Stop The Presses Series

We have a new president!! How many watched the inauguration this past week? How many watched our president sign executive orders in the Oval Office with the Press Corp for 40 minutes answering questions? How about the press conference he called the first day in office? He announced some big technology A.I. investment taking place that could eventually make it possible that if you have the gene for cancer, or if they take your blood and you have a cancer cell in your blood, they could develop a cure for that particular cancer in 45 minutes. That's the hope in the near future. I mean the things that they were talking about being able to do with this AI technology was just crazy.

It got me to thinking...What if God were to call a press conference, what do you think He would say? If God were to issue a news release for the world today, what do you think His message would be?

There are some people who think they know what God would say, but do we really know? Some think God would say, "I'm really mad at you guys, and if you don't knock it off, I'm going to send judgment!"

Then there are those who think God is saying, "Don't worry be happy."

In 1999 an anonymous Fort Lauderdale resident tried to answer the question of what God would say. this person hired the Smith advertising agency in Fort Lauderdale to create an ad campaign to get people thinking about God. Maybe this would do the trick today, I don't know, but I thought I'd share some with you this morning.

"Let's meet at My house on Sunday before the game--God"

"We need to talk"

"I loved the wedding, now invite me to the marriage."

"Don't make me come down there."

"I don't question your existence."

I like these ads. They've very clever, but is that really what God would say in a press conference?

Maybe you heard of the book, "Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue" by Neal Walsch. Mr. Walsch was a Viet Nam veteran and in 1992 his life was falling apart. He sat down and wrote an angry letter to God. In the letter he asked God all kinds of hard questions. According to Walsch, right after he finished writing his letter, with the pen still in his hand, his hand suddenly started writing on its own and through an ancient occultic technique called automatic writing God supposedly answered all his questions. After that time, this became a regular event between Walsch and God. Walsch would ask a question,a nd through automatic writing God would allegedly answer. Now, according to Walsch, everything is acceptable to God and nothing is offensive in God's eyes. According to Walsch, "God's greatest moment is the moment you realize you need no God." Walsch's God says, "I do not want your worship...and it is not necessary for you to serve Me...My purpose for you is that you should know yourself as Me."

Is that true? That God just wants us to know that everything's fine and we need to get in touch with our own godhead? If God were to issue a press release, what would He say? Well, fortunately, we don't have to guess about it. God has given us everything He wants us to know in His book. The 66 books of the Bible and in the Bible, the most comprehensive explanation of God's press release to the world is found in the New Testament the book of Romans. So, today we start a new study and series through this incredible letter to the Romans called, "GOOD NEWS FOR OUR TIMES"

Here's a little background to Romans. It is written by the apostle Paul, who wrote 13-14 books of the 27 books of the New Testament. The reason I say 13-14 is that it depends on whether you attribute Hebrews to him or not. There is some debate on that among the experts. Paul had once been an angry, bitter enemy of the Christian faith. But all that changed when Jesus appeared to him. Paul's transformation was a radical one. From an anti-Christian bigot, to a passionate Christian missionary.

Romans is the longest of Paul's letters. It's probably also the most complex. So, that means two things for us: it will probably take us awhile to get through it and it also means that I'm asking you to think through this process.

In the 2,000 years since Paul wrote this letter, Romans has had an incredible impact on our world. It was Paul's letter to the Romans that brought an out-of-control party animal named Augustine to faith in Christ. Augustine went on to become one of the most prolific and influential Christian thinkers of his generation. It was Romans that sparked the Protestant Reformation. as a monk named Martin Luther discovered forgiveness of his sins in the message of Romans. In fact, Luther said every Christian should memorize Romans and meditate on it every day.