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.
(John 15:10-12) If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. {11} I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. {12} My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16) Be joyful always;
(Hebrews 12:2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(James 1:2-4) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, {3} because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. {4} Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
No wonder the angel appeared to those shepherds 2,000 years ago at the birth of Jesus and said to them:
Luke 2:10 “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Mention Christmas Communion this Wednesday – always a highlight of the entire year as we remember the baby who came to die for our sins! ONE PERSON…paid it all for us – Romans 5:17, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the ONE MAN, Jesus Christ.”
