(# 360) Romans 11 - Does Your Life Attract People to Christianity?
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
A member of the non-resident congregation asked me how Barah Ministries got started. It started back in 1999 at a dining room table in Gilbert, Arizona with two puppets, Kermit the Frog and Clifford. Barah Ministries was started by a well-meaning father, me, with a deep desire to teach the Word of God to his two sons, face-to-face, at least once a week. I wanted to make sure to set time aside in my schedule, so as to communicate to my children, that they are important to me by my time spent with them. Second, I wanted to pass along to them how important a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word is to me, hoping the desire for the same kind of relationship would rub off on them.
In each lesson, Kermit the Frog represented the Lord Jesus Christ, and Clifford the Dog represented Satan. I hated to do that to Clifford since he’s such a nice dog, but I couldn’t find any other red puppets at the time. Kermit is green for GO…I told my sons that everything Kermit says is a GO. Clifford is red for NO… I told my sons that everything Clifford says is a NO.
I would write song lyrics to tunes my boys liked. One of their favorite TV Shows was Spiderman, so I used the Spiderman tune to write a song about Jesus Christ. I’d let Kermit sing Jesus Christ’s version of the song, and I’d let Clifford sing Satan’s version of the song, so I’d know whose side my boys were on. They would cheer at the Jesus Christ songs and they would get quite upset and boo about the Satan songs that were critical of Jesus Christ. They both became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ through songs. Much to my surprise, as we told friends about the lessons, they expressed a desire to come. Pretty soon, every Sunday my house was filled with people and their kids who wanted to learn the Word of God. What a pleasant and unexpected surprise!
At a point, I began studying to become a Pastor. In 2008, after a 150 question exam which took me 40 days to write…a defense of the answers in front of a seven Pastor Committee led by my dear friend Pastor John Farley …and after fielding a random set of questions from two hundred people at a bible conference, I was ordained in Tucson, Arizona.
Barah Ministries has touched hundreds of lives in ways too numerous to count. One of the people whose life was touched by the ministry is Deacon Denny Goodall. I’m not much for tradition…because traditions look to preserve the past…and I certainly don’t know how to start a tradition…but today we are going to have a ceremonial “passing of the puppets.” Deacon Denny… you’ve got two kids now, and soon you’ll be teaching them about the Lord…so I thought it might be a good idea for you to have these puppets to remember me by, and also to give you a fun and easy way to express the Word of God to your children.
Thanks to Marissa up in Michigan for asking the question and for taking me on this trip down amnesia lane.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Does Your Life Attract People to Christianity?
I guess we have the answer in our opening today. My life has certainly attracted people to Christianity. But I think my life has attracted people more to Christianity by my attitude toward personal tribulation. When people see me go through tribulation, they feel sorry for me. To feel sorry for my trials is to miss the point of Christianity. Tribulation is the very thing God uses to shape our lives. Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 3 to 5…
ROMANS 5:3 …we believers in Christ also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…
ROMANS 5:4 …and perseverance brings about proven character…and proven character brings about hope…
ROMANS 5:5 …and hope does not disappoint, because the unconditional love of God the Father has been poured out within our hearts through God the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I am absolutely confident when I go through tribulation that the Lord Jesus Christ is with me all the way. He is my light in the tunnel of suffering, and He is my light at the end of the tunnel. I know He works all things together for my good, and I eagerly await the next adventure of suffering He has in store for me.
Perhaps people see the similarities between what Job experienced and what Christians go through in the hard times…usually not as severe as what Job endured. And perhaps like Job’s friends, people think that God is punishing the suffering Christian for something. But the truth comes out, if they watch long enough…they will see God deliver the Christian from the death of every tribulation.
Welcome to a place where you can learn that how you handle suffering can be used to attract people to Christianity, perhaps more than any of the good you try to do.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
BLESSINGS Laura Story
Let’s hear Laura Story sing the opening song…the Christian Way of Living is filled with BLESSINGS…the name of this opening song!
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father, thank you for giving us life…and thank you for making sure that our lives make a difference to others here in Satan’s kingdom…
Help us to be the perfect reflection of You, which is the perfect way to attract people to Christianity…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name... Amen.
A few announcements…
BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! NEXT WEEK! The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration May 14, 2017
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Visit the Vets June 11, 2017 2:00PM-3:00PM
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Next Deacon’s Meeting May 27, 2017 7:30A -9:00A
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! August 4 and 5, 2017 COEUR d’ALENE BIBLE CONFERENCE Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
NO FACE-TO-FACE TEACHING July 2, 2017
PRAYERS Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group Is Open! ON FACEBOOK
Join me in prayer directed at all the intercessions and petitions of the people visiting the Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group. Please take time to pray for each other and take time to pray for your Pastor.
YOU BELONG @ BARAH MINISTRIES! We’re Looking for 20 Families Help Us Build a Church!
Let 2017 be the year when we grow our church by inviting people to come.
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HOME Phillip Phillips
Barah Ministries Homecoming THANKS TO ALL WHO ATTENDED!
My thoughts about homecoming…it really is HOME!
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Does Your Life Attract People to Christianity?
So a quick review of the first tow passages of Romans, Chapter 11, before we move on to the third passage…
PASSAGE 1
ROMANS 11:1 I (Paul) say then, God has not rejected His people…(Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish Race), has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite (a Jew), a descendant of Abraham (a believing Jew), of the tribe of Benjamin (the only tribe faithful to Judah).
ROMANS 11:2 God (absolutely) has not rejected His people whom He foreknew…(Israel, His chosen nation, and The Jewish Race, His chosen people) Or do you not know (are you ignorant of) what the Old Testament Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, and how Elijah pleads with God against Israel?
ROMANS 11:3 …saying, “Lord, The Unbelieving Jews have killed Your prophets…they have torn down Your altars…and I alone am left…and they are seeking my life.”
ROMANS 11:4 But what is the divine response to Elijah? The Lord says, “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
ROMANS 11:5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant (of Jewish believers) according to God’s gracious choice.
ROMANS 11:6 But if the remnant is chosen by grace, and it is, it is no longer chosen on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
God has plans for you…and His plans are not thrown off their trajectory because of things you do…God has the power to help you see the error of your ways…God is confident in His ability to work all things together for your good…God is not threatened at all by your mistakes or failures. If you have trouble getting your heads wrapped around this idea…think of parents…parents have pans for their children…and most parents are able to get their children to the destination of the plan in spite of their children’s resistance…isn’t God even more able to do the same?
PASSAGE 2
ROMANS 11:7 To what conclusion are we forced then (now that we know God has not abandoned His nation, Israel or His people, The Jewish Race)? What Israel is seeking (righteousness through works), it has not obtained…but those who were chosen (by God…believers…the remnant) obtained righteousness (through faith in Christ), and the rest (the unbelieving) were hardened (with God allowing the hardening, not causing it)…
ROMANS 11:8 …just as it is written, “God gave (the unbelieving) over to a spirit of stupor…with eyes to see not… and with ears to hear not…down to this very day (God allows sin to have its effect….DEATH).”
GOD GAVE THEM OVER is a set of words you never want to be associated with you in this life.
ROMANS 11:9 And David (a regenerate, believing Jew) says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap…and a stumbling block and a retribution (compensation) to them.”
ROMANS 11:10 “Let their eyes be darkened to see not…and bend their backs forever.”
King David felt little compassion for the unbelieving Jews…for those who made the mistake of turning their backs on the Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ…luckily for David the Lord didn’t feel the same way about him when David was making mistakes in his life.
Let’s take a music break…Unbelieving Israel and the Unbelieving Jewish Race may wonder what God’s attitude toward them is for their rebellion…and maybe they are scared to go to Him…maybe they are scared to repent…they shouldn’t be…here’s jasmine Murray to tell us the attitude to have toward our relationship with God…FEARLESS!
MUSIC BREAK Jasmine Murray
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Does Your Life Attract People to Christianity?
Let’s begin the next portion of our lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…we need and we value your financial support to continue the work of this ministry…please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
FIRST TIMOTHY 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
OFFERING FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE Dave McClure, Instrumental
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Does Your Life Attract People to Christianity?
The third passage of Romans, Chapter 11 is a long one…beginning at Verse 11…
PASSAGE 3
ROMANS 11:11 I (Paul) say then, Israel and The Jewish Race did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression (the hardening God allowed), salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel and The Jewish Race jealous.
ROMANS 11:12 Now if the transgression of Israel and The Jewish Race is riches for the world…and their failure is riches for the Gentiles…how much more will their fulfillment be! ROMANS 11:13 But I (Paul) am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry…
ROMANS 11:14 …if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen (my kinsmen according to the flesh) and save some of them.
ROMANS 11:15 For if their rejection of their Messiah is the reconciliation of the world… what will their acceptance be but the resurrection life from the dead?
ROMANS 11:16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also…and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
ROMANS 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you (the Gentiles), being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree…
ROMANS 11:18 …do not be arrogant toward the branches…but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
ROMANS 11:19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
ROMANS 11:20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief…but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear (respect God)…
ROMANS 11:21 …for if God did not spare the natural branches, and He didn’t, He will not spare you, either (if you are unbelieving).
ROMANS 11:22 Behold then the kindness and the severity of God…to those who fell, severity…but to you, God’s kindness…if you continue in His kindness… otherwise you also will be cut off.
ROMANS 11:23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
ROMANS 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Let’s focus on one verse…
ROMANS 11:11 I (Paul) say then, Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish Race did not stumble so as to fall (beyond recovery), did they? May it never be! But by means of their transgression (the hardening God allowed…literally through letting them fall dead), salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish Race jealous.
God works all things together for good…and He used the “stumbling” of Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish Race for two purposes… first, to provide salvation to the Gentiles and finally, to make The Jewish Race jealous. Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 31 and 32…
ROMANS 9:31 …but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.
ROMANS 9:32 Why? Because they did not pursue salvation by faith (in Christ), but as though salvation were by works (of self-made righteousness). They stumbled over the stumbling stone (the Lord Jesus Christ…the Jewish Messiah)…
ROMANS 9:33 …just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him (the Lord Jesus Christ…the Jewish Messiah) will not be disappointed.”
The majority of Jewish people, the ones we are calling The Unbelieving Jewish Race, are attempting to earn their salvation through keeping the Mosaic Law. Okay once more with feeling, “You CANNOT under any circumstances earn salvation or work for salvation. Even if you could develop a perfect human righteousness by following the law, it is a complete waste of time because it will not be good enough to get you to heaven.” Israel’s fall is not permanent thanks to the remnant.
As ironic as it is, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah, sent forth Jewish apostles to evangelize to the Gentile world, of whom Paul is the first and foremost…and He gave them a great charge… Mark, Chapter 16, Verses 15 and 16…
MARK 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
MARK 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized (by God the Holy Spirit…not by water) shall be saved…but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned (to the Lake of Fire).”
What the Lord is hoping, by provoking The Unbelieving Jewish Race to jealousy, is that they will see what the Gentiles have, and the changes salvation makes to the lives of the Gentiles, and The Unbelieving Jewish Race will want what the Gentiles have…a relationship with the Jewish Messiah. God sends Jews to provoke Gentiles, and Gentiles end up provoking the Jews right back to come to the “so great” salvation offer.
Would your life provoke anyone to jealousy?
When I reflect on our homecoming, our lives would definitely provoke a lot of people to jealousy. What I saw is UNITY. I can’t even begin to tell you how encouraging that was for me. I wish I could bottle it. We’re at the surface of this issue in this lesson…but I’d like to start investigating how we take advantage of our unity…because I am certain the God used the UNITY of the Gentiles to provoke the Unbelieving Jewish Race to seek Christianity and a relationship with Christ. I know God wants to use Barah Ministries the same way. GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
In the Lord Jesus Christ we have a Servant-Savior…Mark, Chapter 10, Verses 43 to 45…
MARK 10:43 “…whomever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant…”
MARK 10:44 “…and whomever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.”
MARK 10:45 “For even the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) did not come to be served, but He came to serve, and He came to give His life as a ransom for many.”
The Lord served us best by offering us His life so He could offer us His very own righteousness…Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 21…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:21 God the Father made the Lord Jesus Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God the Father in union with Christ.
The Servant-Savior paid the price of sin so we wouldn’t have to…He paid with His blood…Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 23…
ROMANS 6:23 For the wages of sin is spiritual death, but the free gift of God the Father is eternal life (the resurrection life) in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.
Once you become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you are saved forever…John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life (the resurrection life) right at that moment…but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life, but the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”
Decide for Christ! Choose to be on the Lord Jesus Christ’s side and it’s a decision you will never regret.
CLOSING SONG ALL BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION
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