Glorifying God by making disciples.

You open to Romans 16, and what do you find dominating the first 16 verses?  

Names. 

27 of them to be exact.  

It's easy to come to sections like this of Paul's letters and speed read through them.  But we need to slow down here. What do all these names and descriptions tell us about a congregation and people known and loved by Paul?  How does this section help us understand that all the gospel doctrine and ethics Paul has laid down in this letter are rooted in a deep love for the people on the other side of the letter?  We have much to see here for how gospel doctrine gets lived out in the context of personal relationships within a congregation. 

Paul had an ambition to preach the gospel where Christ had not yet been named.  In other words, Paul lived with a passion for the gospel frontiers.  He wanted to go to the places where the gospel had yet to go and announce the good news of Christ there. In this week's passage, we see Paul's eyes fixed on a new gospel frontier of Spain. As we walk through this together we want to pull out four factors for forward movement to gospel frontiers.  Let's let God's word fill us with a greater zeal for the gospel frontiers in our day where the gospel must go forward!

Why witness? How should we witness? This morning we unpack the heart of witness—We witness to the glory of God, so the lost can experience our glorious God.

In the church at Rome there were some conscience controversies:

"Should we eat that or not? 

"Should we drink that or not? 

"Should we celebrate that day or not?"

In our congregation today there are unique matters of conscience as well. Last week we looked at Five Gospel Unifiers for us on matters of conscience.  Those Five Gospel Unifiers from last week lay a foundation for us to build on as to how we practically live with one another in these matters. Today we tackle this by looking at Romans 14:13-15:13 and from this passage will make 3 resolutions to love my neighbor in matters of conscience. 

It is evident how much Paul wants to drive home the reality that people who have come to believe the gospel will now live lives marked by gospel-empowered love.  In this passage, Paul summarizes that to love is to fulfill the law.  He also helps us see that walking in love and walking in the light go hand-in-hand.  Let's look together at what a gospel-empowered life of love and light looks like.

It is evident how much Paul wants to drive home the reality that people who have come to believe the gospel will now live lives marked by gospel-empowered love.  In this passage, Paul summarizes that to love is to fulfill the law.  He also helps us see that walking in love and walking in the light go hand-in-hand.  Let's look together at what a gospel-empowered life of love and light looks like.

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities..."

Paul comes to what we call a "rapid fire" section of his letter.  A series of commands and instructions that come quickly and pointedly in Romans 12:9-21.  Though it is rapid fire, they aren't entirely disconnected.  Verse 9 serves as a proper header for these verses around the theme of genuine love. Last week we looked at what genuine love for one another in the body of Christ looks like. This week we tackle what genuine love for our enemies looks like.

Paul comes to what we call a "rapid fire" section of his letter. A series of commands and instructions that come quickly and pointedly in Romans 12:9-21. Though it is rapid fire, they aren't entirely disconnected. Verse 9 serves as a proper header for these verses around the theme of genuine love. This week we look at what genuine love for one another in the body of Christ looks like. Next week we will tackle what genuine love for our enemies looks like.

Lord, keep me low. Lord, build your church. Lord, use me.

As Paul moves to his instructions for what a life shaped by the gospel looks like, he begins with an appeal.  His appeal is that his readers would live as sacrifices to God.  What kind of sacrifices are we to be?  How does this define for us what true worship is?  What would prevent us from becoming these sacrifices?  What is the catalyst that leads us to this kind of gospel-shaped sacrifice?  All this is answered in two really important verses of this book.

As Paul moves to his instructions for what a life shaped by the gospel looks like, he begins with an appeal.  His appeal is that his readers would live as sacrifices to God.  What kind of sacrifices are we to be?  How does this define for us what true worship is?  What would prevent us from becoming these sacrifices?  What is the catalyst that leads us to this kind of gospel-shaped sacrifice?  All this is answered in two really important verses of this book.

Noah's Ark. This remarkable story of a catastrophic, global flood where God's wrath is poured out on the utter depravity of the world. And yet, God's mercy and kindness is all over this story as he preserves some through an ark-shaped vessel of his mercy. As we look at this story, I pray we see both the fullness of God's wrath toward wickedness, and the riches of his grace and mercy. Most of all, may we see how this global flood points us to gospel glories!

It is time to come back to the Lord. There are times we run from God. Sometimes those are blatantly obvious by the outward expressions of our life. Other times everything looks good on the outside, but we are spiritually cold on the inside. In 1 Kings 18 we see a showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal that turns the people's hearts back to the Lord. As we walk through this story together, there are three things we need to see and act if we need to return wholeheartedly to the Lord as well.

In Numbers 22-24 we find an entertaining and humorous story about a king, a pagan prophet-for hire, and a donkey. The donkey is significant because God makes the animal speak in a human voice, which is why this story is so memorable. But the story is not really about the donkey. This story is all about our God who is faithful to keep His promises. And His greatest promise, a coming Savior, was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, in whom all the promises of God find their Yes!