Encouragement (Romans 15:14-33)

Now, before we jump in to our text this morning, there's one thing I want to remind you of.

We've talked about it a couple times together as a church, but I wanted to remind you of why we have sermons on Sunday mornings.

Because sometimes we can get into this habit of showing up and just kind of hoping, well, I hope I hear something kind of warm and fuzzy and I feel leaving better than when I came.

But really the purpose of why we do this, the purpose of why we jump into God's Word every time.

This is the purpose of discipleship.

This was the purpose of becoming more like Jesus.

And so we really want to encourage you to have Bibles open in front of you.

Your own Bible.

But to highlight and to underline and to write notes in the margin and to take notes so that you would be able to sit down with somebody this coming Tuesday in a coffee shop and then teach them this exact same test.

Because you've learned so much from it, and you have all of those notes and highlights and underlines right there.

Because that's how we become more like Jesus.

When we understand the word, when we apply it to our life, but then when we take it a step further and we're also able to disciple somebody else.

So I really want you to make sure that as we come in each week, that is our heart.

That it's not just to kind of hear the word and to feel good and to check our box for church, but it's really to come in a very formal time of discipleship to become more like Jesus.

And we have three levels of discipleship that we kind of look at it as a church.

This is our formal setting of discipleship on Sunday mornings.

Our home groups are kind of like the intermediate for that, where it's smaller settings where we can really dive into the word together, pray for one another, encourage one another.

And then we really encourage the one-on-one or one-on-two discipleship of just meeting and pouring into each other and building up.

But this is our formal time.

This is all about discipleship here, what we're doing this morning.

So like I said, we're in Romans chapter 15, and we're going to be starting in verse 14 all the way to the end of the chapter.

Romans 15 · chapter mention

So would you please stand for the reading of God's word.

Romans chapter 15, verse 14.

Romans 15:14

My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God.

God's purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God, for I would not dare say anything except that Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles, by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit.

As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.

My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else's foundation.

But as it is written, those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.

That is why I have been prevented many times from coming to you.

But now I no longer have any work to do in these regions, and I have strongly desired for many years to come to you whenever I travel to Spain.

For I hope to see you when I pass through, and to be assisted by you for my journey.

There.

Once I have first enjoyed your company for a while, right now I am traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints, because Macedonia and Achaea were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them.

For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs.

So when I have finished this and safely delivered the funds to them, I will visit you on the way to Spain.

I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayer to God on my behalf.

Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and that by God's will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.

May the God of peace be with all of you.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you so much for this morning.

Thank you for your word.

Thank you for the way that it sharpens us in so many different ways, the way that it convicts us, the way that it encourages us.

Lord, I pray that you would do all of those things here by the power of your spirit this morning.

That I would simply be your mouthpiece in which you're using to bring forth your word, Lord, and to bring it with understanding.

So Lord, I pray that you would help me to rightly divide it this morning.

Pray for a fresh filling of your Holy Spirit, and that you would do amazing and wonderful things inside of each one of our hearts.

Lord, we lift all of these things up to you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So today we're getting into a narrative portion of Romans where we're kind of just along for the ride.

And Paul is describing various things, and he's just kind of giving a description of what he's doing and then what his travel plans are going to be.

And it's just telling us what's going on, and it's, you'll, as you'll see, it's not filled with do's and don'ts within the faith.

You know, we have books like the book of Acts, where it's very much, you're just going through, it's a historical book and you're reading about what happened.

It's not filled with the do's and don'ts of the faith.

And that is just called a descriptive passage, where it's just describing what's going on.

Now, the the contrast of that is prescriptive passages, where it's written to all Christians for all time and it will never change.

You know, an example would be Thou shalt not commit adultery.

There are no exceptions in the Old Testament or in the New Testament or today that is something that just stands forever.

It was prescriptive, something that was given to us for all time.

But today's passage is descriptive.

It's just kind of telling us what's going on.

We're just listening in on Paul's conversation with the Roman church.

But we can still learn a ton from passages just like this.

But it's always wise to realize what kind of passage that you're reading, whether it's here on Sunday mornings or it's in your own personal study time in the Word.

Because Paul's going to be talking specifically about his calling this morning, which is obviously not our calling.

We all have a different calling in the Lord.

But we can still gain a lot of application, a lot of perspective for our own life by how Paul is living his and by how Paul is acting out his own calling in his life.

So we're going to be looking at that as we glean from Paul's descriptive example here this morning.

Let's start in verse 14.

My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

You know, this verse kind of makes me chuckle when I read it.

Because could you imagine being in the Roman Church, you're reading this really long letter that somebody sent you, and you're like, wow, this is really long.

And I'm almost to the end.

And then the person writing the letter tells you, I know you're good and you're knowledgeable and you can instruct one another.

And then you're thinking, well, if we're able to do that on our own, why am I reading this extremely long letter that's filled with run-on sentences, you know?

And he tells us why in verse 15.

But Paul really believed that they were capable of doing these things on their own.

But he wanted to encourage them to actually do those things faithfully and to do those things with confidence.

Yes, the Roman church had their issues, but because of Christ, Paul recognizes that they were filled with goodness.

And because of the Holy Spirit inside of each and every one of them, they were filled with all knowledge.

And they were able to instruct one another.

Some of your translations, instead of instruct, they may say admonish or warn or exhort one another.

You know, we spent much of chapter 14 talking about how not to admonish, warn, and exhort each other concerning disputed matters.

You know, gray areas where something's maybe sin or it might not be.

This here this morning is talking about instructing or warning others when it is a sin issue.

Calling each other out.

And Jesus lays this out perfectly in Matthew 18, which we don't have time to dig in deeply here this morning, but you can go back and read through Matthew 18 if you want to see it.

But I'll just give you the summary.

If a brother or sister in Christ sins against you, and this is in the context of Christian community, you're to go to them directly and alone and confront them about whatever the issue is, and then listen to what their response is.

And hopefully the response is a mature response, a humble response where they're repentant and they want to make things right and they want to be restored within their relationship.

It says in Matthew 18, though, if they're not repentant, you bring along another brother or sister, and you confront that person again together.

If they're still not repentant, then you bring it to the elders of the church.

And if the elders confront the person and they're still not repentant, then church discipline is enacted and exercise.

And then that person's cut off until they are repentant and willing to be restored back into fellowship.

But every step in that process is about helping the offender for the purpose of restoring them back into fellowship.

And Paul's telling them, you have the ability, you have the maturity to do these things.

And then he tells them why he wrote the letter.

Right here in verse 15.

Read it with me.

Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points, because of the grace given me by God.

In other words, I know you know this stuff, but I felt like you needed a bold reminder.

Whether to confirm these things or maybe to answer some questions that they may have had, he wants them to move forward in confidence in the areas that he has addressed in these last 15 chapters of Romans.

You know, since chapter 1, Paul has been driving home this point of Jews and Gentiles now having equal footing in the kingdom of God.

And how both the Jews and Gentiles need to play nice now that they're in the same church body together.

And how it's all about their faith.

And it's not about their past, it's not about where they came from.

And a lot of it is kind of, you know, telling the Jews, you need to welcome the Gentiles into the church.

Things have changed a lot since Jesus Christ.

And you need to welcome your brothers and sisters that are Gentiles into the church body.

You are not better than those people.

Which the end of verse 16 talks about.

You know, Paul's referring to his calling.

He says, Because of the grace given me by God, verse 16, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God.

You see, Paul's calling was not to just preach the gospel and then leave.

But also to be a minister of Christ, serving as a priest of the gospel of God.

You know, this is the only time in the New Testament that this word for serving as a priest is used.

And he uses it in regards to the gospel.

You know, this really, I think, should make us think, and I think the the Jews that he was writing to in Rome automatically would have thought about Old Testament priestly duties.

They were the ones that would make the sacrifices for the nation of Israel.

But they would also assist individuals in their personal sacrifices as well.

Which really makes a lot of sense because Paul's calling as an apostle and what he's doing for the Roman church right here in this letter is to assist them in their personal sacrifice, assisting them in being a living sacrifice through his bold reminder that he's been giving them for these last 15 chapters.

Look at the second half of verse 16.

God's purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

This letter is part of Paul's calling to minister and build up and admonish and like a priest to assist.

And not just the Gentiles, to assist all, but specifically his calling was to the Gentiles.

To help them along in being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, as it says at the end of verse 16.

Because the words that he's writing to the Romans are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

As every word in our Bibles is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And it's for the sanctification of the Roman church that he's writing this letter.

And thankfully for us as well, as we get to read it, you know, 2,000 years later, but the purpose is to help them along in that process of becoming more like Jesus.

As we already talked about, the reason that we're here this morning, of becoming more like Jesus.

Verse 17.

Therefore, I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God.

For I would not dare say anything except that Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles, by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit.

God did amazing things through the Apostle Paul.

He did amazing things through his ministry.

And if I think if there's anybody in the history of the church that has a reason to boast about their ministry, it would be the Apostle Paul.

There's examples, and we just went through this in our home groups in Acts 19, verse 11.

Acts 19:11

It says God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands.

So that even facecloths or aprons that he had touched, or that had touched his skin, were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

But Paul gets it.

And anything that's powerful or great or effective that comes from him, Paul knows for a fact that that was from God and not because of his greatness or his talent.

And honestly, this is something that I sometimes wonder why we don't see more of these things in our current culture.

And don't get me wrong, I've seen God do miracles before.

But when you read through the book of Acts, there's just one incredible miraculous thing happening one after another after another.

And sometimes I wonder if the reason that we don't see these consistent consistently today, like we see in the early church, is because God can't find anybody humble enough to do these miracles through consistently.

I mean, what would you do if you found out that the sweat towel that you used at the gym could heal people?

For three easy payments of$39.99, you too could have my.

I mean, automatically we start thinking business, fame, like how do how do we market this, you know?

Or we'd get a book deal, or we'd start traveling and take the show on the road or whatever it might be.

But even if we would use those gifts, if we'd use those miracles to bring people to Christ, the culture that we live in is constantly trying to find the next American idol.

Our culture wants to elevate and worship people and make them famous.

And unfortunately, that happens with pastors as well.

Our culture wants to elevate and elevate and then elevate and then knock them off the pedestal and watch them fall.

You know, we often give celebrities way too much power and authority in our own lives.

And it happens in the church all the time as well.

You know, somebody has some special gift or talent, and then that someone is elevated, and the next thing you know, everybody knows their name and has forgotten God's name.

You know, I personally think that this is one of the reasons why God doesn't allow these things to happen in our culture, the way that we see in the amount that we see in the early church.

And that's just my opinion.

But that's one of the reasons why I wonder why we don't, if maybe God has trouble trusting our culture, but also trusting that we'll be humble enough to handle those, to only direct all of that back to God, as we see Paul doing over and over and over.

But like I said, that's just my opinion.

But we do see Paul constantly pointing everything he does back to the Lord.

And he uses everything he does to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And he says it in so many places that he can't boast in himself, and that neither should we.

In Ephesians 2, 8 through 9, Paul wrote, For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves.

It is God's gift, not from works, so that no one can boast.

He realizes that the only thing that we could possibly boast about, or should boast about, is Christ Jesus.

Look at the second half of verse 19.

As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.

And we have a map for this, so you can kind of see the region that Paul is talking about.

And this is a map of the Roman Empire around the first century.

And so he's talking about all the way from Jerusalem, all the way up to Illyricum.

So really the whole northwestern part of the Roman Empire at that time is what Paul's referring to here.

And it may look like, and we can just leave that up for the rest of the time, but it may look like this is just a small coastline on the Mediterranean Sea.

But when you're traveling by foot or you're traveling by boat, this is a lot of territory and it covers a huge part of the Roman Empire at this time.

And Paul says confidently that he has fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ to this area.

Like I said, if anybody has reason to boast, it would be Paul.

But we never have one instance of him taking a lick of credit for anything that God has done through him.

Verse 20.

So that I will not build on someone else's foundation.

But as it is written, those who are not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.

That's from Isaiah 52, 15.

That is why I have been prevented many times from coming to you.

Paul's ministry was to go to unreached people groups and establish churches among unreached people groups.

That was part of his calling as an apostle.

Specifically where Christ had not been named, he says.

You know, in our modern times, an unreached people group is any group of people that's set apart either by their language or their culture that is less than 2% Christian.

And it's estimated that this equates to about 3 billion people in our world today.

Think about that.

That's a really sad statistic.

And Paul knew the importance of bringing God's word to these people.

And that was a part of his calling.

You know, as of right now, that's not the calling that God's put on my life.

And I'm guessing if you're sitting here, it's not the calling that he's put on your life either to reach unreached people groups.

My calling is to pastor a church in a town that is well over 2% Christian, and where we would be hard pressed to find a single person that didn't know the name of Jesus or hadn't heard the gospel at least once.

But we as a church, we have a heart for unreached people groups.

You know, it's one of the reasons that we support Jackson Compion with Talking Bibles.

They're an organization that records scripture in native languages onto solar powered MP3 players so unreached and illiterate people groups can hear the word of God for the first time.

Because if we're not called to that same calling as Paul, then we need to be on.

The sending side of missions like that, which we are with Jackson.

Verse 22 is kind of funny to me.

It says, That is why I've been prevented many times from coming to you.

Because the gospel got in Paul's way.

He was too busy telling people about Jesus to get to a place that he really wanted to be.

But even still, his goal, as we'll see, wasn't to just get to Rome.

It was to get to Rome on his way to an unreached people group in Western Europe.

Look at verse 23.

But now I no longer have any work to do in these regions.

You know, that sure seems like something he should boast about, doesn't it?

He didn't feel the need to stick around and keep preaching to those that had already rejected the gospel, or maybe to those that he hadn't spoken to one-on-one.

And I have to believe that this is because he planted churches, and now it was their job to continue that work.

He made the foundation, and then now it's their job to continue that work in that area.

You know, personally, I think I'd be thrilled if I was ever in a place where I could say this about a Tascadero.

There's no work left there for me.

And Paul says this about the whole northeastern part of the Roman Empire.

Could you imagine if each of us could just say that in our own places of influence?

If each of us could say that about our workplace, about our school, about a group of friends that we have, or maybe just about our neighborhood.

That when we leave that job or that school or that neighborhood, we could say, I no longer have any gospel work to do in those places.

I've been faithful to do everything God has asked in the places of influence that He's placed me.

And it's time now for me to move on.

Everyone that's going to receive the gospel has, and everyone else has at least had the opportunity to hear the gospel.

You know, I really think that's what we need to pray for as individuals and as a church, but as individuals, to have the ability to say this in our place of influence.

I just want you to think of what God could do with a group this size if we each were faithful in that way.

To be able to say, yeah, I did everything I could wherever that influence was in my life.

Look at the second half of verse 23.

And I have strongly desired for many years to come to you whenever I travel to Spain.

For I hope to see you when I pass through and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while.

You know, Paul's attitude towards finances are so different than anybody that I know.

You know, we have some friends that are about to go to the mission field down in Guatemala, and they're first-time missionaries.

They've never done this before.

They're about our age, some family friends, and they're having the hardest time asking for help raising financial support.

Because they've never had to do it before, and it's just so foreign to them, and they just feel like they're asking for handouts.

And they're we're we're walking, we're watching them walk through this process of trying to raise support.

And it's just really interesting because it's so hard for them.

And I get that it's hard.

And I think it's especially hard in our culture.

Asking for help is almost like a sign of weakness for us.

But Paul just flat out says, I hope to stop by as I'm passing through and be assisted by you.

I love his boldness.

And I'll be the first to confess if a missionary that was not sent from this church or a missionary that we weren't already supporting just shot me an email out of the blue and said, Hey, I'm passing through and I want to stop by so you can assist us.

My gut reaction wouldn't be good.

I'd probably have to repent a couple times before I replied to the email.

Oh, yeah?

We're gonna assist you?

Who do you think you are?

You know, that's kind of our attitude.

You know, just, you know, we get all weird about that kind of stuff.

But Paul has no problem saying, I'm doing the Lord's work, I'm following the calling that he's placed on my life, and I'm gonna need some assistance from you.

And I kind of expect your support as I'm passing through to Spain.

He says this in a couple different places too.

1 Corinthians 9 11.

Paul writes to the Corinthians, if we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?

And he writes in 1 Timothy 5, 17 and 18.

The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching, like Paul.

For the scripture says, do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker is worthy of his wages.

So we can see in multiple places that Paul isn't shy about this matter.

But at the same time, he also doesn't demand this as his right either.

We see in 1 Corinthians that he didn't demand support from the Corinthian church because he didn't want to hinder the gospel going forth by asking for assistance.

So he had a freedom in asking for support, but he also had surrendered that right to the Lord to not stumble other believers.

And I want to point all of this out because this is why we support missionaries.

This is why we support other organizations that are furthering the gospel.

They need support and they need encouragement, and they deserve those things because of the work that they're doing.

And we shouldn't be offended when they ask for our support, whether through words or through prayer or through finances.

And we shouldn't feel like we're giving them a handout or doing them a favor in some way.

Because if we are not sent, do you know what that makes us?

Senders.

If you're a follower of Christ, you're either one or the other.

And we want to be a sending church.

Those that are sent are doing God's work.

And I can attest firsthand that the ministry of God's word, preaching and teaching, as Paul's talking about here, it's the hardest job that I have ever had.

And I've had a lot of jobs and I've had a lot of hard jobs along with that.

So we need to support those missionaries financially.

We need to support them with prayer, and which we're going to talk a little bit more about here in a second, and we need to encourage them with our words.

I want to encourage you the next time that you get an update from a missionary, shoot them back in an encouraging email.

If you get support letters and, or not support letters, but you know, um newsletters and things like that, make a point next time that you get one to shoot them an email or write them a letter or whatever it is and just encourage them with your words.

They need it, I promise.

Verse 25.

Right now I'm traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints because Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

For a little context, the church in Jerusalem went through many hardships in the beginning after Jesus ascended into heaven.

You know, converting to Christianity in a lot of ways meant that you were blackballed within the Jewish community.

And I think you can imagine how that would affect their housing and how that would affect their income in so many ways.

On top of that, Judea was suffering through a severe famine in the first century.

So in a few places we see an offering that's being collected for the church in Jerusalem, and this is just one of the places that we see it.

Verse 27.

Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them.

That is the church in Jerusalem.

For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs.

The spiritual benefit spoken of here, it's probably a lot of things that Paul has in his mind when he writes this.

You know, it's the church in Jerusalem is the first church that ever started.

It's where the gospel started to be spread from.

And it served as a home base for the apostles for many years.

It was the council in Jerusalem that handed down the instructions of what the Gentiles should be doing when they were converted to Christianity.

Where it says to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that's been strangled, and from blood.

And it was this council that also said that the Gentiles didn't have to be circumcised in order to become believers.

This is all not to mention that the Gentiles have the spiritual benefits of being grafted into this tree that is Israel, that we talked about at length when we went through chapter 11 together.

So Paul is saying, yeah, the Gentiles owe the church in Jerusalem a lot.

So they're actually obligated, that's Paul's word here, obligated here to minister to them in their material needs.

Paul's saying, kind of like how you should help me out when I see you as I'm passing through to Spain.

Verse 28.

So when I have finished this and safely delivered the funds to them, I will visit you on the way to Spain.

I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

And in the background, I feel like you kind of hear the narrator said, Little did he know, you know, when he writes that.

Paul has been trying to get to Rome for a while, but obviously he hasn't been able to, but he still has plans to get there on his next missionary journey.

And Paul will make it to Rome, we'll see.

But under arrest and being taken to Rome for trial, which is kind of funny because God uses the Roman dime to get Paul to Rome.

There is some extra biblical history that claims that Paul did eventually make it to Spain, but we have no way of knowing that for sure.

Look at verse 30.

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers for God on my behalf.

Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.

So it says, strive together with me in prayer.

This word strive here is the Greek word that we get the word agonize from.

Paul's asking for that kind of prayer support from the Roman church.

Strive with and agonize with us in prayer.

That's some intense praying that Paul is requesting from this church.

And again, he has no problem asking for help in this way.

Pastor Chuck Smith has a quote where he said, ministers need the prayers of their flocks.

With Paul, I urge you to strive in your prayers for your pastors.

We need your prayers and we thank God for them.

Pastors are sustained by the power of the Spirit through the support of their congregations.

And I'm not too ashamed to ask for it myself.

And the elders of this church are not afraid to ask for it either.

We need your prayers.

And we need you to strive together with us in prayers to God on our behalf, as Paul says.

But here, Paul's asking for this prayer in a very specific way.

He's actually concerned for his own life because of those in Judea.

Then that's the southern part of Israel.

Probably because it had actually been prophesied over him in Acts 21 that he would be bound on his journey to Jerusalem and taken prisoner.

And he knows what he's walking into.

And seeing, please pray for me in this way.

Agonize with me in prayer.

But you see his hope in verse 32 that he will see the Romans.

And he looks forward to that time of refreshing, he mentions, and that time of being together with that church that he's writing this letter to.

And I want you to understand this because this is going to come into play a lot next week as well as we look at chapter 16.

Paul was very relational.

And we'll see that a lot next week.

That's really what the whole message is about.

But he made a point of deep relationships.

He made a point of praying for the saints that he knew in various churches by name.

He understood church community.

He understood the importance, as we talked about a couple weeks ago, of encouraging each other and interceding in prayer for one another.

And then we see Paul signs off the instructional part of this letter to the Romans with a blessing, his own prayer for them.

Look at verse 33.

May the God of peace be with all of you.

Amen.

You know, there's so many names that we have for God, so many names that we see for God throughout Scripture.

But I don't think he signs off with the God of peace here accidentally.

Peace is really the reason that he wrote this letter.

For the church to get along, to stop fighting among themselves and disputing over matters that really didn't have a bearing on eternity.

So he reminds them that God is the provider of peace, both inwardly and outwardly.

And that really finishes the instructional portion of Romans for us as we get to the end of chapter 15 there.

And then next week we're going to be talking about Paul's specific greetings to all of these different individuals.

So I think the question is what's our takeaway?

You know, we've seen this very descriptive passage where Paul's just talking about his calling and then talking about his travel plans.

What can we glean from this?

How can we apply this to our own lives?

I think the first thing we can do is encourage one another.

We've been talking about this for a couple weeks now, but just intentionally encouraging one another, building each other up, admonishing each other when it's needed.

I think it tells us that we needed to support missions, specifically missions to unreached people groups, and to not do it begrudgingly, but to do it with joy.

And I think it teaches us to strive in prayer for our spiritual leaders and for the missionaries that are sent out, that we are supporting in various ways, to strive to agonize with them in prayer.

And I think the last thing, as much as it depends on us, as we see in Romans 12, 18, it says, live at peace with one another.

Would you pray with me?

We thank you so much for the humility that that man had.

And the way that you were able to entrust him with so many things, Lord, and where he was humble enough to just keep pointing people back to you and not taking the credit for himself, but realizing that the only thing that he had that was worth boasting about was you.

Was Christ Jesus, his Savior, was the Holy Spirit living in and through him and giving all the credit to you.

Lord, I pray that we can learn from that example.

But I pray that we can be a source of encouragement to one another, that we'd be able to build one another.

That we would be able to admonish one another in love for the purpose of restoration.

Lord, I pray, as it's been a desire since day one, that we would be a sending church.

Lord, that this would be a church that you would choose to plant churches from, to send missionaries out from, and to be senders, Lord, to support the work that's going on all over the world while we continue, Lord, kingdom work right here in Atascadero.

Lord, I pray that you would bring unity within our church, and that that would just be a constant theme and something that just continues to grow and grow.

And Lord, that you would do the work in each one of our lives to become more and more like you on a daily basis.

Lord, through this process of sanctification that can only happen through the Holy Spirit living and working inside of us, and through the Holy Spirit living and working inside of our brothers and sisters around us.

Lord, would the ministry of the Holy Spirit take place right here in this place?

That the gifts and the talents that you've given each one of us would be used for the building up of one another in all humility, Lord, and never taking credit on our own or saying, hey, look at me and the way God's gifted me.

But just having the humility to build each other up and to place others first.

To love you first and to love others, Lord, the greatest commandment.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.