(# 280) Romans 8 - God Thinks You’re Worth It

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.  Barah Ministries teaches the Word of God from God’s perspective and not from a human perspective.  We want to know what God has to say to us though His Word because we’re convinced that God knows exactly what He’s talking about.  And our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

God Thinks You’re Worth It

 

There are many words that God uses to describe His believers…righteous… beloved…and precious are among these words.  Isaiah, Chapter 43, Verses 1 to 5a…

 

Isaiah 43:1

But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name (out of Egypt); you are Mine!”

 

Isaiah 43:2

“When you pass through the waters (of the Red Sea), I will be with you; and as you pass through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.”

 

Isaiah 43:3

“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, and Cush (southern Egypt) and Seba (southern Arabia) in your place.”

 

Isaiah 43:4

“Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and since I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.”

 

Isaiah 43:5a

“Do not fear, for I am with you…”

 

God is on your side.

 

Sotheby’ s, one of the world’s largest brokers of art objects and fine jewelry auctioned off a sixty carat perfect diamond called The Pink Star in 2013 for .2 million dollars.  You are worth more than that to God.  As a matter of fact, when God communicates your worth to Him, He says it clearly…

 

          “You are so precious to me that

I am willing to give up a Son for you.”

 

First John, Chapter 3, Verse 1…

 

First John 3:1

See how great the unconditional love is that God the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God the Father…and such we are.

 

Welcome to a place where you can learn just how precious you are to a God who thinks you are worth it.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

JESUS THE ONE AND ONLY

Babbie Mason

 

The opening song for this lesson is JESUS THE ONE AND ONLY

by Babbie Mason.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, sometimes we don’t feel very lovable…and sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we mess things up in our lives, and it leaves us feeling guilty and unlovable…the funds are low…the debts are high…and all that we have to handle seems to pile up…but thank you for letting us know, over and over again, that we are precious in Your sight…thank you for letting us know that You love us unconditionally…thank you for letting us know that You are working everything out for our good…

 

Take us into Your precious arms when we feel weak, and carry us to our destiny…the one You planned for each of us individually about a billion years ago…

 

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

 

Let’s begin this lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

In just a moment we’ll welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall to take the offering.

 

What is God’s attitude toward giving?  Silly question!  “God the Father loved the world so much that He GAVE” … He gave His uniquely born Son, in fact…and Second Corinthians, Chapter 9, Verse 7 highlights the giving attitude that is a reflection of our God…

 

Second Corinthians 9:7

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

 

But let’s face it…people are turned off to giving…when someone comes up to you on the street begging for money…when someone is by the side of the freeway with a sign begging for money…are you judging them…are you turned off to them…are they even people to you?  That wasn’t the Lord’s attitude toward those in need.  He wasn’t wondering if they were “conning” Him…HE GAVE!  He wasn’t worried about what they did with what He gave them…He just GAVE! 

 

The Lord loves when we imitate Him with the voluntary willingness to give,

demonstrating His grace as we are giving.  Let this attitude be your guide as you make an offering…and know that God gave you the money you are about to give…and He always pays back what you give with MUCH MORE.  Please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

John 15:7

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

God Thinks You’re Worth It

 

We continue our study of Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 31 to 39…

 

Romans 8:31

What then shall we believers in Christ say face-to-face with all these things?  If God the Father is for us, and He is, who is ever going to be successful in opposition against us?

 

Romans 8:32

God the Father, who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will the Father not also, with our union with Christ, freely give us all things?

 

Romans 8:33

Who will bring a successful charge against God’s elect (all believers in Christ)? God is the one who justifies…

 

Romans 8:34

…who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather He who was raised…He who is at the right hand of God the Father…He who also intercedes for us.

 

Romans 8:35

Who will separate us from the unconditional love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword separate us from His unconditional love?

 

Romans 8:36

Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;

we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 

Romans 8:37

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

 

Romans 8:38

For I (Paul) am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers…

 

Romans 8:39

…nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the unconditional love of God the Father, which is for us through our union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

If you are going to have a relationship with God you have to be reconciled with God.  What is reconciliation?

 

RECONCILIATION

To cause someone or something to conform to a standard

 

The Lord Jesus Christ went to a Cross to pay for your reconciliation… shedding His blood for you…and this shed blood gives you the chance to have an intimate relationship with God…Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 14…

 

Ephesians 2:14

For He Himself (the Lord Jesus Christ) is our peace, who made both groups (Jews and Gentiles) into one group and who broke down the barrier of the dividing wall…

 

God thinks you’re worth it so He reconciled you to Himself…His death on a Cross conformed you to the standard of RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is given to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation.  Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 31…

 

Romans 8:31

What then shall we believers in Christ say face-to-face with all these things?  If God the Father is for us, and He is, who is ever going to be successful in opposition against us?

 

No one of course!  The Lord Jesus Christ…the One who is FOR us…is the Redeemer of the whole world.  What does it mean to redeem?

 

REDEEM

The act of setting free…the process of liberating someone

 

Let’s hear what Dwight Pentecost has to say about redemption…

 

J. DWIGHT PENTECOST ON REDEMPTION

 

THE RETURN OF a victorious general to the city of Rome transformed the staid and austere atmosphere of the city into a festive occasion. When a Roman general had been victorious over an enemy, he returned to Rome at the head of a great triumphal procession.

 

J. DWIGHT PENTECOST ON REDEMPTION

 

He led back in triumph not only the forces that had served under him, but he also brought back the spoils of the conquered land as well as a large number of captives. All these formed the great triumphal procession. When the news of the victory reached the city of Rome, preparations would be made for the conqueror’s return, for it was a time in which the glory won by the conqueror was heaped upon his head.

 

J. DWIGHT PENTECOST ON REDEMPTION

 

He rode into the city to be received by the nobles and the dignitaries in a manner becoming his victory.  This was a time to which the wealthy looked forward, for they could buy from the spoils of conquest the treasures that would adorn their homes.

 

J. DWIGHT PENTECOST ON REDEMPTION

 

It was a time anticipated by the slave owner who desired to enlarge the number of his slaves, for after the captives had been led in the triumphal procession, they would be taken to the slave market and there, one by one, would be put upon a slave block where they might be examined and tested by prospective buyers, and then purchased to be brought into a life of bondage and servitude.

 

J. DWIGHT PENTECOST ON REDEMPTION

 

It was this concept of slaves in a slave market which was uppermost in the minds of the apostles as they spoke of the great work of the Lord Jesus Christ as a Redeemer and the work of redemption which He had provided for sinners.

 

J. DWIGHT PENTECOST ON REDEMPTION

 

The Word of God looks upon men who are in sin as bond-slaves. It looks upon them as being under a master who has conquered and subdued them, and who can deliver them over to even greater bondage. The Scripture views the sinner as without any will of his own, indentured to serve sin and to be a bond-slave of Satan, to do whatsoever Satan demands. Jesus Christ has come into that slave market in order that He might purchase those who are in sin’s chains, so that He might set them free.

 

J. DWIGHT PENTECOST ON REDEMPTION

 

We will never be able to praise our Redeemer for His redemption until we understand our condition in sin, our need of redemption, the cost of redemption, and the deliverance that has been afforded us by the Redeemer.

 

Let’s take a quick music break and then see why God thinks you’re worth it.

 

MUSIC BREAK

MY TRIBUTE

Andre Crouch

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

God Thinks You’re Worth It

 

God thinks you are worth it so much that He sent His Son to redeem you…to purchase you out of slavery.  First, He got the problem of Adam’s sin out of your way…John, Chapter 1, Verse 29…

 

John 1:29

The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

 

The Lord allowed Himself to be a sacrificial victim to pay for the sins of all mankind, then the Lord purchased you from the slave market…Job, Chapter 33, Verse 28…

 

Job 33:28

‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit (the Lake of Fire), and my life shall see the light.’

 

There is nothing left for us to do but to brag about what God has done for His unworthy enemies.  For this sacrifice we celebrate…Psalm 71, Verse 23…

 

Psalm 71:23

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; and my soul, which You have redeemed (shouts for joy and sings praises).

 

Luke, Chapter 1, Verse 68…

 

Luke 1:68

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us (on earth) and has accomplished redemption for His people…”

 

Romans, Chapter 3, Verses 21 to 26…

 

Romans 3:21

BUT NOW, APART FROM THE MOSAIC LAW, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD HAS BEEN MANIFESTED, being witnessed to by the Mosaic Law and by the Old Testament Prophets…

 

Romans 3:22

…even the righteousness of God the Father through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for all those who believe; for there is no distinction (gender, social class, race)…

 

Romans 3:23

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God the Father…

 

Romans 3:24

…being justified as a gift by His grace (by the) through and (through) redemption which is a result of being in (union with) Christ Jesus…

 

Romans 3:25

…whom God the Father displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate the Father’s righteousness, because in the forbearance of God the Father He passed over the sins previously committed…

 

Romans 3:26

…for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be considered just and so that He would be considered the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 

God thinks you’re worth it.

 

How did God redeem us?  Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 32…

 

Romans 8:32

God the Father, who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will the Father not also, with our union with Christ, freely give us all things?

 

When we hear HOW WILL HE NOT, we should hear, “Why wouldn’t He also?”  Doesn’t it follow that if God the Father did the toughest thing for us, giving up His Son instead of us, that He would also do the easy things for us?    First Peter, Chapter 1, Verse 17…

 

First Peter 1:17

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in respect during the time of your stay on earth…

 

First Peter 1:18

…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers…

 

You’re more precious that gold, silver and diamonds…PRECIOUS!

 

First Peter 1:19

…but you were redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

 

All of us belong to God by means of Him creating us…only some of us are His by choice…the will we express to be purchased by Christ’s redemptive work…Revelation, Chapter 5, Verse 9…

 

Revelation 5:9

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and you purchased for God the Father with Your blood, men from every tribe and every tongue and every people and every nation.”

 

God went shopping for us with the gospel message…in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…here’s what the Lord Jesus Christ says…

 

John 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life (the resurrection life…the ZOE life); but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see eternal life, but the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

The currency for the purchase of you?  Blood.  The word is PROPITIATION.  The Lord’s blood is the only currency that God the Father accepts…it is the perfect currency…it is the perfect payment for your sin.  What is the result of the purchase?  Galatians, Chapter 3, Verse 13…

 

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”

 

The purchase currency offered by the Lord Jesus Christ was so perfect that we can never return to slavery again.  You Church Age believers are a love gift from God the Father to God the Son…and as believers in the Son you are in a union with Him that you can never be removed from…John, Chapter 10, Verse 28…

 

John 10:28

“…and I (the Lord Jesus Christ) give eternal life to believers in Christ, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

 

Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 10…

 

Ephesians 2:10

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

 

God thinks you’re worth it.  Do you think you’re worth it?

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

The Most Important Decision of Your Life

Matthew 22:42

“What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?”

 

Matthew 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.//For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

 

John 10:9

Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, (maybe you will and maybe you won’t you have a choice) he will be saved, and then he will go in and out and find pasture.”

 

Luke 23:42-43

And the repentant thief was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!// And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

 

CLOSING SONG

YOU RAN AFTER ME 

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION

 

We pray that You protect our steps as we go out into the world, Father…and that you keep us on the narrow way, completely dependent on You and Your Guiding, Mentoring Spirit…we ask this in Christ’s name, Amen.

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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