Faith & Righteousness (Romans 1:8-17)

We're going to be in the book of Romans in chapter 1.

And this morning we're going to be reading through verses 8 through 17.

And it's really a continuation of kind of the intro to the book of Romans.

But once we hit verses 16 and 17, then we're really going to start getting into the meat of what Romans is really all about.

So turn there with me to Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

We'll be reading verses 8 through 17.

And if you're able, will you please stand for the reading of God's word?

It says, First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.

God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his son, that I constantly mention you, always asking in my prayers, that if it is somehow in God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.

That is, to be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

Now I don't want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you, but was prevented until now, in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am obligated, both to the Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you, also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for the book of Romans and exactly where we are here this morning.

Lord, I pray that you would open up our mind and our eyes and our heart, our whole being, Lord, to everything that you have for us here this morning.

That we would have ears to hear and hearts that are softened for whatever it might be that you want to do inside of each one of us.

So we pray, Lord, that you would do the teaching here this morning, that you would help me to rightly divide your word, and that your word, Lord, we know it's powerful and it's living.

Lord, help us to apply that to our lives, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So I want to start off with a question today.

And this is the question: how much power do you think, you personally, how much power do you think the gospel has?

The gospel being the good news of all that Jesus has done for us.

So, in all honesty, how powerful do you think the gospel is?

And my hope is by the end of this, that your answer to this question will be more powerful than I can even express.

Because that's how it really should be.

And that's the hope here today with the scriptures that we're going through.

So last week we left off with Paul's introduction and then his greeting of God's grace and peace, where he says, To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And today we're going to be picking up with Paul, giving them really a commendation for their faith that he says is known throughout the whole world.

And then Paul goes on with an explanation of why he's not visited them in person.

And he he does it a lot.

Like, I'm sorry I'm not there yet.

Really been trying, you know, as we see multiple times, he mentions, I really want to see you in person, but I haven't been able to.

And then, as I mentioned before, once we get to verses 16 and 17, Paul will give us what some call the thesis statement of this book.

What he will go on and expound on for the next 16 chapters in Romans.

And that's going to be the power of the gospel and how the righteous live by faith.

Those are the two main things that we're going to see in verses 16 and 17.

But first, let's start off with verse 8, and we'll just start taking them one at a time.

It says, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.

Paul's hearing about them, and he's hearing specifically about their faith, and their story, he's saying, is being told throughout the world.

Now remember, at this time, Rome was the center of that world, known as the Roman Empire.

Let's put the map up behind me.

And as you see this map behind me, everything that's in yellow is roughly the Roman Empire, roughly at the time that this letter was being written.

And you can see that pretty much the entire coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and a good chunk of Europe are all included in the Roman Empire.

And you'll see that Rome is right in the middle.

Right there.

Right in the middle of all of that huge empire that they've taken.

And Rome at this time, it's really the center of thought.

It's a center for trade.

It was the capital of this ancient world.

So it's no wonder that the news of this church is being dispersed throughout the whole world because so many people are coming and going and then being able to tell.

And Paul's getting word from people that he knows directly or secondhand of all that the church in Rome is doing and specifically about their faith.

You know, this church had an opportunity to really be a bright, shining beacon in a very dark empire.

And it was mainly just because of the geography where they sat and the significance of the city that this church existed in.

Bible commentator F.

F.

Bruce tells us that the Christians of Rome were unpopular, reputed to be enemies of the human race, and credited with such vices as incest and cannibalism.

In large numbers, then, they became the victims of the imperial malevolence.

And it is this persecution of Christians under Nero that traditionally forms the setting for Paul's own martyrdom.

So that's kind of the state of the church at this point.

So they're in a very unique and opportunistic setting, this church is in Rome, but they have some major challenges and they're suffering some major persecution at this time.

So it makes sense that Paul commends them for their faith.

Just being a Christian in this church is a commendation of your faith because of all that you're going to come against just by being a Christian.

Because you have to have a strong faith to stand up for your faith in Christ when it's extremely unpopular.

And especially when it's extremely dangerous, like it is for these Christians.

You know, we don't today seem this see the same persecution that this church is facing that we're looking at in Rome.

But we do face a culture that thinks that we're filled with hate because the Bible doesn't line up with their emotions.

You know, it turns out it's very unpopular to call sin these days and to stand behind the teachings of the Bible.

You know, next week we're going to see Paul talk about people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

And it's exactly what we're seeing here 2,000 years later in modern day.

And Paul will outline the actions of these people and what they're given over to and what they're actually celebrating in our sermon next week.

And if you were to read that text for next week out of the context of scripture, I think you would really think that they're speaking specifically about our American culture today.

It's eerie.

Like as you go down all the things that the church was facing in Rome and then look culturally at all the things that we're facing today, you wouldn't know the difference between the two.

And like I said, we currently don't experience the persecution nearly to the extent that the Roman church does, but we're experiencing very similar things in our culture.

Very similar things that they did back then.

So that's a little pin for you for next week.

Verse nine.

God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his son, that I constantly mention you, always asking in my prayers, that if it is somehow in God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

So verse nine is interesting because Paul interjects a reminder here.

Because this sentence very well could just read, God is my witness that I constantly mention you in my prayers.

But he interjects right in the middle of this sentence, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his son.

You know, he already told us all about this in verses one through six.

And when I read it, I was like, why is he mentioning this again?

Why does he feel the need to say this again?

And basically what he's saying is, this isn't me.

This is all done.

Everything that I've done, everything I'm going to write, this is all done through God.

He called me, and now I serve him, and he's my witness that I pray for you guys all the time.

That's what he's saying here.

And this shows me that Paul is a humbled man.

This is not the Saul that we saw on the road to Damascus, as we talked about last week.

This is a humble man that knew the role that God gave him and wants to humbly serve in that role.

And Paul wants to reassure them that he has tried and his desire is to get there, to be with them face to face.

And he tells us why in verse 11.

So look at that with me.

He says, For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.

That is to be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

Again, Paul confirms that he's not avoiding them.

He wants to make sure that it's you know, it's not an accident or it's not because I don't want to see you guys.

I really have been trying to get there.

So he just confirms that's not the reason I haven't been to your church yet.

But look at what Paul is conveying here when it comes to spiritual gifts.

Uh, let's put that slide up with the spiritual gifts.

And I wanted to put the slide up just so you can see the list, all the spiritual gifts that we see listed in scripture.

And the ones that are repeated in different books are color-coded so you can see which ones are doubled up.

And we see the spiritual gifts uh listed in Romans 12.

So we're gonna get there in a little while and we'll talk much more about it.

1 Corinthians 12.

There's some in Ephesians 4, there's some that are confirmed by Peter in 1 Peter 4.

But I put that list up there just so you can see what they are and start to kind of relate to what gifts you think God may have given you.

But Paul understands that spiritual gifts are not for our own benefit.

He understands that the Holy Spirit has gifted each one of us with giftings that are for the edification and for the encouragement and for the building up of the body of Christ.

You know, the way in which God has gifted you is for the building up of the person that's sitting in front of you and the person that's sitting next to you, and for the person that's sitting behind you.

And Paul is saying, I want to see you in person so that my giftings can bless you and encourage you and build you up.

And then look at what else Paul says, so that your giftings can bless me and encourage me and build me up as well.

And I love how Paul just so unshamedly says this.

You know, I want to be blessed too.

You don't often hear that from the pulpit, do you?

Not just this pulpit, but any pulpit.

Like, I'm glad you're here today so you can bless me, you know, so that you can give me a gift, you know, or flattery.

So after service, I'll be up here.

No, you don't hear that, right?

But Paul just he understands this and he realizes, you know, if I go there, I'm not gonna just be encouraging, I'm also gonna be encouraged by your faith as well.

And that's what Paul's doing here is just recognizing how the body of Christ works together, how it functions together, and that it can only function together when it's in proximity.

You know, if you're sick, if you're high risk, I get it.

You know, for a season to stay on Zoom.

All of you that are joining us on Zoom, I'm not attacking you by any means.

I get it and I understand.

But we can't kid ourselves and think we are part of the body of Christ while we're watching a service on TV.

There needs to be proximity for Paul and the Roman church to bless each other with their spiritual gifts.

And it's the same for us here today as well.

And like I said, I know there's really good reasons why some people have to do it, but I just think too many people are doing it that don't have to be doing it right now.

Because if this is your home church, if Abide Calvary, if you see this as your church body that you are a part of, God has gifted you to be a functioning part of this body.

Just like we all appreciate when our own bodies are functioning together and all of our body parts are working together.

The body of Christ needs to function in that same way.

Even if you think, you know, I'm just a toe, you know, I'm barely seen, and I don't, you know, I don't feel like I really have a function.

A toe is a critical part of the balance of a body.

And if your toe is hurting, if you've ever hurt your toe, your whole body is hurting.

It's a very critical part.

And I really want you to hear me in this.

God has gifted you, each and every one of you, with something.

And He desires you to function in this body in a way that no other person in this room can.

And you might not even know what that gift is right now, and that's okay.

Just come with a heart asking God, how do you want me to function within your body today, or at home group, or at men's breakfast, or women's study, or at any event that you might come to?

God, how do you want me to function as a part of your body today?

If you do that, he'll take care of the rest.

If you just come with a willing heart.

You know, I challenged you guys all back in January to come to church 15 minutes early with that attitude.

And I hope you're still coming with that mentality and that attitude where you're praying on the way to church.

Lord, how do you want to use me today to function within your body?

Having that purpose as we walk through that door, knowing that you are gifted and that God wants to use that gift to at least bless one person every Sunday.

And I'm I'm convinced of that.

That's why proximity is so important in the body of Christ so that it can function together.

You know, Paul is able to bless this church with his gift of teaching through this letter that he's writing to the Romans.

But I think Paul is admitting here that it's not the greatest substitute for not being able to make it there and be face to face.

It's kind of like online church.

You know, there's some capacities where that can be a blessing for a season and it's needed.

But Paul wants to get there because he knows he can be a bigger blessing and that he can also be blessed if there's proximity within the body of Christ.

And so he writes them this letter as a substitute in a way I think he's just kind of admitting this isn't the greatest capacity, you know, but I'm gonna try and get there so that we can be face to face and encourage one another.

Let's look at verse 13 together.

Says, now I don't want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you, but was prevented until now, in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.

So you either have to be really arrogant or really humble to say this, don't you?

That I might have a fruitful ministry among you just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.

And we do see that Paul is saying this out of complete humility, just recognizing what God has already done.

You know, it was true.

Paul had an incredibly fruitful ministry of being an evangelist, being an apostle, being a church planner, and he's just admitting it, but don't think for a second that he's taking an ounce of credit.

Which is why I think he keeps mentioning it's for God and for Jesus' name and for the sake of the good news.

And he keeps mentioning that he is a servant of God over and over, and that's all purposeful.

You know, sometimes I wonder if the reason that God picked Paul to be such an effective apostle was because his sins were so heinous when he was an enemy of God.

After arresting and killing Christians, even though Paul was forgiven and he was washed by the blood of Jesus.

Think of what he had to live with.

Think of the memories that he had and think of the regret that he still had inside of him.

Even though he was forgiven and washed, those memories don't just disappear.

Let's think about the position that Paul is in.

So I want us all to kind of put our shoes in Paul's shoes.

Because so often we think about Paul and we're like, yeah, he was an apostle and he was a church leader and he did all of these amazing things, and God gave him all of this authority over the church, but a lot of times we don't think about where Paul's coming from and what he's still living with, even in the midst of ministry.

So I asked permission to pick on Luke.

Where's Luke?

All right, there he is, awesome.

I want you to imagine if this happened, okay?

Luke is downtown and he's sharing his faith with somebody.

And somebody that's anti-Christ, that's just against the church, sees what's going on and martyrs Luke.

Kills him for his faith.

And Luke's gone.

Our friend, you know, that we love so much.

And then that same person that killed Luke comes walking through those doors a couple months later.

And says, hey, I've been converted, and God has given me a calling, and he actually wants me to be a part of the leadership of this church.

How would we feel?

Like, go back out that door you just came in.

You know, that's how I would be like, who do you think you are?

You know, coming back in here after you killed our friend, after you've been persecuting this church for so long.

That's that's where Paul is.

He gets converted, and then he has all of these broken relationships.

He has all these people that were friends with Stephen, that he played a part in martyring, that now God's calling to come into the fold and then to become a leader within.

Think of how long that would take before it felt normal having Paul here as a part of this church and being a leader in this church and writing us letters like this.

That's who Paul is.

So he's coming in with a lot of broken relationships.

He's coming in with just a lot of gunk that he has to work through before the ministry can even start to happen.

Think of the awkwardness that that would cause and how humiliating that would be for Paul.

Ministering with the friends of those that he persecuted and killed.

Think of how hard it would be for us to accept accept somebody like that and to not see their sins against us every time we saw them.

I think God partly chose Paul because he didn't have anything to boast about, considering his past and the persecution against Jesus and against the church.

You know, I'd be really it would be really hard to be haughty and to be arrogant and to have that past all at the same time.

But Paul's just being honest here.

He had a fruitful ministry, and he wanted to bless the Roman church with that fruitful ministry that God has given him.

So he's honest about it.

I want to come so I can bless you as God has used me to bless others.

Look at verse 14 with me.

I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians.

Barbarians are just people that don't speak Greek.

That's what they they called them.

Had a different connotation back there than it does now.

He says, I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise.

And the foolish.

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you, also who are in Rome.

You know, there's a lot of speculation as to what Paul means here in verse 14 when he says he is obligated.

So let's throw that.

I have a Greek dictionary slide of the meaning of obligated in the Greek.

So it means one who owes another a debtor, one held by some obligation, bound by some duty, one, and these are the words I want us to focus on, one who has not yet made amends to whom he has injured.

So could it be that Paul is trying to make earthly amends to the church for how he persecuted them?

You know, like I said, Jesus already made the spiritual amends and forgave Paul and called him.

But is he still trying to make earthly amends with those that he persecuted and the friends of those that he persecuted?

I think it could be.

I think it's a possibility.

But I want to look at it at a different angle as well.

Now, admittedly, when we study the Bible verse by verse, sometimes it's hard to see the context because we can focus in so much.

But by simply reading a few sentences before and a few sentences ahead, it really brings that context back to us.

So I want to read verses 13 through 15.

So look at that with me to kind of understand what this obligation is that Paul has.

So starting verse 13.

Now I don't want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you, but was prevented until now, in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am obligated both to the Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

So Paul's obligation could very well be something he's using to refer to his calling, to go out and to preach the gospel, to be an apostle to the church.

And as we'll see in verse 16, this calling's to everybody, everywhere that he goes.

That's his obligation, as we talked about last week.

That's his marching orders as an apostle.

And then he says, whether to the Greeks or to the barbarians, whether to the wise or to the foolish, to the educated or the uneducated.

And I think this is Paul's way of saying that he is called to preach the gospel to everyone he can, and that includes this church in Rome that he's writing this letter to.

Now, whether his obligation is strictly because Jesus gave him these marching orders or because he's making amends in earthly relationships, you know, I don't see Paul saying this is an obligation, like we think of obligation sometimes, like out of drudgery or something like that.

I don't think it's that type of obligation.

I think it's a man that's thriving in his calling and willfully being obedient to the calling that Jesus has placed on his life.

And he wants to use that calling and God's gifting to bless the Roman church, just like God has used him to bless other churches as well.

And now we're gonna see Paul in verses 16 and 17, like I was saying, deliver what some refer to as the thesis statement of Romans.

What everything else that we're gonna see in the next 16 chapters is gonna be unpacking is in these two verses.

So the pleasantries are done, the introductions are done, the reason why he hasn't made it to the church yet is done, and now we're really gonna get into the meat of Romans.

So, verse 16, look at that with me.

It says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek.

Not ashamed of the gospel.

Paul says this as well in Philippians 1 20, and I'll read it to you.

He says, My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body body, whether by life or by death.

Paul is not ashamed of the gospel.

You know, when we think about Paul's education, when we think about his ministry before his conversion to Christ, on that road to Damascus, like we saw last week, if you told Paul before his conversion that one, he's gonna be preaching Jesus, and two, he would be preaching Jesus to Gentiles, I think Paul would have pulled a Jonah and just ran the other way.

You know, to go out to the Gentiles who were referred to as dogs, and then to save them through a guy who was rejected by the Jewish authorities probably wasn't how Paul saw his ministry playing out in his 10-year plan, you know, that he had before Jesus got a hold of him.

And on top of that, if you told any Greek or Roman that you needed to be saved by somebody that was already crucified, you would be looked at as a fool.

Think of it from their perspective, from the Greek and Roman perspective.

You know, you're saying this Jesus died a criminal's death in the most shameful way possible, and that I need to worship him.

You know, the apostles and the disciples were scoffed at and persecuted and stoned and beaten for this exact teaching.

And here is Paul.

I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

And I'll preach it to the Jews and to the Greeks, to the educated, to the uneducated.

I'll preach it anywhere.

I am not ashamed.

You know, Paul's only concern in life, and we see this throughout his writings, is Christ being honored.

And others coming into that same place of honoring Christ, just like he does.

And he wants to honor Christ while he's alive and spreading the good news, or by dying for the sake of Christ.

He wants to honor him in that way.

Live for Jesus, honor.

Die for Jesus, honor.

And you know what we see?

Paul did exactly that.

He brought honor to Christ through his life, and he brought honor to Christ through his death.

But then I want to take this kind of out of that context one more time and think about it from our perspective.

Here we are in the U.S.

thinking, you know, I don't want to open my mouth.

You know, people might think I'm a little weird if I start talking about Jesus to them.

And then they might start treating me funny.

Yet here's Paul facing death and persecution for it, and he's doing it with great courage and saying, I'm not ashamed.

And then he goes on to explain the gospel and what that means here.

He says in the middle of verse 16 that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

It's the good news of Jesus that is the power of God for saving people.

And a concept that Roman citizens would really understand would be power.

Rome ruled with an iron fist, as we saw in that map, all the territories that they took over.

And it exercised this power to take over large, strong civilizations.

And then they ruled with an iron fist, as we saw in the Gospel of Mark when they were ruling in Jerusalem at that time.

And Paul is saying, you know about power, but the power that can save your soul is from God, and it's through what Jesus did for you.

Now, in regards to the gospel, I want to take a moment here and talk a little bit about evangelism and talking about sharing our faith.

Because it can be hard, and I get it, I'm right there with you.

Sometimes it's hard to bring up those conversations and to tell people about Jesus for all the reasons that we mentioned.

But I think oftentimes, and I know I do this for myself, we make it harder than it has to be.

Because so often we think that we need to be cunning in some way or present it in some slick way, or try to use some gimmicks to make it more exciting or make it less offensive.

When in reality, all we need to do is clearly present the gospel and let God's power do the work.

David Guzick puts it like this: he says, We do not give the gospel power.

We only stop hindering the power of the gospel when we present it effectively.

Think about that for a second.

We just need to lay it out there and then let God do the work.

Which I think leads to the question, you know, well, how then can we simply and effectively lay it out there so that God can use it?

You know, this is something actually that I've been thinking a lot about recently because Carrie Sleton and I were working on these cards that we talked about last week.

You know, and it's one card with the gospel presentation here in a clear way that somebody could pick it up that knew nothing of Jesus, knew nothing of the Bible, and still get the whole gospel and understand what Jesus did for them.

So we've been thinking about it a lot and talking about how do we do that effectively.

And uh, so I just want to read it to you real quick.

Basically, this is the gospel in a very clear, effective way that's laid out that if we lay it out like this, then we can just allow God's power to really do the rest.

Admit that you are a sinner.

So we put Romans 3.23 in there.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And the second thing, believe that Jesus alone is the one who can give you eternal life in heaven.

And then there's John 3.16, which so many of us are familiar with.

So that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

And then John 14, 6.

Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

And then the third step, confess that Jesus is Lord.

Romans 10 9.

If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

That's the gospel in a nutshell, in a very clear, easy way that we can just lay it out and allow the power of God to start working through that.

And those cards are on the back table if you'd like to grab one or many on the way out.

And really, the heart was to just provide a resource that we could go through with somebody or just hand to somebody and say, Will you read this and consider this when you get home tonight?

And think through these things, and let the power of God for salvation do the rest within that person's life.

That's at minimum, I think, what God wants us to do.

It's always best within a relationship and when we can walk through these things with somebody, but it's the gospel, and God has power within that gospel, a lot of power within that gospel, and we just need to continue to be faithful to lay that out for people.

So if you feel like you need help, grab a card on your way out.

Verse 17.

For in it, referring to the gospel still, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.

So not only is the gospel the power of God for salvation, it says here, it reveals God's righteousness.

And this righteousness is the righteousness that God gives us when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, so that we are made righteous.

2 Corinthians 5 21 says, He made the one, referring to Jesus, who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And that's the righteousness that Paul is talking about right here.

And it's revealed, it says right here, from faith to faith.

It starts and ends with faith.

God reveals his righteousness through the gospel, and we believe it, both in the beginning of our faith, and then we live till the end by our faith.

From faith to faith.

And verse 17 ends with the righteous will live by faith.

And he's basically just reiterating what he just said, faith, faith.

Um, but he does it by quoting Habakkuk 2.4 here.

And the idea here is really twofold.

One, that one who is righteous by faith will live on and not die spiritually, you know, through eternity.

But also, the second thing is the one who is righteous will live a life that is filled with faith.

A life which then reveals the righteousness of God that He has given us.

So let's look at verses 16 and 17 together, since I was saying this is a launching point into the rest of the book of Romans.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.

And we'll spend the next sixteen chapters unpacking those two verses.

So I want to end with this.

I think our two main takeaways today as a church, as followers of Jesus Christ, are this.

The first is specifically for the church.

God has gifted you uniquely to be a part of this body in this church in a way that only you can.

So would you please pray about how God wants to use that gift?

And I'm not talking about signing up for children's ministry or anything like that.

That might be part of it, that might be part of your calling.

I'm just talking about when you come here on Sunday mornings of just praying that and asking God, God, how do you want to use me?

How do you want to use the gifts that you've given me to bless everybody that's sitting around me that day?

So would you pray about that?

And the second thing that I hope we walk away with today is the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

Whether we're preaching it with our words or living a life that's a reflection of Jesus Christ, which we should be doing both, by the way.

Are we believing in God's power?

And are we presenting the gospel to those that need it and allowing God's power to do the rest?

So would you think on and consider those things in the weeks ahead?

Will you pray with me?

Lord, I pray that as we close out this message, as we are about to take communion, as we are about to close with these songs, Lord, I pray that we would think on those things.

Lord, I pray that the power of the gospel would just grow larger and larger in our minds daily as we see the power that's in your word, the power that's in all that Jesus has done for us.

Lord, it's the the power, your power to salvation, to your rescuing us, and we thank you so much for that.

Lord, help us to think big thoughts and to trust you in big ways when it comes to sharing your word and sharing the gospel with other people.

Lord, help us to not think we have to sweeten it in in any way.

Lord, the gospel is offensive and it needs to be and it should be.

Lord, that's what helps wake people up.

So Lord, help us to be faithful.

Help us to walk by your spirit and know when to speak and when not to, when to to share the gospel, um, or when to just to just be an example.

Lord, help us to know in every situation by the power of your spirit how to do this well, how to walk in our daily life.

Lord, we just want to see your kingdom expanded.

We love you so much that we just want others to enjoy all that you've done for us and to welcome them into this family that's your family.

So teach us how to do that effectively.

We pray.

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