The Power Of One Series

THE POWER OF ONE

(The Power of JOY!)

BTCC Summit • December 17, 2006

Verse-by-verse through the Book of Romans

“Unexpected Power” Part 3

IMAG 01 – Unexpected Power

Going verse-by-verse through Book of Romans

• The last in our 3-week “Unexpected Power” series

o “The Hidden Power of the Poor”

o “The Hidden Power of Prayer”

• Today: “The Power of ONE”

Please turn with me to one of the “folksiest” passages in the Bible:

• Romans 16:1-16, 21-24

o [P. 806…Zchurch virtual Bible]

 Names/descriptions of 37 people!

When you begin to list just SOME of the things God did NOT see fit to include in the Bible…like –

• What was going on in Jesus’ life between the ages of 2 and 12 – or 12 and 30?

• What did God have in MIND when He made Tyrannosaurus Rex?

• Why are some the world’s best-tasting foods so BAD for you?

• Why do women THINK like they do?

• Why do people wait until the most critically important part of the football game to walk into the room and ask you a question?

When you think of all the things that are NOT covered in the Bible…it blows your mind that THIS made it!

• A chit-chatty list of 37 mostly obscure names!

EXCEPT…

• Every time I think I know better than God…I end up being wrong!

So why are all those names IN there!

• Actually, a number of excellent reasons…

o Today, going to focus on just ONE of them:

 “The Power of ONE” – one PERSON!

Why are some people – all by themselves – able to make such a huge difference?

• Why are some people able to ACCOMPLISH more?

o Able to make a bigger IMPACT?

Well…some people are just SMARTER

• …more INTENSE

o …more GIFTED

 …more DRIVEN

Wouldn’t it be great if God had provided an amazing source of power for EVERY Christian?

• Something that would enable ordinary people…to make an EXTRA-ordinary difference?

He HAS!

Nehemiah 8:10

“…the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Joy appears 246 times in Scripture!

• The joy of the LORD is ALL OVER the Bible!

o This morning just a taste of this feast!

For those of you who are mature Christians…

• You know that God’s joy in you is more powerful than anything else out there!

(Psalms 4:7) You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

(Psalms 30:11) You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…”

(Psalms 94:19) When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

(2 Corinthians 7:4) I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.

Ah, but we have with us this morning a number of you who are brand-new in your relationship with Jesus!

(1 Peter 1:8-9) Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, {9} for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

(Matthew 13:20-21) The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. {21} But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

My 13 year-old was recently paid $50 to participate in a survey

• I told her I deposited it into a savings account on our bank’s web site

o Worried look on her face

• She believed me when I told her it was there

o But the next thing she wanted to know is how to ACCESS it!

How do you ACCESS the joy Jesus has already deposited in your heart?

(Psalms 119:111) Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.

(Psalms 51:12) Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

(Psalms 43:4) Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.

(Psalms 21:6) Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

(Luke 6:22-23) Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. {23} "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.