Romans 1.1-7

Paul packs a lot into seven verses. A summary view of the gospel he will spend the next several chapters explaining. I fully expected to get through verse 17 with this first sermon, but you can see by the part 1 I didn’t quite get there. Welcome to Romans.

Two things I want to leave you with. The gospel is for the lost…for those who have not yet trusted in Jesus. To you I want to say…God has been pursuing wayward sons and daughters from the beginning. Because of His amazing grace. Because of His astounding love. He has provided a way through Jesus that we might know Him and be reconciled to Him and be saved. Forgiveness of sins and eternal life. If you have not yet trusted in Jesus, why not make today the day?

The gospel is also for the found…for those of us who have trusted in Jesus. We have been saved on purpose for a purpose. To do good works, to let our light shine, to obey the One who has saved us. In our free and independent culture we sure don’t like the idea of having to be beholden to anyone. We don’t like folks telling us what to do. We want to be our own man/woman. We want to be our own boss.

And yet the Christian life is one of obedience. If we trust the One we are called to obey…if we really believe that He loves us, that He knows us, and that He wants the best for us, then obedience should be one of the easiest things we could do (John 15). So if you are having a hard time with obedience…doing what Jesus says…my guess is that there is a breakdown somewhere. Either you doubt God’s love for you or that He really knows/cares about you or that He wants what’s best for you. Which might that be for you?

This series in the book of Romans is a great opportunity to invite folks to church. In it we see the seriousness of sin and the greatness of God’s love. It reminds us that both the sinner and the seemingly self-righteous are in need of a Savior…and that there is hope in Jesus.

As we go through the book of Romans, we will learn a lot about what God calls us to do. Let’s commit right now to do it.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Romans series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @ccclancaster