Romans 15: Like Every Christian, the Apostle Paul Had a Mission Given to Him by God

Class Outline:

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Your way, Yahweh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re in the resident congregation, turn off your electronic devices and put them away.  Let this be a place where you aren’t distracted by the world.

 

Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

 

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with a worldwide impact.  My name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Thanks for listening to this Bible lesson!

 

If you’re not in the habit of listening to the announcements, they are posted separately. Stay current on what's going on and coming up in Barah Ministries.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Like Every Christian, the Apostle Paul Had a Mission Given to Him by God

 

LESSON INTRODUCTION

 

Once we become Christians, we are sure that God has plans for our lives after salvation.  A descriptor of God's plan for us is the word MISSION.  We have an important assignment God wants us to accomplish to make a difference in the world.

 

We live in Satan’s kingdom.  As believers in Christ we are citizens of heaven.  We are not citizens of the world.  The mission God gives us is designed to have tremendous positive influence in the enemy of God’s territory.

 

In today’s lesson, as we continue our study of Romans Chapter 15, the apostle Paul reveals to us his earthly mission.

 

OPENING SONG INTRODUCTION

 

Let’s hear some music!

 

Having a mission requires divine strength.

 

In Second Corinthians, Chapter 12, Verses 9 and 10 the apostle Paul says…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 12:9

The Lord said to me (Paul), “My grace is sufficient for you, for divine power is perfected in human weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the divine power of Christ may dwell in me.

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 12:10

Therefore, I (Paul) am well content with weaknesses…with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake…for when I am weak, it is then that I am strong.

 

God the Holy Spirit is the source of divine strength for Christians.  He keeps on pouring His enabling power into us, as does the entire Godhead.  Here’s Steven Curtis Chapman to remind us in song that HIS STRENGTH IS PERFECT!

 

MUSIC

OPENING SONG

Let’s Sing the Lord’s Praises

 

HIS STRENGTH IS PERFECT

Steven Curtis Chapman

 

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 guiding every aspect of our lives…thank you for giving each believer in Christ a mission to accomplish in our time on earth…thank you for giving us the divine power to accomplish it…

 

…make it clear to us through God the Holy Spirit how we can best serve You…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Like Every Christian, the Apostle Paul Had a Mission Given to Him by God

 

LESSON PART ONE

 

Only a few lessons remain in our study of the apostle Paul's letter to the believers in Christ in first-century Rome. Throughout this year-long study, it is clear the apostle Paul's letter is entirely relevant for twenty-first-century believers in Christ as well.

 

Paul’s letter to the Romans is called the king of the New Testament epistles.  I call it the most important letter in Biblical Christianity.  A Christian who has not studied Romans would have a hard time understanding Christianity.  Pastors in ages past have quipped that you can always tell how good a Pastor is by how dog-eared the pages of Paul’s letter to the Romans are in his Bible.  The pages of Romans should be battered with use.

 

In Romans Chapters 1 to 8, the apostle Paul explains the gospel message in detail. It is a universal invitation to "whosoever" to become a part of the Christian Way of Life. Paul was an evangelist and a “church planter,” and the gospel message is the good news he shared with the entire inhabited world of his day concerning the salvation offer of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

In Romans Chapters 9 to 11, the apostle Paul tells us the fate of God's chosen people and God's chosen nation, the Jews and Israel, after they reject the Jewish Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Even though the Jews and Israel abandoned the Lord, He does not abandon them.  Paul informs us that the Jews and Israel have a very bright future.

 

In RomansChapters 12 to 16, the apostle Paul tells us the do’s and don’ts of the Christian Way of Living.  Actually, the essence of this third section ends at Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 13.  In the final passages of study in Romans Chapters 15 and 16, Paul begins a long goodbye as the culmination of one of the most remarkable letters ever written.

 

Today we’ll study the second passage of Romans, Chapter 15.  The structure that suggests itself within the passage is that the Lord was a perfect MODEL…the perfect example of what it means to execute a mission assigned by God.  He came to pay for the sins of the whole world to provide all with a "so great salvation" opportunity and to fulfill all the predictions and the promises made to His chosen people…the Jews.  Second, we see what an assigned MISSION looks like as Paul explains the assignment God gave him.  Finally, we understand the MIRACLE each Christian's mission accomplishes as we look at the apostle Paul's impact on the world.

 

Let’s hear the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD TRANSLATION of the passage…Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 14 to 24…

 

ROMANS 15:14

And concerning you, my brethren, I (Paul) myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.

 

ROMANS 15:15

But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God…

 

ROMANS 15:16

…to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles…ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

 

ROMANS 15:17

Therefore, in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.

 

ROMANS 15:18

For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed…

 

ROMANS 15:19

…in the power of signs and wonders…in the power of the Spirit…so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

 

ROMANS 15:20

And thus I aspired to preach the gospel…not where Christ was already named…so that I would not build on another man’s foundation…

 

ROMANS 15:21

…but as it is written, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE…AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.”

 

ROMANS 15:22

For this reason, I have often been prevented from coming to you…

 

ROMANS 15:23

…but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you…

 

ROMANS 15:24

…whenever I go to Spain—I hope to see you in passing…and to be helped on my way there by you…when I have first enjoyed your company for a while…

 

The NEW LIVING TRANSLATION of the passage provides tremendous clarity to what we are about to study, so let’s hear what it has to say…Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 14 to 24…

 

ROMANS 15:14

I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know the things of Scripture so well you can teach each other all about them.

 

ROMANS 15:15

Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God the Father’s grace…

 

ROMANS 15:16

…I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News (of the gospel message) so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God the Father, made holy by God the Holy Spirit.

 

ROMANS 15:17

So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God the Father.

 

ROMANS 15:18

Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God the Father by my preaching of the gospel message and by the way I worked among them.

 

ROMANS 15:19

They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of the gospel message of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum (modern day Albania).

 

ROMANS 15:20

My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.

 

ROMANS 15:21

I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about Him will see, and those who have never heard of Him will understand.”

 

ROMANS 15:22

In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.

 

ROMANS 15:23

But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.

 

ROMANS 15:24

I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.

 

Now let’s study the passage verse-by-verse to see what the Lord is telling us about our personal mission on earth using Himself and the apostle Paul as examples.

 

In Romans Chapter 15, Paul begins his two-chapter goodbye to the believers in Christ in Rome.  In so doing, he describes the work of his ministry.  Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 14…

 

ROMANS 15:14

And concerning you, my brethren (all believers in Christ, but specifically the Christians in first-century Rome) …I (Paul) myself stand convinced that all of you have some serious good in you…having been filled with all knowledge (a basic understanding of Christianity) … and that you are able also both to counsel each other (with encouragement) and to admonish one another (in reproof without outside help).

 

No apostle had been face-to-face with the first-century believers in Christ in Rome up to this point. Paul was praising them for their growth as Christians without the outside help of the apostles. They had become so spiritually capable that they were able to teach each other, encourage each other, and advise each other against doing the wrong things, the meaning of admonishment.

 

That’s what Christians do for each other!  Paul repeats how impressed he was with the believers in Christ in Rome in Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 8…

 

ROMANS 1:8

First, I (Paul) thank my God the Father in prayerthrough Jesus Christ’s namefor all of you believers in Christ in Rome…because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world (all over the Roman Empire).

 

That’s powerful faith!  Paul always wanted to get to know them face-to-face… Romans, Chapter 1, Verses 11 and 12…

 

ROMANS 1:11

For I (Paul) long to see you believers in Christ in Rome so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you…that you may be established by God…

 

ROMANS 1:12

…that is…that I (Paul) may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us encouraged by the other’s faith, both your faith and my faith (encouraging one another).

 

The Lord had other work for Paul so he never got to Rome until later in his life.

When he did get to Rome he was behind bars in prison, chained to a Roman soldier.  Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 15 and 16…

 

ROMANS 15:15

But I (Paul) wrote very boldly to you on some points in this epistle…to remind you again of these points through repetition…because of the peculiar grace that was given to me from God the Father…

 

ROMANS 15:16

…the grace gift to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles…ministering the gospel of God the Father…serving as a (Levitical) priest does…so that my offering of YOU the Gentiles…(instead of the sacrifices the Levitical priest offered)…may become acceptable to God the Father…an offering set apart for privilege… sanctified by God the Holy Spirit.

 

In the first passage of Romans Chapter 15, the Lord told us that He is the perfect example of living a ministry.  Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 8…

 

ROMANS 15:8

For I (Paul) say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision (The Jews…Jesus is The Jewish Messiah) … to proclaim the truth of God the Father and to confirm the accuracy of the promises given to the Jewish fathers…Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…

 

Jesus was a minister to the “circumcision” … the Jews.  He came to say, “The promises I made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are true."  I

n Matthew, Chapter 15, Verse 24…the Lord describes His ministry…

 

MATTHEW 15:24

Jesus said, “I was sent ONLY to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

 

We know, also, that the Lord’s ministry was to “whosoever.”  But specifically, He had to fulfill promises to the Jews.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ came to reveal God the Father…He came to give His life as a ransom for the many…He came as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world…as the only perfectly satisfactory sacrifice for sin in the eyes of God the Father…He came as a minister…first and foremost for the Jews to fulfill the prophecies concerning the Jewish Messiah.

 

Like a great Pastor always does, Paul is stirring the Roman believers up by way of reminder…Philippians, Chapter 3, Verse 1…

 

PHILIPPIANS 3:1b

To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

 

In Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 15 and 16, Paul reminds the Romans about his mission as a minster with a specific ministry.

 

Jesus Christ was Paul's "role model."  Just as Jesus was a high priest responsible for evangelizing the Jews, so Paul was assigned a priestly duty. God assigned him to evangelize the Gentiles (a word that means nations). He went to all the nations outside of Israel to share the gospel message and invite them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Don't be fooled.  The Lord was after "whosoever."  Ultimately, He is the minister to all the nations, both Jews and Gentiles.

 

So Paul is highlighting his assignment, given from the source of the grace of God the Father to evangelize the Gentiles.  As Paul says in Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verse 8…

 

EPHESIANS 3:8

To me (Paul)…the very least of all saints (us believers in Christ) this grace was given to me by God the Father…to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of the Christ (the Messiah)…

 

All Christians have assignments from God.

 

Paul wasn’t just one of the apostles…one of the twelve.  He was appointed SPECIFICALLY to evangelize to the Gentiles on God the Father’s behalf.  His assignment…his mission…was to spread the gospel message to them.  The other apostles were charged with doing the same…with the apostle Peter SPECIFICALLY assigned to evangelize to the Jews…Acts, Chapter 11, Verse 14…

 

ACTS 11:14

“…and Peter will speak words to you (Jewish people) by which you will be saved…you and all your household (who also believe).”

 

By the way, Paul was Jewish.  As he evangelized to the Gentiles, he always found his way to the Jewish synagogues first.  He never forgot his heritage or his people.

 

When we return from the break, we’ll take the offering and then we’ll continue our study of the second passage of Romans, Chapter 15.

 

FIVE-MINUTE BREAK

NOBODY

Casting Crowns

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Like Every Christian, the Apostle Paul Had a Mission Given to Him by God

 

OFFERING INTRODUCTION

 

One of life's great pleasures is givingtime, talent, and treasure to those who want to learn about the Lord Jesus Christfree of charge.  True ministry involves giving, not receiving.  Yet it’s an equal pleasure being given to in return.  In Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 17, the apostle Paul says…

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:17

Not that I seek the gift (for myself…even though I appreciate it) … but I seek for the profit which increases to your account (from God when you give).

 

You’re invited to join in giving…to make giving to Barah Ministries part of your weekly routine.God blesses your giving and makes it have impact in places all over the worldwith people you know nothing about.  Simultaneously, God gives abundant credit back to your account.  If you listen to Barah Ministries, we appreciate it when you contribute to Barah Ministries.  No amount is too small.

 

Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with one of his always inspiring offering messages.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

OFFERING VERSE

 

COLOSSIANS 3:12

As those who are the chosen ones of God the Father…made saints…and selected as divinely loved ones…put on as your spiritual clothing a heart of compassion… kindness…humility…gentleness…and patience…

 

OFFERING SONG

THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU

Instrumental Version

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Like Every Christian, the Apostle Paul Had a Mission Given to Him by God

 

LESSON PART TWO

 

What was the apostle Paul’s mission?  Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 17…

 

ROMANS 15:17

Therefore, in union with Christ Jesus, I (Paul) have found a reason to be proud (to the point of boasting) about my work for God the Father (the spiritual achievement of spreading the gospel message).

 

None of us are doing anything for God.  God is doing things through us.  What is Paul proud of?

 

The incredible honor to be an apostle

 

The chance to speak the gospel

 

The privilege of planting churches all over the world

 

The right to join Jesus in His work to seek and save the lost

 

The chance to experience glory in union with Christ Jesus

 

Paul is proud of his mission…what God is able to do through Him…Acts, Chapter 21, Verses 20…

 

ACTS 21:20

And when the Jewish believers in Christ heard the things which God had done among the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry…they began glorifying God…and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law…

 

Paul was ambitious.  What was he ambitious for?  The accomplishment of his mission.  Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 18 and 19…

 

ROMANS 15:18

For I (Paul) wouldn’t dare to speak of anything except the supernatural things Christ has accomplished THROUGH me…resulting in bringing the Gentiles who are obedient to the Word (the gospel message of salvation that) I (Paul) have spoken to them and by the deeds I have done for them…

 

ROMANS 15:19

…deeds I have done in the power of signs and wonders…deeds done in the power of the Spirit…so that from Jerusalem…and round about as far as Illyricum (modern day Albania)…I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

 

The source of Paul’s mission if the source of our mission as a ministry… Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 10…

 

EPHESIANS 2:10

For we believers in Christ are God the Father’s workmanship…created to be in union with Christ Jesus for good works…which good works God the Father prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

 

Our mission and our ministry are gifts from God.

 

Paul wants people to OBEY the Lord…to listen to what the Lord has to say… especially the gospel.  Why?  Because those who love God keep His commands resulting in salvation…resulting in a holy life…resulting in a righteous life powered by God the Holy Spirit.

 

Paul illuminates the two components of his mission…words and deeds.  In words and deed Paul was used by the Lord as a spokesman…Isaiah, Chapter 52, Verse 15…

 

ISAIAH 52:15

Thus, the Lord will sprinkle many nations…Kings will shut their mouths on account of the Lord…for what had not been told them they will see…and what they had not heard they will understand.

 

Where did Paul execute his mission?  Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 20 and 21…

 

ROMANS 15:20

And I (Paul) aspired to preach the gospel…not where Christ was already known… so that I would not build on another man’s foundation (of preaching the gospel)…

 

ROMANS 15:21

…but as it is written, “They who had no news of Jesus Christ shall see…and they who have not heard of Jesus Christ shall understand.”

 

Paul went boldly where no man had gone before! (like the men of Star Trek)

 

Are you preaching the gospel to people who haven’t heard it in your local area?  That was Paul’s mission.  To find spiritual deserts and to bring the water of the Word…the gospel message offer of the Lord Jesus Christ…to those who thirst for truth.

 

Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 22 to 24…

 

ROMANS 15:22

For this reason (Paul’s hard work in preaching the gospel) I have been prevented many times from coming to you (in Rome)…

 

ROMANS 15:23

…but now, with no further place for me to preach in these regions (no virgin territory)…and since I have for many years had a longing to come to you…

 

ROMANS 15:24

…whenever I go to Spain (an unevangelized Roman colony…virgin territory for Paul, a Roman citizen)—I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while—

 

Paul accepted his mission and did the hard work.  First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 10….

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am…and His grace toward me did not prove vain…but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

 

What was the result of his mission.  The miracle of salvation for all who believed.

 

What is your mission?  What is the miracle the Lord is waiting to accomplish through you?  If you owe God anything, even though He expects nothing from you for He is UNconditional, it is to your advantage to find out.  You can make a difference each day.

 

Let’s close with the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION of the passage…Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 14 to 24…listen for the mission and the miracle of Paul’s work…

 

ROMANS 15:14

I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know the things of Scripture so well you can teach each other all about them.

 

ROMANS 15:15

Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God the Father’s grace…

 

ROMANS 15:16

…I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News (of the gospel message) so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God the Father, made holy by God the Holy Spirit.

 

ROMANS 15:17

So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God the Father.

 

ROMANS 15:18

Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God the Father by my preaching of the gospel message and by the way I worked among them.

 

 

ROMANS 15:19

They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God's Holy Spirit.  In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of the gospel message of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum (modern-day Albania).

 

ROMANS 15:20

My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where someone else has started a church.

 

ROMANS 15:21

I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about Him will see, and those who have never heard of Him will understand.”

 

ROMANS 15:22

In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.

 

ROMANS 15:23

But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.

 

ROMANS 15:24

I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News of Jesus Christ’s Salvation Offer to the Human Race

 

The next ten minutes could be the ten most important minutes of your life.  You’ll be introduced to the good news concerning how you can spend all eternity in heaven when you close your eyes in this life.  We want you to know that…

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

He Wants You Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

…and what He wants for you is that you make the most important decision of your

life.

 

Do you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?  If not, God considers you to be a sinner…the description of an unbeliever.  Yet as one of God’s creatures you are a focus of His concern and His mercy…Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 4 and 5…

 

EPHESIANS 2:4

But God…being rich in mercy (toward unbelievers) … because of His great unconditional love with which He loved us…

 

EPHESIANS 2:5

…even when we were spiritually dead…

 

God loves you unconditionally and forgives you totally, especially when you are at your worst. In the spiritual realm you are at your worst when you live a lifestyle that follows the direction of God’s enemy, Satan, and his kingdom of darkness.  A life in spiritual darkness is not the life God wants for you.  John, Chapter 10, Verse 10 highlights the life God is eager to provide…

 

JOHN 10:10

I (the Lord Jesus Christ) came that My creatures may have the resurrection life… and have it abundantly.

 

The resurrection life is a life in the light.

 

All of us were born in a state of unrighteousness…as citizens of the world…as members of the kingdom of darkness.  Said another way, we were born physically alive and spiritually dead as ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers.

 

It’s not your fault you were born this way, but it is your circumstance.

 

Who says so?  The Lord says this is true in His Word…First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a

For all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

Living a lifestyle of darkness means we don’t have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ…First John, Chapter 1, Verse 6…

 

FIRST JOHN 1:6

If we say we have fellowship with God and yet walk in a lifestyle of darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth…

 

What’s the way out of a lifestyle of darkness?  The Bible shines a light on the way out…John, Chapter 20, Verse 31 says…

 

JOHN 20:31

…these things written in the Bible have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ…(the Messiah…the Son of God…the Lord…who took on human form as Jesus…the Christ)…and that by believing in Him you may have the resurrection life (eternal life) in Hisname.

 

The way out of darkness can be summed up in one word…BELIEVE.  When you choose to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, He will usher you personally into a lifestyle of light…First John, Chapter 1, Verse 5…

 

FIRST JOHN 1:5

This is the message we apostles have heard from the Lord Jesus Christ personally and announce to you…that the Lord is Light…and in union with Him there is no darkness at all.

 

By trusting the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish your salvation, He’ll provide you with a lifestyle in the light…John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…

 

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to the doubting apostleThomas, “I am the way (to salvation) … and I am the truth (through the gospel message in the Word of God) … and I am the resurrection life (eternal life) …and no one comes to God the Father in heaven but through believing in Me.”

 

So what do you have to do to have a relationship with the Lord?  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

 

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved by God, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

JUST BELIEVE!

 

It’s pretty simple.  The Lord’s invitation is described in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3

For I (Paul) delivered to you as of primary importance the gospel message I alsoreceived from God…that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according tothe Old Testament Scriptures…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4

…and that He was buried…and He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Old Testament Scriptures…

 

RIGHT WHERE YOU SIT, RIGHT NOW, you can have a relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ…and He will welcome you into a lifestyle in the light…John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has 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…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

The Lord’s offer is directed to EVERYONE who wants to live a lifestyle in the light…in John, Chapter 6, Verse 37, the Lord says…

 

JOHN 6:37b

…the ones who come to Me to believe inMe…I will certainly not cast out into the outer darkness…the Lake of Fire.

 

If you reject a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, which is your prerogative… your choice to remain in spiritual darkness…Revelation, Chapter 21, Verse 8…

 

 

 

REVELATION 21:8

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars (all descriptions of the lifestyles of unbelievers…the lifestyles in the dark)…their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

 

Unbelievers move from spiritual death to the second death in the Lake of Fire when they close their eyes in this life.  The worst part is they do so voluntarily.  It is NOT God’s will for them.

 

Don’t let that happen to you!  Join God in heaven, the kingdom of light, when you close your eyes in this life.  Romans, Chapter 10, Verse 13…

 

ROMANS 10:13

…for “whosoever will call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved by God.”

 

First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 9 describes the Lord as…

 

FIRST PETER 2:9b

…Him who has called you unbelievers out of darkness into His marvelous light…

 

The Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom of light are waiting for your call.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News of Jesus Christ’s Salvation Offer to the Human Race

 

CLOSING SONG INTRODUCTION

 

Let’s close with music!

 

What is your mission as a Christian?  What has the Lord assigned for you to do?  The easy answer is that he wants you to spread the gospel message to unbelievers and to invite believers in Christ to study the Word.  In Acts, Chapter 1, Verse 8 the Lord reminds us how He supports our mission…

 

 

 

 

ACTS 1:8

“…you will receive power when God the Holy Spirit has come upon you (indwelling you) … and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

 

Let’s listen to Steve Green remind us of THE MISSION!

 

MUSIC

CLOSING SONG

Let’s Sing the Lord’s Praises

 

THE MISSION

Steve Green

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Almighty God and Father…

 

Thank you for giving our lives purpose with a mission!  Help us discover our unique and personal missions so we can serve You in the way You deserve…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.

 

THE ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Please make it a habit to listen to the announcements.  They are posted separately.  Keep current on the things going on and coming up in Barah Ministries.

 

DISCUSSING THE LESSON AND PRAYER CIRCLE

 

Join us Live or on Zoom Immediately Following the Lesson

 

GOT BIBLICAL QUESTIONS?

 

Ask the Pastor

pastor@barahministries.com

 

WANT US TO PRAY FOR SOMEONE?

 

Send your request to pastor@barahministries.com

 

 

KEEP ON STUDYING THE WORD OF GOD DAILY!

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

www.barahministries.com