The Gospel - The Power Of God Series

Series - Summer in Rome

Sermon 1 - The Gospel – The Power of God

Romans 1:1-17

Written by Paul, a Servant of Christ Jesus, set apart for the Gospel

Written to Romans, those Loved by God, called to be Saints

The Gospel is the power of God to live life eternally

The Gospel is the power of God to live life Righteously

Transition slide

Series Introduction

Good morning.

It is hard to believe that we are already in May. The kids are going to be out of school in the next month, but at least the weather seems to be finally turning a corner toward summer.

Before you know it, the kids will be on vacation for the summer and many families and people will be planning summer vacations.

So, I thought we would have a summer vacation as well and that we would all spend our Summer in Rome!

Slide

How does that sound?

Well, we aren’t actually going to go there, but we are going to be spending most of our summer with the people of Rome as we work our way through the letter to the Romans over this summer.

As we begin this journey, I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do in our church, both in the lives of us as individuals and as the body of Christ. This is a book of the Bible that has had some profound impact upon the lives of great men of faith throughout history.

This is the book that Martin Luther

Slide

called the “chief part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel.” He wrote a commentary on the letter to the Romans and God has used the teaching of even that to spur men onto great things.

John Wesley,

Slide

a missionary and preacher during a time of great revival, in hearing a message on Martin Luther’s preface to Romans, was saved as he wrote in His journal later that “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine and saved me from the law of sin and death.” (as quoted by Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Vol. 1, p. 514)

Sermon Intro

So this morning, we are going to jump right in as we turn to Romans 1:1-17

Slide

As you turn there, I will let you know that we will take a few weeks off here and there from preaching on Romans for things like Mothers’ Day next week, but it is my hope that as we go through this letter, we too, will experience an awakening in our hearts and in this community like was sparked during revivals in the time of John Wesley.

Let’s begin by reading

Romans 1:1-17

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.