Theological Status: FAITHFUL (Sound)
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Philadelphia
❓ What do these grades mean?
🔍 Biblical Discernment: The 7 Church Parallels
The Cold Orthodox Parallel
Ephesus
Teaching that upholds doctrinal precision yet parallels the loss of the "first love"—the vital, motivating power of the Gospel (Rev 2:4).
The Compromised Parallel
Pergamum
Teaching that parallels churches tolerating the "doctrine of Balaam" through cultural accommodation (Rev 2:14), characterized by weak boundaries, sloppy theology, and worldly compromise.
Why strictly "Mark & Avoid"?
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. ⚠️ Ministry Warning: While this specific sermon is faithful, this ministry's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. ⚠️ Ministry Warning: While this specific sermon is faithful, this ministry's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
🧐 Overview
Theological Verdict & Summary
Sermon Summary: In a world that offers empty success and demands passive religion, the Gospel calls believers to a radical, active loyalty to Christ that transforms every aspect of daily life.
Pastoral Analysis: Pastor Stouffer delivers a compelling exposition of Romans 1, challenging the congregation to move beyond a watered-down faith to one of distinct, active discipleship. While the sermon lacks explicit technical teaching on penal substitutionary atonement, it successfully anchors the call to holiness in the power of the Gospel, avoiding moralism through its emphasis on Christ's faithfulness versus our unfaithfulness.
Biblical Parallel (Archetype): Philadelphia — The sermon demonstrates a faithful adherence to the Word of Christ, maintaining doctrinal integrity while emphasizing the necessity of active faith and loyalty to Christ. The teaching avoids cultural compromise and remains focused on the power of the Gospel, characteristic of the faithful church that keeps the Word without denying it.
Big Idea: Believers are called to live in daily faithfulness and loyalty to Christ, recognizing that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, rather than a watered-down personal preference. [00:34:08 ▶️ 📄]
📖 How they Handle Scripture & Jesus
- Primary Text: Romans 1:16-17
- Usage Classification: Expository
- Text-to-Talk Ratio: Low
- Pulpit Decorum: ✅ PASS - The sermon maintains a respectful and pastoral tone, using illustrations effectively without coarse language or pejoratives.
✝️ Christological Focus: Redemptive-Historical
"The sermon connects the believer's call to faithfulness directly to the redemptive work of Christ as the faithful Groom and the power of the Gospel for salvation."
Scripture Saturation: Verses Read: 2 | Referenced: 5 | Alluded: 3
📖 View 1 Passages Read Aloud
-
Romans 1:16-17
[00:50:51 ▶️ 📄]
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God's salvation to everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as is written, the just shall live by faith."
Key References: Romans, Habakkuk, Psalms, Deuteronomy, John
🎙️ Sermon Content & Delivery
Word Count: 2,802 words
📌 View 10 Key Topics Addressed
-
The Nature of the Gospel
[00:34:08 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor argues against a 'watered down' private faith, asserting that the gospel is offensive, liberating, and life-giving, transforming believers from persecutors to liberators. -
Definition of Sin
[00:37:02 ▶️ 📄]
> Sin is defined not just as bad behavior but as 'missing the mark of God' and failing to be His reflection or image bearer. -
Biblical Definition of Faith
[00:38:35 ▶️ 📄]
> Faith is distinguished from mere intellectual belief ('Santa Claus effect') and is defined in the Old Testament context as loyalty and definite devotion to God. -
God's Faithfulness
[00:39:57 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor illustrates God's faithfulness through the Garden of Eden, the Exodus, and the golden calf incident, showing God remains faithful even when humans fail. -
Daily Salvation and Sanctification
[00:42:25 ▶️ 📄]
> Salvation is described as a daily process ('I'm being saved daily') involving humility and living differently from the world. -
Gospel Availability and Brokenness
[00:44:37 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor asserts that the gospel is for broken people, not the perfect, and emphasizes the need to understand the Old Testament to grasp Paul's message about Jesus. -
Responsibility and Surrender in Faith
[00:45:57 ▶️ 📄]
> He argues against a passive faith, stating there is a responsibility to surrender, walk in Christ, and live as a new creation rather than just claiming salvation. -
The Church as the Bride of Christ
[00:47:00 ▶️ 📄]
> Using a marriage analogy, he describes the church as unfaithful (cheating, lying) while Jesus remains faithful, calling for repentance and wanting God more than sin. -
Self-Examination and Soul Gauge
[00:48:37 ▶️ 📄]
> He challenges the congregation to ask 'where are you?' spiritually, urging them to read Romans to digest Paul's point and determine if they are truly in Christ. -
Proclaiming the Gospel Without Shame
[00:50:19 ▶️ 📄]
> He concludes by quoting Romans 1:16, declaring he is not ashamed of the gospel despite potential persecution, and prays for the church to be gospel-bearing people.
🖼️ View 7 Illustrations & Stories
-
Sermon Illustration
[00:19:10 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor shares an anecdote about a Bible smuggler in North Korea who wrote the Gospel of John on toilet paper to hide it from authorities, illustrating how desperately people want the gospel. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:36:00 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor references an article about a wealthy, successful man who had everything the world offers but was 'dying on the inside,' illustrating the emptiness of worldly success without the gospel. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:42:49 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor tells a story about a friend who was arrested for being an 'honest, loving people' in the community, responding to the threat of arrest with 'Praise God' because he trusted in God's judgment rather than human authority. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:41:59 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor uses a personal anecdote about a driver cutting him off in traffic to illustrate the temptation to react with anger and the need for humility and a different response as a believer. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:47:00 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor uses a marriage analogy where the church is the unfaithful bride (cheating, lying, running away) and Jesus is the faithful groom, illustrating the call for repentance. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:49:01 ▶️ 📄]
> He compares spiritual distraction to a dog chasing a squirrel, illustrating how easy it is to get lost on the path of faith. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:48:39 ▶️ 📄]
> He references his ancestors (grandma, great-grandma) who lived by walking in the walk, using their example to encourage the congregation to do the same.
🚀 View 3 Calls to Action
-
Pastoral Charge
[00:44:54 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor invites the congregation to approach the cross with humility, acknowledging their sinfulness and brokenness to receive mercy. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:48:18 ▶️ 📄]
> Read the book of Romans, specifically reading chapters forward and backward to understand Paul's full argument. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:50:43 ▶️ 📄]
> Invite others to the church/gospel.
🧭 Biblical Alignment Dashboard
Overall Verdict: Sound & Commendable
| Category | Status | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Gospel Presentation | ❌ FAIL | The Gospel Engine is not fully intact due to the omission of explicit substantive teaching on penal substitutionary atonement and monergistic regeneration. However, the sermon qualifies for an Expository Pardon as it is structurally derived from the exposition of Romans 1. |
| Soteriology | ✅ PASS | The sermon correctly emphasizes that salvation is by faith and that active surrender is the result of faith, avoiding synergistic or decisionist errors. |
| Bibliology | ✅ PASS | Scripture is treated as the authoritative guide for spiritual standing and daily conduct. |
| Hermeneutic | ✅ PASS | The sermon is expository in nature, deriving its message directly from Romans 1. |
| Theology Proper | ✅ PASS | Christ is presented as the faithful Groom and the source of salvation, maintaining proper Christological focus. |
| Sacramentology | ⚪ N/A | No sacramental errors detected; no sacraments observed in the transcript. |
| Confessional Depth | ⚠️ MODERATE | The sermon provides strong practical application and biblical exposition but lacks explicit technical articulation of specific doctrinal mechanisms like penal substitution. |
⚙️ The Core Gospel Framework
What is this? This section checks if the sermon contains the essential building blocks of the Gospel. We look for explicit, substantive mentions of God's holy standard, human inability, and Christ's finished work on the cross.
Why it matters for the final verdict: A complete Gospel framework protects a sermon from becoming man-centered. If a preacher gives commands for good behavior but leaves out the grace and atonement of the Gospel, it often results in a 🔴 Critical or 🟠 Major error for Moralism (teaching human self-improvement rather than reliance on Christ). However, if these Gospel elements are missing simply because the pastor is preaching a highly focused, practical message to mature believers (e.g., instructions on biblical marriage), our system applies a "Safe Harbor" pardon, graciously reducing the omission to a 🟡 Minor error.
Why it matters for the final verdict: A complete Gospel framework protects a sermon from becoming man-centered. If a preacher gives commands for good behavior but leaves out the grace and atonement of the Gospel, it often results in a 🔴 Critical or 🟠 Major error for Moralism (teaching human self-improvement rather than reliance on Christ). However, if these Gospel elements are missing simply because the pastor is preaching a highly focused, practical message to mature believers (e.g., instructions on biblical marriage), our system applies a "Safe Harbor" pardon, graciously reducing the omission to a 🟡 Minor error.
❌ The Law And Wrath: Not observed in the sermon.
✅ Total Depravity And Inability:
"I'm a sinner. I am broken. Have mercy upon me. I really don't want that. I'm humbly nothing." [00:44:54 ▶️ 📄]
❌ Active Obedience Of Christ: Not observed in the sermon.
✅ The Cross And Atonement:
"come that kneel before the cross and say, Lord, Son of God, I'm a sinner. I am broken. Have mercy upon me." [00:44:54 ▶️ 📄]
🛡️ Verified Orthodox Mechanics
✅ Justification by Faith
✅ Active Discipleship
✅ Christ's Faithfulness
⚠️ Theological Concerns
🟡 Minor Incomplete Gospel Presentation
Root Cause: Moralism (Failing to anchor commands in the legal declaration of justification)
The Belief/Behavior: The message lacks explicit substantive teaching on penal substitutionary atonement and monergistic regeneration.
Why It's Dangerous: While the call to holiness is clear, the foundational theological mechanism of how Christ's death legally secures our righteousness is not explicitly articulated, potentially leaving the congregation with a moralistic rather than a fully gospel-centered understanding of their standing.
Biblical Correction: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
✅ Commendations
Illustration | Vivid and Relatable Analogies
The use of the Bible smuggler, the wealthy man dying inside, and the marriage analogy effectively illustrates the depth of the Gospel's power and the reality of spiritual emptiness without Christ.
Application | Active Discipleship
The pastor correctly commands the congregation to view faith as active surrender and walking in Christ, rather than passive belief, aligning with the biblical call to holiness.
Pastoral Tone | Humility and Self-Reflection
The personal anecdote about traffic and the call to self-examination model humility and encourage the congregation to examine their own spiritual standing.
📜 Full Sermon Transcript (Audit)
Use the 📄 icons next to quotes above to automatically jump to their location in this raw transcript.
[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:00:00] The Holy Spirit is with you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:31] And I think that's important. That's the unified voices of God being lifted up to heaven. And you have people praying and praising and just loving that. So I enjoy you all. Thank you for our choir too. So now I'm going to tell you, this next Wednesday we're not going to have a Wednesday meal.
[00:02:47] You know, we're just going to cancel it because it's going to be a Fourth of July week, it's going to be a busy week for folks, folks will be traveling.
[00:02:54] So no meal on Wednesday. I was going to say, Susan, you want to help me out?
[00:03:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:03:06] No meal on Wednesday. BBS, we still have spots for people.
[00:03:11] If you'd like to help out, I know several people have been so kind to give donations towards Bible School.
[00:03:17] either shirts, hats, cameras, even more than that that we've been able to get.
[00:03:25] So if you'd like to do that, I have an Amazon list coming out.
[00:03:28] And you can either tell me and I'll order it, which I've done that for people, and they can pay you that, or you can make a donation to put Bible School on there.
[00:03:36] What else?
[00:03:38] Police and Fire tomorrow, 11 to 2, we're serving the police and fire here at the fellowship hall.
[00:03:46] And I've got desserts coming, I've got everything.
[00:03:49] If you'd like to make a dessert come, if you'd like to just come and speak to the police and firemen and tell them thank you, that'd be great too.
[00:03:57] All right, that's all I've got.
[00:04:00] Just have a say about Suzie.
[00:04:02] Thank you, Suzie.
[00:04:03] Go ahead.
[00:04:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:04:04] Yes, if anybody has a cross-stitch shirt, we did a separate video that said it was our name on there, not our person, and it's a shirt.
[00:04:14] It would be nice to wear that Tuesday,
[00:04:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:04:16] Okay, oh this is dangerous when I get a mic.
[00:04:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:04:39] If you have a Broad Street church shirt, please wear it whenever we go and feed the fire?
[00:04:47] Police and fire.
[00:04:50] I think it would be good because if they just see what people are wandering around, they may not realize we're part of the church.
[00:04:56] So if you have one of those shirts, put it on and bring it.
[00:04:59] Thank you.
[00:05:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:05:00] So whoever made those shirts before, I'd like to talk to you.
[00:05:06] I'd like to know what those shirts are made of.
[00:05:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:08] Nick, was that something that y'all do, make those shirts?
[00:05:11] Are those shirts made?
[00:05:15] Oh, okay.
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:05:19] Oh, okay, cool.
[00:05:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:21] We had a conversation the other day, but I'd like to talk to y'all about that.
[00:05:23] I'd like to have a Rock Street shirt, too.
[00:05:27] All right, very good.
[00:05:30] Anything else?
[00:05:31] We're going to cancel council meeting this afternoon.
[00:05:34] So we're still going to have our PPRC meeting.
[00:05:37] So part of that has come, but the council meeting I had to work with is canceled.
[00:05:44] Anything else I'm missing?
[00:05:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:05:46] Yeah.
[00:05:47] We have at least two birthdays.
[00:05:49] We have Johnny and Donna.
[00:05:51] Anybody else have a birthday this week?
[00:05:54] All right, let's see.
[00:05:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:05:58] This day, we thank you for the rain.
[00:07:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:07:49] We thank you for all the blessings that you have given to us.
[00:07:53] Bless now our worship as we seek your truth in word and in music. Amen.
[00:07:59] Now let's all stand and profess our faith with the use of the Apostles' Creed.
[00:08:06] I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
[00:08:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:08:24] It is good to see each and every one of you here today.
[00:08:55] And I know we did have fun sitting around the tables downstairs, and that was nice, but I'm glad to be up here in the air conditioning.
[00:09:02] I give praise to Mr. Carrier every time I walk into an air conditioning He was the inventor of the air conditioning So we like him and we want to thank the Lord for him as well
[00:09:14] And thank you again for those that got this running again for us We certainly appreciate it We're going to start with some praise songs this morning The first one is The Joy of the Lord
[00:09:25] And it will be on both screens The Joy of the Lord Let's sing together
[00:09:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:09:29] Please think about it and put it in your heart that you come and join us.
[00:16:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:16:33] Marla is a wonderful director and she blesses us every time we have a choir practice and we also have a lot of laughter.
[00:16:40] So put that in your prayer and in your heart to think about coming back and seeing the choir.
[00:16:42] Thank you.
[00:16:43] I've never been in a Nervequake but I can imagine being in a Nervequake.
[00:16:44] coming back and seeing the life.
[00:16:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:16:46] Thank you.
[00:17:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:17:16] I've never been an earthquake, but I can imagine being a earthquake.
[00:17:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:17:27] A cool phrase, I was over in Hickory the other day,
[00:17:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:17:32] and as I was over there, a couple of these young fellows came up to me and said, hey, you know, do you know Jesus?
[00:17:41] And I'm like, hey, I'm a pastor.
[00:17:42] Hey, we had a great little time on the Bible there.
[00:17:45] It's interesting to see that these two guys were from Africa, and Africa was actually sending missionaries to us.
[00:17:53] Yeah, they're missionaries here. They're here to remember the Bible. They're excited.
[00:17:59] They're talking about the village, the village's sacrifice.
[00:18:02] There's a couple of poor guys that came on nickels and dimes, and God's multiplied them very much.
[00:18:08] I can't say their names. I don't honestly know how I'm going to name them.
[00:18:11] I can't care for them. They were African-American.
[00:18:14] But I'm thankful for these two guys. They were just really excited to talk to people.
[00:18:18] Ole Miss just didn't care, they had a couple people really mean to them, and just a smile on their face and just saying, hey, you know, we understand what we know.
[00:18:27] We want you to know that Jesus loves you.
[00:18:28] And I was just amazed to see these young guys that are sharing the gospel and not afraid, not ashamed.
[00:18:34] We're gonna talk about that today.
[00:18:36] So that was awesome to see those two guys, not afraid of nothing.
[00:18:39] You know, they were missionaries that came here to us.
[00:18:42] Amazing.
[00:18:45] Oh, go ahead.
[00:18:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:18:46] We'll pray for our brothers and sisters across the globe.
[00:18:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:18:58] Do you realize that in about 53 countries it's illegal to be a Christian?
[00:19:02] And it's not like they just arrest you.
[00:19:04] It's not like we have a bunch of mean old chaps here jumping up and down, screaming, yelling about stuff.
[00:19:07] They actually get arrested.
[00:19:09] They're murdered or killed.
[00:19:10] I mean, these folks want the gospel so bad.
[00:19:13] I remember my channel talk about him some time he said he's a smuggler he smuggles Bibles in North Korea and he said people with the gospel so bad they're willing to hide it in places where they can read it regularly
[00:19:27] they actually took a roll of toilet paper and wrote the gospel of John yeah and they're going through and they're like they had to hide it because they'll be arrested and killed if they're found but people want the gospel that bad we've got 40 Bibles on our shelves
[00:19:41] they got dust off those people love us have one so folks let's pray for them it's you know praise if you're bound to change with false you know that's that's an important thing so you definitely
[00:19:52] pray for the african church a lot but folks the faithfulness there is growing immensely so absolutely well let us pray uh lord jesus we come before you today lord is thankful for the mercy brought upon us thankful for your love that's abundant and lord we just ask you to heal
[00:20:11] where healings are needed lord to just uh bring us rain help our land be grown uh with vegetation and just to help crops and help people's livelihoods uh lord we just ask that you know for
[00:20:25] travelers traveling and lord we just ask that you just uh continue to heal our land as that great song said this continue to heal us but we are a people in need of much healing and lord
[00:20:38] Lord, I'm thankful for those two young guys going into the world and saying, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, and I'm willing to spread that.
[00:20:44] I'm willing to share Christ.
[00:20:46] Lord, help us be emboldened in the same way.
[00:20:49] And Lord, just, again, pour out your love, grace, and mercy abundantly upon us.
[00:20:53] In your great mighty name, amen.
[00:20:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:20:58] I'd like to invite you to join us singing a hymn this morning, God of the Ages, God of the Ages.
[00:21:08] It is hymn number 698 in your hymnal.
[00:21:12] 698 if you'd like to look there, and it should be on both screens as well.
[00:21:15] Let's stand as we sing.
[00:34:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:34:08] 80% They watered it down to a, you know, it's just me, my little personal walk with Jesus.
[00:34:16] It's a very private faith that I live.
[00:34:20] If I read this book, it tells me it's not just about me.
[00:34:29] It's about us.
[00:34:32] So, Paul goes through it as he writes to the Romans.
[00:34:36] It kind of rehashes what we talked about last week.
[00:34:38] Paul Christopher talks about being a slave to Christ. He talks about being obedient to him and him alone as his master.
[00:34:48] And how he's an envoy of good news. And you see that Paul is a product of the good news. He's not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel transformed him from Saul the murderer, Saul the persecutor
[00:35:04] into Saul the liberator. There was transformation there. So he's calling the Romans saying do not be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of god to give you salvation to everyone who believes that'd be the regard that we're kind of embarrassing you know i'm
[00:35:29] not saying people this river as i look at you know faith communities across the world they bought it in the lives and i'm not going to beat on our old projects but we just look like the
[00:35:38] world maybe they'll come a new gospel one that's a lot easier to digest easier to true and i see a lot of denominations across the world hey we're going to make this a little bit more palatable
[00:35:53] easier to digest because the the gospel is offensive i read a great article by guys from the gospel and praise god for it because he thought he was looking good he was wealthy he was smelling good he was looking good he had the monster the beautiful wife the big car all
[00:36:17] the friends all the prestige and he was dying on the inside what was missing i had every early thing that the world has thrown at me everything but i'm missing something folks that's where the
[00:36:33] world is they know they're missing something but what are they missing the good news that we share we bring the gospel is liberating it is life-giving both of the blessed brothers said it creates a heart of worship in us and a heart that's free from sin a heart that's free from sin
[00:37:02] But what is sin?
[00:37:04] There may be a lot of 11 different people that will give you 11 different answers.
[00:37:08] But what really is sin?
[00:37:09] Sin is missing the mark of God.
[00:37:12] We are made to be His reflection.
[00:37:14] Do you realize that?
[00:37:15] That is our vocation.
[00:37:16] We are to reflect and be an image bearer of Christ.
[00:37:21] And when we sin in the brokenness, and we live in that brokenness, we go from we miss the mark.
[00:37:26] We miss righteousness.
[00:37:28] That's what we're called to.
[00:37:29] That's a big thing we talk about at conference.
[00:37:31] We're missing His righteousness that called back to righteousness.
[00:37:34] So Paul writes, I'm not ashamed of all the gospel. Actually, I'm humbled by it because it has saved me.
[00:37:46] Now, Paul's embarrassing. He's going to go through and he's going to prove that to us.
[00:37:50] He's going to take us back into the Torah, into the Old Testament, to go through and give us what faith means.
[00:37:58] As we go through, we live by faith.
[00:38:01] Well, Habakkuk talks about that, about faith.
[00:38:05] Faith is a foundational thing of our Christian walk.
[00:38:09] And sometimes we water our faith down to things it's not.
[00:38:12] We kind of forget the Santa Claus effect.
[00:38:14] Why just believe on it? Why just believe on it? Why just believe on it?
[00:38:16] Why just believe on it?
[00:38:17] It's going to be there.
[00:38:21] Oh, so that's not faith.
[00:38:24] Yes, we believe in it. We believe in Jesus Christ, the virgin and dead, amen?
[00:38:27] We believe that God is the Father, amen?
[00:38:29] Those are foundational things.
[00:38:31] It takes us deeper than that.
[00:38:35] So what is faith in the Old Testament?
[00:38:38] What is Paul thinking of?
[00:38:40] I want to stop here for a second because some of you approached me and said, hey, I'm having trouble reading Paul.
[00:38:45] Paul is the guy that writes, well, my English teacher used to tell me, Jeremy, if you can write something in five words, it's better than ten.
[00:38:52] Paul writes in third.
[00:38:55] Because Paul the Pharisee, he's making a point.
[00:38:57] He's going to rehash through things that go through, not only a proof text, but to go through and prove the foundation of what our faith is about.
[00:39:06] Faith is mentioned 40 times in the book of Romans, and for good reason.
[00:39:13] What is faith?
[00:39:15] And why is it worth it?
[00:39:18] It's more than just more absolutes.
[00:39:24] If we go to the Old Testament, faith is loyalty.
[00:39:32] Faith is a definite devotion to God.
[00:39:37] We go through and we read that in the Psalms.
[00:39:41] We see that in Deuteronomy.
[00:39:45] Check this out.
[00:39:46] Look this verse up.
[00:39:47] Google search.
[00:39:48] What does faith mean in the Old Testament?
[00:39:51] It is loyalty because we see God in this loyal verse.
[00:39:57] How does God go first?
[00:39:58] you know really let's do the garden let's start there we messed up god just been like i'm done start over but in his love of his faithfulness he expounded the story and put the rest of the
[00:40:14] operation right in effect in the beginning with jesus christ he knew we were going to mess up he knew what the world would look like the rest of the operation was already in place in god's
[00:40:25] faithfulness, you know, we were sitting, zagging off the path, you know, even from the Israelites.
[00:40:29] You know, we look at Abraham, God's faithfulness, to lead him. The most famous story in the Bible is the Exodus.
[00:40:39] We see God's faithfulness, even when we're like, God, why are we eating this mass? And your brothers just deserve to die.
[00:40:46] They're just awful.
[00:40:49] In Asana, they made a golden calf to worship, a new gold calf to lift up on a stick.
[00:40:55] God would be like, I'm done.
[00:40:57] It's over with. The God remained faithful. He's faithful to us first. And he calls us into being faithful back to being loyal. Jesus said a lot of stuff. You can't serve two masters.
[00:41:13] Now, where we try, does this stuff sort of make sense?
[00:41:18] You know, you need to die on the cross and resurrect. This stuff that kind of comes together when we've been taught, Paul's going to rehash that. He really wants us to understand the foundational part of who we are
[00:41:29] is loyalty to God, loyalty to Christ, to be His image bearer, to, in return, raise times to live for Him.
[00:41:38] It's not an easy life, folks.
[00:41:41] When we live in a world of all kinds of temptations and deviancy and things that's out there, it's easy for people to get caught up in that.
[00:41:48] But what does it look like to be a true reflection, a true human bearer of the risen Lord Jesus Christ?
[00:41:53] You speak differently. You think differently.
[00:41:56] You live differently.
[00:41:57] I have to remind you of that.
[00:41:59] The guy cut you off this morning. I just want to yell at someone out the window. He can't.
[00:42:04] You have to be humble about it.
[00:42:06] Hey, I'm not that kind of a Russian.
[00:42:07] Maybe he's the pastor at the church. He's like, I don't know. I've been there enough that I'll raise my hand.
[00:42:13] But what is it? What is this about this foundation that the just shall live by faith.
[00:42:20] Faithfulness in Christ.
[00:42:22] What do you think he's going to do for us?
[00:42:25] The young guy's asking, Pastor, are you saved? I said, I'm being saved daily. It's a daily thing. It's not a one and done.
[00:42:35] I'm saved daily.
[00:42:36] I live in that faithfulness that I'm one with my Master who saved me from sin and death.
[00:42:44] I rejoice that, folks. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
[00:42:49] I was a friend of the arrest of one on my placement.
[00:42:55] We were the honest, loving people in the community.
[00:42:57] He says, if you don't move, I'm going to arrest you.
[00:42:59] I said, praise God.
[00:43:00] That won't be your decision.
[00:43:01] It'll be his.
[00:43:04] Aren't you afraid?
[00:43:05] Praise God now.
[00:43:06] I've got a whole new congregation.
[00:43:08] So folks, we live in a list.
[00:43:15] Proclaim how we live.
[00:43:17] Proclaim him in all that we do.
[00:43:21] Because he's faithful to us.
[00:43:22] He found me in pretty rough spots.
[00:43:26] He found Paul in a rough spot.
[00:43:29] Paul thought we knew what was going on.
[00:43:31] He thought he was doing God's work.
[00:43:35] he was being the hand of God they remember who he was people don't forget because we want to see the crime that all the bad stuff right that's what turned the news on for we want to see the bad stuff not the good stuff we'll catch that later
[00:43:57] rehash kind of again digesting Paul Paul is going through back to the Old Testament folks that's why it's important that we read the Old Testament that's why it's important we understand that we have to understand where Paul's coming from
[00:44:20] because we don't read the Old Testament we miss Jesus we miss what Paul's right about we'll be oblivious to Peter and the inner message I want you to hear from this today is that the
[00:44:37] gospel is available to all who will be in Christ Jesus it's available to everyone it's not a black highland it's not for perfect people it's for broken people come that kneel before the cross and say, Lord, Son of God,
[00:44:54] I'm a sinner. I am broken.
[00:44:55] Have mercy upon me. I really don't want that. I'm humbly nothing. It may look like it, too, but, you know, God's put me back together one piece at a time.
[00:45:13] One piece at a time is what the gospel is about. And also, folks, hey, I can't play healthcare. I can't fix you, but I can take you to the one who can.
[00:45:28] I can't grant you salvation, but I know the one who can. And to live a life full of Christ is one of freedom.
[00:45:41] You and babies, we're all too willing sometimes to put the shackle on our wing.
[00:45:44] Well, the devil made it go.
[00:45:45] No, I didn't tell him.
[00:45:47] I put it on myself.
[00:45:50] But Jesus removes those shackles because what happens with us is we grow in him.
[00:45:54] There's a responsibility in this faith.
[00:45:57] You know, so too many times I've heard, like, hey, you know, you're crying, you say this little sin in prayer.
[00:46:00] I pray over you.
[00:46:01] I block you on the chin and just praise God and move back to the, you're saved.
[00:46:04] Welcome to the family.
[00:46:06] We talked about this last week.
[00:46:07] Folks, there's responsibility in our faith.
[00:46:09] There's surrender.
[00:46:10] there is walking in Christ.
[00:46:13] There's so much that goes into it.
[00:46:15] Being a forgiven person.
[00:46:17] Living and being resurrected.
[00:46:19] Living as a new creation, not as our old selves.
[00:46:24] So I'm going to end right about here, but as we go into the next several weeks, we're going to look at what happens when we lie and we forget God. And I don't have too much for it. I can just really turn on the TV and see
[00:46:36] that. What happens when we walk away from God? What happens when we become our own God? What happens when I'm waiting to say, I don't need the gospel.
[00:46:46] I'm going to create my own gospel to make it more digestible.
[00:46:53] Folks, that's what scares me today is what I see.
[00:46:55] I see that the church is not on purpose.
[00:47:00] And the best way I look at it, you know, it's a marriage.
[00:47:02] You realize the church is the bride of Christ.
[00:47:06] And Jesus is the groomsman.
[00:47:09] And we are not the bride.
[00:47:11] We're unfaithful. We cheat.
[00:47:13] We lie. We run away.
[00:47:15] We do all these awful things.
[00:47:17] But the groom is still faithful.
[00:47:22] His love for me is wrongdoing. It's a call for repentance and forgiveness.
[00:47:30] And it's a call to want God more. John Wesley says this, to want God more than we want the sin.
[00:47:38] And folks, I've seen that happen.
[00:47:42] I've seen that folks say, want God more than we want the lies.
[00:47:47] So folks, here's my question to you today. It's not a implication to anybody, but are you ashamed of the gospel or are you humbled by it?
[00:47:53] Am I willing to live into being salt and light?
[00:48:02] Am I willing to live into Christ saying, Lord, I am broken.
[00:48:06] I need you to transform me.
[00:48:08] I need to die on that cross for you, and I need resurrection every day.
[00:48:15] Brothers and sisters, where are you?
[00:48:16] Think about that this week.
[00:48:18] Do you want to go back and read ahead of Romans?
[00:48:21] Go back and read back?
[00:48:22] You know, read forward?
[00:48:24] Sometimes Romans, you have to read the entire chapter to kind of get Paul's point.
[00:48:27] For sake of time, you break it down.
[00:48:30] But I want you to really read this stuff and digest it and see, now, where is your soul?
[00:48:37] Are you truly in Christ Jesus?
[00:48:39] this. Just walk in the walk because that's where grandma, great-grandma, great-great-grandma lived. We went to church and that's why she walked here. Folks, our souls, it's a daily gauge. I had to do it myself. I just felt like saying, where am I? Lord, where am I?
[00:49:01] Because it's easy to walk down the path. It's easy to get lost. I'm like the dog's squirrel. A lot of things. But folks, honestly, I want us to ask you, where are you? Gauge at this point and let's figure out how to use the answer to fix overnight but where do you look
[00:49:25] at his life do they lie with christ or do they lie to support they lie to ourselves if you haven't accepted christ all in your life there's there's time he's available for all there's nothing we've done that he's too offended by when he comes all sin to forgive we have to
[00:49:52] ask and then we have to ask you have to be kind of late develop go and send them more kind of go go through and live that new life.
[00:50:04] Folks, the foundation of who we are, and again, I want you to really call this service with me. Are you ashamed of the gospel?
[00:50:19] They may drag me out with a man, praise God, like I said, I've got a new congregation.
[00:50:23] They may arrest me and burn me, do what they've got to do. Hey, that's fine.
[00:50:27] But I'm going to proclaim Christ because that's what I want our people to hear.
[00:50:31] And that's what I want you to hear, brothers and sisters, that Christ loves you and wants to transform you.
[00:50:39] And there's more room at the table.
[00:50:43] Who else could we bring to the table?
[00:50:44] to the bottom line.
[00:50:49] So let's read this to you again. Let's think about this.
[00:50:51] Let's start with this. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God's salvation to everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
[00:51:05] For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as is written, the just shall live by faith.
[00:51:26] Lord Jesus, I just ask you to shape and grow us in your image.
[00:51:30] Help us to see you, Lord, as we are transformed.
[00:51:34] And Lord, help us to be the gospel-bearing people as we walk the world today.
[00:51:39] Lord, as we engage our waitress at lunch, Lord, let her feel the gospel.
[00:51:43] Lord, as we pump our gas and as we interact with others, let us be the image-bearer that we were called to be, to reflect you, to create curiosity for you, to be in you.
[00:51:58] And Lord, I just call upon you just to forgive our sins as a body as a people as a church i call upon you just to continue to to mold us as you do each and every day lord give us opportunities to be gospel
[00:52:14] give us opportunities to be salt in life for those that don't know you and lord for those that are hostile against you when we pray for them in love and mercy that they see your transforming life
[00:52:25] that they see you lord i'm just thankful that you're involved in each and every one of our lives and You are welcome to our church.
[00:52:32] As we follow you, Lord, we want what you want.
[00:52:36] Lord, continue to shape and grow us in your image.
[00:52:38] In your great mighty name.
[00:52:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:52:41] Our closing hymn today is Here I Am I.
[00:52:51] It's hymn number 593.
[00:52:53] That'll win your bulletin if it's 593.
[00:52:57] Let's stand as we sing.
[00:52:58] We will sing the first and the last verse.
[00:53:01] First and the last verse.
[00:53:03] The door is always open.
[00:00:00] The Holy Spirit is with you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:31] And I think that's important. That's the unified voices of God being lifted up to heaven. And you have people praying and praising and just loving that. So I enjoy you all. Thank you for our choir too. So now I'm going to tell you, this next Wednesday we're not going to have a Wednesday meal.
[00:02:47] You know, we're just going to cancel it because it's going to be a Fourth of July week, it's going to be a busy week for folks, folks will be traveling.
[00:02:54] So no meal on Wednesday. I was going to say, Susan, you want to help me out?
[00:03:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:03:06] No meal on Wednesday. BBS, we still have spots for people.
[00:03:11] If you'd like to help out, I know several people have been so kind to give donations towards Bible School.
[00:03:17] either shirts, hats, cameras, even more than that that we've been able to get.
[00:03:25] So if you'd like to do that, I have an Amazon list coming out.
[00:03:28] And you can either tell me and I'll order it, which I've done that for people, and they can pay you that, or you can make a donation to put Bible School on there.
[00:03:36] What else?
[00:03:38] Police and Fire tomorrow, 11 to 2, we're serving the police and fire here at the fellowship hall.
[00:03:46] And I've got desserts coming, I've got everything.
[00:03:49] If you'd like to make a dessert come, if you'd like to just come and speak to the police and firemen and tell them thank you, that'd be great too.
[00:03:57] All right, that's all I've got.
[00:04:00] Just have a say about Suzie.
[00:04:02] Thank you, Suzie.
[00:04:03] Go ahead.
[00:04:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:04:04] Yes, if anybody has a cross-stitch shirt, we did a separate video that said it was our name on there, not our person, and it's a shirt.
[00:04:14] It would be nice to wear that Tuesday,
[00:04:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:04:16] Okay, oh this is dangerous when I get a mic.
[00:04:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:04:39] If you have a Broad Street church shirt, please wear it whenever we go and feed the fire?
[00:04:47] Police and fire.
[00:04:50] I think it would be good because if they just see what people are wandering around, they may not realize we're part of the church.
[00:04:56] So if you have one of those shirts, put it on and bring it.
[00:04:59] Thank you.
[00:05:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:05:00] So whoever made those shirts before, I'd like to talk to you.
[00:05:06] I'd like to know what those shirts are made of.
[00:05:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:08] Nick, was that something that y'all do, make those shirts?
[00:05:11] Are those shirts made?
[00:05:15] Oh, okay.
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:05:19] Oh, okay, cool.
[00:05:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:21] We had a conversation the other day, but I'd like to talk to y'all about that.
[00:05:23] I'd like to have a Rock Street shirt, too.
[00:05:27] All right, very good.
[00:05:30] Anything else?
[00:05:31] We're going to cancel council meeting this afternoon.
[00:05:34] So we're still going to have our PPRC meeting.
[00:05:37] So part of that has come, but the council meeting I had to work with is canceled.
[00:05:44] Anything else I'm missing?
[00:05:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:05:46] Yeah.
[00:05:47] We have at least two birthdays.
[00:05:49] We have Johnny and Donna.
[00:05:51] Anybody else have a birthday this week?
[00:05:54] All right, let's see.
[00:05:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:05:58] This day, we thank you for the rain.
[00:07:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:07:49] We thank you for all the blessings that you have given to us.
[00:07:53] Bless now our worship as we seek your truth in word and in music. Amen.
[00:07:59] Now let's all stand and profess our faith with the use of the Apostles' Creed.
[00:08:06] I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
[00:08:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:08:24] It is good to see each and every one of you here today.
[00:08:55] And I know we did have fun sitting around the tables downstairs, and that was nice, but I'm glad to be up here in the air conditioning.
[00:09:02] I give praise to Mr. Carrier every time I walk into an air conditioning He was the inventor of the air conditioning So we like him and we want to thank the Lord for him as well
[00:09:14] And thank you again for those that got this running again for us We certainly appreciate it We're going to start with some praise songs this morning The first one is The Joy of the Lord
[00:09:25] And it will be on both screens The Joy of the Lord Let's sing together
[00:09:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:09:29] Please think about it and put it in your heart that you come and join us.
[00:16:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:16:33] Marla is a wonderful director and she blesses us every time we have a choir practice and we also have a lot of laughter.
[00:16:40] So put that in your prayer and in your heart to think about coming back and seeing the choir.
[00:16:42] Thank you.
[00:16:43] I've never been in a Nervequake but I can imagine being in a Nervequake.
[00:16:44] coming back and seeing the life.
[00:16:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:16:46] Thank you.
[00:17:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:17:16] I've never been an earthquake, but I can imagine being a earthquake.
[00:17:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:17:27] A cool phrase, I was over in Hickory the other day,
[00:17:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:17:32] and as I was over there, a couple of these young fellows came up to me and said, hey, you know, do you know Jesus?
[00:17:41] And I'm like, hey, I'm a pastor.
[00:17:42] Hey, we had a great little time on the Bible there.
[00:17:45] It's interesting to see that these two guys were from Africa, and Africa was actually sending missionaries to us.
[00:17:53] Yeah, they're missionaries here. They're here to remember the Bible. They're excited.
[00:17:59] They're talking about the village, the village's sacrifice.
[00:18:02] There's a couple of poor guys that came on nickels and dimes, and God's multiplied them very much.
[00:18:08] I can't say their names. I don't honestly know how I'm going to name them.
[00:18:11] I can't care for them. They were African-American.
[00:18:14] But I'm thankful for these two guys. They were just really excited to talk to people.
[00:18:18] Ole Miss just didn't care, they had a couple people really mean to them, and just a smile on their face and just saying, hey, you know, we understand what we know.
[00:18:27] We want you to know that Jesus loves you.
[00:18:28] And I was just amazed to see these young guys that are sharing the gospel and not afraid, not ashamed.
[00:18:34] We're gonna talk about that today.
[00:18:36] So that was awesome to see those two guys, not afraid of nothing.
[00:18:39] You know, they were missionaries that came here to us.
[00:18:42] Amazing.
[00:18:45] Oh, go ahead.
[00:18:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:18:46] We'll pray for our brothers and sisters across the globe.
[00:18:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:18:58] Do you realize that in about 53 countries it's illegal to be a Christian?
[00:19:02] And it's not like they just arrest you.
[00:19:04] It's not like we have a bunch of mean old chaps here jumping up and down, screaming, yelling about stuff.
[00:19:07] They actually get arrested.
[00:19:09] They're murdered or killed.
[00:19:10] I mean, these folks want the gospel so bad.
[00:19:13] I remember my channel talk about him some time he said he's a smuggler he smuggles Bibles in North Korea and he said people with the gospel so bad they're willing to hide it in places where they can read it regularly
[00:19:27] they actually took a roll of toilet paper and wrote the gospel of John yeah and they're going through and they're like they had to hide it because they'll be arrested and killed if they're found but people want the gospel that bad we've got 40 Bibles on our shelves
[00:19:41] they got dust off those people love us have one so folks let's pray for them it's you know praise if you're bound to change with false you know that's that's an important thing so you definitely
[00:19:52] pray for the african church a lot but folks the faithfulness there is growing immensely so absolutely well let us pray uh lord jesus we come before you today lord is thankful for the mercy brought upon us thankful for your love that's abundant and lord we just ask you to heal
[00:20:11] where healings are needed lord to just uh bring us rain help our land be grown uh with vegetation and just to help crops and help people's livelihoods uh lord we just ask that you know for
[00:20:25] travelers traveling and lord we just ask that you just uh continue to heal our land as that great song said this continue to heal us but we are a people in need of much healing and lord
[00:20:38] Lord, I'm thankful for those two young guys going into the world and saying, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, and I'm willing to spread that.
[00:20:44] I'm willing to share Christ.
[00:20:46] Lord, help us be emboldened in the same way.
[00:20:49] And Lord, just, again, pour out your love, grace, and mercy abundantly upon us.
[00:20:53] In your great mighty name, amen.
[00:20:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:20:58] I'd like to invite you to join us singing a hymn this morning, God of the Ages, God of the Ages.
[00:21:08] It is hymn number 698 in your hymnal.
[00:21:12] 698 if you'd like to look there, and it should be on both screens as well.
[00:21:15] Let's stand as we sing.
[00:34:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:34:08] 80% They watered it down to a, you know, it's just me, my little personal walk with Jesus.
[00:34:16] It's a very private faith that I live.
[00:34:20] If I read this book, it tells me it's not just about me.
[00:34:29] It's about us.
[00:34:32] So, Paul goes through it as he writes to the Romans.
[00:34:36] It kind of rehashes what we talked about last week.
[00:34:38] Paul Christopher talks about being a slave to Christ. He talks about being obedient to him and him alone as his master.
[00:34:48] And how he's an envoy of good news. And you see that Paul is a product of the good news. He's not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel transformed him from Saul the murderer, Saul the persecutor
[00:35:04] into Saul the liberator. There was transformation there. So he's calling the Romans saying do not be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of god to give you salvation to everyone who believes that'd be the regard that we're kind of embarrassing you know i'm
[00:35:29] not saying people this river as i look at you know faith communities across the world they bought it in the lives and i'm not going to beat on our old projects but we just look like the
[00:35:38] world maybe they'll come a new gospel one that's a lot easier to digest easier to true and i see a lot of denominations across the world hey we're going to make this a little bit more palatable
[00:35:53] easier to digest because the the gospel is offensive i read a great article by guys from the gospel and praise god for it because he thought he was looking good he was wealthy he was smelling good he was looking good he had the monster the beautiful wife the big car all
[00:36:17] the friends all the prestige and he was dying on the inside what was missing i had every early thing that the world has thrown at me everything but i'm missing something folks that's where the
[00:36:33] world is they know they're missing something but what are they missing the good news that we share we bring the gospel is liberating it is life-giving both of the blessed brothers said it creates a heart of worship in us and a heart that's free from sin a heart that's free from sin
[00:37:02] But what is sin?
[00:37:04] There may be a lot of 11 different people that will give you 11 different answers.
[00:37:08] But what really is sin?
[00:37:09] Sin is missing the mark of God.
[00:37:12] We are made to be His reflection.
[00:37:14] Do you realize that?
[00:37:15] That is our vocation.
[00:37:16] We are to reflect and be an image bearer of Christ.
[00:37:21] And when we sin in the brokenness, and we live in that brokenness, we go from we miss the mark.
[00:37:26] We miss righteousness.
[00:37:28] That's what we're called to.
[00:37:29] That's a big thing we talk about at conference.
[00:37:31] We're missing His righteousness that called back to righteousness.
[00:37:34] So Paul writes, I'm not ashamed of all the gospel. Actually, I'm humbled by it because it has saved me.
[00:37:46] Now, Paul's embarrassing. He's going to go through and he's going to prove that to us.
[00:37:50] He's going to take us back into the Torah, into the Old Testament, to go through and give us what faith means.
[00:37:58] As we go through, we live by faith.
[00:38:01] Well, Habakkuk talks about that, about faith.
[00:38:05] Faith is a foundational thing of our Christian walk.
[00:38:09] And sometimes we water our faith down to things it's not.
[00:38:12] We kind of forget the Santa Claus effect.
[00:38:14] Why just believe on it? Why just believe on it? Why just believe on it?
[00:38:16] Why just believe on it?
[00:38:17] It's going to be there.
[00:38:21] Oh, so that's not faith.
[00:38:24] Yes, we believe in it. We believe in Jesus Christ, the virgin and dead, amen?
[00:38:27] We believe that God is the Father, amen?
[00:38:29] Those are foundational things.
[00:38:31] It takes us deeper than that.
[00:38:35] So what is faith in the Old Testament?
[00:38:38] What is Paul thinking of?
[00:38:40] I want to stop here for a second because some of you approached me and said, hey, I'm having trouble reading Paul.
[00:38:45] Paul is the guy that writes, well, my English teacher used to tell me, Jeremy, if you can write something in five words, it's better than ten.
[00:38:52] Paul writes in third.
[00:38:55] Because Paul the Pharisee, he's making a point.
[00:38:57] He's going to rehash through things that go through, not only a proof text, but to go through and prove the foundation of what our faith is about.
[00:39:06] Faith is mentioned 40 times in the book of Romans, and for good reason.
[00:39:13] What is faith?
[00:39:15] And why is it worth it?
[00:39:18] It's more than just more absolutes.
[00:39:24] If we go to the Old Testament, faith is loyalty.
[00:39:32] Faith is a definite devotion to God.
[00:39:37] We go through and we read that in the Psalms.
[00:39:41] We see that in Deuteronomy.
[00:39:45] Check this out.
[00:39:46] Look this verse up.
[00:39:47] Google search.
[00:39:48] What does faith mean in the Old Testament?
[00:39:51] It is loyalty because we see God in this loyal verse.
[00:39:57] How does God go first?
[00:39:58] you know really let's do the garden let's start there we messed up god just been like i'm done start over but in his love of his faithfulness he expounded the story and put the rest of the
[00:40:14] operation right in effect in the beginning with jesus christ he knew we were going to mess up he knew what the world would look like the rest of the operation was already in place in god's
[00:40:25] faithfulness, you know, we were sitting, zagging off the path, you know, even from the Israelites.
[00:40:29] You know, we look at Abraham, God's faithfulness, to lead him. The most famous story in the Bible is the Exodus.
[00:40:39] We see God's faithfulness, even when we're like, God, why are we eating this mass? And your brothers just deserve to die.
[00:40:46] They're just awful.
[00:40:49] In Asana, they made a golden calf to worship, a new gold calf to lift up on a stick.
[00:40:55] God would be like, I'm done.
[00:40:57] It's over with. The God remained faithful. He's faithful to us first. And he calls us into being faithful back to being loyal. Jesus said a lot of stuff. You can't serve two masters.
[00:41:13] Now, where we try, does this stuff sort of make sense?
[00:41:18] You know, you need to die on the cross and resurrect. This stuff that kind of comes together when we've been taught, Paul's going to rehash that. He really wants us to understand the foundational part of who we are
[00:41:29] is loyalty to God, loyalty to Christ, to be His image bearer, to, in return, raise times to live for Him.
[00:41:38] It's not an easy life, folks.
[00:41:41] When we live in a world of all kinds of temptations and deviancy and things that's out there, it's easy for people to get caught up in that.
[00:41:48] But what does it look like to be a true reflection, a true human bearer of the risen Lord Jesus Christ?
[00:41:53] You speak differently. You think differently.
[00:41:56] You live differently.
[00:41:57] I have to remind you of that.
[00:41:59] The guy cut you off this morning. I just want to yell at someone out the window. He can't.
[00:42:04] You have to be humble about it.
[00:42:06] Hey, I'm not that kind of a Russian.
[00:42:07] Maybe he's the pastor at the church. He's like, I don't know. I've been there enough that I'll raise my hand.
[00:42:13] But what is it? What is this about this foundation that the just shall live by faith.
[00:42:20] Faithfulness in Christ.
[00:42:22] What do you think he's going to do for us?
[00:42:25] The young guy's asking, Pastor, are you saved? I said, I'm being saved daily. It's a daily thing. It's not a one and done.
[00:42:35] I'm saved daily.
[00:42:36] I live in that faithfulness that I'm one with my Master who saved me from sin and death.
[00:42:44] I rejoice that, folks. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
[00:42:49] I was a friend of the arrest of one on my placement.
[00:42:55] We were the honest, loving people in the community.
[00:42:57] He says, if you don't move, I'm going to arrest you.
[00:42:59] I said, praise God.
[00:43:00] That won't be your decision.
[00:43:01] It'll be his.
[00:43:04] Aren't you afraid?
[00:43:05] Praise God now.
[00:43:06] I've got a whole new congregation.
[00:43:08] So folks, we live in a list.
[00:43:15] Proclaim how we live.
[00:43:17] Proclaim him in all that we do.
[00:43:21] Because he's faithful to us.
[00:43:22] He found me in pretty rough spots.
[00:43:26] He found Paul in a rough spot.
[00:43:29] Paul thought we knew what was going on.
[00:43:31] He thought he was doing God's work.
[00:43:35] he was being the hand of God they remember who he was people don't forget because we want to see the crime that all the bad stuff right that's what turned the news on for we want to see the bad stuff not the good stuff we'll catch that later
[00:43:57] rehash kind of again digesting Paul Paul is going through back to the Old Testament folks that's why it's important that we read the Old Testament that's why it's important we understand that we have to understand where Paul's coming from
[00:44:20] because we don't read the Old Testament we miss Jesus we miss what Paul's right about we'll be oblivious to Peter and the inner message I want you to hear from this today is that the
[00:44:37] gospel is available to all who will be in Christ Jesus it's available to everyone it's not a black highland it's not for perfect people it's for broken people come that kneel before the cross and say, Lord, Son of God,
[00:44:54] I'm a sinner. I am broken.
[00:44:55] Have mercy upon me. I really don't want that. I'm humbly nothing. It may look like it, too, but, you know, God's put me back together one piece at a time.
[00:45:13] One piece at a time is what the gospel is about. And also, folks, hey, I can't play healthcare. I can't fix you, but I can take you to the one who can.
[00:45:28] I can't grant you salvation, but I know the one who can. And to live a life full of Christ is one of freedom.
[00:45:41] You and babies, we're all too willing sometimes to put the shackle on our wing.
[00:45:44] Well, the devil made it go.
[00:45:45] No, I didn't tell him.
[00:45:47] I put it on myself.
[00:45:50] But Jesus removes those shackles because what happens with us is we grow in him.
[00:45:54] There's a responsibility in this faith.
[00:45:57] You know, so too many times I've heard, like, hey, you know, you're crying, you say this little sin in prayer.
[00:46:00] I pray over you.
[00:46:01] I block you on the chin and just praise God and move back to the, you're saved.
[00:46:04] Welcome to the family.
[00:46:06] We talked about this last week.
[00:46:07] Folks, there's responsibility in our faith.
[00:46:09] There's surrender.
[00:46:10] there is walking in Christ.
[00:46:13] There's so much that goes into it.
[00:46:15] Being a forgiven person.
[00:46:17] Living and being resurrected.
[00:46:19] Living as a new creation, not as our old selves.
[00:46:24] So I'm going to end right about here, but as we go into the next several weeks, we're going to look at what happens when we lie and we forget God. And I don't have too much for it. I can just really turn on the TV and see
[00:46:36] that. What happens when we walk away from God? What happens when we become our own God? What happens when I'm waiting to say, I don't need the gospel.
[00:46:46] I'm going to create my own gospel to make it more digestible.
[00:46:53] Folks, that's what scares me today is what I see.
[00:46:55] I see that the church is not on purpose.
[00:47:00] And the best way I look at it, you know, it's a marriage.
[00:47:02] You realize the church is the bride of Christ.
[00:47:06] And Jesus is the groomsman.
[00:47:09] And we are not the bride.
[00:47:11] We're unfaithful. We cheat.
[00:47:13] We lie. We run away.
[00:47:15] We do all these awful things.
[00:47:17] But the groom is still faithful.
[00:47:22] His love for me is wrongdoing. It's a call for repentance and forgiveness.
[00:47:30] And it's a call to want God more. John Wesley says this, to want God more than we want the sin.
[00:47:38] And folks, I've seen that happen.
[00:47:42] I've seen that folks say, want God more than we want the lies.
[00:47:47] So folks, here's my question to you today. It's not a implication to anybody, but are you ashamed of the gospel or are you humbled by it?
[00:47:53] Am I willing to live into being salt and light?
[00:48:02] Am I willing to live into Christ saying, Lord, I am broken.
[00:48:06] I need you to transform me.
[00:48:08] I need to die on that cross for you, and I need resurrection every day.
[00:48:15] Brothers and sisters, where are you?
[00:48:16] Think about that this week.
[00:48:18] Do you want to go back and read ahead of Romans?
[00:48:21] Go back and read back?
[00:48:22] You know, read forward?
[00:48:24] Sometimes Romans, you have to read the entire chapter to kind of get Paul's point.
[00:48:27] For sake of time, you break it down.
[00:48:30] But I want you to really read this stuff and digest it and see, now, where is your soul?
[00:48:37] Are you truly in Christ Jesus?
[00:48:39] this. Just walk in the walk because that's where grandma, great-grandma, great-great-grandma lived. We went to church and that's why she walked here. Folks, our souls, it's a daily gauge. I had to do it myself. I just felt like saying, where am I? Lord, where am I?
[00:49:01] Because it's easy to walk down the path. It's easy to get lost. I'm like the dog's squirrel. A lot of things. But folks, honestly, I want us to ask you, where are you? Gauge at this point and let's figure out how to use the answer to fix overnight but where do you look
[00:49:25] at his life do they lie with christ or do they lie to support they lie to ourselves if you haven't accepted christ all in your life there's there's time he's available for all there's nothing we've done that he's too offended by when he comes all sin to forgive we have to
[00:49:52] ask and then we have to ask you have to be kind of late develop go and send them more kind of go go through and live that new life.
[00:50:04] Folks, the foundation of who we are, and again, I want you to really call this service with me. Are you ashamed of the gospel?
[00:50:19] They may drag me out with a man, praise God, like I said, I've got a new congregation.
[00:50:23] They may arrest me and burn me, do what they've got to do. Hey, that's fine.
[00:50:27] But I'm going to proclaim Christ because that's what I want our people to hear.
[00:50:31] And that's what I want you to hear, brothers and sisters, that Christ loves you and wants to transform you.
[00:50:39] And there's more room at the table.
[00:50:43] Who else could we bring to the table?
[00:50:44] to the bottom line.
[00:50:49] So let's read this to you again. Let's think about this.
[00:50:51] Let's start with this. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God's salvation to everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
[00:51:05] For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as is written, the just shall live by faith.
[00:51:26] Lord Jesus, I just ask you to shape and grow us in your image.
[00:51:30] Help us to see you, Lord, as we are transformed.
[00:51:34] And Lord, help us to be the gospel-bearing people as we walk the world today.
[00:51:39] Lord, as we engage our waitress at lunch, Lord, let her feel the gospel.
[00:51:43] Lord, as we pump our gas and as we interact with others, let us be the image-bearer that we were called to be, to reflect you, to create curiosity for you, to be in you.
[00:51:58] And Lord, I just call upon you just to forgive our sins as a body as a people as a church i call upon you just to continue to to mold us as you do each and every day lord give us opportunities to be gospel
[00:52:14] give us opportunities to be salt in life for those that don't know you and lord for those that are hostile against you when we pray for them in love and mercy that they see your transforming life
[00:52:25] that they see you lord i'm just thankful that you're involved in each and every one of our lives and You are welcome to our church.
[00:52:32] As we follow you, Lord, we want what you want.
[00:52:36] Lord, continue to shape and grow us in your image.
[00:52:38] In your great mighty name.
[00:52:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:52:41] Our closing hymn today is Here I Am I.
[00:52:51] It's hymn number 593.
[00:52:53] That'll win your bulletin if it's 593.
[00:52:57] Let's stand as we sing.
[00:52:58] We will sing the first and the last verse.
[00:53:01] First and the last verse.
[00:53:03] The door is always open.
