Romans: Unashamed-The Gospel's Power That Unites Us

Well, hey, good morning, everybody. How's everybody doing?

Some of you guys are doing all right. Some of you guys wake up.

All right. Hey, I'm pumped for our text this morning.

We're going to be in Romans 1. This is just one of those passages that,

honestly, it is just like a lightning bolt of encouragement for me to go out

there and to be bold with my faith.

But before we jump into the text this morning, I just wanted to start off with

an opportunity to serve, an opportunity for you to serve our community here.

You can go Today afternoon, from 2 to around 5, there's an open house here at Riverwood.

We're going to put up a table in the cafeteria and all the school supplies that

you guys have been generously donating and just giving the school supplies,

maybe just giving funds for it. We're going to put up a table in the cafeteria

and any family who comes through and needs school supplies for school will be able to get them.

They can just come and take whatever they need. So many of you guys have been

generous and donated the supplies and donated funds. And can we just give it up for you guys?

Awesome. Awesome. And here's what I want to do. I want to invite you guys to

level up your service to this community.

If you are available this Tuesday, you can scan.

I'll stand to the side. You can scan that QR code and sign up to serve at Riverwoods

Open House because here's the deal.

The Christian faith is not something that we're supposed to keep to ourselves.

The good news of Jesus, which we're gonna read about today, it's not just for

us to hear and receive, it's for us to share.

And I'm reminded in the book of James, when he says, if a Christian encounters

someone who's hungry or cold and they simply say, hey, be warm and go in peace,

but they don't actually give them a way to be warm or any food,

that's not what we're supposed to do.

You're actually not doing anything to help those people out who are cold and

hungry. If you just say, be warm, go in peace.

For us, it's really hard to share our faith with someone who maybe is lacking

the resources they need.

So if you are free this Tuesday, I would love to have you join us and help us

serve this community right here where we meet every single week in a great way.

We're primarily just looking to bless those families with children who have

some needs that we can meet.

And I know that might not seem like a big deal, but when we are faithful in

the small things, God's tend to shows up in the big things.

God's not looking for you to be Superman. And he's just looking for you to be

faithful with the opportunities in front of you.

So if you're available this Tuesday, it's a great opportunity to serve this

school that is such a blessing for our church, allowing us to use it to worship

Jesus each and every Sunday.

We're going to do for this school what we wish we could do for every school,

right? Do for one what we wish we could do for everyone.

So if that's you, scan that QR code, sign up for a service time.

If you have questions about that, let me know on the way out of service.

I'd be happy to answer anything. We just want to step up and serve this community

well. Can I get an amen, right? That's what we're about. It's not about us. It's about others.

Right now, let's just get our hearts ready for what God has for us in His Word.

Would you put your arms out with your palms up?

Close your eyes. Just a posture of surrender. Take a deep breath.

And remember, God is just as near as the air you're breathing. Let's pray.

God, today, would you guide us closer to you?

Help our minds put away the frustrations

of the past week, to put away the distractions of the coming week.

We want to fully focus on you. We come empty with nothing to offer but surrender.

Fill us up as only you can. Holy Spirit, move in here today in power.

We believe that in advance. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name and all

God's people said, amen, amen.

Hey, a quick review from last week, right? We're in the book of Romans.

Last week, we looked at who wrote Romans, who he was writing to,

and then when in history was he writing to them.

So quick recap. Paul wrote the book of Romans. Paul had a wild conversion story

where Jesus literally knocks him to the ground. That's in the book of Acts.

And Paul is writing this letter to believers, people who believe in Jesus in Rome.

And the time that he is writing to them is right after the Jews are welcomed back into the city.

They had been deported by Claudius Caesar. And so here's what happened.

You have these Jesus followers, Jews and Gentiles, and they're gonna have two

radically different backgrounds.

Those were the Jewish background. They would have had all of these festivals

and rules and laws and all these things that we're going to do in remembrance

of God. They're going to remember how God came through here.

They're going to do this this way. They're going to do this that way.

They had all this structure, if you will.

And then you have these Gentiles that just, they're not Jewish is what that

means. And they have none of that.

They've got no structure. They've got no history. They don't have this long

lead up of these rules, regulations, festivals, laws. They don't have any of that.

And previously they were in Rome working together.

But then they are separated for about five years because the Caesar of the time,

he deported all the Jews.

And so Paul is writing this letter, the book of Romans. He's writing to the

believers in Rome who have just come back together.

And based on how detailed he goes in the book of Romans, you just know they have so many questions.

Like it's not been a smooth reunion. And so Paul is writing this in order to,

unite them both in the gospel.

That's why Romans gives us the

most clear and detailed explanation of the gospel, the good news of Jesus.

And Paul is writing about what the gospel is and what the gospel isn't because

they have such varying views on how to follow Jesus.

And so this week, we're really just going to finish Paul's intro,

but I think how he, this is so important to do a deep dive here and to get into

this because it sets the stage for the whole book.

So we're going to be looking at Romans 1 verses 9 through 17.

Romans 1:9–17

And again, I know I said this beginning, this is just such an encouraging piece of scripture.

It really pumps me up. It gets me going. Sometimes God's word can have some

weight to us, right? It can convict us of sin. Sometimes it can pump us up.

But here's what God's word is alive and powerful, right?

It speaks to every area of our lives. And today we're going to look at a passage.

I think some of you guys are gonna get me on this and some of you guys,

maybe not. All right, we'll see who resonates with me. I feel like this is a

Lion King passage, okay?

And I think of one particular scene in Lion King.

It's Mufasa in the clouds. You guys know what I'm talking about?

And I had to go rewatch this because I just thought of one line,

but he says some more there.

He's talking to Simba, you know, and he says, you are more than what you have become.

Remember who you, I'm sorry. I know I'm not James Earl Jones.

All right. But remember who you are.

He says, you are my son. He says it again, remember who you are.

Remember who you are. It's this turning point in the movie, right?

Where, where the son of the king goes from living kind of like a vagabond with these hood rats, right?

To taking back the kingdom.

It is powerful. It's a powerful thing to remember who you are.

And I feel like that is what Paul is trying to start out this letter to the believers in Rome.

Not remember who you are in a personal sense. Remember who you are to Jesus.

Because Jesus is the only one who's going to hold people together.

Being united in Christ is the greatest unity we could have.

But this group, they've had their focus not on the unity and power in Christ,

but on their differences and the way that they follow Jesus differently.

And Paul is directing, remember who you are. Remember what Jesus has done for you.

And that is so, so powerful, not only to these believers in Rome in the first

century, but it is so powerful to us today.

I feel like our world, I know, I think people probably said this every time.

At every point in stage, they've probably been able to say this.

Our world has never been more divided than it currently is, right?

I'm going to make half of you mad, all right?

Go Pokes, right? And then Boomer, all right?

People get upset about sports and their teams, right? Is it LeBron or MJ,

right? It's clearly MJ, but that's another time for another.

All right, people get divided about politics, the left side or the right side

of that, all right? Data center or no data center, all right?

That's been a big deal here lately.

We can get divided over random things from the internet. Do you guys remember

when people were arguing over a dress, whether it was blue or gold? Do you remember that?

People can argue about anything. I've heard it's not uncommon for a church to

get divided, the people of God, to get divided over the details of a remodel,

like what color the carpet should be.

We can see division happening inside and outside of the church.

And there has never been a greater time than right now to lean into the unity found in Jesus.

That is the witness that we should have as Jesus followers, that we have unity in Christ.

We can get divided by all these other things, but Jesus is the one who brings

us all together. So having said that, let's jump right into Romans 1.

We're going to start in verse 9.

Okay, there we go.

God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night, I bring you and your needs

in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the good news about his.

I promise we're going to go faster. I know that was just one verse.

I'm already stopping. All right.

Church, we are supposed to be praying for each other.

He's been praying for them day and night. He brings their needs to prayer in

God. Who are you praying for?

Can I ask like a follow-up question? Because I know a lot of us got families.

Who are you praying for that doesn't share your last name? Right?

Like, who are you praying for? Paul isn't related to these believers in Rome.

They aren't a part of his household. They're his fellow followers of Jesus,

and he has a heart for them.

Who are you praying for? He's praying for them.

And not just, oh, I'm going to throw up a prayer for them, but a faithful,

it says, every day and every night I am praying for them.

Church, that might be the greatest blessing you could give someone,

praying for them faithfully.

Because the truth matters, there's a lot of situations that happen in our lives

and the lives of others that we in and of ourselves have zero power to change.

But we can go to the one who has all the power to change everything.

Be faithful in doing that. That just might be the greatest blessing that you

could give them. So Paul says he prays daily for him.

And then he says he prays to the God he serves with all he's got, with all of his heart.

He isn't half-heartedly following Jesus. He is giving all that he has to the

work of God, to the gospel.

Then he finished up by his service to God is spreading the good news of Jesus.

He's given everything that he's got to God so that he can spread the good news.

Do you serve God in that capacity? Do you tell others about your faith in Him?

Do you give Him your best? Do you give Him your first fruits?

That's a principle I know it seems really uncommon in our days.

If we're not careful, many of us will do the easy things, the things we need

or want to do. And then after our list is done, we see what's available for

the things of God, right?

We fill up the schedule. Joe, we spend all the money until we got a little bit

left. Maybe there's some there. We'll go over here. We spend all of our time

until maybe there's a little bit of time left. And then we serve there.

That's so backwards.

He's saying, I serve God with all of my heart. He's saying, God is at the top

of the list. We need to do God's things first and reorder our lives in ways,

in his ways, not the other way around.

All that we've got. Paul says he prays to other believers, to his God whom he

serves with all of his heart.

Verse 10 kind of tells us what one of the things he's praying for in particular.

One of the things I always pray for is for the opportunity, God willing, to come see you at last.

For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help

you grow strong in the Lord.

Paul is praying for the chance, the opportunity to come and to see the believers in Rome.

Think about this for just a moment. I know it's like foreign to us.

I know we get it, but I don't just want to like think about it.

There is not an Instagram account where he can go follow the believers in Rome, right?

He don't know what these guys look like. He cannot put a name to a face.

He has no picture. There's no Zoom. There's no telephone to connect him.

And Paul is saying, I want to physically be with them, to be face to face,

to give a hug, to have a long conversation with.

And this isn't like a rom-com where they're trying to just get together and get to meet.

These are brothers and sisters in Christ. This is like a family reunion.

Everybody getting together, sharing a meal. Amen. All right.

This is a family, Everybody getting together, sharing a meal,

enjoying each other's company, and then probably arguing a little bit too.

I don't know how your family reunions go, but that's probably like a normal thing, right?

I would imagine in your life, the best relationships that you have are with

people physically close to you that you see, that you can touch.

What I mean is we were created for community and your mind knows the difference

between the lights on a screen and an embodied being, right?

I mean, look at Jesus. He came down from heaven. He took the form of a man,

right? He is a embodied savior. He walked with people.

We need embodied people to walk in our lives with us.

They're like, there's like influencers. I know I'm kind of dunking on social media right now.

It'd be a good follow to find somebody who has good biblical insight and that

you'd like that encourage you on the gram or Facebook, right?

But here's the deal. You need people who you are physically near that can encourage you.

Lights on the screen are not the same as an embodied person.

That's why Paul is eager for the opportunity to visit them in Rome.

Verse 12, this part just jumps, this verse just jumps off the page to me.

I got it highlighted in my Bible. It says, when we get together,

I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

Paul says, I want to encourage them in their faith, but I also want them to

encourage me as well. I want it to be both ways.

Here's the old church. We weren't meant to only give or to only receive encouragement.

We weren't meant to only give or only receive love.

We were meant to both give and receive. It's gotta be a two-way street in our lives.

And when we are being poured into and we are pouring into others,

that's what we have to do.

Here's the deal. If you are only pouring into others, guess what?

Your cup's eventually gonna run dry. It's gonna be empty.

If you are only being poured into and not pouring into others,

eventually you'll become stagnant because there's no movement out.

It just stays still and it turns bitter, even with other people pointing to you.

It's gotta be a two-way street.

Question for you is who encourages you in the faith?

Who encourages you in the faith? And if someone doesn't come to mind immediately,

can I just tell you, maybe it's time to run in some different circles.

Maybe it's time to run in some different circles. Who encourages you in the faith?

That's flip it. What's pointing to you? Who are you pointing to?

Who are you encouraging in their faith?

I don't know anybody that's ever been mad about a kind word spoken to them.

I don't know anybody who's like, man, that encouragement, just that hurt my feelings.

I've never met that person. Our world is walking around, I just truly believe,

under encouraged and feeling undervalued. As Jesus follows, we should know there

is value and there is life in each and every person because they are made in the image of God.

We should be known for picking others up and offering encouragement.

Who's encouraging you? Are you running the right circles? And who are you encouraging?

You need to be pouring into others and be poured into.

Verse 13, I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many

times to visit you, but I was prevented until now.

I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit just as I've seen among other Gentiles.

For I have a great sense of obligation to people both in the civilized world

and the rest of the world, to the educated and the uneducated alike.

So I am eager to come to you in Rome to preach the good news.

Paul feels obligated to share the gospel with everyone.

He says to the civilized and to the rest of the world, to the educated and the

uneducated, to the Jew and the Gentile.

He says he feels obligated to share the gospel with everyone.

That is the believer and the non-believer. to share his faith with those who

don't believe and to remind those who do, this is what it's all about.

And why does he feel obligated?

Why does he feel like he has to do that?

It's because the cost of not sharing the gospel is far too high.

Far too high. The cost of not sharing your faith with us, not sharing what Jesus

has done, is too great of a cost.

Too many people get caught up of what might happen if, well,

I can't share my faith at work. I can't do this. Can't do that. What if they ask this?

I think we're worried about fears that may or may not be there.

What if you flipped it around the other way? What happens if you'd never share

your faith? I think we know what happens, right?

They don't walk in the fullness of the rich and satisfying life that is found

in Jesus, in Jesus alone, that he is the way, the truth, life,

and no one comes to the Father, but through him, an obligation to share the good news.

Now, if you saw your neighbor's house on fire, would you just shrug and say,

glad that's not my house?

No, right? You'd call Kip, right? Okay. He's a firefighter. If he didn't know,

he's got a big mustache. All right.

But, but you would feel an obligation to act. Now you might not run into that

fire, but you might call somebody who would, you might call them,

see where they're at, make sure they know because doing nothing is far too costly, right?

It's not only costly to them, it's costly to you and your soul.

We were meant to share our faith.

And Paul feels an obligation to preach the gospel to everyone because the gospel is for everyone.

There's nobody that's too far gone from the gospel. There's nobody that the

good news of Jesus isn't good news. It's for everyone. And he doesn't want anybody to miss it.

Verse 16, help me out with this verse, this word in yellow.

For I am not ashamed of this good news about Christ.

It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes,

the Jew first and also the Gentile. This good news tells us how God makes us right in His sight.

This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.

As the scriptures say, it is through faith that a righteous man has life.

So much to unpack from those two verses.

Not ashamed of the good news of Jesus Christ here.

I just want to be real. I want to be honest. I think there are too many people

who they claim Jesus, but then they live their lives as if they're ashamed of the gospel.

And if we're ashamed to share the gospel, it's because we don't understand the power embedded in it.

We really believe it has power not only to save sinners, which it does,

but to give victory to the saints.

If we really believe that, that the gospel is the power to save sinners and

to give victory to the saints, We'll share it.

We can't be ashamed of the gospel when we have seen the power of God at work.

When you've seen God move, it just feels a little bit different.

For I am not ashamed of the good news of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God at work.

What's the power of God? He saves everyone who believes.

Paul says the Jew first and the Gentile also. He is saying that God saves all

who believe in him. There is no one too far gone. There was no one that is outside

of God's reach. The good news tells us how to be made right in God's sight.

Paul goes into great detail about that in the rest of Romans,

but that line after that is so important. It's so, so, so important.

This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.

Salvation comes through faith.

Such an excellent reminder that we couldn't earn salvation.

Is the free gift of God available to all who believe.

That's the power of God.

You can't earn it. It's a free gift.

This past week, I got to go to a leadership conference in Chicago.

Shout out to Alliance Steel and somebody not being able to go.

I got to fill that spot. It was great. It was a great time to grow and learn.

There's some world-class leaders there.

And there's just one story that I heard. I just found it so in line with our

passage today and how we are supposed to interact with the gospel in our daily lives.

One of the speakers, she talked about how she went on a safari in Africa.

I think she said South Africa. I can't exactly remember the country.

And it was impressive. They were in this guide and the guide is given all the

details about these animals as they're going through the safari.

And then they get to the African Impala and the guy is kind of explaining these

little creatures like how far and high they can jump and like something didn't

add up because like they're driving in this little like open Jeep thing.

There's just this little bitty fence that's maybe three feet tall. It's not really big.

And he said, these African impalas, they could jump 10 feet high and 30 feet out.

But there's this fence that's only like three feet tall, keeping all of these guys in there.

Like, why would you stay in that pen if you have the ability to get out?

So she asked the guide and the guide says that if they can't see where they're

going to land, and they won't jump.

And so that fence is basically just tall enough to block their vision,

to block their vision enough to keep them right where they're at.

Come on, that's good stuff.

Their power is subdued by the lack of vision in them.

They all, each and every one of them has the physical ability.

They have the ability to be free, but they lack the vision. And because they

lack the vision, they stay stuck.

Don't let that be you in your walk with Jesus.

Don't let that be you and your walk with Jesus. He is able.

God can and will use you if you'll just take the jump.

Don't stay trapped by fear and the things you can't see. If you could see it, it wouldn't be faith.

Every time you take a leap, every time you take a next step,

God is faithful every single all the time.

And it is through faith that the righteous have life. That's what he says there.

Excuse me. Verse 16.

For I am not ashamed of this good news about Christ.

It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes,

the Jew first and also the Gentile.

Not ashamed of the good news because it is the power of God at work,

saving everyone who believes.

Church, God will use you. His power is shown through you and in you when you share your faith.

It's not about you having the skill, ability, strategy, or negotiation tactics.

It's not about that at all. It is through faith that a righteous person has life.

Paul is speaking to both the person who places their faith in Jesus.

It is faith that saves them. He is also talking to the person who shares the good news.

It is in faith that they share it, that the power of God is working in you,

that you would boldly share your faith with them.

The faith to share, to not be ashamed.

It is not about getting it all right. It's about being faithful in the sharing

because the gospel is the power of God at work, that he has defeated sin,

death, and decay, all because of what Jesus did first on the cross.

It's all because of the empty grave. And if you are a follower of Jesus,

you know that the gospel is the power of God. And you only know that because

someone told you, someone shared this good news with you.

They were bold enough to share it.

Church, be unashamed of the gospel of Jesus. Boldly proclaim your faith in Him.

You don't have to have all the right answers or have it all together.

It's about unapologetically saying, I am a follower of Jesus.

Because there's no greater witness than what God has already done in your life.

God doesn't make bad people good. He makes dead people alive.

We were dead in our sin and now we are alive in Christ.

Church, there are people in your life that need you to boldly proclaim your

faith because they need to know about Jesus.

How will they know if you won't tell them?

Talk about what God is doing in your life to the people around you and do so with no reservations.

You don't need to force anyone to believe that that's not our job.

Our role is to be faithful in the sharing of the good news, to not be ashamed

of Jesus, but unapologetically be bold because in Christ, we have everything.

Why wouldn't we share that with those around us?

I wanna encourage you this week to be the light, to share your faith with the

people that are around you, to not hesitate in having a spiritual conversation,

but rather instead of a hesitation, be unashamed of the good news of Jesus because

it is the power of God at work.

Let's pray. God, I thank you so much for the good news of Jesus,

God, that we are not on our own.

We are not left dead in our sin, that because of the gospel,

because of your death and resurrection, God, in your life, that we have the power of you in us.

God, that we're not left to figure it all out on our own. We're not left to

have all the answers. We have faith in you, and it is by faith that we are made righteous.

So thankful, so, so thankful that we don't have to earn it because, God, we never could.

But you've freely given us a gift.

God help us to share that gift with anybody who will listen not try to force

or manipulate but God just to share the work that you've done.