scripture of all 463 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,720 Scripture and how God is fulfilling the hopes and the 464 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:06,920 prophecies of the Old Testament. So we see the Old Testament 465 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,400 centered on Jesus designed to bring people to obedience to him 466 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,880 by faith for his name. So the Bible's from God and the 467 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:19,120 Bible's about Jesus. And so the gospel is certainly 468 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:21,840 God's good news. He's the origin of it. 469 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,640 Theologian Leon Morris wrote Romans is a book about God. 470 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,680 No trot, no topic is treated with anything like the frequency 471 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:35,400 of God in this book. So we're going to be reading 472 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,120 about God and what he has done. And then Paul even launches into 473 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:44,360 these first few verses into the person and work of Jesus, and he 474 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:47,640 contrasts 2 parts of Christ's existence. 475 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,440 I mean, you see heavy doctrinal work here. 476 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,920 Just in these first verses at verse 3 says who was descended 477 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:59,320 from David According to the flesh, Jesus is fully man and 478 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,320 was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the 479 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,880 spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, 480 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:09,720 Jesus Christ our Lord. And he's fully God, fully man 481 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,880 and fully God. That's who this is. 482 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,680 And so Jesus's work, it didn't end with his death. 483 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,440 He's vindicated as the Son of God and his resurrection, but 484 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,840 this idea of being declared to be the Son of God doesn't mean 485 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,200 that he wasn't the Son of God before the resurrection. 486 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:31,640 This simply means this is the declaration of his ongoing work. 487 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,200 This is the declaration and the emphasis emphasizing of his 488 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:40,320 exaltation, his coronation, so to speak, being recognized as 489 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,360 the Son of God. And so the purpose and the 490 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:45,720 ultimate goal of the gospel. Real simple. 491 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,240 It's just like our mission statement here. 492 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,680 The purpose of the gospel is to bring Christ glory. 493 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,760 It's to bring him the ultimate glory. 494 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:02,000 So the gospel is not preached if Christ is not preached. 495 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:04,120 That may sound like something common here at Inglewood. 496 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:05,760 You all know that. You all would think that you 497 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,720 would, duh. But you can understand out there 498 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,200 it's not. So there are churches who say 499 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,760 they preach the gospel who never mentioned Jesus Christ. 500 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,400 There are people who talk about preaching and doing the gospel 501 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,640 and and they're doing humanitarian work and they think 502 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:21,440 that's the gospel. Now I'm not knocking 503 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,400 humanitarian work. It's good to love our neighbor. 504 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,160 It's good to take care of our neighbor, but that's not the 505 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,680 gospel. If you don't talk about Jesus, 506 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:30,760 you're not talking about the gospel. 507 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,640 So the gospel is not preached if he's not there. 508 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:38,680 So he reminds us, Paul reminds us of his mission to redeem the 509 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,160 nation's. Once again, our mission 510 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,200 statement is our mission statement for a reason. 511 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,680 We are to bring God glory and join him in redeeming the 512 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,760 nations. Paul says for the sake of his 513 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:53,040 name among all the nations. There's a reason why we believe 514 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,120 what we believe. Paul longed for the nations to 515 00:27:56,120 --> 00:28:00,000 hear and obey the gospel. He he had a passion for that. 516 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:03,240 To bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name 517 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:08,560 is what he says, because saving faith is obedient faith. 518 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,600 And sometimes I feel like we've separated these two things and 519 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:13,200 Paul's going to nail us down about that. 520 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,600 We want to trust in Jesus as our Savior, but we don't necessarily 521 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,920 want to trust Jesus as our Lord. So we can sit there and say, 522 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,560 well, I'm a Christian. I was saved, I walked a Nile, 523 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,080 got baptized, joined the church. But now my life hadn't changed a 524 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:27,840 bit. I hadn't done one thing for him 525 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,760 since that's not what this is about. 526 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:33,480 And Paul's going to dive deep with us in this. 527 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,840 He's going to, he's going to peg us for this and talk to us about 528 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:38,760 this. And so we see this and then 529 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,360 Paul's concluding his greeting here by identifying his audience 530 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,680 finally to Rome, to the Saints here at Rome. 531 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,960 He uses that word Saints to suggest that they too are set 532 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,040 apart for Christ. You, you 2 are set apart. 533 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,560 That's what the the word St. just means a set apart 1A holy 534 00:28:55,560 --> 00:29:01,520 one to be set apart to be reserved just like he is that we 535 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:05,280 too, we're set apart, we're separated and we're sent. 536 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:06,840 That probably should have been the outline. 537 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,280 We're set apart, we're separated and we're sent. 538 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:13,080 And that's what he's saying. That's what you all are too. 539 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:14,120 You're right there in the middle of it. 540 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,080 You're right there at the center of the universe and the city of 541 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:20,880 Rome, the Control Center of the known world for him. 542 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:24,040 And you guys are just as much set apart. 543 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:25,600 You are. You all need to share in this 544 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,400 apostleship. You all need to share in this 545 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,360 mission effort. And he's going to encourage them 546 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:32,560 to do that. So when we're saved, we've 547 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:34,520 received this new identity in Christ. 548 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:40,120 The gospel should change who we are and for what we stand. 549 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,800 And it's remarkably gracious what God does for us when you 550 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,600 consider our sinful nature beforehand. 551 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,800 I mean, some of these Gentiles came from really Pagan 552 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,960 backgrounds and some of these Jewish people came from really 553 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,160 self-righteous, phariseical, legalistic backgrounds. 554 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,280 And to put these groups together must have been a fun potluck. 555 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:05,280 Look at verse 8. So now we get into it. 556 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:10,840 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, 557 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,400 because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 558 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,280 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the 559 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:22,760 gospel of his Son, that without ceasing, I mention you always in 560 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:27,040 my prayers, asking that somehow, by God's will I may now at last 561 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,280 succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I 562 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,360 may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, 563 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,120 that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's 564 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,720 faith, both yours and mine. I don't want you to be unaware, 565 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,320 brothers, that I have often intended to come to you, but 566 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,640 thus far have been prevented, in order that I may reap some 567 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,200 harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 568 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,800 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both 569 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:00,240 to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the 570 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,320 gospel to you also who are in Rome. 571 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:05,440 So first of all, we see we're called by God. 572 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,440 But the second thing, we also need to recognize that we're 573 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,280 going to, if we're going to be who God wants us to be, if we're 574 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,400 going to grow like we're supposed to grow, we got to be 575 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,960 committed to the church. See, the believers in Rome 576 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,240 needed encouragement. And sometimes I people are funny 577 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,240 to me. People like to separate stuff 578 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,480 out from this book. You know, when Paul's writing 579 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:30,120 these letters, a huge section of the New Testament are letters 580 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,240 written to local churches about how you're supposed to be 581 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,040 involved in, behave, and live out your faith in and through 582 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,240 the local church. And yet it's always interesting 583 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,040 to me how some people try to isolate themselves from the 584 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:43,720 local church. Now I'm preaching you to the 585 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:47,880 choir because you're sitting here, but it's interesting to 586 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:49,440 me. It doesn't work that way. 587 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:53,800 It's never worked that way. And so it this is, it was not 588 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,520 easy to live there as a believer in Rome. 589 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,440 It was difficult. And so we see Paul first of all, 590 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,920 he's displaying his love and appreciation and commitment to 591 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,200 them for hanging in there. The reputation of hanging in 592 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,640 there and, and sharing the gospel had been spread. 593 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,160 He was thankful for them. He prayed for them. 594 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,360 He longed to see them. He, he wanted to be in the 595 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,240 church. He wanted to be together with 596 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,160 fellow believers. He wanted to be in that 597 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,320 community. He missed them. 598 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,720 He he wanted to be there so he could bless them. 599 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:26,280 He could strengthen them through his giftedness, his calling and 600 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,600 with the gospel. But the other thing you got to 601 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,160 see here is not what he says he he knows this works both ways. 602 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,760 He he verse 12. It says that we may be mutually 603 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,080 encouraged by each other. Paul also knew, I need you. 604 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,800 I need the church. I'm not just some maverick 605 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,680 missionary out here doing my own thing without any need or 606 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,320 without any desire to fellowship. 607 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:50,720 He knew there was mutual encouragement. 608 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:56,000 So Paul opens his heart so that they could know him and that he 609 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,320 could know them. And he acknowledged in that same 610 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,640 passage that that I know that your church is, is full of all 611 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,720 kinds of different people. I know there's all kinds of 612 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:07,160 different people. And that's OK. 613 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:08,720 And he expressed his heart for that. 614 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:12,640 The gospels for all people, even the Barbarians. 615 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,480 Now, if you're a barbarian, raise your hand now that we will 616 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,200 do that later. I already know some of you. 617 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:22,400 So. But the word barbarian is not 618 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:24,800 what we often think about it. We, we, we've had too much 619 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,400 Hollywood invested into our barbarianisms. 620 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:33,960 So a barbarian to the Greeks was to the educated Greek person, 621 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,440 the barbarian was just somebody who could, who could not 622 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,680 properly pronounce the Greek language. 623 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:44,080 And so they they considered them as uncouth and uneducated and 624 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,000 they were very dismissive. You got to understand how 625 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,640 elitist the Greeks could be to the Romans it it didn't refer to 626 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,440 some wild eyed savages. Although later on they would 627 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,760 fight Germanic Goths and Visigoths who would actually 628 00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:59,080 sack Rome. But that's not who they really 629 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,240 meant. These were those who were not 630 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:05,120 cultured in the ways of Rome. Roman culture was very distinct 631 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,520 and at times very formal and very specific. 632 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,400 And they weren't educated or cultured in the ways of Rome. 633 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,800 And so they're out living on the empire's frontier, on the edge 634 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,080 out there. And so they're considered rude 635 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:21,040 and and crude and ignorant, but Paul says Christ is for them 636 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:25,679 too, no matter how uneducated, no matter how poor, no matter 637 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:30,440 how uncouth, no matter how rough the background, the Gospels for 638 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:32,560 them too. So we see Paul's love for the 639 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,960 church. We see his obligation for the 640 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:36,840 evangelization of all these people. 641 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:40,920 He's pursuing God's mission with a passion, with an obligation. 642 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,000 Again, let me quote Sundal. I'd just been reading him some 643 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,000 this week, and it says we owe the people the gospel. 644 00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:52,400 We must tell others about it. Paul's passion burned with the 645 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,600 urgency of someone who had just found the fire escape in a 646 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,080 burning high rise, desperate to save others. 647 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,080 And he shouted, come this way, come this way. 648 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,760 Run down the stairway. This is how you get out. 649 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:08,000 This is the escape route. That's his desperation. 650 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:12,320 He's committed to them and wants them to grow. 651 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,840 So look at verse 16. Paul's arriving at his, really 652 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:20,680 his strong main point. These two verses have changed 653 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,160 lives. We'll see what they do today. 654 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:28,320 For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of 655 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:33,960 God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew 1st and 656 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,520 also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of 657 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:41,920 God is revealed from faith. For faith as it is written, the 658 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:47,320 righteous shall live by faith. So we see Our Calling from God. 659 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,920 It's got to be a part of us. We see our commitment to His 660 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:51,600 church. This is His church, this is His 661 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,280 bride, His body. But then thirdly, we see 662 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:56,960 confidence in the power of the gospel. 663 00:35:58,520 --> 00:35:59,960 So he arrives at this main point. 664 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:03,240 The gospel is the saving power of God. 665 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:06,880 The gospel is the saving power of God in which the 666 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:08,880 righteousness of God is revealed. 667 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:10,760 This is the Nerf center of the letter. 668 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,400 This is the central claim. Verse 17 is the key verse of the 669 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,680 entire letter. The gospel reveals righteousness 670 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:21,360 that is by faith. So many people today, 671 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:26,640 unfortunately in our culture, find the gospel foolishness. 672 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:29,360 Maybe you're a guest here today and you're kind of the same 673 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:30,800 boat. You just kind of enduring this. 674 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,840 How do you know when's it going to be quiet with lunch? 675 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,440 Some people think they're too sophisticated to believe such 676 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:43,360 archaic stuff. But here's Paul, in the midst of 677 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:50,640 a world just as lost, just as Pagan as our own, clearly saying 678 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:56,720 I'm not ashamed. Paul is as educated as any human 679 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:59,800 could have been in his day, from the culture from which he came. 680 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,960 I'm not ashamed. So today we're faced and we must 681 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,720 choose. We We can abandoned the gospel 682 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,040 out of a bear embarrassment. That's an option. 683 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:15,800 Or we can embrace the temporary shame that it might bring in our 684 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:17,080 world today. Because it might. 685 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,480 People might make fun of you for being a Christian. 686 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:23,480 People might make fun of you for putting that little Inglewood 687 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:25,240 Baptist Church sticker on your car. 688 00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:30,080 People might make fun of you if you claim to believe a gospel, 689 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:32,080 and in a resurrection they might. 690 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:38,840 But here's what I say Inglewood. I say we stand with Paul, that 691 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,840 the gospel is not simply about the power of God, though it is. 692 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:49,480 The gospel is the power of God for everyone and to everyone who 693 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,600 believes. Paul is going to quote Habakkuk 694 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:57,280 24 stating our need for faith that that we cannot earn God's 695 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,560 righteousness, we must receive it by faith through Christ. 696 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:06,040 I shared this and again on Wednesday night. 697 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:09,080 I want to say it one more time that that idea of believes is 698 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,760 simply the Greek verb form for the noun for faith. 699 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:18,120 It means to everyone who faiths they can be, they can be saved, 700 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:23,480 Who trusts, who depends, who puts their entire weight on you, 701 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,840 lean on you, depend upon it, you cling to it. 702 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:30,800 You know it's your only way, your only hope, your only way to 703 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,600 be saved, and you're willing to live your life based upon that. 704 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,400 We accept the gospel, we live the gospel, and we must share 705 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:43,200 the gospel. So Paul wasn't ashamed because 706 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:46,600 he knew the gospel he preached and was teaching them about was 707 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:50,480 the only, the only appointed means for salvation. 708 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,480 It's the only way to be saved. These other paths, we're going 709 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:55,680 to talk about them on Wednesday night. 710 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:59,080 They won't save you. The the great devotionalist to 711 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:01,840 Oswald Chambers who sometimes you have to read 3 or 4 times to 712 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:05,400 understand. Oswald Chambers once said Paul 713 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:09,960 was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, 714 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,520 totally surrendered and separated by God for one 715 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:16,520 purpose, to proclaim the gospel of God. 716 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:21,480 So without the gospel, without the power that the gospel is, 717 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,760 there is no salvation. And Paul will spend the rest of 718 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:28,720 this letter explaining every facet of it to us. 719 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,960 It's a powerful, life changing book. 720 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:33,600 You need to get your friends here. 721 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:38,920 You know, the other night I was watching and I don't always 722 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,360 watch these things, but for some reason this interested me. 723 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:47,160 I was watching the splashdown of Artemis 2, this spaceship that 724 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,560 went around the the dark side of the moon and was coming back and 725 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,240 they had a live broadcast of the splashdown. 726 00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:56,520 And I was watching that on TV and I thought it was 727 00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:58,600 interesting. There was a physicist. 728 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,600 I know who that physicist is. He's not a believer. 729 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:02,880 That's not a judgement statement. 730 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:06,120 That's his own statement. He's not a believer. 731 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,160 But he was a color commentary on the broadcast. 732 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:12,680 And at one point he said this, he says, man, as the thing hit 733 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:15,720 the ocean, those parachutes came out and the thing landed in the 734 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:18,680 ocean. He said man can eventually solve 735 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:24,600 the mystery of our existence. And I thought to myself, it was 736 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:29,440 almost, and he was such passion and excitement and it was almost 737 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:34,400 like a religious experience for him, testifying to all that man 738 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,160 can accomplish by his own strength. 739 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:42,920 Now, nothing against the space program per SE, but when he was 740 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:46,720 talking, a vivid thought came to my heart. 741 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:51,240 It just reminded me of a tower at a place called Babel. 742 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:58,240 The solution to our existence. Be careful. 743 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:05,440 Be careful, my friends, because we require justification, we 744 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:11,400 require salvation, we require transformation, we require to be 745 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,000 called and not to be ashamed of the gospel. 746 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:19,360 And frankly, this world starves to see that in US. 747 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,120 And when we begin to live this out to its fullness, there won't 748 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:23,640 be an empty seat in here anymore. 749 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:27,760 People will be wondering when we're going to move more seats 750 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:32,200 in because they see something here at Inglewood that they know 751 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:36,520 they desperately need. The commentator, Douglas Moo 752 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:38,000 wrote this. Just listen to this for a 753 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,000 minute. He says we badly need solid 754 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:42,880 grounding in the Christian worldview. 755 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:47,000 We need to know how to think Christianly about everything in 756 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:51,520 our culture if we are to be prepared to respond to the array 757 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:55,440 of religious options in our culture and to live consistently 758 00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:58,600 Christian lives. If the church is to have a 759 00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:03,960 meaningful and persuasive voice in the culture wars, you will 760 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:09,280 have to enunciate clearly, lovingly, and persuasively the 761 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:12,440 Christian interpretation of reality. 762 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:16,920 When you're only going to find that true reality in one place, 763 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:23,560 my friends, you're going to find it in the gospel, the real truth 764 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:30,440 and the real truth for why we exist, for our entire reality is 765 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:33,720 found there. So I look forward to our study 766 00:42:33,720 --> 00:42:39,400 together, to what God is going to say to us because he alone 767 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:45,200 knows the mystery of our existence, but he wants to share 768 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:50,000 it with all of us. Father, thank you for your word. 769 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:54,080 Thank you that I don't have to add much. 770 00:42:54,080 --> 00:43:00,080 I can simply share it. And Father, I pray that as Paul 771 00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:08,280 wrote here, thousands of years later, the Father, that same 772 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:13,400 Holy Spirit, divinely inspired, perfect message would still 773 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:17,640 Pierce our hearts. Father, I pray that we would not 774 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:21,720 be ashamed of the gospel, but instead, Father, we would 775 00:43:21,720 --> 00:43:26,360 recognize our duty to be transformed and to proclaim the 776 00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:30,960 gospel. Father, thank you that we can be 777 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:35,440 saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and that's the 778 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:39,760 only way we can be saved. And so, Father, I pray that as 779 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:42,440 we dive into your word, that Father, you'll dive into our 780 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:45,760 hearts. I pray for anyone here right now 781 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,960 who's never trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. 782 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:52,440 They haven't believed, They haven't faith in Him. 783 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:56,720 That Father, right now you would give them that strength, that 784 00:43:56,720 --> 00:44:02,400 ability, that awareness, an unavoidable truth that these 785 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:06,320 words are true and that their life must be changed. 786 00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:08,840 Father, I pray that people aren't just saved. 787 00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:11,720 I pray we're transformed. We live differently, we think 788 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:13,840 differently, we share differently. 789 00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,600 So Father, I pray, Lord, as we have this moment of invitation 790 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:20,520 and reflection, that Father, you would bless us. 791 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:24,720 Lord, I pray that the Father that that if anyone's here and 792 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:27,480 they want to know more about what does it mean to be saved? 793 00:44:28,240 --> 00:44:31,720 What does it mean to believe the gospel that they'd come and take 794 00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:34,880 a pastor by the hand or go to our next steps room or even go 795 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:39,520 to our next steps room after the service, Father so they could 796 00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:44,520 talk to someone about that others know of others who need 797 00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:46,520 this. They need to know they need 798 00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:49,160 transformation. And I pray Father they maybe 799 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:51,760 they need to come and just intercede at these steps as an 800 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:54,960 altar Father to pray for someone they know. 801 00:44:56,240 --> 00:44:59,240 Maybe there's someone who saw the incredible, wonderful 802 00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:02,520 testimony of baptism this morning, that public 803 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:04,560 identification. If I've done this, I've trusted 804 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:06,840 in Christ and I want the world to know I'm not ashamed. 805 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:11,240 I pray, Father, that someone would come and say, I want to 806 00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:16,960 proclaim that relationship too. So Father, whatever someone 807 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:20,400 needs, whatever you're leading to do, I just pray, Father, as 808 00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:22,320 we take our offering that you bless it. 809 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:24,760 Bless us as we offer ourselves to you. 810 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:30,600 Thank you, Father, for this chance in Christ's name, Amen. 811 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:33,320 Stand with me if you would. Some of our pastors will be 812 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,840 here. Our Next Steps room is there and 813 00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:39,720 it's wide open now, and we'll be open after the service. 814 00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:42,680 You come and respond as our ushers come as well. 815 00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:47,200 Thank you so much for listening today. 816 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:48,480 And I also hope that you'll go to 817 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:52,280 ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com as well as our app and find many 818 00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:54,680 other resources that will bless you and your families. 819 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:55,880 Thank you once again.