Happy Are The Feet of those who Tell the Gospel

August 10, 2014 Romans 10:5-15 9th Sunday After Pentecost Happy are the Feet of those who tell the good news! Year A The importance of Romans We have been studying the book of Romans in bible study, very rich lesson, as a matter of fact, one of our most productive lessons. Romans is a very rich book, so I thought it would be important for me to preach on it while I have the chance. In our study of Genesis and the first family, we have been talking about the meaning of the promise of God, what that promise was, who that promise was made to and what are the implications of being truly blessed. The promisedland continues to be in the news as the Palestinians and the Jews continue to be at war with one another, and many innocent people on either side continue to get killed. As the violence in the middle east continues to escalate, we have to be careful not to take sides from a conflict that we are removed from. On the one hand some of us believe that the Jews are God’s chosen people and that we should not interfere with God’s promise to them. And yet the new testament also has verse like in Romans, where Paul says that the jews messed up and were not faithful, which is why God extended his promise to others. It is easy to interpret chapters 9-11 of Romans as Paul being critical of how own people. He says that the law never worked, and no matter how hard we try, that following the law never works, we never live up to what the law expects of us. And yet Paul says that God’s grace is big enough to save us all, even the jews. Paul’s prayer and our prayer that God’s grace will prevail and children will stop dying. That is the message of Romans. Many of our church fathers and mothers do indeed consider Romans to be the greatest lesson of the bible. Everything we need to understand about salvation is in Romans. Cant cover it all in one sermon. Just want to point the Roman Road. Looking at all of Romans and pointing out the scriptures that lead to salvation. Romans Road The first verse on the Romans Road to salvation isRomans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent.Romans 3:10-18gives a detailed picture of what sin looks like in our lives. The second Scripture on the Romans Road to salvation,Romans 6:23, teaches us about the consequences of sin - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death! The third verse on the Romans Road to salvation picks up whereRomans 6:23left off, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."Romans 5:8declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus' resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus' death as the payment for our sins. The fourth stop on the Romans Road to salvation isRomans 10:9, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins - and we will be saved!Romans 10:13says it again, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation.Romans 5:1has this wonderful message, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God.Romans 8:1teaches us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God fromRomans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Would you like to follow the Romans Road to salvation? If so, here is a simple prayer you can pray to God. Saying this prayer is a way to declare to God that you are relying on Jesus Christ for your salvation. The words themselves will not save you. Only faith in Jesus Christ can provide salvation! "God, I know that I have sinned against you and am deserving of punishment. But Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. With your help, I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness - the gift of eternal life! Amen!" Have you made a decision for Christ because of what you have learned through the Romans Road to salvation? If so, please click on the "I have accepted Christ today" button below. Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/Romans-road-salvation.html#ixzz39wLwtrFj FOUR WORDS The great English statement and man of God William Wilberforce once wrote that "Christianity can be condensed into four words: admit, [Christ as Lord] submit, [To Christ as Lord] commit, [Our lives to doing His will] and transmit [The Love of God to a dying world]." (Draper's Quotes, Accessed QuickVerse Platinum 2010) Samuel Wilberforce (1805--1873) The Other Half of the Gospel A MAN came to me one day in Chicago and said, “I want to talk with you.” Mr. Moody was away, so I took him into Mr. Moody’s room, and asked, “What do you want to talk with me about?” He said, “I am a Scotchman. When I was seven years old over in Scotland, I started to read my Bible through. Before I had read long, I came to a place where it said that if a man should keep the law of God a hundred years, and then break it, he was under the curse of a broken law. Is that right?” “Well,” I said, “the Bible does not put it in just those words, but it amounts to that. It says, ‘Cursed is every man that continueth not in all the things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them.’ ” “Well,” he said, “that is what I found, and I knew I had already broken the law of God, though I was only seven years old, and I was under the curse of a broken law. I was plunged into the deepest distress. Though I was only a child of seven, I wept over my sins often by day and often by night. I was in distress of soul for a whole year, but I kept on reading my Bible, and at last I got over to the New Testament, and read John 3:16, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ I saw that Jesus died for my sins, and my burden all rolled away, and I was perfectly happy. Was I converted?” “Well,” I said, “that sounds like an evangelical conversion.” “Wait a moment,” he said, “and listen to the rest of my story. I grew up to manhood; I moved to America; I came over here to Chicago; I went to work in the stockyards, and live down there. You know it is a hard place. I have got to drinking, and every little while I go off on a drunk. Now, what I want to know is this, is there any way I can get victory over drink and over all sin?” “You have come just to the right place to get an answer to your question,” I replied, “I can tell you the way. You have only believed half the Gospel, and therefore you’ve got only half a salvation. Listen to the whole Gospel.” I opened my Bible to 1 Cor. 15:1–4 and I read, “ ‘This is the Gospel that I have preached unto you … that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.’ That is the first half of the Gospel but it is only half. Listen as I read on and you will see the other half, ‘And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.’ Do you believe that half of the Gospel also? You have already believed in Christ crucified and found pardon and peace, but the rest of the Gospel is that Christ rose again. Do you believe that?” “Oh, yes,” he said, “I believe everything in the Bible.” I said, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ rose again?” He said, “I do.” “Do you believe He has all power in heaven and on earth as He said He had?” He said, “I do.” “Well, if He has all power in heaven and on earth, He has power to set you free from the power of sin. Do you believe that?” “Yes, I do.” “Will you trust Him to do it now? You have believed half the Gospel, you have got half a salvation. You have believed in a crucified Christ and got pardon; now will you believe in a risen Christ and get victory? Will you trust Him now as the risen Saviour to set you free from the drink and other sin?” He said, “I will.” “Let us kneel down and tell God so.” We knelt down. I prayed and he prayed. After he had prayed he looked up and said, “Lord Jesus, I have believed half the Gospel that Thou didst die in my place and I have found pardon and peace through believing it. I now believe the other half of the Gospel that you rose again and have all power in heaven and on earth and have power to set me free from drink and sin and I trust you to do it. Set me free now.” When he had finished, I said, “Do you really trust Him to do it?” He said, “I do.” We got up. I gave him a few words of advice and we separated. In a few weeks I received a letter from him, a very short letter, but very much to the point. He said, “I am so glad I came to see you. It works.” Thank God it does work. A crucified Christ brings pardon; a risen Christ brings deliverance from the power of sin the moment you believe. Entering a crowded street car, with his Bible under his arm, a young minister soon became the brunt of sneering remarks and wisecracks from the group of fellows. These remarks continued, and when the minister left the car, one youth said, “Say, mister, how far is it to heaven?” The Christian replied, “It is only a step; will you take it now?” The gospel has two powerful messages, Christ died to take away our sins, and in rising, he gave us the power to live a new life. Everday that I read something in the bible, I discover a new powerful verse. In Romans 10, Paul says that salvation is dependent on believing, and believing is dependent on hearing, and how can they hear unless someone tells them? George Sweeting, in his book "The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing," tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was FOUND GUILTY of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee. In 1968, Currier’s sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that farm was hard and without promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told hard year after hard year. Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier’s plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man. Sweeting concluded the story by asking, "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message-the most important in your life-and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?" And whose responsibility is it to spread the goodnews. Paul says happy are the feet of those who spread the gospel. But what does it mean to have happy feet? : I want to close with this story by Doug Nichols, Bothell, WA (Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 2.) Nichols tells this story: “While serving with Operation Mobilization in India in 1967, tuberculosis forced me into a sanitarium for several months. I did not yet speak the language, but I tried to give Christian literature written in their language to the patients, doctors, and nurses. Everyone politely refused. I sensed many weren’t happy about a rich American (to them all Americans are rich) being in a free, government-run sanitarium. (They didn’t know I was just as broke as they were!) The first few nights I woke around 2:00 A.M. coughing. One morning during my coughing spell, I noticed one of the older and sicker patients across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He would sit up on the edge of the bed and try to stand, but in weakness would fall back into bed. I didn’t understand what he was trying to do. He finally fell back into bed exhausted. I heard him crying softly. The next morning I realized what the man had been trying to do. He had been trying to get up and walk to the bathroom! The stench in our ward was awful. Other patients yelled insults at the man. Angry nurses moved him roughly from side to side as they cleaned up the mess. One nurse even slapped him. The old man curled into a ball and wept. The next night I again woke up coughing. I noticed the man across the aisle sit up and again try to stand. Like the night before, he fell back whimpering. I don’t like bad smells, and I didn’t want to become involved, but I got out of bed and went over to him. When I touched his shoulder, his eyes opened wide with fear. I smiled, put my arms under him, and picked him up. He was very light due to old age and advanced TB. I carried him to the washroom, which was just a filthy, small room with a hole in the floor. I stood behind him with my arms under his armpits as he took care of himself. After he finished, I picked him up, and carried him back to his bed. As I laid him down, he kissed me on the cheek, smiled, and said something I couldn’t understand. The next morning another patient woke me and handed me a steaming cup of tea. He motioned with his hands that he wanted a tract. As the sun rose, other patients approached and indicated they also wanted the booklets I had tried to distribute before. Throughout the day nurses, interns, and doctors asked for literature. Weeks later an evangelist who spoke the language visited me, and as he talked to others he discovered that several had put their trust in. Christ as Savior as a result of reading the literature. What did it take to reach these people with the gospel? It wasn’t health, the ability to speak their language, or a persuasive talk. I simply took a trip to the bathroom. What won these people was the fact, that when he walked, he walked like Jesus. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” Whenever we do what Jesus would do, we have happy feet. People see not only what we do, but who we are. When we walk like Jesus, we are automatically spreading the gospel. Contrary to popular belief, people want to hear your story of salvation. People spend millions of dollars looking for answers, but will listen you for free. Millions of people who are looking for a new answer to an old question. Need to know that Jesus Christ is the answer. Whatever the problem, Christ is the answer. But how can they believe that if they don’t hear. Need to hear it from those who believe it themselves. People all over the world need to hear about God’s grace. May you admit, submit, commit and transmit the good news! Amen Extra illustrations….. SITTING DOWN It’s said that when Henry Ward Beecher was a boy, he had a teacher at school who asked one of the boys in class a question which the boy answered. The teacher became angry and told the boy he was wrong and commanded him to: "Sit down!" The boy was obviously confused because he’d thought he’d answered correctly, but he sat abruptly down. Several boys were asked the same question, they gave the same answer and promptly rebuked by their teacher. Finally Beecher was asked to stand and answer the question. He gave the same answer and was commanded "Sit down!" But Beecher held his ground and insisted that the answer was correct. For a few moments the teacher stormed at him, but seeing Beecher wasn’t going to give up he smiled and said, "Well, boys, you were all correct, but Beecher was the only one sure enough to stand up for it.” Many people have lost their faith in Christ because they simply lacked the courage to stand up for what they believed. They had grown so used to apologizing for their faith that once someone mounted a serious challenge to that faith they just gave up and sat down. Children’s Sermon (From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Confession Is Good For the Soul, 10/24/2010) Offer Them Christ by King Duncan Passage: Romans 9:30--10:21 • Lectionary: Proper 14 Item 2 of 8 | Back to Results Object: a map of your town and a highlighter Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. I want you to pretend with me. Let's say you had a friend, and that friend wanted to go from his/her house to McDonald's. Now, here's your friend's house (make a dot on the map), and here's McDonald's (make another dot). And to get to McDonald's, your friend wanted to take this road, then get off on this road, and then go over to this road, and (highlight a very circuitous, out of the way route, offthewall route), then take this road to get there. Now that looks like a pretty hard way to get to McDonald's. And your friend just might get lost along the way and never make it there. But what if you knew a better way to McDonald's? What if you knew a way that was shorter, faster, easier, and better, so you knew for sure that your friend wouldn't get lost? Wouldn't you tell him/her about it? If you care about your friend, you would. Well, what if your friend wanted to know the way to Heaven? You can't look at a map to get there. Some people think that you get to Heaven by doing nice things all the time and never sinning. But that's really hard to do, and it won't get you into Heaven. Some people think that you get into Heaven by praying a lot, and following a lot of very strict rules. But that's really hard to do, too, and it won't get you into Heaven. The Bible says that the way to get into Heaven is to believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and then to tell people about your faith in Jesus. That's pretty easy, isn't it? And now that you know the way, I hope that you will tell others, so that they can go to Heaven someday, too. There was a peculiar fisherman from Minnesota who was very well prepared. He knew how to fish. He had everything you need to be a good fisherman. He had poles, nets, bait, and even a really nice boat, but this fisherman had a problem. You see, for all his preparation he never caught anything. Not one fish. Not one, not ever. And you know why he never caught a fish? What do you think? The answers easy: He never went fishing. He had all the knowledge and all the equipment, but he never got into the boat, he never left the dock..