The World’s Greatest Problem | Romans 3:9–18 | Dr. Paul Chitwood | International Mission Board

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church family we're going to get started

in about 30 seconds so as you're coming

in go ahead and find your seats and

we'll get started very

shortly e

go today sh know we have a guest speaker

with us um but this morning we are going

to join In Worship we're going to join

in the the preaching of God's word we're

going to pray together and our prayer

for you as pastors is that you would

grow in your love for the Lord and your

commitment to his word through the

course of this morning we're actually

going to start with the reading of God's

word so please stand this the Lord has

taken away the judgments against you he

has cleared away your enemies the king

of Israel the Lord is where he's here in

our midst you shall never fear again go

ahead and read with me verse 16 on that

day it shall be said in Jerusalem fear

not o Zion let not your hands grow weak

the Lord your God is in your midst a

mighty one who will save he will rejoice

over you with gladness he will quiet you

by his love he will exalt over you with

loud singing This is Our God a God who

is our King and yet who loves us deeply

so church family let's join together in

prayer thanking our God for his

character and then we're going to lift

our voices together and saying praise to

the Lord the Almighty Father in heaven

we praise you that you are the almighty

King but that you are God who loves us

deeply and fully Hoy that you're a God

who rejoices over us with singing and so

this morning we lift our voices to you

saying thank you for being our great God

we love you we ask this in Jesus name

amen praise to the Lord the Almighty the

king of creation

oh my soul praise him for he is thy

health and

salvation all you who hear now to his

Temple draw

near him in Bri

Ador praise to the

Lord praise to the Lord who all things

so wonderously BL

shelter the his wings gently

sustain thou not seen how thy there have

been granted in be

or praise to the Lord

who work and

defend surely his goodness and mercy

here daily

attend

and what the almighty can

do with his

friend praise to the Lord praise to the

Lord oh let all that is in me adore him

all that has life and breath come now

with

praises him let the man sound from his

people

again gladly forever adore him let be on

sound from his people

again gladly forever

iore

him God the uncreated one our

King God the

uncreated

one the author of

Salvation who wrote the laws of space

and time

and fashion worlds to his

design the one who made host re H the

Stars like

chanded every grain of s knows the heart

of every man he is king forever he is

king forever he is king forever

he is

C God our Fortress and our

strength The Rock on which we can

deare matchless in his

majesty his power and the

GL unshaken by the seems of man never

changing Great I Am kingdoms rise and

kingdoms fall he is Fai through it all

crown him king forever crown him king

forever

Crown King forever more

yeah he became one of us in order to

save

us Mighty God Immortal

flesh forsaken by a traitor

kiss the curse of sin

and did pierce the Lely prin of me

oh lifted High the sinless man crucify

the Spotless Lamb bued by the sons of

Man resued by The Father's hand to r as

forever r as king forever r as king

forever King Eternal God of PR

we Crown you with the highest

praise heav shouts and Saints

adore you're holy holy

holy what Joy is everlasting life all is

love

and J RS and praise rise at the name of

Jesus Christ King of Kings forever King

of Kings forever King of Kings forever

more he's the king of

kings King of Kings forever King of

Kings forever King of Kings

forever can you say Amen to that praise

God

what a glorious glorious truth we've

just sung We just sung the Gospel of

Jesus Christ he comes and he joins us

it's pierced for us and then we get to

sing his praise forever more amen amen

you may be seated I am so thankful for

you on this January morning lifting your

voice in hearty praise to God we often

say here in the life of Sheron Hills we

want to pay attention to what we're

singing We carefully select the songs

that remind us of the gospel and I heard

someone say just the other day um the

people around me when they sing it's

like they're singing sometimes to me

because this person was kind of

struggling and a little bit down and she

said when uh the people around me are

singing it helps me so sometimes we're

singing to the Lord sometimes we're

singing to each other and sometimes

we're also singing to who ourselves

right well praise the lord we welcome

you my name is name is Andrew Coleman

I'm one of the pastors here at Sheran

Hills we welcome you here uh to worship

with us some of you are here for the

very first time and I would like to ask

our home folks to welcome those who are

here for the first time would you please

welcome

them one of the couples and families

that is here for the first time is the

chipwood family and so we welcome Paul

chipwood president of our IMB and

Michelle and their precious daughters um

we are so thankful that they are with us

and uh in just a little while Dr

Chitwood is going to bring the message

from God's word to us and uh we really

look forward to that Marcy and I've had

the privilege of just spending the last

couple of days with them um we've been

through um we caught some Snapper that

was kind of fun we went through a storm

with Michelle saying I think it's time

to go back to the dock um so but it

turned out to be pretty good so well I

want to say also welcome home to Alex

and uh Robin Pinto vidall where are they

they're right here glad you're home guys

we love

you missed you um they are prolific

having babies and all that good stuff so

thankfully they look like Robin um but

um anyways good good times um many of

you helped um Friday night tear down all

the elaborate Christmas decorations and

thank you for coming and doing that and

then you went out and set a bunch of

trees on fire the fire department was

here neighbors were calling it was

exciting in fact I heard that neighbors

came into the sports field just to hang

out and we got to talk to a bunch of

them so that's really cool you never

know what um that will bring but I'm

super thankful for that you know today

we are going to celebrate the entry into

heaven of one of the great Saints of

Sheran Hills um Ted capella was a man

who served in the life of our church for

many years and uh taught the Bible uh in

several different ways listen to this

Ted capella when he retired um he said I

want to do more and so he started just

saying pastors who do you want me to

call and welcome them from being here so

many of you who came to Sheran Hills

with the next Monday or Tuesday you got

a phone call and it was probably from

Ted capella uh Ted capella has served in

the life of our church listen Ted would

be in the hospital during the week

receiving chemo or um in great Peril and

then over the last two years if there

was any way possible for him to be

sitting right here on this aisle he was

there um some of y'all get a sniffle in

your nose and go oh I think we need to

stay home today

I am so proud of Ted capella and his

example to us as a church he served

Faithfully as a servant leader in our

church and today we're going to

celebrate uh the salvation of him we're

going to celebrate his life and how God

made him and how God saved him and uh

his blessing to us so Robin we love you

and we want you to know that we hurt

with you as you've lost your your

husband but we are so thank thankful as

a church family to have been ministered

to by him so at 1:30 um we will be doing

that I will ask the capella family

everybody who's in the family to head

out during our prayer time at the end of

the service so they can slip out and get

a bite to eat and uh then everybody will

be able to come back at 1:30 so

community group Christmas Gatherings

have been really really great very proud

of you guys for getting together and uh

loving one another reaching out to one

another if you haven't organize yours go

ahead and do that um that'll be

important as we get the year started I

want to remind you that next Sunday is

starting point starting point begins

it's a class that I teach on the life of

the church um this is amazing we fix a

big breakfast for you so I think we have

already um 37 people signed up for

starting point and uh maybe you your

name needs to be on that list I invite

you to come and to be a part of that for

the next few weeks you'll be blessed and

uh this is a time for the pastors to get

to know you this next uh slide shows you

seminars some new seminars that are

beginning in addition to the ones that

we're already doing the levitic

Leviticus effect is going to be begun

first Samuel this is a great study of

one of the great narrative scriptures of

the Old Testament great storytelling in

the book of Samuel and we'll be studying

that um and an over view of the new of

the New Testament is also available some

of you are wondering how the New

Testament fits together um Dr chipwood

and I were talking yesterday about how

he came to convictional Faith that God's

word is true and it was amazing how both

of us we just we're just talking about

once we came to realize that Jesus truly

is our savior and the gift of faith is

given to our heart and we believe and

then as we start to read the scripture

we we start to realize this whole thing

fits together it fits together like lock

and key it's not a bunch of random

writings um there's a there's a cohesive

measure from Genesis 1 to the end of

Revelation God's word is Rich and true

and as we often say here in the life of

our church your whole Bible fits

together it's a matter of us studying it

learning how it fits together and God

does a great work of that so overview of

New Testament is a great study in that I

want to encourage you to sign up for one

of those today and uh you'll be ready

for next week so that allows us to know

how much of the materials to print so if

you would go ahead and you can go to the

app and do that um and uh or you can go

to the computers in the back pizza with

pastors next week for anybody who's

never anybody that's new to us over then

the last month we've not had a chance to

get to know you we do 20 minutes of a

bite to eat after the service I want to

encourage you with that also want to

encourage you if you're a winter guest

and you're coming back a little bit we

haven't seen you we invite you for that

so you say well I was here last year or

the last 20 years during the winter we

want to see you so you're invited to

come back so the winter guest we'd love

to have you that sharkfest is this

coming Saturday this is a big deal

excuse me next Saturday not this

Saturday but the next Saturday this is a

big deal there'll be over a thousand

people here this is a great Outreach

from our school um Everybody in the

church Hamp family is invited um it is a

great time in the Grove um and it's a

fundraiser for our school so um the

lunch and everything else is part of

that but it's a it's a rich time of a

lot of fun invite friends and family to

that and they get to learn about our

school ministry as well well Pastor

Jason is going to pray for us today he's

going to lead us in prayer and uh I want

to invite you to um be ready to pray uh

reme remembering this that Jason is is

going to voice our prayer but you are

going to pray with him um Jason is uh

one of the trustees of the international

Mission board so it's appropriate that

we ask him to come and to do that I want

to encourage you uh to stand with me to

your feet and he's going to lead us in

prayer and then we're going to sing

again and when we sing I want to

encourage you to sing with all of your

heart so Pastor Jason come and leave us

in prayer this

morning let's go to the Lord in

prayer God we come before you

today and Lord we want to give you the

praise that you

deserve God you've been a gracious God

to us you provided salvation for us even

while we were Sinners separated from you

you reconciled us through the Precious

Blood of your son and God we thank you

for that we thank you for how gracious

you've been to us Lord many of us have

endured difficult things through these

last few weeks and months but God you

have continued to show us Grace not only

Grace at Salvation but Grace in every

single aspect of our lives and God we

thank you for that God you are worthy of

our praise and Lord we just want to

honor you

Lord this morning as we think about

various people in the life of our church

we ask for you to continue to love and

show your great love for

Robin God thank you for the life of Ted

capella thank you for how he served in

the life of the church how he was

faithful to you all the way through his

life God thank you for his willingness

and desire to diligently study your word

Lord I pray that the Legacy that he's

set here would continue on with others

here in the life of the church that we

would all be diligent students of your

word Lord we pray for the chaplain

family God we pray for the poor family

and all these families that are grieving

loss of loved ones Lord we pray that

your great love

would fill their hearts a peace that

passes all understanding would fill

their hearts and lives and God that they

would know

you and rest in that love and peace that

you give God thank you this morning for

the opportunity to hear from Dr Chitwood

we thank you for his service in the life

of the international Mission board we

thank you for how he leads and how he

seeks to support support 3,000 plus

missionaries that are overseas sharing

the gospel and God I pray for him I pray

for he both he and his family Lord that

you would continue to guide them and

lead them as he seeks to lead the

international Mission board I pray that

today as he comes here and as he

preaches the truth of your word and as

he talks about the greatest problem in

the world I pray that all of us would

listen intently and God not only just

listen but God go from this place and

think how can I address this great

problem Lord I Thank you for

opportunities that you give us to share

with our relatives and our neighbors and

those that we go to school with and

those that we work beside and Lord I

pray that as we Faithfully share your

truth with people that don't know you

that many would be pricked at the heart

and trust in you you and you alone for

salvation God we thank you that we can

rest in our Salvation knowing that you

love us that you care for us and God

that you have provided for us the

privilege of being called your

children and so God I pray that as we

sing again and remind ourselves of the

truth of this glorious news of the

Gospel that we would just praise you all

the more and walk in obedience and

surrender it's in Jesus name we pray

amen when I fear my faith will

fa Christ will hold me fast when The

Temper would PR

he will hold me fast I could never keep

my through life's fearful path for my

love is often

C he must hold

F he will hold me fast he will hold me

fast for for my savior L me

so he will hold me

fast those he

saves those he saves are his

div Christ will hold me fast precious in

His

holy will hold me

fast not let my soul be lost it's Pro it

shall

Last by him that such a

cost he will hold me

fast he will hold me fast he will hold

me fast for my savior loves me

so he will hold me

f for my life heed and

died Christ will hold me fast justice

has been

satisfied he will hold me

with him to

endless hold me fast till our faith is

turned

to when he comes and fast sing it out

church he will hold me fast he will hold

me fast for my savior loves me so

he will hold me

fast he will hold me fast he will hold

me fast for my savior loves me

so he will hold me

fast we thank God for that great truth

that he holds us fast you may be seated

and as you're seated some men are coming

forward to offer to you a sermon outline

if somehow you got in here without one

just simply lift your hand and they will

give one of these to you you will need

that this morning Dr chipwood is going

to be preaching from God's word as we

always do here in the life of the church

and we're looking at several important

passages and they will be there Dr

Chitwood has served our International

Mission board for the last 6 years but

he's been involved in the life of the

Mission board as a trustee for many many

years before that so he has a very

unique um prep preparation for his

presidency he was part of the overseeing

of the board for many years was very

well acquainted in fact I sent him an

email before I had ever met him after I

had been through security training I was

leaving a city in the Middle East headed

back back to North Africa and as I was

flying back I had been through several

days of contingency security training

because we lived in a part of the world

that was a uh very very possible uh that

you would come into a problem and uh I

remember as I was going back I was so

thankful to God for the training I had

received because it brought great peace

to my heart now they said if this

happens you'll know to do this if this

happen you'll know to do this if this

happens you'll know to do this I

remember writing an email Somewhere over

the Mediterranean Sea to uh Dr Chitwood

and to uh the president of the board at

the time Dr Ranken and just saying thank

you very much for providing this kind of

resource to our missionaries and so um

just so thankful for that Dr Chitwood we

welcome you in the Name of Christ this

morning we ask that God would speak to

us each one through your words this

morning and so church family would you

please give a hearty welcome to Dr Paul

chickwood thank

you well thank you Church uh for that

warm welcome thank you Pastor Andrew and

Marcy for the warm welcome you've given

us over the last few days my wife

Michelle and two of our daughters Kai

and Lillian are here with us and we've

been treated like royalty since we

showed up in South Florida I mean it was

enough for us to just escape the snow

and ice of Richmond Virginia this week

uh but the bonus of being with wonderful

people and worshiping with a wonderful

church this morning uh is certainly uh

cherry on the top of the whipped cream I

have been looking forward to this time

for a few reasons and one of the reasons

was to get to know Pastor Andrew and

Marcy better they have such a tremendous

reputation at the naal Mission board

from their time of service uh but also

from the way they've continued to serve

the Great Commission uh as uh a pastor

at your church and here in partnership

with your church and so getting to know

them better has been a privilege and

thank you for allowing me to Steward

this Pulpit today uh I do not take that

lightly but it's also uh been a cause

for me to look forward to being here

just to

say thank you

Church uh of all the churches across the

Southern Baptist convention uh more than

45,000 of them uh this is one of the

most deeply invested uh generous and

strongly partnering churches that we

have and I thank God for the rich

missions Legacy of this church going

back to the earliest days uh now I think

you're in like your 62nd year uh but

also to realize uh how today more than

ever through the leadership of your

pastors and through the convictions of

this congregation uh there is more Great

Commission work going on through

Sheridan Hills uh then throughout your

history so to see the church continue to

grow in that commitment I want to say

thank you on behalf of 3600 IMB

missionaries and the 3,000 missionary

kids who are part of those families

thank you for your prayers for them

thank you for your generosity in

financially providing for their needs

thank you many of you for going on on

those volunteer mission trips and

serving alongside of them thank you for

being great advocates in the Great

Commission work that we do

together then there's one more reason

I've really been looking forward to

being here and that is because I have

actually been given permission by your

pastors to use this as a recruiting

opportunity while you have missionaries

serving on your behalf in 155 countries

of the world through the

IMB today there is a greater need than

ever before in the history of the world

for the gospel to get to more people

around the world and that means we need

more people to Proclaim that gospel to

be willing to take that gospel so I want

to speak to you today just for a moment

first if you're a student I've already

met some students this morning who have

taken advantage of opportunities like

this already but there are opportunities

for you to spend

a summer or a semester or even a briefer

period of time a longer period of time

like a gap year you can spend it with

the IMB serving with one of our teams

overseas and we would love the

opportunity to talk with you about that

Doug medin one of my uh team members is

here today and he or I or any of the

pastors would love to connect you with

some of those opportunities and the

chance to learn about those uh young

people you can go out fully funded

through our journeyman program uh if you

finished your uh studies whatever that

looked like you finished up college or

maybe you didn't even go to college the

journey program is a fully funded

two-year opportunity to serve on one of

our teams

overseas we'd love to talk with you

about that uh we need more career

missionaries and the opportunity to see

more being sent out from Sheridan Hills

I know you have sent out several over

the years and more are in the pipeline

now but there there are chances for you

uh to go if God is calling you to serve

with the IMB and then to not leave a

generation out of this we have just

relaunched our master's missionary

pathway what is that well if you are

nearing retirement or in your retirement

years and you would be willing to give

maybe two to three years of those

retirement years to make an eternal

impact among the

Nations we would love to talk with you

about that there's opportunities for you

to go fully funded or you say hey I've

got a good retirement I don't need the

funding that's okay too but to use the

gifts God has given you the skills that

you've built in your life and career

over the years and it really doesn't

matter what that background has been uh

we can use a retired school teacher we

can use a retired pastor we can use a

retired health care worker uh we can use

a retired farmer we can use retired

military personnel retired police

officer

uh we could you listen we can even use a

retired attorney at the IMB so whatever

uh your work has been in life there's a

place God could use that to make an

eternal impact among the Nations and we

would love the opportunity to talk talk

with you about what that would look like

so I don't think I've left anyone out

maybe the bad babies but they can come

with mom and dad every generation has an

opportunity to take the gospel to the

Nations this morning

I want our Focus to be from God's word

on why this work is so

important why is the work that this

church has been investing in since the

very launch of your church and now more

than

ever why is this so vital we're looking

to the Book of Romans chapter 3 and you

Romans 3 · chapter mention

have the outline hopefully there in

front of you scripture passage will

probably be on the screen but certainly

there in the handout uh as you're

pulling that together and turning uh

your eyes toward scripture this morning

let me give a little bit of the context

for the primary passage I'm preaching

from Romans chapter 3 if you have much

Romans 3 · chapter mention

familiarity with the book of Romans you

know that is a theologically rich and

deep book it gives such great clarity to

us uh just on a basic understanding of

the Gospel on the role of the church on

what God is doing throughout salvation

history

but one of the matters that is taken up

in this book as God through the Holy

Spirit speaks through as God is the

author of scripture speaks through the

Apostle Paul who pin his

word one of the things is very personal

to the man who is pinning as the word as

the Holy Spirit was giving him those

words and that is the Apostle Paul Paul

was an

Israelite Paul was a Jew

and Paul at this point in his life

having uh come to Christ having been

saved have been called to be a

missionary and leader in the church uh

Paul had great concerns about those

among his

people who had not believed the

gospel who did not affirm that Jesus was

the

Messiah Paul shares concerns that really

take him back and many of the writings

that you will find from the Apostle Paul

in the New Testament to the promises of

God in the Old Testament we know that

the Old Testament is chucked full of

promises that God makes to Israel his

Covenant people and Paul will ask

questions like will those promises be

kept since so many of the Israelites

have rejected Jesus as the Messiah

ultimately he will conclude yes God's

promises to Israel will be kept because

God keeps every promise God has ever

made God is not a liar God always does

what he says he will

do but the scriptures also make clear

and Paul will also make clear in the

passage we're looking at

today that God's promises to a

people do no way in no way excuse any

individual

person for their responsibility before

God their accountability before God for

their

sin and their need to put their personal

trust in Jesus as the

Savior so that's the

context as we pick up here in Romans 3

beginning in verse 9 Paul ask what then

are we Jews any better off again knowing

we're the Covenant people of God are we

somehow better

off no not at all for we have already

charge that all both Jews and Greeks are

under sin and is it is written none is

righteous no not one no one understands

no one seeks for God all have turned

aside together they have become

worthless no one does good not even

one their throat is an open grave they

use their tongues to deceive the Venom

of asps or of snakes is under their

lips their mouth is full of curses and

bitterness their feet are Swift to shed

blood and their paths are ruin in

misery and the way of peace they have

not

known if those words aren't condemning

enough here Verse

18 there is no fear of

God Before Their

Eyes sobering

words strong

words convicting

words Paul makes it clear in these words

God makes it clear as he speaks through

Paul that regardless of our ethnicity

our background our family our people our

place we all have the same

problem and Paul focuses

in as he's addressing this matter with

his own people

the

Jews on what really was the greatest

problem in the world in his

day but it's an even greater problem in

our

day if we I were to ask you this morning

to think with me for a few moments about

some of the biggest some of the greatest

problem facing our world

today what things would come to your

mind your your mind may go to some of

the headlines that you read this week or

a news C that you saw you you may be

aware uh of the the magnitude and the

spread and the threat of war and Wars

around our world today the seemingly

endless war in Eastern Europe and the

incredible consequences and Devastation

that has taken place in the war in

Ukraine the awareness certainly that

this church has and rightfully so that

we as people of Faith have of the attack

upon Israel on October 7th of last year

now here before last and and the war in

the Middle East that has spread and

threatens to spread further and all of

the lives the millions of lives being

impacted not to mention the Lesser Wars

uh like what is going on in the Sudan

and other places that that we don't even

see newscasts about but but if I were

asking you what is the greatest problem

facing our world would War be the

greatest

problem you may or may not be aware

because we don't see much of it on the

news our world is facing a greater

hunger crisis than we've seen in more

than four

decades as many as two billion people

around the world today will struggle to

have a single meal to

eat while I'm trying to get rid of my

excess eating in the

holidays people are going

hungry and in fact we are told that as

many as 345 million people around the

world today on the verge of starving to

death those overwhelming numbers aren't

they an overwhelming problem Global

hunger is it the world's greatest

problem you may or may not be aware of

the fact that there are more slaves in

our world today than any point in human

history 50 million people around around

the world today live as forced laborers

slaves more than ever

before is that but what other Global

problems I mean our world is filled with

problems what else comes to mind so many

other things but none of the things I've

referenced is the greatest problem

facing our world today as great as those

problems are as overwhelming as those

problems are they don't even rival what

I believe to be the greatest problem in

our world what the scripture teaches us

is the greatest problem in our world and

that problem in a word

is

lostness spiritual

lostness it's the problem Paul is

addressing here in Romans 3 it's the

condition of human beings before our

creator as we have sinned and fallen

short of the glory of God and our

relationship with the one who has made

us has been

broken by our wrongdoing our Rebellion

our

sin but is it fair to

suggest while people are literally

fleeing for their lives from bullets and

bombs while people are starving to

death while people are living as slaves

or victims of human trafficking or abuse

or is it fair to suggest that a

spiritual problem is the greatest

problem facing our

world indeed it

is as to why well I could give you a

long list of reasons why this is indeed

the world's greatest problem we focus in

on two this

morning and the first is

this lostness is the greatest problem in

our world because it's the only problem

that

lasts every other problem think think

about the problems in your life

all of the problems in life are

temporary in the sense that when you die

that's no longer a problem I mean what

kind of problems are you facing in this

new year problems with your bank

account problems with the balance in

your checking account problems at work

problems in your

marriage problems in your

family health problems lower back

pain uh

who's going to make this Championship or

that playoff

or here's the thing you can be assured

of all of those problems and in fact

every problem in your life ends the

moment you

die

unless you die

lost the real magnitude of that problem

in fact only sets in the moment you pass

from this life into

death and what does that look

like the Bible says that God is

love what would it be to spend in

eternity separated from love the source

of love no one to love you no one to

love the scriptures say that the Holy

Spirit the spirit of God is our

comforter I like to be comfortable don't

you

but what would it be like to face

forever with no Comfort no source of

comfort no one to comfort

you the Bible says that Christ is our

joy and so what would it mean to face

eternity with no joy and no source of

joy and nothing to be joyful about the

Bible says Jesus is your

life and what would it be to face

forever separated from the one who is

life and the source of life

the scriptures give us description of

all of

that the Bible tells us that separation

from God in eternity hell is not a place

of love it is a place of Anguish and

hatred hell is not a place where we are

comfortable and comforted is a place

where we suffer hell is not a place

where we know Joy is a place of sorrow

and grieving hell is not a place of life

it is the place of Eternal

death being separated from God because

of our sin and to die lost is the

greatest problem any human being could

face and the greatest problem in the

world because it is the only problem

that lasts and it lasts

forever it's an

eternal

problem there's another

reason we focus in on the this morning

really this is what Paul hammers home in

Romans

3 loss this is the world's greatest

problem because it's everyone's problem

it's a universal problem no less than

nine times in just the first few verses

that we've read here uh Paul states that

restates it and restates it again in

different ways and in different language

but saying the same thing let let me

highlight for you these nine occurrences

Paul in verse 9 has asked what then are

we Jews because we're the Covenant

people of God are we are we better off

Paul says no not at all for we've

already charged that all there's the

first occurrence all both Jews and

Greeks are under sin whether you're a

Jew or not this is true of all of us we

are all under sin verse 10 as is

written none is

righteous know not one verse 11 no one

understands no one seeks for God verse

12 all have turned to side together they

have become worthless no one does good

not even

one nine

times Paul

stressing this is everyone's

problem but where there have been a

reader in his day or someone who's

hearing scripture read in our day and

you're thinking to yourself now I grant

you this is a problem for a lot of

people there are some bad people in our

world I'm just not one of

them Paul's going to use an

illustration uh to close the

argument interestingly it's the same

illustration that James will use in

James

3 or James in James 3 and Paul here in

Romans 3 essentially will say this oh

you don't think you've ever sinned and

fallen short you don't think you've ever

offended God you don't ever think you've

ever done anything wrong why don't you

consider just for a moment moment

your

words your

tongue if Paul's with us today he might

say take that device out of your pocket

push record carry it around for a while

play it back and then you'll

know it's your problem too because it's

everyone's problem sin is a

universal

problem this fascinating article that I

read in the Atlantic magazine a few

months ago I actually saw it posted

online I thought to myself when I saw

the title of the article that's

clickbait but I clicked it I clicked it

because the title was just so intriguing

the article is entitled why the past 10

years of American Life have been

uniquely

stupid I've

wondered so I clicked the article and I

was fascinated from the get-go it's not

a spiritual article the author Jonathan

hate h d t uh smart guy not necessarily

a committed Christian but but I was

fascinated because as I began to read

the article and his opinion of of why

the past 10 years of American life been

uniquely stupid that he began to use a

Bible

illustration he began to reference a

passage from the Old Testament the

record of the Tower of

Babel you remember

that where the people of the Earth have

come together determined to make a name

for

themselves and they've decided that the

best way they can do that is through a

building project they're going to build

a tower higher than any other tower that

ever been built a tower that would reach

the heavens a tower that would reach to

God but if you

remember that record of scripture then

you'll recall that this effort that

brought them together didn't turn out

the way they thought it would because

ultimately what brought them together

ended up driving them apart the people

were separated God even confused their

languages they couldn't even communicate

with one

another well the author of the article

used that as an illustration to make his

point about social

media he says like the Tower of Babel

was supposed to bring people together

and it drove them apart that's what

social media is doing to our country our

culture our

society it was supposed to be a place

where we could come and have an online

community and a sense of

belonging a place where we could could

uh be encouraged to uh find friends we

we call them Facebook friends

right but what an unfriendly place it

has turned out often times to

be but I was disappointed while much of

what he said

resonated and social media like most

things in life can be used for good or

ill and it can bring us together or

drive us apart I was disappointed when I

got to end the article and realized

no Jonathan hate you missed the whole

point because the problem was never

social

media the problem is not the platform

whether it's Facebook or X or insta or

whatever social media tool out there the

problem was never uh the device whether

it's posting from your phone or on your

laptop or the problem was always a lot

closer than any of that the problem was

in fact here

the problem is a problem of heart the

sinfulness of our

heart because the words whether they're

spoken or

posted simply

reveal what's in our

hearts the

sin in our

hearts the hateful things

we say or communicate about others

simply reveal

the hate in our

hearts Jesus made that

point in a conversation with a group of

religious

leaders the

Pharisees Matthew

Matthew 12:34

12:34 records his comments it's

interesting he he begins with a little

name

calling speaking to the Pharisees Jesus

says you brood of

vipers you bunch of

snakes how can you speak good when you

are evil listen for out of the abundance

of the heart the mouth

speaks the words coming from your mouth

simply flow from your heart they reveal

the sinfulness of our

hearts it's fascinating to me that in

Romans 3 Paul uses the very same imagery

that Jesus uses here in speaking of the

Pharisees in Matthew

12 I I I want to highlight that for you

Paul says in verse 13 again of Romans

3

uh it says their throat is an open

grave they use their tongues to

deceive the Venom of asps snakes

vipers is under their

lips

Jesus assessing the Pharisees based upon

the words and the S us their heart as a

brute of vipers a bunch of snakes Paul's

saying the same thing is true of all of

us anyone have a good snake

story I grew up in the mountains on the

Tennessee Kentucky line lots of snakes

there I've got lots of

stories but my best one comes from my

teenage

years it was between my seventh and

eighth grade year i' heard about a

summer camp experience that that

intrigued me I'd always loved the

outdoors hunting and fishing and that

kind of thing and and I'd heard about a

Conservation Camp uh where you could go

and learn about the outdoors and hunting

and fishing and all of that kind of

thing and and I was interested in I

thought maybe I'd want to go to that

camp uh over the course of the summer

and and then there were some specific

things I heard about Conservation Camp

that intrigued me for example I heard

that at Conservation Camp you get to

dissect the

beaver the mind of a teenage boy I can't

explain it really but but I thought that

would be cool what I did did not know is

that the beaver would be Frozen and they

would have to thaw it out in the bathtub

in my

cabin but we thought the beaver out in

the bathtub and we dissected the beaver

and it was a good time the uh the

bathtub was pretty greasy the rest of

the week but what's a teenage boy care

right so but but but another thing I'd

heard at Conservation Camp was that you

get to have rattlesnake for supper and I

never tasted rattlesnake I thought that

would be cool and that tastes like

chicken but two things made Conservation

Camp just

legendary one was called the snake

Roundup and the other was the snake bike

club now the way the snake Roundup

worked all of the kids had come to this

camp on school buses I'd ridden a school

bus from the mountains of Eastern

Tennessee for 9 hours to get over to

this Camp way out in West Tennessee on

the Mississippi River 9 hours on a

school bus is survivable I don't

recommend it but on the night of the

snake Roundup all the kids got back in

the buses that brought us to Camp they

drove us out to a swampy area just off

of the Mississippi River and and they

set us out and our assignment was to

spend the night waiting through the

swamp catching

snakes now can you imagine Pastor Andrew

how that'd go today I me you wouldn't as

much as get the kids on the bus somebody

file a lawsuit they'd shut that

operation down but I'm here to tell you

as God is my witness in 1983 you could

literally feel school buses full of kids

and dump them in the

swamp and get away with it and that's

what they did and we spent the night

waiting through the swamp catching

snakes and we had the best time but the

next day was the day we had all been

waiting for because it was the next day

that one of the camp counselors took

some of the the nonvenomous the

non-poisonous snakes we caught the night

before and he put them in a

pillowcase and he carried them all

around camp and gave any camper kid the

opportunity volunteer if they chose to

do so to join the snake bite

Club it was a simple

process put your hand in the pillowcase

you're

inducted but the problem I had was when

the camp counselor with a pillowcase

full of snakes finally got down to my

cabin it was all the way at the end of

the row of cabins where we had thought

out the beaver in the

bathtub I guess the snakes were tired

because I finally mustered up the

courage or you may be thinking to

yourself no the

idiocy to go out and to put my hand in

that

pill but when I

did nothing

happened and so I'm sitting there I'm

looking at the counselor I said like

nothing's going on in there what do I do

he said well pull one

out so I fish around for a moment and

finally grab hold of one that turned out

to be a kind of a fat long water snake

and I pull it out and and it hangs there

from my hand hand about as disinterested

in me as my teenage

daughter it doesn't care a bit and so I

looked at the counselor again I said

what I do now he said well slap

him I'm going to give you advice you

don't

need snakes don't like to be

slapped because when I slapped him he

slapped me back it was a toothy slap

right on the back of my hand and that's

the true story story of the day I joined

the snake bite

Club I need to quickly make uh two uh

qualifying

statements the first is this that was

not church

camp I'm from the mountains I ain't that

kind of Baptist some of you know what

I'm talking about we we we we literally

had snake handling churches in the

community where my wife and I were

raised I did not attend never attempted

to never wanted to never did that wasn't

Church camp that was Conservation Camp

but the other thing that I need to

confess to you is that I was actually

already a member of the snake bite

Club in

fact I was born a member of that

club born a member of the snake

B interesting how many references there

are in Scripture

snakes

vipers

asps

serpents it's a recurring

theme the first reference comes

early you remember that

one the serpent comes into the

garden to tempt the woman and the man

Eve and Adam to do what God has

explicitly told them not to

do we call that sin

and they did

it at that

moment snake

bit the consequences of their sin well

they had walked in perfect fellowship

with their creator that Fellowship was

broken their relationship with God was

broken spiritually they were lost but

the consequences weren't just for

them the consequences were felt through

all of creation we we call it the

fall and even as God speaks the curse

upon The Serpent and the woman and the

man God speaks to the generations that

are to

come Genesis 3 14 and 15 God speaks of

the enmity that he would put between The

Serpent and the woman's

Offspring

lostness the consequences of sin will

not just be felt for you Eve for you

Adam no they will be felt for the

generations that are to come in fact the

scripture say that as human beings the

seed of Adam we are born dead in our

trespasses and sin we inherit Adam's

sinful nature we inherit the

curse but we also know

that we have chosen to sin ourselves

have we

not you see the consequences in the Next

Generation as the son of Adam and Eve

murders his

brother lost us being the greatest

problem in the world for that generation

and track through the generation of

scripture you see it in every generation

in fact track through the generations up

into our

generation and you will see that

lostness is an even greater problem in

our generation than it has ever been

why would I say

that population on the planet last year

crossed 8 billion people will hit an

estimated 8.2 billion this year more

people on planet than ever before and

more spiritually lost our research team

at the IMB updates a statistic for me

each year that grows every

day it's the number of people around the

world who die who pass away either

having never heard the gospel or having

heard it refused to believe it they die

lost that number will be larger today

than on any day upon which the sun has

risen or set in human history the

average over the course of this past

year is

174,50

17422 what 174,00

people who every single day die around

the world having given no indication

that they've heard the gospel or if

they've heard it that they've believed

it they die

lost there is no greater problem in the

world than that problem no other problem

even

begins to

rival that

problem but praise be to God

there's a solution to the

problem and if you were to ask me if

you're member of uh this great church

shid Hills why why our church is here

today I would tell you in the simplest

of terms your church is here doing what

you've been doing now for 62 years and

and doing it better maybe than ever

you've done it before your church is

here sharing the gospel in this

community getting the gospel ends of the

Earth because you know that the gospel

is the solution to the greatest problem

the world has ever faced you are here

this church exists to share the solution

to the world's greatest problem if you

were to ask me why is the international

Mission board exists I'll tell you the

same thing the IMB exists because this

is how your church and other Baptist

churches around the country work

together to address the world's greatest

problem because we know the

solution that solution is made clear to

us in

scripture it's fascinating that when

Jesus is in conversation with Nicodemus

it's recorded in John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

fre and Jesus trying to help Nicodemus

understand the gospel Jesus trying to

help Nicodemus understand who he Jesus

is and why he is come and what he's

going to do for Nicodemus and for the

world Jesus told Nicodemus you need to

be born again Nicodemus is struggling to

understand what that

means be B what an old man go back into

his mother's womb what are you talking

about Jesus no no

no and to give Clarity to

what is the gospel and what Jesus is

about to do for Nicodemus and for the

world Jesus references another passive

scripture in the Old

Testament regarding

snakes it's from the time the Wilderness

wanderings

and that generation of the Israelites

like every generation before and since

had rebelled and sinned against

God God has sent judgment upon that

generation in the form of deadly snakes

deadly V ERS that had come into the

camps of the Israelites and they're

biting the people and the people are

dying and the people seeing the

consequences of the sin the scripture

say the wages of sin is death they begin

to cry out to God for

mercy and God who is a merciful

god provides a

solution you remember what that was God

said to leader of people he said to

Moses Moses fashion a serpent a snake

out of

bronze and put it on on a pole and set

it up in the

camp If anyone among the Israelites is

bitten by one of these deadly

snakes if they would simply go and look

upon that Serpent of

bronze they won't

die they'll

live and like that the problem is

solved referencing that Jesus says to

Nicodemus again to help Nicodemus

understand who he who Jesus who Jesus is

and what he has come to do for Nicodemus

for the world Jesus says to Nicodemus

Nicodemus just as

Moses John 3: 14-

15 just as Moses lifted up the bronze

serpent in the

wilderness so must the son of man be

lifted

up that whosoever believes in

Him may have eternal

life and he was lifted

up on the cross

where he died for Nicodemus

sin and your sin and my sin and the sin

of the

world the Bible says if you believe

that if you're willing to put your trust

in Jesus in his death and Resurrection

we call that

faith and if you are willing to turn

from your sin and turn to Jesus as the

Savior we call that

repentance and you're willing to confess

Jesus as Lord because he

is the Bible says at that very moment

your greatest problem is

solved at that very moment the death of

Jesus on the cross and the price he paid

for sins applied to your sin at that

very moment the gift of Salvation as a

result of the gift of faith is coming to

your life that very moment your eternity

is changed no longer destined to be

separated from God in hell but welcomed

into his

kingdom of heaven

God has done everything that's necessary

to solve your greatest

problem and he did it in Jesus who died

on the cross for our

sin and by faith and

repentance and surrendered to the

lordship of

Christ you can be

saved and so can anyone in the

world because you see the gospel is the

solution

to the world's greatest

problem if you're here today

and you came on to this church campus

still carrying around the world's

greatest problem is your

problem know that the gospel is the

solution and by putting your trust in

Christ repenting of your sin and

confessing Jesus Lord of your life you

can be forgiven and saved that problem

can be solved

you say

well I'm already a

Believer I trust in Christ I I embrace

the

gospel well then the Lord has left you

here on Earth a little while longer for

a

reason he's left you here to become a

part of the solution you know the

solution to the world's greatest

problem just as I shared my testimony

earlier

today about two men in a b Church

knocking on a door of a rental house

where I was a four-year-old boy inside

and my dad was Raising uh three boys on

his own

and a couple of men from the church out

visiting invited him to

church dad took them up on it and we

started going to church and we heard the

gospel

and time of hearing the gospel we

trusted Christ and were

saved you wouldn't have to go far out of

the parking lot of Sheridan Hill

to find a broken family lost man woman

boy or

girl still carrying around the world's

greatest problem you know the

solution and that's why you're here

you're here to go out

there and to share the good

news get on a plane with us at the IMB

we'll show you billions of people like

that church don't

forget why you're here

let's pray together this morning father

thank you for the

gospel thank you for love so great for

the world even its

lostness that you would send your only

begotten

son to Bear the weight of our sin upon

the

cross thank you Lord Jesus for your

obedience for a love so great that your

life was poured out willingly for

us thank you Lord for now letting your

church and your people be a part of the

solution by carrying the good news to

the ends of the Earth and Lord we know

that that news is more needed today than

ever before I

pray that you would Find Us

Faithful as Witnesses of the

Gospel in Jesus name

amen some of you this morning are

saying I finally understand my great

problem you thought it was your marriage

you thought it was your

addiction you thought it was the thing

that happened so long

ago but

it's our separation from

God by which He sent

Jesus to call us home the solution to

our

problem this morning I want to invite

you to respond to that in every way Dr

Chitwood has beautifully shared with us

the condition of our world and maybe the

condition of our

heart and maybe some of you would be

saying this so burdens me I sense God

calling me to take more action in my

life than I

am God may be calling you to go share

that

solution in a very very very overt way

maybe he's calling you

to

respond to his spirits

prompting to

go cuz there's somebody out in India

waiting on

you there's somebody in

Africa that God has an appointment for

you with them

will you

go this morning I want to invite you to

stand and as we stand I want to invite

you to

respond we're going to sing the

gospel and we're going to

say let the Nations be

glad because there's a solution to the

problem as we sing this morning I want

to invite you to say Lord

take me use my life make me who you want

me to

be use my words my

time some of you your whole life is in

front of you you're young some of you a

lot of your life is behind you

you're not

young you can't even say it can

you but God will use the rest of your

life would you not tell him maybe or

later this morning I want to invite you

to come and say yes to him over here on

this side the samaras's are going to be

there the penas are going to be there

and the Riveras are going to be there

all of them are going to be there ready

to just pray with you over on this side

I see uh the catcher sides they would

love to pray with you about decisions

that you you need to make this morning

and so let's sing let the glory of the

Lord forever be our joy May Redemption

be the theme of Our Song for by Grace we

have been saved and by Grace we shall

Proclaim to what to the corners of the

earth that what Christ has come the

solution to the problem would you

respond to God's call this morning let's

sing together and you come and pray with

these if you need to come and pray with

these let's sing with all of our hearts

this morning all of our voice and you

respond but the glory of the

Lord forever be our joy May Redemption

be the

of Our

Song for by Grace we have

been and by Grace we shall Proclaim to

the corners of the earth that Christ is

come let the ntion

speak let the

people Rejoice for

salvation beong

to our

God let the whole earth be filed with

the Praises of the Lord for

salvation Belongs To Our God let the

Nations be

GL Through the Ages gone before

through the tri and

the many Saints and

coner they

die so beh holding out the

cross o suffering L shall end all things

to win the crown

of let the Nations be let the people

Rejoice for

salvation Belongs To Our

God let the whole earth be filed with

the Praises of the Lord for

salv Belongs To Our God let the Nations

be GL

as your holy church goes for in the holy

spirit Power with the glories of the

goel

tol now we pray your kingom come and we

pray your will be done for the honor and

the glory of your

name let the Nations be let the

people rejo for

salvation Belongs To Our

God let the whole earth be filed with

the prises of the Lord for

salvation belongs to our Our

God let the Nations be light let the

people Rejoice for

salvation Belongs To Our

God let the whole earth be fil with the

Praises of the Lord for

salvation belongs to our God let the

Nations

be amen

amen you may be seated I just want to

say that these folks over here the

Riveras and over here at the catcher

sides they're going to be there after

the service and I know a lot of times in

this present day and time maybe God has

been dealing with you and while we're

singing that seems overwhelming for you

to go forward to talk to somebody and

just say I just need you to pray with me

about something I want to say to you

that they're going to stay there after

the service so if God has been prompting

you and and I will tell you that as a

late high school student sitting over

here in this

area God was really impress pressing

upon me that he was calling me

to give my life for the purpose of

telling people that a savior has died

and I didn't know what to do with that

at

first but um I remember coming forward

and asking someone to pray for me on

that that was my step of faith for the

first part so I just want to say to you

however old you are wherever you are

whatever decision is it is that you need

to make come and pray with somebody take

that step of faith and let God begin to

do a work in you you may not have it all

figured out but I can guarantee you one

thing the Lord does he knows what is

best for you he knows what he's calling

you to do well um this morning would you

please say thank you to Dr Chitwood for

bringing the word amen thank you

brother I'll just say to you you know in

these modern times a large organization

working around the world there's a lot

of weirdness that happens and Dr

chipwood came into a lot of

circumstances that were very hard as the

president and he has handled them with

wisdom and Grace and I know that

personally you guys know we have a lot

of friends with the

IMB and um I praise God seriously I

praise God that he raised up Paul for

this time

and um the IMB is getting healthier and

healthier and healthier and I'm just

thankful because the world I believe is

waiting on us to go and the Lord is

using us now the Lord doesn't need us he

can do whatever he wants amen but we are

privileged to go and Obey and so Dr

chipwood thank you for that um I'm so

thankful you all know the lmon Christmas

offering we make a big deal of that and

um our goal is $80,000 and you know

praise the Lord do you do you know I

mean um we're not going to show it yet

to you but I will say this the $80,000

was met Dr chipwood would you come up

here we have um something Dr or uh Jason

has something for you this morning and

um I am excited about this uh this

morning turn that thing around Jason and

hand that to Dr shwood wow

that's

incredible praise the

Lorden thank you thank

you thank you thank you thank you Pastor

for your

leadership and the way you model what it

means to serve and give your life for

this cause I thank you Church family for

your

generosity uh

we let me let me see this when I came

into my role six years ago we had

300 applicants wanting to serve with the

imv as of last

Friday there were

1,464 prise

God the only question mark is will the

resources be there will the generosity

be sufficient to send them and if every

church steps up like sherid and Hills I

can assure you yes it the resources will

be there so thank you for leading the

way and setting the example thank you

for this sacrificial off praise the Lord

praise the

Lord now he is he and Michelle and Kai

and Lillian are running to the airport

Unfortunately they have to live I can't

wait to see him get on the plane with

that so no um you know let me just

remind you that I mean Marcy and I give

the lmon Christmas offering every single

month so we give to Sheran Hills getting

ready for that offering every we don't

want to mess it up in December so we

give every single month I don't know

what your plan on giving is but I want

to encourage you to give to the

Fulfillment of the Great Commission Now

you say well don't I give to the church

yes and every single week we give to the

Cooperative program that also supports

it's the other half of the annual budget

of the IMB so we give every month um or

every week but I want to encourage you

to make the Lan Christmas offering your

largest gift of the year I really do it

is worth it now don't give your tithe to

that you'll come and there'll be no

lights on or air conditioning this is

over and above and it is worth it and

Jesus is worth it and uh there are

people waiting to hear and so praise the

Lord for that we are so thankful for

this um I want to remind you that this

Wednesday night um all activities resume

and I think Pastor um Ben has a few

announcements for us but before we stand

and before we go Pastor Ben share with

us what's coming up all uh Wednesday

activities resume that's aana and that

is youth Bible studies as well as

recharge uh don't miss that uh we also

have a Clarity Camp info meeting that's

for parents of the youth that's January

22nd our I serve Covenant members

meeting is January 26 this is the

kickoff and this is important for you to

be there because we're going to start

talking about and praying about our

church budget for the next year as well

as some other issues in the life of the

church membership as well as our

strategies for Community groups and what

that's going to look like this year with

Evangelistic Outreach in our

neighborhoods also we have a missions

fundraising lunch that's Sunday March

2nd save the date for that that's going

to be in um on a Sunday after church and

so we have live and Silent auctions to

raise money for Missions so if you have

items that you would like to donate to

the church so that we can raise support

for Missions that would be for live and

silent auction um you can drop those off

at the church office anytime the

deadline is February 16th we'll send an

email out as well to notify you of that

so I mean if they have a diamond ring or

if they have a condo or a car or just an

extra one they can donate to the church

and we will auction it we'll take

whatever's valuable and that can be

resold or that can be um bid for and

we'll do that and all that money will go

100% overseas to missions so that's what

we're trying to raise money for this

doesn't mean clean out your garage and

bring it to the church okay we don't

know your 1975 hair dryer don't do that

that but unless it's like a antique okay

you got to say that so yeah you know

what's an antique and what needs to be

thrown up all right uh we also have some

devotionals the book of of the week uh

is devotionals and we have a 365 daily

Bible reading plan it's so important to

be in God's word this year like it is

every year so we have books available in

the center Anna and her team have put

those have curated those books for you

uh there's four ways to give as Pastor

Andrew mentioned um you have those

numbers in your bulletin every Sunday

you can do that online you can do that

through the app you can drop your

offering in the boxes or you can give by

mail and at at this time I also want to

remind you that Ted Capella's memorial

service is today at 1:30 so please um go

go to lunch come back and we will

celebrate Christ as we remember Ted's

life amen thank you um I'd like to ask

you to stand and the capella family if

you guys while I pray if you guys would

just go ahead and head on over to the

ministry Center that would be great so

please allow them to slip out so that

they can go and let's bow for prayer and

just ask God's blessing on this week

father we thank you we thank you that

you have allowed us to not only know

your name but to know your heart thank

you Father for giving us Jesus we thank

you that your salvation is the greatest

solution to our greatest problem and so

Lord I pray that as we leave here today

that we would leave here actually

encouraged and edified by your spirit I

pray that we would be empowered by your

Holy Spirit to do all that you've called

us to do this week Lord I pray for

gospel conversations I pray that you

would open the door that we would be

able to share the mystery of Christ Lord

I pray that people all over South

Florida would hear of Jesus because we

leave this place today so Lord do it

even now Divine appointments father I

pray that you would bring them to us and

that you would cause us to Be watchful

and take the opportunities that you've

given us to share Christ and Lord I pray

for those who are feeling called to the

mission field I pray God that they would

not say well maybe or delay Lord I pray

that today that they would take a step

of faith and say is is God calling me

and ask somebody to pray with them so

Lord I pray for this and I pray that you

would do Great and Mighty things we ask

your blessing upon this afternoon as we

go in jesus' name amen the two-minute

rule greet somebody that you do not know

right

now for