Church At The Cross

Scripture: Romans 15:14–29 Key Takeaways:  1 Timothy 1:12–17 (CSB) + Ministry to the Church + Ministry to the Needy 1 Corinthians 16:1–2 (CSB) 2 Corinthians 8:9 (CSB) + Ministry to the Unreached + The Unreached will be reached Revelation 7:9–12 (CSB) + It will take missionaries with ambition who are willing to go 1 Thessalonians 2:19–20 (CSB) + It will take the preaching of the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. + It will happen through Church Planting + It will happen through sacrificial Christians who see their role in God’s great mission as senders and pray-ers.

Scripture: Romans 15:8-13 Key Takeaways: + God is a Trustworthy God. 2 Corinthians 1:20 (CSB) Titus 1:2 (ESV) + God is a Merciful God. Isaiah 30:18 (NIV) + God is a Missionary God. Genesis 12:3 (ESV) Illus: ee-taow. Image of Missionary being carried. Psalm 67:4 (ESV) Matthew 24:14 (ESV) + God is a Hope-Giving God. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (CSB) Titus 2:13 (ESV)

Scripture: Romans 14:19 -15:1–7 Key Takeaways: + Every person has a God-given Conscience. Hebrews 10:22 (ESV) + Our conscience needs to be obeyed. + Christians disagree on matters of conscience. + Nobody has an inerrant conscience. + We must prioritize Christian Unity over our personal freedoms. + “When do you have the freedom to do something?” 1.      Does this violate a biblical command or principle? 2.      Is there a latent danger to me in doing this? 3.     Am I fully persuaded this is OK for me to do? 4.    Will this be a barrier to the people I’m trying to reach. 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 (ESV) 5.     Will a weaker brother or sister that I am with in this moment be encouraged to follow my example and violate their conscience. 6.     Does doing this in this moment introduce a barrier to Christian fellowship? 7.     Does this negatively impact my thought life? Philippians 4:8 (ESV) 8.     What is my motive for doing this?

Scripture: Romans 14:13-23 Key Takeaways: + Not everything in the Christian Life is Black and White + The Temptation to make gray what is black and white 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (ESV) Galatians 6:1 (ESV) + The Temptation to make black and white what is gray + Love Requires that we Limit our Freedom 1 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV) + Experiencing the Holy Spirit is more critical than experiencing my freedom and more effective than increasing my restrictions. Colossians 2:20-23 (NLT) Galatians 5:16 (ESV)

Scripture: Romans 14:10-12 Key Takeaways: “On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” ― Nicene Creed, 325 AD John 5:22-24 (ESV) + Make sure you’re ready to stand before Jesus. Romans 10:9-13 (ESV) Isaiah 45:22–24 (NIV) + Make every effort to help people confidently stand before Jesus. Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for. ― Charles Spurgeon + Our Vison: Helping People & Places Encounter Jesus “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Natio

Scripture: Romans 14:1-9 Key Takeaways: + There are gray areas that each Christian must decide upon for themselves + A growing confidence in the gospel leads to a growing freedom in the gray spaces. Colossians 2:16–17 (NIV) + We are to give grace to one another in the gray spaces. + Whatever you do in the gray space, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

Scripture: Romans 13:11-14 Key Takeaways:   + Wake Up   1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (ESV)   + Get Dressed

Scripture: Romans 13:8-10 Key Takeaways:  + Love is our greatest and ongoing debt + Love is the measure of our maturity John 13:34–35 (ESV) Maturity is not marked by how much of the bible you know, your church attendance, your impeccable morality, your spiritual experiences, your giftedness, even your service, or commitment to God. All those things are good, but they are nothing without love.  1 Corinthians 13:1–3 (ESV) 1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 (ESV)  “The rule of love is that one should wish his friend to have all the good things he wants to have himself and should not wish the evils to befall his friend which he wishes to avoid himself. He shows this benevolence to all men. No evil must be done to any. Love of one’s neighbor works no evil. Let us then love even our enemies as we are commanded, if we wish to be truly unconquered.” St. Augustine, “Of True Religion.” Luke 6:27–36 (ESV) + Start in your home + Make this house a house of love  + Care more about being righteous than being right + Be

Scripture: Romans 13:1-7 Key Takeaways:   + Christians inhabit 2 kingdoms   Ephesians 1:19-23   Colossians 1:13-14   Daniel 2:19-21   Jeremiah 27:4-6   Daniel 4:31-32   John 19:11   Revelation 1:5   Revelation 11:15   + All human government is ordained by God and Christians are to submit to it. To resist the government is to resist God. To submit to the government is a way to live free of fear. Governing authority is for the good of an ordered and just society.   + Christians should never violate their conscience through disobedience to the government or by obedience to the government.   Acts 5:29   “For men’s religion to God is between God and themselves. The king shall not answer for it. Neither may the king be judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews or whatsoever it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure. This is made evident by our lord the king by the scriptures.” - Thomas Helwyss, “A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity” (1612).

Scripture: Romans 12:14-21 Key Takeaways:   + Bless   Matthew 5:10-12   + Live in Harmony Harmony Requires Humility Pride is the Enemy of Harmony   + Do Not Do Evil Romans 6:17-18 Romans 3:10-12 + Our vengeance is evil + Only God’s wrath can offer full vengeance + Vengeance is not for us, but for the glory of God

Scripture: Romans 12:9-13 Key Takeaways:   “Beloved Brethren, we are philosophers not in word but in deeds; we exhibit our wisdom not by our dress, but by truth; we know virtues by their practice rather than through boasting of them; we do not speak great things, but we live them.” Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 256.   + Genuine Love Genuine Discerning Affectionate   Psalm 16:2-3 (ESV) Honoring + Zealous Service   + Patient Joy   + Generous Hospitality

Scripture: Romans 12:3-8 Key Takeaways:   New Identity New Assignment   1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (ESV) 1 Corinthians 12:11 (ESV)     New Power   Ephesians 3:7-8 (ESV) Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV)

Scripture: Romans 12:2 Key Takeaways:   Resist the Formation of the World   Galatians 1:3-5 (ESV) Romans 8:5-8 (ESV) “We can present our bodies to the Lord as genuinely holy and acceptable sacrifices only if we “do not conform to this world” but “are transformed by the renewing of the mind. - Douglas Moo Renew your Mind by the Gospel   Titus 3:5-7 (ESV)   “MY DEAR WORMWOOD, I note with grave displeasure that your patient has become a Christian. Do not indulge the hope that you will escape the usual penalties; indeed, in your better moments, I trust you would hardly even wish to do so. In the meantime we must make the best of the situation. There is no need to despair; hundreds of these adult converts have been reclaimed after a brief sojourn in the Enemy's camp and are now with us. All the habits of the patient, both mental and bodily, are still in our favour.” - Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis   Ephesians 4:17-24 (ESV)   Restore your Dignity by the Spirit’s Help   Romans 8:13-14 (NIV) 2 Cor

Scripture: Romans 12:1 Key Takeaways:  “The Christian and the Materialist hold different beliefs about the universe. They can’t both be right. The one who is wrong will act in a way which simply doesn’t fit the real universe. Consequently, with the best will in the world, he will be helping his fellow creatures to their destruction.” - C.S. Lewis   Romans 12:1 (NIV)   Romans 1:24-25 (ESV)   Romans 12:1 (NIV)   Offer Your Body to God   1 Peter 2:5 (ESV)   Philippians 4:18 (ESV)   Display the Worth & Beauty of Christ in Your Body.   “It has been said that in the New Testament doctrine is grace; and ethics is gratitude; and something is wrong with any form of Christianity in which, experimentally and practically, this saying is not being verified. Those who suppose that the doctrine of God's grace tends to encourage moral laxity are simply showing that, in the most literal sense, they do not know what they are talking about. For love awakens love in return; and love, once awakened, desir

This sermon explores Romans 11:25-32, emphasizing that theology should lead us to doxology (praise) and devotion (godliness). It underscores the wonder and worth of God, the wisdom and ways of God, and the wealth and works of God, acknowledging that while God can be truly known, He cannot be fully comprehended.  Scripture: Romans 11:25-32 Key Takeaways: “As I often tell my students, theology is for doxology and devotion—that is, the praise of God and the practice of godliness...Theology is at its healthiest when it is consciously under the eye of the God of whom it speaks, and when it is singing to his glory.” -       J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs. + Theology is for Doxology and devotion. + The Wonder and Worth of God. 1 Kings 10:23 (CSB)  1 Kings 10:4–8 (CSB) + The Wisdom and Ways of God -       God can be truly known but not fully known. Deuteronomy 29:29 (CSB) Psalm 56:8–9 (CSB) + The Wealth and Works of God. Psalm 50:12 (CSB) Colossians 1

Scripture: Romans 11:25-32 Key Takeaways: God has a heart for the Jewish people and so should we. Salvation is of God so be humble. 1 Corinthians 1:28–31 God lets us fall into and feel our sin so we might marvel at His mercy.

Scripture: Romans 11:11-24 Key Takeaways: Main Idea: "God has always wanted a people to reveal his glory to and display his glory through.   Three Parts of God's Plan Genesis 12:2–3 Ephesians 3:6   Ephesians 3:9   “The restoration of Israel is an easier process than the call of the gentiles” - John Stott   Two Ways to Respond   Romans 10:3-4   One Hope for us All   Isaiah 49:6 Revelation 7:9   “One cannot help but wonder what the remarkable result would be if this mass of lay people could be spiritually released from their servitude in the American success system and reoriented to channel their major energies toward building the Kingdom of God” - Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life   1.          Continue in God’s Kindness 2.         Fear the Lord 3.         Be Stubbornly Hopeful

Scripture: Romans 10:13-11:11 Key Takeaways:   Even when it looks like unbelief is winning the day, God is at work saving a people for himself.      1 Peter 3:18   “At the turn of the 20th century, Africa was home to less than 10 million Christians, fewer than any other region except Oceania. By 2000, the Christian population in Africa had exploded to more than 383 million. In 2020, more Christians lived in Africa than any other region of the world. By 2050, with a Christian population of more than 1.28 billion, more Christians will call Africa home than the next two most populous regions—Asia and Latin America—combined.” - Aaron Earls, Lifeway Research.      God has a purpose in every tragedy, even the tragedy of unbelief.   Romans 1:16 Acts 13:46 Acts 18:6 Acts 28:24–28 Matthew 21:42–43 Acts 2:22–24 Romans 8:28 2 Corinthians 1:8–11   The Gospel has the power to give you an enviable life.     1 Peter 3:15

Scripture: Romans 10:5–17 Key Takeaways:   A Person is saved solely by faith in the crucified and risen Lord Jesus, apart from works. Apart from personal, conscious, saving faith in Jesus people will experience eternal judgment.   Romans 2:5 Ezekiel 18:23 Ezekiel 33:11 John 3:16–17   Universalism   Mark 9:42–48 Matthew 25:46 Revelation 20:14–15   “Hell is a dreadful reality. To speak of it lightly proves we do not grasp its horror. I know of no one who has overstated the terrors of hell. We can scarcely surpass the horrid images Jesus used. We are meant to shudder. Why? Because the infinite horrors of hell are intended by God to be a vivid demonstration of the infinite value of his glory which sinners have belittled…When people repeat the centuries old objection that an eternal punishment is disproportionate to a finite life of sinning, they disregard the essential thing…The essential thing is that degrees of blameworthiness come not from how long you offend dignity, but from

Scripture: Romans 9:30-10:4 Key Takeaways:   God did not promise salvation to every ethnic Israelite, but only to those he sovereignly chose to be recipients of his saving love (Romans 9:6-29).   Israel did not respond to Jesus in faith (Romans 9:30-10:21).   John 5:39-40 John 6:35-45   Because the Gospel is so shocking, many people are offended by it and stumble over it.   Philippians 3:4-9   Because the Gospel is so shocking, it takes a work of God to believe it.    2 Corinthians 4:4-6   To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them. — John Calvin