Romans – The Gospel

This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason Burns and Access Church in Lakeland, Florida.

For more information, visit Access.tv.

Let's get to work together today.

Today I'm excited you're here because we are kicking off a record-breaking 10-week series here at Access Church.

Calm down, everybody.

Okay.

10 weeks.

It's the longest series we've ever done, and we're going to do a series on the book of Romans.

I'm really excited about this.

Here's the reason.

As a church, one of the things that I'm responsible for is I pick the message series and the direction we're going as a church.

And there's two different types of series.

There's some series that are designed to grow the church.

And if you're on mission with us, you know this is a big deal.

We'll do series on felt needs like marriage or finances.

And we love those.

The Bible has a lot to say about those.

But then there's other series that are different because they are designed to grow you.

And my heart is that this series, really, as we kind of kick off the summer, over these 10 weeks, if you are with us, I believe that you will leave knowing God in a different kind of way.

The book of Romans is one of the meatiest, hardiest books in all of Scripture.

In fact, it is some people call it the gospel according to Paul because it is so much information, not just about Jesus, but about what Jesus does in us and through us as we make the decision to follow him.

So for these next 10 weeks, we're going to dig in together.

Here's what I'm going to ask you to do.

Pull your message notes out.

We've got a lot of content today.

And to get us started, I'd like to walk you through four questions I think every person should ask every time you start reading a new book of the Bible.

You shouldn't just read it.

You should understand that it was written by someone, for someone, in the context of some time.

So here's the questions.

The first question is this Who is the author?

I said it a moment ago.

The book of Romans was written by the man named Paul.

We call him the Apostle Paul.

That means he oversaw a lot of churches.

But to understand Paul, we need to go back just a little bit and understand this.

When Paul was born, his mama didn't name him Paul, she named him Saul.

Saul grew up as this religious elite person who used his life to terrorize Christians, these new followers of Jesus.

He thought he was better than them.

He thought they were wrong.

And so he literally would beat them, abuse them, imprison them, murder them.

He was terrible.

And Saul one day was on his way to a city called Damascus, which is in modern day Syria.

And on the road to Damascus, Saul has this dramatic encounter with God.

He's blinded by this light, and God speaks to him in an audible voice and says, Why are you persecuting me?

Long story short, God radically changes Saul's life.

And to symbolize what happened, he changes his name from Saul to Paul.

Paul goes on to literally like lead dozens of churches.

He wrote like two-thirds of the New Testament.

And I just want to say this for someone in the room who came today feeling like, I don't, I don't know if this church thing is for me.

I feel too far from God.

Listen to me.

If God can literally turn around the life of what we would call a terrorist in Saul and turn him into a person that is arguably the most influential person in the New Testament after Jesus himself, just think about what he could do with you.

You have no idea what he could do.

Paul wrote the book.

The second thing is this: who is the audience?

Who did he write this to?

And you need to get this.

He wrote this to the church in Rome.

Now here's why this matters.

You need to understand that the Roman Empire of the day of Paul was huge.

I mean, it stretched from modern day England all the way to modern day India.

And the heart, literally the seat of this whole empire was Rome.

Rome was everything.

Rome inhaled ideas and it exhaled culture.

Literally, Rome was the opposite Las Vegas.

You know this, like what happens in Las Vegas.

Bunch of sinners.

You need Jesus.

All right.

It was the opposite because what happened in Rome didn't stay in Rome.

It literally spread to the world.

And so Paul writes a letter to a church in Rome and he says there's some things that we need to address.

And here's what he knew.

If he could get this message to that church in Rome, it wouldn't stay in Rome, but it would spread to the world.

So the next question I think you should ask is what is the purpose of the book?

And this is important.

The purpose of Paul's letter was actually spiritual clarity.

You say, What does it mean?

Okay.

I think if Paul was alive today, he would write a letter to the Church of America.

Because, let's be honest, there is so much confusion in our world right now.

There is.

There's identity confusion, gender confusion, sexual confusion, political confusion.

There's all kinds of confusion.

And here's what Paul wants you to know.

You've got to get the stuff that matters right because everything else flows from it.

When you get your identity piece right, all the behaviors in your life flow from that.

So let's get clarity on our spiritual being.

So this whole book is full of doctrine.

What is doctrine?

It's the teaching of how you can live in a way that is right and upstanding before God.

This is important.

The fourth thing is this.

What is the central message of the book of Romans?

And I want you to see this.

It is the gospel.

Now, this phrase is kind of a churchy phrase, the gospel.

I don't know if you've heard this at any point in your life or not, but what do you think of when you think of the gospel?

What imagery comes to mind?

It could be something that you heard over and over again as a child growing to Sunday school with your parents.

It could have been that.

The gospel might just you might just think of the four first books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are called the Gospels, but all they are is the recounts of the life and teachings of Jesus.

Maybe that's it.

I don't know what you think of when you think of the word gospel, but I want to give you a definition because this is the central message.

It is the central metaphor for the whole book.

The word gospel literally means this.

It means good news.

That's all it is.

The word gospel is not even a church word, it's not a Jesus word, it's not a religious word.

It literally just means good news.

And I just want to add this for you.

The message of Jesus is good news, and you don't have to add anything else to it for it to be good news.

It's good news on its own.

It is the good news that Jesus came, saved the world, gave his life for the sins of the world, and you don't have to add anything to it at all.

In fact, when you add something to it, it tends to mess up the message of the gospel.

Jesus is the good news.

Now I said this a moment ago, this word, gospel, it's not a religious word.

In fact, in Greek, the word for gospel is the word euangelion.

It's a fun word to say.

The transliteration in English would look like this ewangelion.

And literally what this means is good news.

Let me show it to you in kind of an etymology kind of way.

Anytime you see a word from Greek that starts with EU, it just means good.

So this word ewangelion is good news.

I could explain it like this.

If you've ever been in a funeral, you've heard a eulogy.

Eulogy, EU means good.

Ology is the study of.

So like biology would be the study of bio life, right?

So eulogy is the study of the good of a person's life.

That's why at a eulogy, you're only supposed to say the good stuff about a person.

Here's another word.

It's the word Eucharist.

Um, if you grew up in a liturgical or a Catholic church, this is a word that was often used around communion.

Well, you need to understand EU means good.

Curist is literally like uh gratitude or thanks.

So when we come to the table for communion, we are to give good praise, good thanks, good adoration for what Jesus did.

You understand this?

So this word ewangelion literally means good news.

But it wasn't a church word or a Jesus word or a Christian word.

In fact, it was actually kind of a political word.

You see, kings and kingdoms and emperors and leaders would use this word often in terms of military conquest, and what it would mean is if their army was fighting another army from a neighboring country and they got word back that their army was winning, these people were called evangelists.

These were people who were bringing the good news back to the king, and the message that was sent was the gospel.

It was the good news.

We are winning this war, we are going to be fine.

I want you to understand this.

This is actually a part of the reason Jesus gets crucified.

Because this word wasn't supposed to be about him, and yet there's all these people that thought all these things about Jesus that he said nothing about.

A different understanding of the way the world was intended to be.

He was the gospel, his sacrifice, his resurrection.

All of that is the good news that we need.

Now, when you understand this, I'm going to take you today to Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

For the next 10 weeks, we're going to cover the 16 books of Romans, and my hope is that all of us leave knowing God just a little bit better.

Scholars say this Romans 1, 16 and 17 is really the foundational verse for the whole book of Romans.

If you don't understand this, the rest of the book won't make sense.

If you do get this, everything else will start to take shape for you.

Romans 1, 16 and 17.

Paul says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel.

Gospel means the good news, right?

I'm not ashamed of the good news of Jesus, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.

First to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Then he says again, for in the gospel, for the good news of Jesus, right, the righteousness of God is revealed.

A righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.

You get very quickly his intention as he writes this book.

It's so important for you to understand.

He comes out and he says this, he says, I am not ashamed.

Or other translations say, I am unashamed of the gospel.

I'm unashamed.

And here's the funny thing.

We live in a culture that wants to shame us for following Jesus, but you don't have shame over the things you love.

The things you love, you just share it freely and you don't care who cares.

The last two days I flew up to Virginia, spoke at a college commencement, and flew back yesterday.

I brought my son with me.

I posted pictures of me and him together yesterday.

You know what I didn't post?

I didn't post.

I'm so sorry to post this.

I'm sorry to bog down your social media feed with pictures of my dumb son.

I didn't do that.

I shared it and said, I love my son.

I'm so proud of him.

He's the best.

Why did I post that?

Because I'm proud.

And the stuff we love and the stuff we're proud of, we share without fear of judgment.

The word unashamed literally means this.

It means acting openly, without guilt or embarrassment.

Acting openly.

Like I don't care what people think because I know this is the right thing.

Now here's the thing there's a lot of things you should be ashamed of.

Can we be honest about it?

I made a short list.

Here's some things that I think people should be ashamed of.

Just so we're clear, um, you don't own a cat.

Cat owns you.

That's how it works.

Like no one owns a cat, but I think cat owners, you're better than this.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Here's another thing that I think you should be ashamed of parking like this.

Can I what is with this?

I think my favorite videos online are the people who circle these cars with like shopping carts so they can't get out of the parking spot.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

And if you think those first two are bad, you're gonna crucify me, but it is what it is.

Here's something else you should be ashamed of.

I'm a full-grown man.

I don't care about your opinion.

It's what it is.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

There's lots of things you can be ashamed of.

Imagine this.

Imagine if you were a breakthrough scientific researcher.

And in your research, you put a couple of chemicals together and you realized that you had developed a pill that was the cure for all cancer.

Every form of cancer.

Liver cancer, brain cancer, bone cancer, skin cancer, blood cancers, all the cancers.

And you put it together and you made it and you were so proud of it.

You did some testing, chemical testing, the whole thing, and it came out clean, and you knew that you had the secret to all of it.

And you carried a bottle with you in your pocket everywhere you went, and you ran into a friend downtown one day, and you said, How are you?

And he's like, I'm pretty good, but uh, it's been a rough season.

What do you mean?

Like my my mom was just diagnosed with leukemia.

And you reach your hand into your pocket, and before you pull the bottle of pills that you have created out that you know could save his mom, this thought flashes through your mind.

I don't want to be too pushy.

I don't want to assume that he wants this.

It's not my place to share this.

I'm worried that he might think I'm better than him if I share this.

You would think that's crazy.

Because you have in your pocket something that you could give that would bring them life.

How many of us live with the greatest story ever told?

The message of Jesus, the gospel, the good news of Jesus in our pockets.

We run into people every day of our life, co-workers, friends, our kids, teachers, that barista who knows you and knows your drink order.

We have people in our life that don't know Jesus and we have the message of Jesus, but we settle for the excuses of I don't want to be pushy.

I don't want them to think I'm better than them.

Why do we do this?

Why is it when we have the greatest thing ever that we live as if we're ashamed of it?

So I want to ask a question today.

Why should we live unashamed?

Like, why does this matter?

And I want to take you to the first 16 or 17 verses in the book of Romans, and I want to look at five reasons I think that we as followers of Jesus must live unashamed.

Number one is this if you have your message notes, write this down.

I'm unashamed of the gospel because it is from God.

It's from God.

This is a big deal, and I'll explain why in just a moment.

Romans chapter 1, verse 1, Paul says this.

Romans 1:1

He says, Paul, a servant of Christ, and he could have said anything here.

He could have said, a leader in the church, an apostle, no, no.

He says, here's who I am.

My truest identity is I'm a servant of Christ Jesus.

Called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.

It's God's gospel.

He says the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

You got to pause here and see this.

This message is of God.

It is from God.

It's all been God's idea the whole time.

God knew that the world would need saving.

God knew that God that the world would need Jesus.

Jesus was always his plan A, and there was no plan B.

God knew it.

So here's what Paul's doing.

Paul is invoking the name of God on this story.

In fact, in the book of Romans, Paul uses the name of God 144 times.

Why?

Because he's invoking a higher power.

Okay, um, I grew up in a different era than today.

In today's world, in my opinion, kids are soft.

Mostly kidding, but it's like when we discipline our kids, we take their phones away.

When I was a kid, we would be spanked.

Is anyone brave enough to admit you were spanked as a child?

It's a weird thing to clap for.

See a therapist.

Um whatever.

But I was spanked, and this was funny in my household.

I love this growing up that I had a mom and a dad, and they both loved us so much, but there was a difference in the way that our mom and our dad would spank us.

Let's be honest about this.

Mom would spank and we'd be like, I'm so sorry.

And then it was over.

I have a buddy who told me a story recently about how when he was a kid, he was real mouthy to his parents, and he said, one time his mom spanked him, and he turned to her and he said, Is that all you've got, pillow hands?

Rough.

So mom would try.

She'd give it a good college effort, but it was never really that impactful.

But there was one thing she could say that struck fear in all of our hearts.

Just wait till your dad gets home.

That was scary, right?

Why?

Because she was invoking a stronger, higher name.

Who was going to bring the heat?

I don't know how to say it.

What is Paul doing?

He's bringing a higher name to it.

He's saying, This isn't my opinion, this is from God.

Look at how Peter says it in the book of 1 Peter.

Peter says this, he says, God, it was God's choice, God chose him, Jesus, as your ransom long before the world began.

But now in these last days, he has been revealed for your sake.

It was God's choice the whole time.

Jesus was God's plan.

God had it all figured out and he had it under control the whole time.

So it's from God.

Here's the second thing you need to know.

I'm unashamed because the gospel is about Jesus.

It's all about Jesus.

It literally is all about him.

It's about his life.

It's about his death.

It's about his burial.

It's about his resurrection.

It's that he is God, the Son of God who stepped into this world and put on flesh and blood.

Literally, the gospel is about Jesus.

That's what it's about.

Verses 3 and 4 of chapter 1, Paul says this regarding his son, Jesus, who, as to his earthly life, was a descendant of David, which means he was like in the lineage that God had foretold through the prophets, and was through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God.

So he is fully God and fully man.

Go on.

In power by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here's what you need to understand.

Jesus came into this world for one purpose, to lay his life down for the sins of the world.

But a lot of people came into this world and claimed to be something they weren't.

A lot of people died as heroes, but they never did anything beyond that, and their teachings eventually fizzled.

Jesus showed who he was by not just promising that he would die for the sins of the world, but promising when he would rise again from the dead.

And then actually doing it.

You need to understand this is so important to our faith.

It is literally foundational to our faith.

The gospel is about Jesus, and Jesus stamped with authority the fact that he is who he says he is because he predicted and then actually rose again from the dead.

Third thing is this I'm unashamed.

Because the gospel leads to obedience.

Now, this is a big deal, and a lot of people don't understand that really the goal of following Jesus is to start by just following Jesus.

And a lot of people get hung up on this whole idea of like, oh, I want to follow Jesus, and they say, but but you don't know about my past.

And you don't know about my sins, and you don't know about that divorce I had, and you don't know about that moral failure I had, you don't know about me.

How can I come to Jesus?

Look at Paul's words in Romans 1, 5.

He says this.

Through him, Jesus, we receive grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name's sake.

Essentially what Paul is saying is this it's that because of what Jesus did, now we can find our identity in him, and then our behavior will change.

If you were here three or four weeks ago, I did a whole message on our identity.

And here's what I said in that message.

A lot of people think if I can change my behavior, then my identity will change.

You need to understand it's backwards.

It's that behavior flows from identity.

You get this piece right, who you are, and then your behavior will follow.

So I've had these conversations a thousand different ways where people have said, well, I want to follow Jesus, but they tell me their story, and here's what I want to say.

I love our church because our cur our church just says, listen, just make the decision to follow Jesus, and then Jesus will work all the other stuff out with you.

If you feel far from God, come to Jesus.

If you feel like a sinner, come to Jesus.

If you're divorced, come to Jesus.

If you've committed adultery, come to Jesus.

If you're gay, come to Jesus.

If you're straight, come to Jesus.

No matter how far you feel from God, come to Jesus.

The whole point is come to Jesus.

And once you come to Jesus, Jesus then will work out the issues in your life.

You say, like, how do I know that I'm a follower of Jesus?

Here it is.

Genuine faith is marked by a desire to please God.

Well, what does it mean?

It means that we make the decision to follow Jesus, and then as a result of our identity getting changed, then our behavior flows from it.

What it means is I follow Jesus, and then as a result, my desires change to not serving me, but to actually pleasing God.

Say it like this: right living doesn't save us.

It is evidence that Christ has saved us.

So we're not saved because we do stuff right, it's the result.

So I can explain it like this.

In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus was doing this incredible sermon called the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew 5, I think it's verse 15.

He says, Who among you would light a lamp and then hide it under a bushel?

His whole point was is that when you light a lamp, the point is for the light to be spread.

And then I could show it to you like this.

I brought this this morning.

This is from the Burns family hurricane preparedness.

And Jesus says, Who among you would be silly enough to take a lamp and hide it?

It makes no sense whatsoever because the point of it is to shine brightly.

Verse 16 says this.

He says, in the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Here's the point.

The point is we're not saved by our good works.

But once we are saved by the grace of God, then God begins to change us.

And the result shouldn't be that we hide it and keep it to ourselves, but it should be that we shine it bright.

It looks kind of like this.

Hit it for me, guys.

Where there is light, darkness has to flee.

Where there is light Light, darkness has to run for cover.

Where there is light, darkness cannot stand.

Why does this matter?

Because your calling as a follower of Jesus is to shine so brightly that the world sees.

What did Jesus say?

Let your light so shine before men that they see what you do, and the result is they glorify your Father in heaven.

Your intention as a follower of Jesus should be to become more like Jesus so that the world around you notices, but not for personal accolades, but it's so that they will glorify your father who is in heaven.

So many of us, if we're just honest.

We've lived like this.

And if you're gonna be an unashamed for the gospel kind of person, you literally stop hiding and you let your light shine brightly.

I'm gonna turn this off because hurricane season starts in 24 days.

You never know.

You never know.

Number four, I'm unashamed of the gospel because it is for everyone.

For everyone, and I love this one so much.

Um, fun story, real quick.

Uh early this year, I had one of the greatest miracles of my whole life happen.

I have been an American Airlines loyal flyer for as long as I can remember.

Now, if the ticket is way cheaper, I'll fly with them.

But like if I have the opportunity, I fly with American, I have an American Airlines credit card, and this year I got upgraded to the highest level of American Airlines.

American Airlines Platinum Executive.

Sounds sexy.

It's what I got.

I got this.

I didn't even know I had gotten it, and I was on a flight and I said, sir, we've um we've upgraded you.

And I said, What?

Huh?

They put me in first class.

I wasn't prepared for this.

I didn't know how to respond.

I'm like, do we hold our drinks like this now?

Like, what do you do in first class?

I've been on a lot of trips this year.

I've been on maybe 16 or 18 flights at all American Airlines this year, and all but two, I have been upgraded to first class.

I don't know what to do with myself.

I feel bougie.

Like, what do you do with this?

A few months ago, I got on a flight, they upgraded me to first class.

I buy the cheapest ticket and they upgrade me to first class.

So I'm there.

It was a super early morning flight.

I'm sitting, I got my computer out because I was working on something in first class, doing my thing, and I hear, Pastor Jason.

And I look up, and a sweet couple from our church is standing there, and all of a sudden I felt so much shame.

I I wanted to explain it, like, oh, hey, and then they kept walking all the way to the back of the plane.

I text Liz, I'm like, I don't know what to do.

What do you do?

So I get off the plane after and I waited forever, because I got off the plane first because I'm in first class, you know, and waited forever.

And they finally came off, and I was like, what's up, guys?

How are you?

Hey, I wanted to tell you the coolest thing happened.

I got upgraded because, not because of me, but because like I've got this status, not like my status, but status with the airline, and tried to explain it.

Why was I explaining it?

Because it wasn't for everyone.

You understand this, right?

The gospel is for everyone, and I love this.

Paul says this in Romans 5, 1.5.

We read this a moment ago, but this is from the ESV translation.

He says, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.

Here's the point of this.

You need to get this.

Write this down.

The gospel is good news because it is the only message that can transform any person in any location with any situation.

You give me a list of sins, you give me a list of issues, you give me a list of problems, and I want to say this to you, no matter where you live, no matter where you're from, no matter what your parents are or what they did, no matter how educated you are, no matter how much you struggle in life, no matter what sins you have in your past, the gospel is good news.

And the good news is that the message of Jesus can try can transform anybody, anywhere, at any time, under any circumstances.

Period.

It is for everyone.

It's for everyone.

Paul says it like this a few verses down.

He says, I am obligated both to the Greeks and the non-Greeks.

That is like for the Jewish people and the non-Jewish people, both to the wise and the foolish.

It's like to everyone.

He says, That's why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

He's writing these people saying, Here's the deal.

It's for everyone.

I'm starting with you here in Rome, but the message of Jesus is for everyone.

Final point, then we're done.

Number five.

I'm unashamed.

Because the gospel is powerful.

It is powerful.

I said this on Easter Sunday.

The resurrection of Jesus happened, but it keeps happening.

It's the reason that baptism is such a celebration here.

It's because we're literally dunking someone in water, symbolizing the fact that they are joining Jesus in death.

Their former sinful life is dead, buried, and gone.

But when they come out of the water, we're celebrating the fact that because Jesus rose from the dead, he too can bring any dead person back to life.

He changes us.

The resurrection keeps happening.

That's the reason in two weeks I need you to come like stretched out, ready to clap and scream.

We have over 25 people already registered for baptism, and it's still two weeks away, and some of you are going to join that list.

It's going to be amazing.

Here's what Paul says in Romans chapter 1, verse 16.

Romans 1:16

We read it earlier.

He says, For I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the what?

The power of God that brings salvation.

It's the power of God that changes every situation.

It's the power of God that transformed me, and I want you to listen to me.

It is the same power of God that can transform you.

Let me end with this.

He says, it's the power of God that brings salvation.

This word salvation in Greek is this word, soterio, which literally means holistic transformation.

It changes all of you.

It's not a prayer you pray and then you walk out the doors and act like nothing is different.

Real salvation changes everything.

It changes you from the inside out.

The book of 1 Corinthians says that Jesus makes everything new, not better, not polished, not like a more spiffy version.

Literally every single part of you is made entirely new.

So I'm ending with this today.

Two questions and we're done.

You ready?

This is so important.

Number one, have you experienced the gospel power in your life?

Have you?

I want you to do a moment of self-inspection.

Has Jesus fully changed you?

In a moment, I'm going to give you an opportunity to respond to that question.

Here's the second question.

Are you ashamed of the gospel?

There's something for all of us here.

There's something for all of us.

Have you made the decision to let Jesus completely change you from the inside out?

Have you been fully, once and for all, saved?

And the second question for so many of us is maybe you've experienced that, but you've just kept it to you.

If that's you, today's the day that you can make the decision to walk with boldness out of this place.

Would you bow your head and close your eyes all across this room?

First question.

Have you allowed the gospel message of Jesus to change you?

It's not enough to know intellectually and to think, Jesus, you are the Son of God.

It is to receive Him as your Savior.

If you're here today and you would say, Jason, look, I don't know if I'm right with God, but today I want to make the decision to surrender my life to Jesus.

In a moment, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand.

We talked about being ashamed versus unashamed.

This is a moment for you to step up in boldness and to declare, I'm not ashamed.

Today I need Jesus to save me.

If this is you, would you raise your hand right now?

This is me.

All across this room.

Wow.

Man, amazing.

If this is you, would you pray this with me?

Listen, praying a prayer only changes everything if you mean it.

Say, Jesus, today I give you my life.

I invite you to be the Lord of my life.

I'll follow you for the rest of my life.

Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.

I believe you came into this world and died in my place.

Because of your death, your burial, and ultimately because of your resurrection, I believe that you can raise my life.

So, Jesus, would you take over?

Forgive my sins.

From this day forward, I'll live for you.

I love you.

I give you my life, and it's in your name I pray, Jesus.

Amen.

With your head still bowed and your eyes still closed.

There was a second question.

This whole message really deals with the issue of shame versus living unashamed.

Let's be honest, some of us, there's people in our lives that have no idea we're a Christian.

There's people in your life that if they were to die today, they would spend eternity away from God.

And you're walking around with the antidote.

If you're willing to say, Jason, I want to join the mission of God.

And I want to leave today with a new boldness.

I want to leave today unashamed of the gospel.

I want my life to shine bright in a dark world.

I want my life to bring clarity where there is confusion.

I want to join Jesus in his mission to seek and save the lost.

If that's you, would you have a moment of boldness and would you stand in this place?

Here is your moment.

Stand up if this is you.

I'm willing to live unashamed.

Here's your moment.

People are still standing.

If this is you, come on, inspect your heart.

Like if I'm willing to do it, I'm not comfortable just being a Christian.

That's all about me.

But I'm willing to live on mission with him.

Here's your moment.

Would you stand?

So, Jesus.

Jesus, in this moment, we ask you to do what only you can do, which is to give us your boldness.

Romans chapter 8 says, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is alive in us.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Think of the power it took to raise someone to life.

If that power lives in us, then we can do the same things we've seen you do.

So, Jesus, we declare today that we will walk not in fear, but in power.

That we won't walk in shame, but we'll walk in boldness.

And that everywhere we go, we will walk as lights in an increasingly dark world.

We turn our hearts to you.

We love you, and we declare that we need you now.

And it is in your name that we pray, Jesus.

Amen.