Evangelism 4 Roman Road Series

Evangelism Series #4

CHCC: February 5, 2006

The Roman Road

Romans

SCRIPTURE READING: Romans 8:33-39

INTRODUCTION:

For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about Evangelism. But if I asked how many “Evangelists” are in here --- I bet not many hands would go up. Most of us think the word “evangelist” always comes after “TV” or “Radio” or “Crusade.” Evangelist conjures up ideas of anything from a gifted orator to an obnoxious know-it-all.

The word Evangel means “The Gospel.” So an Evangelist is really just someone who presents “The Gospel.” All Christians SHOULD be Evangelists. Most of us WANT to be Evangelists. But few of us know HOW to be Evangelists.

This week, your Pueblo Groups will look at 3 or 4 ways to present the Gospel. The one we’re going to focus on this morning is called the Roman Road. Maybe you’ve heard the saying, All roads lead to Rome. It comes from the fact that Rome built straight, durable roads connecting most of Europe and parts of Asia.

The Roman Road we’re talking about today is a simple way to present the Gospel, using scriptures only from the book of ROMANS. In the book of ROMANS, Paul gave us a great road map that leads to salvation.

We’ll start down the Roman Road by looking at 2 verses in chapter 3.

1. Our Condition

Romans 3:10 It is written, “There is none righteous, not even one."

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ….

We don’t tend to use words like righteous and sin in everyday conversation --- so they may need some explanation. Righteous means being right with God. Sin means falling short of perfection.

A lot of people don’t think of themselves as sinners. People tend to think of a sinner as someone who is morally depraved, dangerous and violent, or just plain-old disgusting. They figure they are not that bad. But nobody in their right mind thinks they’re perfect. And if you are not perfect … in every action, word, and thought … then the Bible describes you as a sinner. Jesus said, “Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” But is perfection a realistic goal?

Think of it this way: If you shoot an arrow at a target, the bulls-eye is your goal. You might feel pretty good about yourself if you just hit the TARGET (I know I would!) But in Archery, the only PERFECT shot is a BULLS EYE. You are either PERFECT with every shot, or you are FLAWED. And according to scripture, everyone --- without exception --- falls short of the mark.

Show me the basketball player who never fouls and makes every free throw. Show me the baseball player who hits a homerun every time he comes up to bat. Show me the football player who makes a touchdown every time he gets the ball. Show me the golfer who makes a hole- in-one every time he tees off. Not even Tiger Woods can make that claim. There is none perfect, no not one. Everyone is flawed. Everyone is a sinner.

Look at what Romans 6:23 says about the consequence of sin: The wages of sin is death... The deadliest killer in this world isn’t heart disease or cancer or AIDS or War. SIN is the epidemic that no one can avoid --- and sin sickness is always TERMINAL … there are no exceptions.

2. God’s Solution

If we stopped there, the Roman Road would be a DEAD END --- literally. But Romans 6:23 immediately takes a life-saving turn. The wages of sin is death … BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Romans 5:8 explains: God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!

Now, I want you to put yourself in the middle of a Disaster Movie. Pretend you’ve just learned that a giant meteor will destroy the Continental United States next week. All transportation is out of commission. The government can’t help. The military can’t help. It’s every man for himself. And there is only one way to be saved: swim to Hawaii.

Everyone lines up on the coast. Olympic swimmers stand next to people from the Seaside Retirement Home. Some start out strong. Others can barely totter into the surf before going under. But no one is going to make the 2,500 mile swim on their own. In the end the strongest will be just as dead in the water as the weakest.

In the same way, none of us are going to make it to Heaven on our own. That’s why Jesus came to Save us. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He built the BRIDGE that can get us there. This BRIDGE is available for anyone and everyone --- free of charge. But it does no good unless you choose to walk across it.