1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,769 Speaker 2: Romans one is where we're gonna be. 2 00:00:01,769 --> 00:00:05,699 Romans one starting in verse eight. 3 00:00:05,699 --> 00:00:09,029 Romans one, verse eight. 4 00:00:09,029 --> 00:00:14,849 Now, when I first started dating people, I really, really, 5 00:00:14,849 --> 00:00:16,559 really tried to be prepared. 6 00:00:17,009 --> 00:00:20,159 'cause I didn't wanna be that guy that just shows up on a date and just 7 00:00:20,159 --> 00:00:21,750 doesn't really know what to say, right? 8 00:00:21,750 --> 00:00:25,500 I didn't wanna show up on the date and be like, uh, hi. 9 00:00:25,769 --> 00:00:27,990 You know, I wanted, I didn't wanna be awkward. 10 00:00:27,990 --> 00:00:30,029 I wanted to be able to have things to talk about. 11 00:00:30,029 --> 00:00:32,549 I didn't wanna, you know, be that awkward guy on a date. 12 00:00:32,549 --> 00:00:34,139 So I really, really prepared. 13 00:00:34,424 --> 00:00:37,844 I, I wanted to show up with, okay, what sort of questions should I ask? 14 00:00:37,844 --> 00:00:39,524 What are some good things I should get to know? 15 00:00:39,674 --> 00:00:41,714 I even wanted to come to the date with like a plan. 16 00:00:41,744 --> 00:00:41,894 Okay. 17 00:00:41,894 --> 00:00:45,854 If the date goes well, if, if, if dinner with this really cute girl at Mod Pizza 18 00:00:45,854 --> 00:00:49,064 goes, well, then maybe afterward we should go to handles and get ice cream. 19 00:00:49,064 --> 00:00:52,184 That would be a good backup plan to do, and hopefully, um, you 20 00:00:52,184 --> 00:00:53,264 know, and the rest is history. 21 00:00:53,264 --> 00:00:55,574 We should end up rapping in the car and we ended up getting married. 22 00:00:55,574 --> 00:00:59,384 So, um, yeah, but you, I wanted to have a plan. 23 00:00:59,414 --> 00:01:00,224 I wanted to have a plan. 24 00:01:00,224 --> 00:01:01,244 I wanted to be prepared. 25 00:01:01,334 --> 00:01:02,474 And so I came ready. 26 00:01:02,474 --> 00:01:03,764 I stood up to that date ready. 27 00:01:03,764 --> 00:01:05,114 I was like, okay, here's what we're like. 28 00:01:05,114 --> 00:01:07,574 I had things that maybe we would be good to talk about, things, maybe 29 00:01:07,574 --> 00:01:10,604 questions that I wanted to ask, things I wanted to know about her. 30 00:01:10,844 --> 00:01:12,404 I, I came prepared. 31 00:01:12,464 --> 00:01:15,734 And now it's one thing to prepare for a date, which you should do, by the way, 32 00:01:15,764 --> 00:01:18,524 especially gentlemen, if you're gonna ask someone on a date, you should be prepared. 33 00:01:18,734 --> 00:01:23,474 But also what you may not have thought about is you should prepare 34 00:01:23,504 --> 00:01:25,544 for your time with other Christians. 35 00:01:26,158 --> 00:01:28,379 Whenever you show up to church on a Sunday, whenever you show up to 36 00:01:28,379 --> 00:01:30,989 True North on a Wednesday, whenever you hang out with your Christian 37 00:01:30,989 --> 00:01:34,229 friends, whenever you hang out with anyone, you wanna show up prepared. 38 00:01:34,619 --> 00:01:37,919 And today we're gonna see what the Apostle Paul, the, the writer 39 00:01:37,919 --> 00:01:42,959 of the book of Romans brings when he wants to go see them. 40 00:01:43,139 --> 00:01:46,169 When Paul goes to see other Christians, what does he bring? 41 00:01:46,289 --> 00:01:49,589 How is he prepared to talk to them and to live with them? 42 00:01:49,619 --> 00:01:52,649 That's what we're gonna find out here in the book of Romans. 43 00:01:52,649 --> 00:01:56,279 Okay, so we're gonna look at chapter one verses eight through 15. 44 00:01:56,279 --> 00:01:58,829 I'm gonna read it real quick and just do some explaining and then we're gonna 45 00:01:58,829 --> 00:02:00,359 go, go through the rest of the sermon. 46 00:02:00,389 --> 00:02:00,509 Okay? 47 00:02:00,509 --> 00:02:02,279 So read along with me, verse eight. 48 00:02:02,729 --> 00:02:07,199 First, first thing Paul Paul's gonna say in this letter, I thank my God through 49 00:02:07,199 --> 00:02:12,509 Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 50 00:02:12,509 --> 00:02:14,699 So he's thankful that their faith is famous. 51 00:02:14,789 --> 00:02:16,109 Romans are famous for their faith. 52 00:02:16,409 --> 00:02:19,919 Verse nine, for God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit 53 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:20,999 and the gospel of his son. 54 00:02:20,999 --> 00:02:24,419 So he is like, I, God knows what I'm gonna say. 55 00:02:24,419 --> 00:02:25,228 It's definitely true. 56 00:02:25,514 --> 00:02:26,174 What's he gonna say? 57 00:02:26,294 --> 00:02:29,654 That without ceasing, I mention you always in my prayers. 58 00:02:29,654 --> 00:02:34,004 I'm always praying about you asking that somehow by God's will I may now 59 00:02:34,004 --> 00:02:36,135 at last succeed in coming to you. 60 00:02:36,164 --> 00:02:37,484 So he really wants to go see them. 61 00:02:37,484 --> 00:02:39,103 He's been praying for it a lot. 62 00:02:39,524 --> 00:02:44,774 Verse 11, four, because I long to see you, I really want to be with you. 63 00:02:44,804 --> 00:02:45,224 Why? 64 00:02:45,434 --> 00:02:49,424 So that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. 65 00:02:49,514 --> 00:02:51,734 Now we'll talk about more about that we what that means. 66 00:02:51,914 --> 00:02:55,514 But he's got something that he wants to give them that's gonna make them stronger. 67 00:02:55,514 --> 00:02:57,135 It's gonna make their souls stronger. 68 00:02:58,244 --> 00:02:58,875 Verse 12. 69 00:02:58,875 --> 00:03:00,375 That is, what does that mean? 70 00:03:00,375 --> 00:03:01,304 What does that spiritual gift? 71 00:03:01,664 --> 00:03:04,844 Well, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's Faith, 72 00:03:05,024 --> 00:03:06,164 I want you to see my faith. 73 00:03:06,164 --> 00:03:07,875 I wanna see your faith and it's gonna be encouraging. 74 00:03:07,875 --> 00:03:10,904 It's gonna be good for us, both yours and mine. 75 00:03:10,904 --> 00:03:11,474 Verse 13. 76 00:03:11,654 --> 00:03:15,944 I don't want you to be unaware, brothers that I have often intended to come to you. 77 00:03:16,574 --> 00:03:17,624 Thus far I've been prevented. 78 00:03:17,624 --> 00:03:20,534 So I've really been trying, I haven't been able to make it yet in order that 79 00:03:20,534 --> 00:03:22,664 I may reap some harvest among you. 80 00:03:22,664 --> 00:03:23,294 Now what does that mean? 81 00:03:23,624 --> 00:03:25,784 As well as among the rest of the gentiles? 82 00:03:25,814 --> 00:03:28,244 I think that's similar to what he's been talking about earlier. 83 00:03:28,364 --> 00:03:29,864 He wants to be encouraged. 84 00:03:29,864 --> 00:03:30,614 He wants to grow. 85 00:03:30,644 --> 00:03:31,603 He wants them to grow. 86 00:03:31,603 --> 00:03:35,084 He wants to give them this spiritual gift, which is he just wants to help them 87 00:03:35,114 --> 00:03:36,914 love Jesus more and follow Jesus better. 88 00:03:37,334 --> 00:03:39,914 And that's the the result he wants to see. 89 00:03:39,914 --> 00:03:42,014 That's the harvest he wants to gain. 90 00:03:43,094 --> 00:03:49,004 Verse 14, I am under obligation to both Greeks and to barbarians. 91 00:03:49,034 --> 00:03:50,684 Now that sounds weird, Greeks. 92 00:03:50,684 --> 00:03:53,414 Those are like the smart people of the age barbarians. 93 00:03:53,504 --> 00:03:54,764 Those are the not so smart people. 94 00:03:54,855 --> 00:03:58,454 They made fun of their language 'cause it was probably similar to German and 95 00:03:58,454 --> 00:04:00,134 it sounded like bar, bar, bar, bar, bar. 96 00:04:00,375 --> 00:04:02,414 So that's what they called them, the barbarians. 97 00:04:02,534 --> 00:04:05,204 So the Greeks, the smart people, and the not so smart people, both 98 00:04:05,204 --> 00:04:06,944 to the wise and to the foolish. 99 00:04:06,974 --> 00:04:07,574 Verse 15. 100 00:04:07,574 --> 00:04:11,594 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 101 00:04:12,750 --> 00:04:15,420 So Paul, he's, he really wants to see the Romans. 102 00:04:15,420 --> 00:04:16,649 He really wants to give them something. 103 00:04:16,649 --> 00:04:20,459 And the last thing he says is, I want to preach the gospel to you guys who 104 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:23,549 are in Rome, are the Romans Christians. 105 00:04:24,929 --> 00:04:28,679 Think about what we started this letter with to those who are loved 106 00:04:28,679 --> 00:04:30,480 by God and called to be saints. 107 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:31,319 Are those people Christians? 108 00:04:31,319 --> 00:04:31,440 Yes. 109 00:04:34,109 --> 00:04:37,139 Paul wants to preach the gospel to the Christians in Rome. 110 00:04:37,170 --> 00:04:38,009 Is that weird to anyone? 111 00:04:39,029 --> 00:04:41,699 If I said, you know what we're gonna do on Sunday with all the Christians come 112 00:04:41,699 --> 00:04:43,619 to church, we're gonna preach the gospel. 113 00:04:44,789 --> 00:04:46,679 Would that be kind of weird for you or not? 114 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:48,179 That's what Paul's saying. 115 00:04:48,179 --> 00:04:51,839 He's saying, when I, when I get to Rome, you guys are all Christians. 116 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:53,039 You guys are all loved by God. 117 00:04:53,039 --> 00:04:54,119 You guys are all set apart. 118 00:04:54,179 --> 00:04:54,900 You're saved. 119 00:04:55,230 --> 00:04:56,549 I want to preach the gospel to you. 120 00:04:57,509 --> 00:04:58,230 That's weird. 121 00:04:58,799 --> 00:05:00,329 That's weird, at least from our perspective. 122 00:05:00,509 --> 00:05:02,940 'cause we think, oh, well the gospel is what gets people saved. 123 00:05:03,599 --> 00:05:07,139 But what I want you to know about when you go to hang out with Christians. 124 00:05:07,424 --> 00:05:09,854 When you spend time at church, when you come to True North, 125 00:05:09,854 --> 00:05:11,024 I want you to come prepared. 126 00:05:11,234 --> 00:05:14,624 And so our main point tonight is when you hang out with Christians, 127 00:05:14,774 --> 00:05:16,694 bring the gospel with you. 128 00:05:17,774 --> 00:05:21,524 When you spend time with your brothers and sisters in Christ on Sunday 129 00:05:21,524 --> 00:05:23,714 morning, Wednesday night, you're hanging out with them at school. 130 00:05:24,119 --> 00:05:28,004 I want you to bring the gospel with you. 131 00:05:29,234 --> 00:05:30,074 Don't leave it behind. 132 00:05:30,074 --> 00:05:30,914 Don't forget about it. 133 00:05:31,064 --> 00:05:34,154 Don't say, that's just for the, the unbelievers, the gospel. 134 00:05:34,904 --> 00:05:38,774 That's, that's the best thing you can bring when you hang out with a Christian. 135 00:05:39,524 --> 00:05:42,194 The gospel is the best thing you can take with you. 136 00:05:45,433 --> 00:05:51,884 So Paul, the first thing he does is he gives God the credit for something. 137 00:05:51,914 --> 00:05:54,134 He says, I thank God for something. 138 00:05:54,314 --> 00:05:55,814 What's Paul gonna thank God for? 139 00:05:55,844 --> 00:05:56,924 Well, let's see, verse eight. 140 00:05:57,074 --> 00:05:58,004 What does Paul thank God for? 141 00:05:58,004 --> 00:06:02,924 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because of your faith. 142 00:06:03,584 --> 00:06:04,544 It's famous, right? 143 00:06:04,544 --> 00:06:07,094 It's proclaimed through all the world Now. 144 00:06:08,069 --> 00:06:10,020 Who's the one showing the faith? 145 00:06:11,250 --> 00:06:11,909 The Romans. 146 00:06:12,659 --> 00:06:13,949 So why does Paul thank God? 147 00:06:13,980 --> 00:06:18,029 Why doesn't he say, I'm so grateful to you guys for being so awesome? 148 00:06:18,420 --> 00:06:19,559 You guys are so faithful. 149 00:06:19,559 --> 00:06:20,819 You guys trust God so much. 150 00:06:21,929 --> 00:06:23,520 He's saying, I thank God for it. 151 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,319 The reason he does that is because their faith comes from God. 152 00:06:29,099 --> 00:06:30,690 So he's giving God the credit for it. 153 00:06:30,750 --> 00:06:33,449 He's saying, Romans, you guys trust God so much. 154 00:06:33,629 --> 00:06:34,319 That's 'cause of God. 155 00:06:34,349 --> 00:06:37,650 So I'm gonna thank God for that because God gets the credit. 156 00:06:37,799 --> 00:06:42,719 So our first point tonight, give God the credit for faith and grace. 157 00:06:42,719 --> 00:06:44,039 We'll get to that grace part in just a second. 158 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:48,569 But give God the credit for faith and grace. 159 00:06:50,009 --> 00:06:55,679 When you see someone trusting God, you want to give God the credit for that. 160 00:06:55,739 --> 00:06:58,199 And to you that might seem super elementary, there's actually 161 00:06:58,199 --> 00:06:59,699 some ways that we don't do that. 162 00:07:00,150 --> 00:07:02,009 Give God the credit for faith. 163 00:07:02,594 --> 00:07:03,884 And grace. 164 00:07:04,184 --> 00:07:07,544 Now Paul says, I'm thankful for your faith because your faith is famous. 165 00:07:07,964 --> 00:07:09,585 Well, how do you see faith? 166 00:07:09,884 --> 00:07:10,964 You can't see faith, right? 167 00:07:10,964 --> 00:07:11,835 Like, I can't see. 168 00:07:12,044 --> 00:07:12,794 Oh, you know what? 169 00:07:12,824 --> 00:07:14,264 This is how much Mr. 170 00:07:14,264 --> 00:07:15,134 Clancy trusts God. 171 00:07:15,134 --> 00:07:16,154 I can see his faith. 172 00:07:16,184 --> 00:07:17,654 I, well, how do I see that? 173 00:07:18,344 --> 00:07:19,934 Remember what we talked about last week? 174 00:07:20,984 --> 00:07:24,105 Faith and obedience are inseparable, right? 175 00:07:25,784 --> 00:07:28,335 The obedience of faith, it's faith and obedience. 176 00:07:28,335 --> 00:07:29,684 They're, they're, they're always together. 177 00:07:29,835 --> 00:07:30,794 You can't separate them. 178 00:07:32,864 --> 00:07:35,085 How is your faith talked about? 179 00:07:35,234 --> 00:07:37,815 Well, it's when people see this, right? 180 00:07:37,815 --> 00:07:42,704 So what, what Paul is also saying is I'm also thanking God for how you obey him. 181 00:07:44,025 --> 00:07:46,094 He sees the Romans maybe sharing the gospel with people. 182 00:07:46,183 --> 00:07:50,234 He sees the Romans maybe loving to hear from God's word. 183 00:07:50,295 --> 00:07:53,444 He sees maybe, oh yeah, that that church in Rome, they're always praying. 184 00:07:53,474 --> 00:07:54,194 They love praying. 185 00:07:54,194 --> 00:07:55,933 They, they meet together and they pray all the time. 186 00:07:56,145 --> 00:07:57,944 That church in Rome, they're so generous. 187 00:07:58,065 --> 00:08:00,824 The church in Rome, they love people so well. 188 00:08:00,824 --> 00:08:02,365 They love strangers so well. 189 00:08:02,534 --> 00:08:06,464 He sees all these things about the church in Rome, and he 190 00:08:06,464 --> 00:08:07,605 says, that's from your faith. 191 00:08:08,085 --> 00:08:10,244 But all the things that you do are a product of your faith, 192 00:08:10,694 --> 00:08:11,594 and that comes from God. 193 00:08:11,684 --> 00:08:15,014 So I'm gonna praise God for what you guys are doing. 194 00:08:16,364 --> 00:08:19,994 He's giving God the credit for things that the Romans are doing. 195 00:08:22,004 --> 00:08:25,125 And that's because if faith comes from God, that means your 196 00:08:25,125 --> 00:08:28,244 obedience comes from God as well. 197 00:08:29,234 --> 00:08:31,184 So maybe this is a simple thing for you. 198 00:08:31,304 --> 00:08:33,943 Do you give God the credit when you obey him? 199 00:08:34,875 --> 00:08:37,844 When you do something for the Lord, do you give God the credit 200 00:08:37,844 --> 00:08:38,744 or do you say, you know what? 201 00:08:39,404 --> 00:08:41,744 I'm so glad that, that I did that. 202 00:08:42,044 --> 00:08:43,424 That was such a good thing that I did. 203 00:08:43,424 --> 00:08:46,304 And you think about yourself, you're like, man, I read and write Bible. 204 00:08:46,395 --> 00:08:49,335 I listen to sermons, I pray, and you give yourself all that. 205 00:08:49,335 --> 00:08:50,565 I worked really hard to do that. 206 00:08:50,685 --> 00:08:52,125 You know, I really studied the Bible. 207 00:08:52,125 --> 00:08:54,165 I really, you know, I watched this, this sermon. 208 00:08:54,165 --> 00:08:56,625 I listened to this thing and I did this for me. 209 00:08:57,375 --> 00:09:00,074 Sometimes we, we do that as Christians, sometimes as Christians 210 00:09:00,074 --> 00:09:02,444 we say, I did all this stuff. 211 00:09:02,774 --> 00:09:04,935 When really Paul is saying, God did that. 212 00:09:05,654 --> 00:09:09,824 God is the one who should get the credit for the things that you do, which sounds 213 00:09:09,824 --> 00:09:14,625 weird, but that's because God is the one who gives you the, the faith to do them, 214 00:09:14,835 --> 00:09:17,625 and also gives you the grace to do them. 215 00:09:18,944 --> 00:09:22,154 And see, we see that even in this same, this same verse, right? 216 00:09:22,154 --> 00:09:24,344 I'm gonna show you some more of verse five. 217 00:09:25,964 --> 00:09:29,984 We, so the same, same verse, we've received grace in apostleship. 218 00:09:29,984 --> 00:09:33,404 So Paul's gotten grace and he's gotten his calling as an apostle 219 00:09:33,764 --> 00:09:36,824 to bring about obedience of faith. 220 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:38,400 How does he do that? 221 00:09:38,429 --> 00:09:44,099 He preaches the gospel, so the gospel of grace, right? 222 00:09:44,099 --> 00:09:49,770 The, the good news of God's grace comes to Paul and then he brings 223 00:09:49,770 --> 00:09:53,790 it as an apostle to Rome, and then they trust God and they obey him. 224 00:09:54,299 --> 00:10:00,420 You see that we go from gospel to grace to obedience. 225 00:10:01,980 --> 00:10:05,099 That's God's progression of how people follow him. 226 00:10:05,549 --> 00:10:11,909 The gospel gives them grace, and that grace produces faith and obedience. 227 00:10:12,839 --> 00:10:17,670 That's how God thinks your good works happen, and that's how we 228 00:10:17,670 --> 00:10:18,630 should think our good works happen. 229 00:10:18,630 --> 00:10:24,089 It's not, I heard a sermon, I tried really hard and then I obeyed God. 230 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:30,150 God says, no, you heard the good news and that gave you the grace and 231 00:10:30,150 --> 00:10:32,819 the faith to do good things for God. 232 00:10:33,900 --> 00:10:34,889 So God gets the credit. 233 00:10:34,889 --> 00:10:35,790 'cause God's the source. 234 00:10:35,790 --> 00:10:37,139 God's the source of all your good works. 235 00:10:37,139 --> 00:10:42,360 Every time that you had a desire to read the Bible, that's God's work in you. 236 00:10:43,199 --> 00:10:45,960 Every time that you wanted to show compassion to someone, even when 237 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,929 they were really annoying or you were really patient with someone or really 238 00:10:48,929 --> 00:10:51,719 gentle with someone, that's God, right? 239 00:10:51,719 --> 00:10:54,179 Every time that, that, you wanna be generous with someone, 240 00:10:54,179 --> 00:10:58,139 maybe with your money or your time, that's God at work in you. 241 00:10:58,409 --> 00:10:59,549 So God gets the credit. 242 00:10:59,549 --> 00:11:00,449 God's the one doing it. 243 00:11:00,719 --> 00:11:02,940 Every time you wanted to pray, God did that. 244 00:11:03,420 --> 00:11:06,690 Prayer is actually God saying, Hey, you should talk to me. 245 00:11:06,690 --> 00:11:08,699 And then he gives you desire to talk to him and you pray. 246 00:11:09,270 --> 00:11:12,239 So all of these things that you do for God, God gets the credit for them. 247 00:11:12,270 --> 00:11:15,090 'cause they're, they all come from God. 248 00:11:15,989 --> 00:11:19,529 Your obedience is brought about by grace. 249 00:11:20,670 --> 00:11:25,230 Every good deed, every good thought, every good emotion you have comes from God. 250 00:11:26,790 --> 00:11:27,900 And so God should get the credit. 251 00:11:27,900 --> 00:11:29,429 And so we shouldn't be like, oh, look at me. 252 00:11:29,460 --> 00:11:30,360 Look how godly I am. 253 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:31,040 Look at all the things I've done. 254 00:11:32,849 --> 00:11:34,169 That is something that we do. 255 00:11:34,169 --> 00:11:36,719 But other things that we might do that this could help with 256 00:11:37,259 --> 00:11:40,289 is maybe sometimes you think, I could never be like that person. 257 00:11:41,159 --> 00:11:42,629 I could never pray like that person. 258 00:11:42,629 --> 00:11:44,309 I could never know as much as that person. 259 00:11:44,759 --> 00:11:46,439 I could never be as patient as that person. 260 00:11:46,439 --> 00:11:49,739 I could never, I can never be as excited about God as that person. 261 00:11:50,789 --> 00:11:53,039 Well, really, why is that person so excited about God? 262 00:11:54,149 --> 00:11:54,809 Because of God? 263 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:56,789 God helped them do that. 264 00:11:56,789 --> 00:11:58,799 God enabled them, empowered them to do that. 265 00:11:59,369 --> 00:12:05,459 So really you don't have to be discouraged because the same God who get got that 266 00:12:05,459 --> 00:12:09,299 person so excited about evangelism can get you excited about evangelism. 267 00:12:09,899 --> 00:12:12,299 The same God who helps that person understand the Bible can 268 00:12:12,299 --> 00:12:13,499 help you understand the Bible. 269 00:12:13,949 --> 00:12:17,579 The same God who helps that person be generous and, and trust Him, can 270 00:12:17,579 --> 00:12:19,139 help you be generous and trust him. 271 00:12:19,919 --> 00:12:22,559 So if you look at other people, other, maybe you didn't grow up in a Christian 272 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:25,859 home, or maybe you just feel like you don't get it as much as other people, 273 00:12:26,939 --> 00:12:30,599 God is the one who, who gives people the grace to obey him and to trust him. 274 00:12:31,020 --> 00:12:33,239 So you don't have to say, well, you know, well I'm, I'm just, 275 00:12:33,239 --> 00:12:36,150 my parents, just, they're not as godly as that person's parents. 276 00:12:36,150 --> 00:12:38,040 Or, I don't know as much of the Bible as that person. 277 00:12:38,549 --> 00:12:40,770 Well, God is the one who enables you to do that. 278 00:12:41,339 --> 00:12:42,509 And so you can say, you know what? 279 00:12:42,989 --> 00:12:46,290 The same God who helped them do that is the one who can help me do that. 280 00:12:46,710 --> 00:12:49,020 So you don't have to be discouraged and think, oh, well that person 281 00:12:49,049 --> 00:12:51,270 is so much, so much better than me, so much Godly than me. 282 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:52,380 I could never be like them. 283 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,130 God is the one who gives you the strength to do that. 284 00:12:56,279 --> 00:12:59,250 And so you can trust him to, to do those things as well. 285 00:12:59,250 --> 00:13:00,960 You don't have to look at someone and compare yourself and be like, 286 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,239 oh, I can never be like them because God's the one who did it. 287 00:13:03,900 --> 00:13:09,569 You can be that way because of God, the same way you depend on God. 288 00:13:09,569 --> 00:13:10,170 You trust him. 289 00:13:10,170 --> 00:13:12,569 He gives you the grace to follow him. 290 00:13:13,230 --> 00:13:15,360 So God gets the credit for faith and grace. 291 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:17,819 So we shouldn't be discouraged when we see other people and 292 00:13:17,819 --> 00:13:18,690 we're like, oh, I'm not there yet. 293 00:13:18,719 --> 00:13:19,230 That's okay. 294 00:13:19,770 --> 00:13:20,610 'cause God helped him do that. 295 00:13:20,610 --> 00:13:24,960 And also we shouldn't be prideful because we don't wanna say, well, look at me. 296 00:13:25,199 --> 00:13:26,639 I did all this great stuff for God. 297 00:13:27,089 --> 00:13:28,020 'cause God's the one who helped you. 298 00:13:29,234 --> 00:13:33,315 So we don't wanna steal God's glory by saying, well, look at me. 299 00:13:33,404 --> 00:13:34,904 I did so, so great. 300 00:13:35,054 --> 00:13:36,224 I learned all these things. 301 00:13:36,795 --> 00:13:38,835 I tried really hard. 302 00:13:39,074 --> 00:13:39,944 That's because of God. 303 00:13:39,944 --> 00:13:40,784 Even your own effort. 304 00:13:40,904 --> 00:13:42,045 Maybe you did try really hard. 305 00:13:42,045 --> 00:13:42,824 That's because of God. 306 00:13:43,304 --> 00:13:45,795 God enables you to do those things. 307 00:13:46,815 --> 00:13:52,094 So God gets the credit for every good thing that happens from any Christian 308 00:13:52,154 --> 00:13:54,915 because it's from grace through faith. 309 00:13:56,204 --> 00:13:59,594 So you might have noticed also that in his passage, Paul really, really, 310 00:13:59,594 --> 00:14:00,944 really wants to see them, right? 311 00:14:00,944 --> 00:14:01,724 Did you catch that? 312 00:14:01,935 --> 00:14:02,864 He says it a few times. 313 00:14:02,864 --> 00:14:05,355 God is my witness whom I serve that without seizing. 314 00:14:05,355 --> 00:14:09,224 I mention you all the time in my prayers asking that by somehow, by God's will, I 315 00:14:09,224 --> 00:14:11,025 might come to you for I long to see you. 316 00:14:11,054 --> 00:14:15,344 He really, really, really, really, really, really wants to see them, 317 00:14:16,034 --> 00:14:16,875 or he really wants to see them. 318 00:14:16,875 --> 00:14:18,375 Now, I said this to our leaders earlier. 319 00:14:18,915 --> 00:14:20,954 Paul is writing a book of the Bible to them. 320 00:14:21,824 --> 00:14:25,125 He's writing the greatest letter of all time to these 321 00:14:25,304 --> 00:14:27,074 Reese Romans, and he's saying. 322 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:28,259 I wanna see you. 323 00:14:28,349 --> 00:14:29,130 I wanna be with you. 324 00:14:29,909 --> 00:14:33,329 There's something unique and special about physically being with you. 325 00:14:33,690 --> 00:14:37,020 There's something that I can do as Apostle Paul being with you, 326 00:14:37,679 --> 00:14:39,449 that the book of Romans can't. 327 00:14:41,699 --> 00:14:42,449 That's crazy. 328 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,619 The book of Romans can only do these things. 329 00:14:46,679 --> 00:14:50,759 But me physically being with you, there's something unique and special about that. 330 00:14:52,230 --> 00:14:53,009 That's crazy. 331 00:14:54,509 --> 00:14:59,969 And now in, in our age, we might think that going together to church, 332 00:15:00,150 --> 00:15:03,150 physically being with someone, meeting with someone, to read the Bible, 333 00:15:03,150 --> 00:15:06,869 meeting with someone, to pray to them or pray with them, right, that don't 334 00:15:06,869 --> 00:15:08,069 pray to people that's a bad idea. 335 00:15:08,759 --> 00:15:09,540 They can't help you. 336 00:15:13,170 --> 00:15:18,839 God has designed us to, to physically be together with people. 337 00:15:18,839 --> 00:15:20,609 There's something unique about that. 338 00:15:21,749 --> 00:15:24,959 And Paul wants to do it so that he can encourage them and so 339 00:15:24,959 --> 00:15:26,219 that they can encourage him. 340 00:15:26,219 --> 00:15:33,449 So, point to spend time with Christians both to give and to get spend time with 341 00:15:33,449 --> 00:15:38,009 Christians, both to give and to get. 342 00:15:42,449 --> 00:15:45,209 So Paul thinks that his letter is not enough for them. 343 00:15:45,779 --> 00:15:49,289 He's writing 16 chapters to them and he's saying, you know what? 344 00:15:49,319 --> 00:15:53,519 There's, there's something special and something unique that that could happen. 345 00:15:53,519 --> 00:15:54,599 If I was with you, 346 00:15:58,229 --> 00:16:01,259 there's something unique I can give to you that I wouldn't be able to 347 00:16:01,259 --> 00:16:04,199 give to you without this letter. 348 00:16:06,569 --> 00:16:09,629 Now, in case you didn't get enough of prepositions in your first 349 00:16:09,629 --> 00:16:11,189 week at school, here you go. 350 00:16:11,549 --> 00:16:13,229 So Paul wants to see them. 351 00:16:13,829 --> 00:16:14,339 Why? 352 00:16:14,909 --> 00:16:15,750 Why does he wanna see them? 353 00:16:16,020 --> 00:16:20,099 See all the green, that those are purpose clauses, purpose statement. 354 00:16:20,099 --> 00:16:22,829 Whenever you see something like that in the Bible, that something like 355 00:16:22,829 --> 00:16:25,049 that, in the Bible, it's a purpose. 356 00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:26,849 Why do, why does he wanna see them? 357 00:16:28,290 --> 00:16:31,859 So that he can impart a, some kind of spiritual gift? 358 00:16:31,859 --> 00:16:32,099 Why? 359 00:16:32,099 --> 00:16:33,119 To strengthen them. 360 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,639 And in case he thought that was confusing, Paul's gonna explain it. 361 00:16:35,790 --> 00:16:39,119 That is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. 362 00:16:39,779 --> 00:16:43,379 So I wanna, I wanna see you, I wanna be together so I can strengthen 363 00:16:43,379 --> 00:16:46,560 you and so that I can encourage your faith and mutually so you can 364 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:51,359 encourage my faith to give and to get, I want to give you encouragement 365 00:16:51,359 --> 00:16:52,920 and I want to get encouraged by you. 366 00:16:53,489 --> 00:16:55,109 That's what Paul wants. 367 00:16:55,710 --> 00:16:57,929 And then something else he wants is in order that I may 368 00:16:57,929 --> 00:16:59,099 reap some harvest among you. 369 00:16:59,190 --> 00:17:01,799 I think there, he's talking about fruit of the spirit, right? 370 00:17:01,799 --> 00:17:03,480 Galatians five, he talks about fruit. 371 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,098 He talks about love, joy, peace. 372 00:17:05,098 --> 00:17:08,128 He wants to see that grow in them. 373 00:17:08,159 --> 00:17:10,710 He wants to see those qualities strengthened in them. 374 00:17:11,013 --> 00:17:13,560 So Paul. 375 00:17:14,339 --> 00:17:18,750 Is convinced that being together with them can accomplish this in a unique way. 376 00:17:20,250 --> 00:17:22,799 You can't be a Christian without other Christians. 377 00:17:24,029 --> 00:17:26,909 If you think that you can be a Christian and never spend time with 378 00:17:26,909 --> 00:17:28,980 other Christians, you're wrong. 379 00:17:29,190 --> 00:17:30,089 You're doing it wrong. 380 00:17:30,540 --> 00:17:32,639 If you think about all the things that God wants Christians to do, 381 00:17:32,850 --> 00:17:36,120 love one another, how can you do that if you never spend time? 382 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:37,469 Well, I can send 'em encouraging texts. 383 00:17:38,909 --> 00:17:42,810 Encouraging text is not the same as physical, personal, encouragement. 384 00:17:42,810 --> 00:17:45,210 There's something different about looking someone in the eye and telling them 385 00:17:45,210 --> 00:17:47,130 something that's different than a text. 386 00:17:47,130 --> 00:17:47,969 Well, what about FaceTime? 387 00:17:48,239 --> 00:17:50,159 Again, it's, it's different. 388 00:17:50,159 --> 00:17:50,850 It's not the same. 389 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:51,989 It's something unique. 390 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:56,370 It tangible about being in the same room about eye contact, intonation, and. 391 00:17:56,745 --> 00:17:58,364 Physical presence, three-dimensional there. 392 00:17:58,364 --> 00:17:59,445 There's something unique about it. 393 00:17:59,445 --> 00:18:01,094 You're in a, you can't give someone a hug, right? 394 00:18:01,094 --> 00:18:04,154 You can't, which sounds silly, but you can give someone a hug 395 00:18:04,154 --> 00:18:06,074 for the glory of God and encourage them and comfort them, right? 396 00:18:06,074 --> 00:18:08,475 There's something unique about those things. 397 00:18:08,475 --> 00:18:10,935 Take it from someone who dated long distance for two years. 398 00:18:11,235 --> 00:18:15,495 There's something unique about being in person, even if all you're doing is 399 00:18:15,525 --> 00:18:17,654 talking, there's something different. 400 00:18:18,195 --> 00:18:20,384 You can't be a Christian without other Christians. 401 00:18:20,384 --> 00:18:21,675 You can't love one another the same way. 402 00:18:21,855 --> 00:18:23,295 You can't forgive each other the same way. 403 00:18:23,534 --> 00:18:25,425 You can't serve each other the same way. 404 00:18:25,995 --> 00:18:27,884 You can't be patient with someone the same way. 405 00:18:28,545 --> 00:18:30,525 Think about all those one another commands in the Bible. 406 00:18:31,665 --> 00:18:33,705 You can't be a Christian without other Christians. 407 00:18:34,065 --> 00:18:36,344 So if you're a Christian who thinks, well, you know what? 408 00:18:36,585 --> 00:18:38,715 All these other Christians, they're kind of lame. 409 00:18:38,955 --> 00:18:39,614 They're not good enough. 410 00:18:39,614 --> 00:18:46,005 For me, Paul would say, look, I'm the apostle Paul and I need 411 00:18:46,005 --> 00:18:47,295 to be around other Christians. 412 00:18:48,945 --> 00:18:53,324 The, probably the the godliest man who ever lived besides Jesus is 413 00:18:53,324 --> 00:18:54,855 saying, I want to be with them. 414 00:18:56,384 --> 00:19:00,764 And so if, if, and you're not the apostle Paul, and so you need to 415 00:19:00,764 --> 00:19:02,564 be around other Christians too. 416 00:19:02,594 --> 00:19:05,745 You can't be a Christian without other Christians. 417 00:19:05,955 --> 00:19:09,824 So when you grow up in, in 20 years and you have the option to go to 418 00:19:09,824 --> 00:19:16,004 metaverse church or VR church, which you probably will, what are you gonna do? 419 00:19:17,475 --> 00:19:19,245 You can't obey God. 420 00:19:19,725 --> 00:19:27,495 The same way in virtual reality church, virtual reality, small group, 421 00:19:28,455 --> 00:19:33,884 virtual reality, accountability meeting, it's not the same. 422 00:19:34,274 --> 00:19:34,964 You can't do it. 423 00:19:36,854 --> 00:19:41,955 God made you if, if God wanted you to be a, a hologram or an avatar, you would be, 424 00:19:42,944 --> 00:19:45,225 God designed you to have a physical body. 425 00:19:45,495 --> 00:19:51,404 God came down and lived in a physical body because that's how God designed us 426 00:19:51,404 --> 00:19:53,804 to, to live the best way for his glory. 427 00:19:55,979 --> 00:20:00,029 So you have to be in person together to do things. 428 00:20:00,509 --> 00:20:03,839 As a Christian, you can't be a lone ranger Christian. 429 00:20:03,839 --> 00:20:06,209 You can't be an an independent Christian. 430 00:20:06,239 --> 00:20:06,419 Right? 431 00:20:06,419 --> 00:20:10,109 Paul would say that's like an eyeball saying, I don't need the rest of the body. 432 00:20:10,949 --> 00:20:14,459 An eyeball on its own not gonna do much for you. 433 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,509 That's if, if you're a a, do it yourself, lone ranger. 434 00:20:18,509 --> 00:20:19,139 I don't need anyone else. 435 00:20:19,139 --> 00:20:19,620 Christian. 436 00:20:19,949 --> 00:20:22,350 If you're someone who never shares anything about yourself in small 437 00:20:22,350 --> 00:20:25,139 groups, because you wanna act like you have your whole life 438 00:20:25,139 --> 00:20:28,049 together, you're doing it wrong. 439 00:20:29,699 --> 00:20:33,329 You're just like a, a, a severed hand flopping around and you 440 00:20:33,329 --> 00:20:34,229 think you're doing great. 441 00:20:36,479 --> 00:20:39,089 You can't be a Christian without other Christians. 442 00:20:40,289 --> 00:20:42,269 But see, Paul, he wants to come. 443 00:20:42,479 --> 00:20:42,899 Why? 444 00:20:43,019 --> 00:20:46,649 One, to strengthen their faith and then two to also. 445 00:20:47,190 --> 00:20:47,820 Be encouraged. 446 00:20:47,820 --> 00:20:48,870 He wants to give and he wants to. 447 00:20:48,870 --> 00:20:49,020 Yes. 448 00:20:49,020 --> 00:20:50,370 So let's focus on the give part. 449 00:20:50,370 --> 00:20:51,179 What does he wanna give to them? 450 00:20:51,179 --> 00:20:52,020 He wants to help them. 451 00:20:52,139 --> 00:20:53,100 He wants to help 'em grow. 452 00:20:53,100 --> 00:20:55,320 He wants 'em to love Jesus more because he's there. 453 00:20:56,250 --> 00:20:59,429 So I wanna ask you, why do you spend time with people when you come to 454 00:20:59,429 --> 00:21:02,340 church on Sunday, when you come to True North on Wednesday, when you hang 455 00:21:02,340 --> 00:21:05,639 out with your friend at lunch, your Christian friend at lunch, or when 456 00:21:05,639 --> 00:21:10,650 you meet up with, with your friends to hang out with them, why are you there? 457 00:21:10,740 --> 00:21:12,120 What are you bringing to the table? 458 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:17,909 Are you coming with the intention of I want them to love Jesus more 459 00:21:17,909 --> 00:21:19,260 when I leave than when I got here? 460 00:21:20,100 --> 00:21:21,000 That's what Paul is saying. 461 00:21:21,060 --> 00:21:24,120 He's saying, I wanna be in Rome so that when I leave Rome, 462 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,300 you guys have stronger faith. 463 00:21:27,659 --> 00:21:28,770 Have you ever thought about that before? 464 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:33,449 I'm coming to true North on Wednesday so that my small group can have 465 00:21:33,449 --> 00:21:34,980 stronger faith because I was there. 466 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,010 That's, that's the way Paul comes prepared to church. 467 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,740 Paul comes to church on Sunday thinking. 468 00:21:44,774 --> 00:21:47,145 I want them to love Jesus more because I was there. 469 00:21:47,895 --> 00:21:49,605 That's what Paul, that's what Paul thinks. 470 00:21:49,754 --> 00:21:52,335 He says, I want, he's thinking, I wanna ask them questions. 471 00:21:52,574 --> 00:21:55,964 I wanna maybe share something about myself or, or share something I learned 472 00:21:55,964 --> 00:21:57,855 in the Bible or pray together with them. 473 00:21:57,855 --> 00:22:00,464 I want to, I wanna do things while I'm together with them 474 00:22:00,674 --> 00:22:02,054 to help them love Jesus. 475 00:22:02,114 --> 00:22:03,674 I wanna strengthen their faith. 476 00:22:03,764 --> 00:22:06,165 I want them to maybe learn things about being a Christian that 477 00:22:06,165 --> 00:22:07,605 they wouldn't have known before. 478 00:22:07,605 --> 00:22:09,824 I want them to maybe feel encouraged because maybe they 479 00:22:09,824 --> 00:22:11,174 struggle with the same sin I do. 480 00:22:11,745 --> 00:22:14,355 And they heard, you know, oh, there's someone else who feels that way. 481 00:22:15,975 --> 00:22:16,154 Right? 482 00:22:16,154 --> 00:22:18,495 It's not just teaching people things, it's also sharing, like, 483 00:22:18,495 --> 00:22:19,995 you know, I struggle with this. 484 00:22:19,995 --> 00:22:22,574 And you say that in small groups and maybe for the first time someone says, 485 00:22:22,605 --> 00:22:25,904 oh man, I'm so glad that someone else struggles with that and it's not just me. 486 00:22:26,864 --> 00:22:27,824 And they're encouraged by that. 487 00:22:27,824 --> 00:22:32,625 And they say, okay, it's, I can, I can do this because they battled the sin too, 488 00:22:32,654 --> 00:22:34,665 and they're seeing God strengthen them. 489 00:22:34,665 --> 00:22:36,524 And I know that I can trust God to do that too. 490 00:22:36,764 --> 00:22:39,284 And I wouldn't have known that if you didn't open up and say something. 491 00:22:41,955 --> 00:22:46,274 Paul comes to to give, he comes to church to give, he comes to hang out 492 00:22:46,274 --> 00:22:49,784 with his Romans friends to, to give, he wants to give them something. 493 00:22:50,324 --> 00:22:51,375 He wants to give them faith. 494 00:22:51,375 --> 00:22:53,625 He wants to help them love Jesus. 495 00:22:54,495 --> 00:22:56,774 So why do you come to these things, right? 496 00:22:56,774 --> 00:22:59,924 The way I was talking about this with Ezekiel actually earlier, are you 497 00:22:59,924 --> 00:23:01,694 a producer or are you a consumer? 498 00:23:01,694 --> 00:23:02,475 Remember these things? 499 00:23:02,654 --> 00:23:04,125 The food web, remember that? 500 00:23:04,424 --> 00:23:07,304 You've got like the producers and you've got your, what 501 00:23:07,304 --> 00:23:08,924 are these primary consumers? 502 00:23:09,045 --> 00:23:10,514 Secondary consumers. 503 00:23:10,694 --> 00:23:13,784 Tertiary consumers and like apex, predator, whatever, right? 504 00:23:16,214 --> 00:23:20,984 Are when you come, when you come to church, are, are you 505 00:23:20,984 --> 00:23:24,225 just this guy and just taking, taking, taking, taking, taking? 506 00:23:25,665 --> 00:23:27,045 Or are you giving anything? 507 00:23:28,665 --> 00:23:30,705 Do other people benefit because of you? 508 00:23:31,815 --> 00:23:31,995 Right? 509 00:23:31,995 --> 00:23:33,824 Is true North better because you are here? 510 00:23:34,904 --> 00:23:37,815 Is your small group more focused because you're there? 511 00:23:38,370 --> 00:23:40,199 Is your small group better off? 512 00:23:40,439 --> 00:23:43,889 Is the discussion better because you're there at school? 513 00:23:43,889 --> 00:23:47,009 Are your friends more Christ-like because of you? 514 00:23:48,209 --> 00:23:49,589 That's the question that Paul's asking. 515 00:23:51,629 --> 00:23:52,709 Are you coming to give? 516 00:23:52,739 --> 00:23:56,639 Are you coming to take, are you just right because you know, you know what 517 00:23:56,639 --> 00:24:04,289 kind of animal that's not on here because comes and takes these things, right? 518 00:24:04,349 --> 00:24:05,489 No one likes these things. 519 00:24:06,179 --> 00:24:09,239 I thought about putting a more graphic image up here of 520 00:24:09,239 --> 00:24:10,559 parasites, but I spared you all. 521 00:24:11,879 --> 00:24:14,729 But are you a church parasite? 522 00:24:16,709 --> 00:24:20,189 Are you just sucking the life out of your small group because you're distracted? 523 00:24:20,279 --> 00:24:23,759 You're unfocused, you're goody two shoes and, and better than everyone. 524 00:24:23,759 --> 00:24:24,839 You look down on everyone. 525 00:24:24,929 --> 00:24:26,489 You're not vulnerable, you're not honest. 526 00:24:27,299 --> 00:24:28,499 You're pretending to be a Christian. 527 00:24:28,924 --> 00:24:30,299 You, you could be a parasite. 528 00:24:30,509 --> 00:24:32,429 You could just be sucking the life outta your small group. 529 00:24:35,129 --> 00:24:36,059 Don't be a parasite. 530 00:24:37,665 --> 00:24:40,425 Come to church to give, come to true north. 531 00:24:40,425 --> 00:24:42,585 Come hang out with your friends to give. 532 00:24:43,935 --> 00:24:45,195 Don't I? 533 00:24:45,195 --> 00:24:45,585 I won't. 534 00:24:46,065 --> 00:24:48,735 I could really talk about like tapeworms and all that. 535 00:24:48,735 --> 00:24:50,235 Don't you know, don't be a tapeworm, right? 536 00:24:50,235 --> 00:24:53,175 Don't burrow into your small group stomach and suck all the life out of 'em. 537 00:24:53,445 --> 00:24:53,925 Don't do that. 538 00:24:56,625 --> 00:24:59,235 And the point of that, the reason I, I want this to sound gross. 539 00:24:59,264 --> 00:25:00,795 'cause it is gross, right? 540 00:25:01,034 --> 00:25:03,975 If, if you're coming and being a, you know what Jesus says about 541 00:25:03,975 --> 00:25:05,264 people who cause other people to sin? 542 00:25:06,495 --> 00:25:08,745 He said it'd be better off if you hung up stone around your neck and 543 00:25:08,745 --> 00:25:10,094 jumped in a lake and drowned yourself. 544 00:25:13,965 --> 00:25:14,745 That's what Jesus says. 545 00:25:14,745 --> 00:25:18,675 If you're causing other people to sin, you'd be better off drowning yourself. 546 00:25:20,775 --> 00:25:24,585 So don't come to church and be a bad example. 547 00:25:24,585 --> 00:25:25,665 And be a bad influence, 548 00:25:28,005 --> 00:25:29,804 but also the positive side, right? 549 00:25:29,804 --> 00:25:30,405 Come to church. 550 00:25:30,855 --> 00:25:32,205 To give, come to church to encourage people. 551 00:25:32,205 --> 00:25:34,784 Think about how can I make my friend love Jesus today? 552 00:25:34,935 --> 00:25:37,665 What can I share with them that could help them love Jesus? 553 00:25:37,665 --> 00:25:38,895 What can I pray with them? 554 00:25:39,345 --> 00:25:40,395 Maybe you make it your goal. 555 00:25:40,395 --> 00:25:42,795 I wanna pray with someone at True North on Wednesday. 556 00:25:43,005 --> 00:25:43,755 Maybe that's what you say. 557 00:25:43,935 --> 00:25:47,175 I just wanna, you know, and, or maybe you say, I, I wanna come to True North 558 00:25:47,565 --> 00:25:50,415 and my goal is to, to encourage someone. 559 00:25:50,595 --> 00:25:53,475 I wanna think about something, you know, oh, this person in my small group, 560 00:25:54,135 --> 00:25:58,185 they, they just, they're, they're, they always are honest and I appreciate 561 00:25:58,185 --> 00:25:59,699 that, and I wanna encourage them, bless. 562 00:26:00,735 --> 00:26:02,475 Maybe that's your goal, but think about things like that. 563 00:26:02,475 --> 00:26:04,005 What can I, what can I bring to the table? 564 00:26:04,395 --> 00:26:07,905 But then also, right, you're not just always giving, giving, giving, right? 565 00:26:07,905 --> 00:26:10,155 You're not just the grass on the bottom that's just always getting eaten. 566 00:26:10,485 --> 00:26:15,375 You're, you're also getting, when you come, Paul, he says, I 567 00:26:15,375 --> 00:26:17,054 want to be mutually encouraged. 568 00:26:17,685 --> 00:26:20,745 He's saying, I, I want you to encourage me and I wanna encourage you. 569 00:26:21,375 --> 00:26:23,865 The Apostle Paul is saying, I'm gonna be encouraged when I visit the 570 00:26:23,865 --> 00:26:26,655 Romans, so I don't care if you're the Godliest person in this room. 571 00:26:27,284 --> 00:26:28,665 You can be encouraged when you come to. 572 00:26:29,909 --> 00:26:33,359 You should never think, well, my small group's just not on my level. 573 00:26:33,389 --> 00:26:34,350 I don't get anything out of it. 574 00:26:36,629 --> 00:26:39,839 There's something wrong with you if, if that's how you think, because 575 00:26:39,899 --> 00:26:42,959 obviously the Apostle Paul didn't think that, and you're not Paul, right? 576 00:26:43,289 --> 00:26:48,600 So do you spend time with people who help you love Jesus? 577 00:26:48,734 --> 00:26:52,169 Are you spending time with people who help you love Jesus? 578 00:26:52,169 --> 00:26:52,949 That's the first thing, right? 579 00:26:52,949 --> 00:26:56,249 Are you coming to church and expecting someone to pour into you? 580 00:26:56,429 --> 00:27:00,629 But also, are you easily, are you, is it easy for you to grow? 581 00:27:00,779 --> 00:27:05,009 I heard someone, they told me this once, a mature Christian is easily edified. 582 00:27:05,549 --> 00:27:07,289 A mature Christian is easily built up. 583 00:27:07,350 --> 00:27:11,999 It's easy for them to grow because they, they're, they're so easily they, 584 00:27:11,999 --> 00:27:13,109 they see things about other people. 585 00:27:13,109 --> 00:27:14,489 Man, I love that that person does that. 586 00:27:14,789 --> 00:27:16,379 I love how that person trusts God. 587 00:27:16,709 --> 00:27:18,419 Or, oh, I learned this in the sermon. 588 00:27:18,419 --> 00:27:20,459 Even if I heard it all before, it was a good reminder. 589 00:27:21,839 --> 00:27:23,100 That's a mature Christian. 590 00:27:24,330 --> 00:27:26,309 Someone who walks away from a sermon thinking, oh, I heard it all before. 591 00:27:26,309 --> 00:27:26,909 Been there, done that. 592 00:27:27,299 --> 00:27:28,350 That's an immature Christian. 593 00:27:28,350 --> 00:27:31,380 A mature Christian, even if they heard everything in the sermon 594 00:27:31,380 --> 00:27:36,420 before, says, Hey, I was reminded of this and that really stood out to 595 00:27:36,420 --> 00:27:37,955 me because of this, this, and this. 596 00:27:39,060 --> 00:27:40,560 That's what mature Christians do. 597 00:27:40,710 --> 00:27:42,989 So be someone who's easily edified. 598 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:45,659 There's a company, you've probably seen this logo before. 599 00:27:45,659 --> 00:27:48,509 I had no idea what it actually stood for, uh, stands for Hewlett Packard. 600 00:27:48,514 --> 00:27:51,870 But this company, they had what's called an open door policy, and what they did 601 00:27:52,049 --> 00:27:59,250 is any level of the CEO all the way down, anyone from the business could come into 602 00:27:59,250 --> 00:28:03,690 their office and give 'em ideas, and that was their, their whole, the whole 603 00:28:03,690 --> 00:28:09,449 thing about the company was if the, even like the, the lowest level worker has 604 00:28:09,449 --> 00:28:13,560 an idea, we want to hear it because it might help us, it might make us better. 605 00:28:14,310 --> 00:28:14,520 Right? 606 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,370 Think about, it'd be like on a football team if like, oh, if the janitor has an 607 00:28:17,370 --> 00:28:20,190 idea about how to make our football team better, he can go tell the head coach. 608 00:28:23,279 --> 00:28:25,500 We need to have that kind of attitude with other Christians, you can 609 00:28:25,500 --> 00:28:27,299 learn something from any Christian. 610 00:28:28,214 --> 00:28:30,884 There's, I had my small group leader, pastor Evan, actually, he told 611 00:28:30,884 --> 00:28:34,094 me this, he said, every person in the room can teach you something. 612 00:28:35,294 --> 00:28:36,944 Every person in the room can teach you something. 613 00:28:37,244 --> 00:28:39,374 That's the kind of attitude this company had, and that's the kind of attitude 614 00:28:39,464 --> 00:28:42,284 I want you to have when you come to church, when you come to True North, 615 00:28:42,284 --> 00:28:43,064 when you hang out with your friends. 616 00:28:43,274 --> 00:28:47,144 I can learn something from this person, maybe not directly, but God can 617 00:28:47,144 --> 00:28:48,734 teach me something from this person. 618 00:28:49,274 --> 00:28:50,744 God can teach me something from this small group. 619 00:28:50,744 --> 00:28:53,174 God can teach me something from this sermon. 620 00:28:54,524 --> 00:28:57,374 So we wanna spend time with Christians to give, to encourage them, to 621 00:28:57,374 --> 00:29:00,404 strengthen their faith and to get, because we know that we can learn 622 00:29:00,584 --> 00:29:04,664 from everyone and God can use anyone to teach us something that we need. 623 00:29:05,474 --> 00:29:09,284 But lastly, you probably noticed that Paul was excited to preach the gospel, right? 624 00:29:09,284 --> 00:29:12,974 He was, he's eager to preach the gospel to, to the people in Rome. 625 00:29:14,894 --> 00:29:16,814 How often do you think Paul preached the gospel? 626 00:29:18,284 --> 00:29:18,794 A lot. 627 00:29:18,794 --> 00:29:19,244 Right? 628 00:29:20,444 --> 00:29:21,674 And he's still excited about it. 629 00:29:23,039 --> 00:29:23,969 He's still excited. 630 00:29:23,969 --> 00:29:27,029 He's like, I am so excited to preach the gospel to people who've already 631 00:29:27,029 --> 00:29:28,169 heard it and been saved by it. 632 00:29:29,189 --> 00:29:29,939 Isn't that cool? 633 00:29:30,329 --> 00:29:31,679 The, the Romans know the gospel. 634 00:29:31,829 --> 00:29:32,789 The Romans have been saved. 635 00:29:32,999 --> 00:29:35,369 The Romans clearly have good theology. 636 00:29:35,369 --> 00:29:37,949 'cause he wrote them this giant letter about theology and he didn't 637 00:29:37,949 --> 00:29:39,089 say anything really bad about them. 638 00:29:39,119 --> 00:29:42,689 Some of Paul's letters, he's like, Hey guys, come on. 639 00:29:42,809 --> 00:29:43,654 We gotta like you. 640 00:29:43,659 --> 00:29:45,659 You should be better by now, right? 641 00:29:45,899 --> 00:29:48,779 Um, like, you know, in most La Paul's letters, he's like super happy at the 642 00:29:48,779 --> 00:29:50,069 beginning and he's praising God for them. 643 00:29:50,279 --> 00:29:54,419 Some letters like Galatians, he's like, he doesn't even say anything like positive. 644 00:29:54,419 --> 00:29:55,889 He's like, what happened, guys? 645 00:29:55,979 --> 00:29:57,629 I left and what went wrong? 646 00:29:57,629 --> 00:29:58,589 That's how Galatians is. 647 00:29:59,249 --> 00:30:03,419 So Rome is, is overall good letter, but he's excited to preach the gospel to them. 648 00:30:03,509 --> 00:30:05,789 Paul is never bored of it. 649 00:30:05,789 --> 00:30:08,969 Remember last week, he, he's talking about all about the gospel gospel's about Jesus, 650 00:30:08,969 --> 00:30:10,589 and he's talking so much about Jesus. 651 00:30:10,649 --> 00:30:12,329 Paul is not bored of the gospel. 652 00:30:12,329 --> 00:30:12,599 Go. 653 00:30:12,749 --> 00:30:14,849 Paul is eager to preach the gospel. 654 00:30:14,849 --> 00:30:15,449 So 0.3 655 00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:16,229 for all of us. 656 00:30:16,379 --> 00:30:19,169 Never move on from the gospel. 657 00:30:20,309 --> 00:30:24,419 Paul is preaching the gospel to Christians and he expects them to grow. 658 00:30:24,839 --> 00:30:26,189 He expects it to strengthen them. 659 00:30:26,249 --> 00:30:31,499 He expects it to encourage them, and Paul expects to be encouraged as well. 660 00:30:34,589 --> 00:30:38,519 Paul is so excited about the gospel and honestly, excitement is always the best 661 00:30:38,549 --> 00:30:40,559 motive for telling anyone anything, right? 662 00:30:40,619 --> 00:30:43,289 When you're excited about something, you just naturally wanna tell people. 663 00:30:43,589 --> 00:30:44,909 When you hear a song you really like, you're like, oh, 664 00:30:44,909 --> 00:30:45,749 guys, have you seen this song? 665 00:30:46,049 --> 00:30:48,809 Or you see a funny reel and you're like, oh, I'm gonna send this to everyone. 666 00:30:49,349 --> 00:30:51,509 Excitement just naturally causes you to share things. 667 00:30:51,689 --> 00:30:54,299 So if you're out there and you're scared to share the gospel, the best 668 00:30:54,299 --> 00:30:55,589 thing to do is get excited about it. 669 00:30:56,159 --> 00:30:57,179 Be like, Paul, be more excited. 670 00:30:57,179 --> 00:30:59,639 That's why Paul always was sharing the gospel because he 671 00:30:59,639 --> 00:31:01,619 was so excited about the gospel. 672 00:31:02,189 --> 00:31:03,269 So what do you get excited about? 673 00:31:03,689 --> 00:31:04,319 Think about that. 674 00:31:04,409 --> 00:31:05,339 That says a lot about you. 675 00:31:05,879 --> 00:31:07,289 What do I get excited about? 676 00:31:07,589 --> 00:31:08,699 What do I get bored by? 677 00:31:08,999 --> 00:31:10,019 That also says a lot about you. 678 00:31:11,009 --> 00:31:12,329 Is the gospel boring to you? 679 00:31:12,419 --> 00:31:14,039 Is it like, oh yeah, I've heard that before Jesus died. 680 00:31:14,369 --> 00:31:14,609 Cool. 681 00:31:16,424 --> 00:31:18,074 Is that boring or is that exciting? 682 00:31:18,194 --> 00:31:19,665 Jesus died for me. 683 00:31:19,665 --> 00:31:21,884 Jesus loved me enough to to die. 684 00:31:21,884 --> 00:31:24,705 Jesus rose from the dead and defeated death so I don't have 685 00:31:24,705 --> 00:31:25,455 to be scared of it anymore. 686 00:31:25,484 --> 00:31:26,114 That's exciting. 687 00:31:28,064 --> 00:31:33,644 So sharing the gospel is motivated by excitement in the gospel. 688 00:31:34,304 --> 00:31:36,495 And Paul, we see this in verses 14 and 15. 689 00:31:36,674 --> 00:31:38,864 He thinks the Romans need the gospel. 690 00:31:39,374 --> 00:31:40,995 He says he's under obligation. 691 00:31:40,995 --> 00:31:45,794 He's like in debt to all these people to preach the gospel to them. 692 00:31:47,745 --> 00:31:53,534 So what's interesting here, this, this word, I'm not gonna explain all 693 00:31:53,534 --> 00:31:56,864 this, I don't have time, but this word under obligation, Paul's saying 694 00:31:57,165 --> 00:32:01,064 it's like I'm in debt to all these people to share the gospel with them. 695 00:32:01,995 --> 00:32:03,554 I think some of us, we think about the gospel. 696 00:32:03,554 --> 00:32:07,455 We think the gospel puts me in debt to God, and then we try to live the rest 697 00:32:07,455 --> 00:32:10,935 of our Christian life trying to repay God for all that he's done for me. 698 00:32:12,074 --> 00:32:12,944 That's not grace. 699 00:32:14,370 --> 00:32:19,739 If I give you grace and you try to pay me back, that's not how Grace works. 700 00:32:19,979 --> 00:32:21,750 You don't pay someone back for grace. 701 00:32:22,409 --> 00:32:24,569 That'd be like if you got a birthday present and you said, 702 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:25,709 oh, how much did this cost you? 703 00:32:25,919 --> 00:32:29,639 Okay, let me get you however much money this cost you and give it back, right? 704 00:32:29,639 --> 00:32:34,560 Let's say you got a $50 gift card to Target for your birthday and you were 705 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:36,569 like, oh, thanks for the gift here. 706 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:37,679 Here's $50. 707 00:32:38,580 --> 00:32:39,629 It's not a gift anymore. 708 00:32:39,629 --> 00:32:40,620 You just paid for it. 709 00:32:42,629 --> 00:32:48,989 Paul is not in debt to God because he received grace. 710 00:32:49,020 --> 00:32:49,469 See that? 711 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:50,609 That's the connection to verse five. 712 00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:53,069 Paul received grace and apostleship. 713 00:32:53,549 --> 00:32:55,439 He's not in debt to God. 714 00:32:55,439 --> 00:32:56,699 He's in debt to other people. 715 00:32:58,290 --> 00:33:01,620 Paul's not trying to repay God for saving him 'cause then it wouldn't 716 00:33:01,620 --> 00:33:04,350 be grace anymore if you're, that's you trying to earn your salvation. 717 00:33:04,859 --> 00:33:05,549 Have you ever thought about that? 718 00:33:05,549 --> 00:33:08,909 That way if you're trying to repay God, it's actually you trying to 719 00:33:08,909 --> 00:33:11,199 earn your salvation because you're trying to get rid of your debt to God. 720 00:33:12,750 --> 00:33:15,480 If you're out of debt to God, then you earned it. 721 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:18,719 That's not how grace works. 722 00:33:19,230 --> 00:33:21,270 You don't repay God for being good to you. 723 00:33:23,940 --> 00:33:29,009 The way Grace works is it puts Paul in debt to other people who might not have 724 00:33:29,009 --> 00:33:33,779 received that grace yet, because they haven't heard the same message he has. 725 00:33:33,779 --> 00:33:34,919 And so he wants to go tell them. 726 00:33:35,940 --> 00:33:37,230 That's why he's in debt to them. 727 00:33:38,219 --> 00:33:40,980 He's in debt to other people because they need to hear the 728 00:33:40,980 --> 00:33:42,299 same message that he heard. 729 00:33:43,350 --> 00:33:48,419 So he's under obligation to share the gospel, to share grace with people. 730 00:33:50,310 --> 00:33:52,679 So maybe you're a Christian who's selfish with the gospel. 731 00:33:53,669 --> 00:33:55,830 Maybe you, you got saved and you're like, great, I'm saved. 732 00:33:55,830 --> 00:33:58,169 But I don't want those people to be saved 'cause they're bad people. 733 00:33:59,250 --> 00:34:00,270 What does that say about you? 734 00:34:01,620 --> 00:34:01,830 Right? 735 00:34:01,830 --> 00:34:04,020 That says that you think you deserved it and they didn't. 736 00:34:04,679 --> 00:34:04,889 Right? 737 00:34:04,889 --> 00:34:06,899 If you, if you don't wanna share the gospel with someone because you don't 738 00:34:06,899 --> 00:34:10,469 like them, or you don't think they're good enough, or they're too sinful. 739 00:34:10,889 --> 00:34:12,839 You're saying that you weren't too sinful. 740 00:34:13,409 --> 00:34:15,330 You're saying that there was something about you that made you 741 00:34:15,330 --> 00:34:16,649 you special to receive the gospel. 742 00:34:17,188 --> 00:34:18,719 Something about you that made you deserve it. 743 00:34:19,228 --> 00:34:20,639 So don't be selfish with the gospel, right? 744 00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:21,899 Don't, don't withhold it from people. 745 00:34:21,899 --> 00:34:24,659 You're actually obligated to share it with people. 746 00:34:25,290 --> 00:34:26,850 That's what Paul's saying here. 747 00:34:27,449 --> 00:34:31,379 You don't choose who's worthy of the gospel 'cause no 748 00:34:31,379 --> 00:34:32,759 one's worthy of the gospel. 749 00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:37,918 But then also, do you still think you need the gospel As a Christian, Paul 750 00:34:37,918 --> 00:34:40,409 thinks the Romans need the gospel. 751 00:34:41,668 --> 00:34:45,239 And so the gospel helps Christians live. 752 00:34:45,629 --> 00:34:50,549 It doesn't just help unbelievers get saved, it helps Christians live, right? 753 00:34:50,549 --> 00:34:53,188 And we are, hopefully, we'll talk about that in your 10 minutes of small groups. 754 00:34:53,458 --> 00:34:56,790 But the, the gospel helps Christians live. 755 00:34:57,509 --> 00:35:03,120 And so, so when you spend time with Christians, make sure 756 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,160 you bring the gospel with you. 757 00:35:05,729 --> 00:35:08,009 Don't leave the gospel at your conversion. 758 00:35:08,700 --> 00:35:09,509 Take it with you. 759 00:35:10,439 --> 00:35:14,429 Give it to everyone you know, Christians and non-Christians alike. 760 00:35:14,429 --> 00:35:16,349 Let's pray and we'll get to small groups. 761 00:35:19,979 --> 00:35:24,179 God thank you that you wanted to share the gospel with us. 762 00:35:24,929 --> 00:35:28,409 You didn't have to, you weren't obligated to do anything good for us. 763 00:35:28,439 --> 00:35:33,569 The only obligation you had was to be a good judge and to send us to hell, but 764 00:35:33,569 --> 00:35:36,240 instead you showed great mercy to us. 765 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,450 And so I pray that we would be amazed by that, that we would 766 00:35:39,450 --> 00:35:42,809 be, um, amazed that you would forgive us, that you would love us. 767 00:35:42,839 --> 00:35:47,519 We would not be like the unforgiving servant in the parable that your son told 768 00:35:47,519 --> 00:35:51,419 that, um, is forgiven a lot and then won't forgive other people who sin against him. 769 00:35:51,599 --> 00:35:54,720 I pray that we would be overwhelmed by the gospel, excited about the gospel, 770 00:35:55,049 --> 00:35:59,220 and that we would come to, to our time with other Christians ready to 771 00:35:59,220 --> 00:36:00,689 love them, ready to encourage them. 772 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:02,039 Pray this in Jesus name. 773 00:36:02,279 --> 00:36:02,609 Amen