[0:00] Well, good welcome, everyone. Must have been youth kids up here again, right?
[0:11] That's who we always blame when something breaks. My name is B. K. I get the pleasure of being one of the pastors that has the wonder and beauty of being here to serve you.
[0:22] Let's just go before the Lord God here in prayer before we jump into his word of Romans 1. Dear Holy Heavenly Father, we just thank you for the many blessings that you and you give us.
[0:33] We definitely know there's a world that's out there that is trying to sell us on what we need, when truly what we need is only found in you.
[0:45] Whether it be our purpose, our understanding of who we are, and in many ways who we are to become because of your greatness and your power in us, O God.
[0:59] Father, I just ask for clarity as we seek to understand the words that you use in Romans 1, verses 16 and 17 to teach us something that is so great and marvelous to your heart, O God.
[1:16] The gospel. And how that Paul has traveled the world over just preaching, preaching, sharing, just living out this great gospel truth in which we have this incredible book.
[1:32] And in many ways, this is the book has led many people to have a true understanding of the faith, how to make sense of the gospels, to see it put forth in a way that we can communicate it in a clear manner.
[1:49] And not only that, bring real change, real revival to our lives. And for some it brought change to entire countries.
[2:03] That is how powerful your word is. So God, we give you thanks for this word. And we give us ears to hear your truth. In your name we pray. Amen.
[2:14] So as you all know, we're in Romans chapter 1, Romans chapter 1. And last couple of weeks, just like I said, before we start to dig in, Romans 1 is the introduction of what Paul is setting us up for and what he wants us to understand about this gospel that he is so eager to bring to his Roman brothers and sisters.
[2:42] Its theme is salvation. And the theme of these verses, verses 16 and 17, we can clearly state is the theme of our entire scriptures.
[2:54] It's what makes the Old Testament, dare I say, the First Testament, make sense to a new and living community. This church in Rome has been functioning for years, if not decades.
[3:08] No apostle has visited it. And Paul, in his intention to visit them, sends them this letter. Let's take a look at verse 16 of Romans 1.
[3:21] It says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel. What he's demonstrating, he's using a negative type of saying, but he's truly saying, I glory in the gospel.
[3:37] I'm excited about this gospel. Why? For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and to the Greek.
[3:49] For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.
[4:02] I am not ashamed of the gospel because, one, the gospel brings salvation, and two, the gospel is the power of God.
[4:14] Last couple of weeks, one of the things we looked at was the first aspect of salvation. If we do not understand what Paul means by that word salvation, we're not going to understand what it means when we continue to dig through the book of Romans.
[4:32] And there was three aspects of salvation that I talked about. The first aspect is we need to be rescued. All of mankind needs to be rescued.
[4:44] And the first thing we need to be rescued from is our sin. We need to be rescued from our sin. And sin has these three aspects to it. We need to be rescued from the guilt of our sin.
[4:56] We need to be rescued from the power that sin once had over us. And we need to be rescued from the corruption of sin. So we've had those three aspects that he rescues us from in regards to sin.
[5:13] And one of the most important aspects of when we understand the gospel and salvation is it's also a restoration of our relationship that we once had with God.
[5:26] A perfect relationship. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. So salvation just isn't a matter of being forgiven for our sins.
[5:37] It's also being restored to a right relationship with God. And with it, that brings a future hope that we will no longer be under the wrath of God.
[5:56] Amazing, isn't it? That that is not just God's desire to save us from hell and to save us from the effects of sin in our life.
[6:07] But he's calling to fix us that relationship with our heavenly father. I think anyone here who has a broken relationship with their parents knows and understands what that longing should be, right?
[6:24] And for some of those relationships will never be fixed here on earth. But there's a hope that we will have a fixed relationship with God, our father. But in that context of salvation, we understood we are saved at that moment that we give our lives to Jesus Christ.
[6:43] Romans 5.1 tells us that we are still actively being saved, right? We are being saved for Romans or sorry, Philippians 2.12 says, therefore, my beloved, as you has always obeyed, so now not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
[7:05] So there's this aspect saved in the past. We are being saved now, and then we're being saved later when we return to glory.
[7:15] And theologians use these three words. Justification means that moment that you were saved. Sanctification is that moment now which we are being saved.
[7:26] And glorification is that moment when there shall be no more pain, there shall be no more sorrow, there shall be no more tear. We are entered into the presence of God, and it's a perfect and glorifying time.
[7:42] That's what I talked about two weeks ago. But last week I asked this one incredible question that many people have is, if I am saved, is my salvation guaranteed in the end?
[7:54] If I make that decision now to follow Jesus Christ, am I guaranteed to be saved in the future? And the answer that I gave last week, and if you weren't here and you want to know the deeper answer, please listen to last week's sermon.
[8:13] But the gist of it is, our salvation is based on the power of God. Amen? It is all God's power. It is not our power.
[8:24] If our power can't save us, our power can't keep us. We are destined to failure, but it's by God's glory, God's power, that he keeps us, because the truth of the matter is, we live in a horrible, wicked world.
[8:39] And let's be honest, that's a hard sell to tell people in Squamish, right? It's a hard sell to say things are really bad out there. I remember when I spent my time with CESIS, and the evils that I had witnessed and seen, and I remember being before I was, one of my bosses was appearing at a CBC news broadcast, and some of the people working around were mad that he used the word evil.
[9:07] And they just couldn't, and this was just after 9-11, and they just couldn't understand that there is this world. Well, they need more education.
[9:19] We need to raise them out of poverty. And we sat there. No, no, no. You fools. There is a true evil that is horrid and wretched.
[9:35] And praise God you don't get to see it. Praise God you don't get to witness some of the damage that it's done. But it exists, and it is there.
[9:47] So how can we be Christians expected to survive all that and at the end of the day still be saved? Well, praise God it's God that keeps us.
[9:58] So that was the message. So this morning I want to further two questions, because next week we're getting at the crux of the passage where it says for the righteousness of God, but there's two elements we need to understand.
[10:14] The first question is kind of a funny one, and I'll probably take some time to answer it better, but the question kind of is, how do we activate the power for God for salvation in our life?
[10:25] How does that power get activated in our lives? That's the first question. And the second question is, who can expect to experience this power in their life?
[10:39] You with me on that? So we read last week that we talked about there's this power of God which saves. How do I get that salvation to me? Right?
[10:50] So how does that happen? And this morning I want to explain a little bit about that question. So the first question, how does this power for salvation get activated? How does it get from God to me?
[11:04] And I think, by and large, most Christians will say faith. Faith. I get that power by faith.
[11:18] And I'd say not yet. It's not actually received yet. Something has to happen before you have faith.
[11:29] And Paul will later tell us quite simply in Romans 10, 17, faith comes from hearing. Faith comes from hearing. And what do you hear?
[11:40] It's the word of God. It's the word of God. That is how we acquire this power of salvation, this faith which we will believe. But we need God's word.
[11:53] Last week we talked about God's gospel. Remember, this is the theme. This is God's word, God's news to us. But because it's God's gospel, it is effective.
[12:04] That means when God says something, it works. God's word is certain. Like there's no question. There's no ambiguity. If God says he's going to do something, he's going to do something.
[12:19] God's word is absolute in authority. There is no other word that trumps God's word. Amen? Nothing, nothing. God's word is unstoppable. When God's word's power is going forward, there is no force in this world that can stop the power of God.
[12:38] And therefore, like I said, it always brings results. And the word that I'm talking about is God's gospel truth.
[12:51] God's gospel truth. So for the next couple of minutes, I'm just going to share some Bible verses with you that speak directly to this. The first one, if you're taking notes, is 1 Thessalonians 2.13.
[13:03] 1 Thessalonians 2.13. And just read it with me. I wouldn't have you because I'm going to be switching around. So I'm just going to read them to you. This is Paul writing, and he says, And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
[13:41] So from this text, we understand there's a word of man, and there's a word of God, but there's this word of God that we need to accept. We need to understand.
[13:52] And it's this word of God is actually a power that is work in us. Earlier, James, in James 1.16-18, says, Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
[14:10] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
[14:24] And it says, Of his own will, of God's own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. So that regenerative purpose that brought you from an unbeliever to a believer was by the word of truth, which we should be a first of, kind of first fruits of his creatures.
[14:48] Then we have Peter's testimony. It's a powerful testimony. It's found in 1 Peter 1, 22-25. 1 Peter 1, 22-25.
[14:59] He says, Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
[15:14] Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God.
[15:28] That you were born of a seed that is imperishable, indestructible. Right? And it was the word of God, for it says, For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.
[15:42] The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
[15:54] That's what Peter is telling the recipients. It was the word of God. And then we have this statement that Jesus Christ makes this day before he's about to be crucified on the cross.
[16:08] And it's the high priestly prayer, and he's crying out to his father. And he's thinking about his disciples, the apostles, and he says, Sanctify them.
[16:19] Make them right in your truth. Your word is truth. And then finally in Ephesians 5, the passage dealing with marriage, it says, Husbands, love your wives.
[16:37] As Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, for he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he, that being Jesus, might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or in any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish.
[17:08] So this word takes front stage when it comes to that sanctifying, cleansing part of the Christian life today.
[17:21] And we know this. 1 Timothy talks about the word of God, how it confronts unrighteousness and untruth. So this word is a priority. There's a power in this word. There's a cleansing effect in this word.
[17:34] But the question that I want to say is, what does Paul mean by word? Is it simply talking about an incantation? That if we use certain words in a certain order, we have the secret means to garner God's power to us?
[17:53] Is there some kind of mantra that if we recite certain phrases, even if we memorize certain verses, does that make God beholden to us?
[18:07] In fact, it was a couple of weeks ago, there was a clown, and I do call him a clown. He puts these religious videos up, and one of them went viral. And a brother who's not very strong in the word wrote me and asked me if it was true, because the guy said, you know that it's to call upon the name of Jesus to be saved, but you actually have to know what the real name of Jesus was.
[18:34] So his whole idea was, Jesus isn't it. Jesus is a translation. So we have to figure out what it is, you know? Like there was some mystery, and it really kept saying, it's Yeshua.
[18:45] It's Yeshua. Yeah, it's just Hebrew for Jesus, right? But he thought he had some captivated secret word, and you had to listen to his video to understand that only in salvation in the name of Jesus.
[19:06] And people fall for that stuff. You see, the power of God is not found in some right word combination. Paul tells in 2 Corinthians 3, verses 4 to 6, he says, such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.
[19:27] Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit.
[19:49] For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The truth of God, and we know the ultimate truth is found in Jesus Christ.
[20:01] Amen? And John speaks specifically to him being the word, but there's this idea that the Spirit has to give these words life. 1 Thessalonians 1, 5.
[20:12] He says, For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you, not only in word, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit with full convictions.
[20:28] So salvation just doesn't come with the word, has to have the word, but now we're seeing that it has to be powered, and that power comes from the Holy Spirit.
[20:39] It just doesn't come from giving someone the right Bible verses. As 1 Corinthians 2, 3, 5, Paul says, And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and much trembling, and my speech, and my message, were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of power, so that your faith might not rest on the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
[21:11] There's this well-known theologian, or he's not a theologian, but he's a well-known TV preacher. He's written books, and he believes if he can get one person, one-on-one in a room, he can lead them to Christ.
[21:24] And I don't think he really understands that in that room, he believes that he can call on the power of God in a certain way to lead them to Christ. And really, that's not his strategy.
[21:34] His understanding is that there is certain truths that relate to us. And he gets there using a motive way. But probably one of the best analogies that I've ever heard for the gospel, or was actually read, is given by Martin Lloyd-Jones.
[21:52] And he uses this analogy, and I'm going to use this analogy for you this morning. You're sick. You know you're sick. You don't know what you're sick from, but you're ill, body, something's not right.
[22:04] You go to a doctor. The doctor, he or she, properly diagnoses your sickness. When the doctor diagnoses your sickness, are you healed?
[22:15] No, you're not healed. So the doctor does what any good Canadian doctor, trying to make a buck in the pharmaceutical system, writes you a prescription, right? And you get that prescription.
[22:26] Now that you have the prescription that's going to fix you with your ailment, are you healed? No, you're not healed, right? So you got to take that prescription.
[22:38] You got to go down to the pharmacist. And the pharmacist takes that prescription. And Lord knows him. And let's be honest, pharmacists have to have the greatest gift in the world to read any doctor's handwriting, right?
[22:51] But they're able to put it together and give you the bottle of pills that are going to save you. Are you healed yet? No, right?
[23:03] Now, you might be like some people. You're going to look that up, right? You're going to go home and you're going to study everything that this medicine does for you. And now you know and understand everything about it.
[23:16] Are you healed? No. It's only when you actually take that medicine in, right? Then the healing functions of that medicine bring the true nature to your healing.
[23:31] Now, here's the really cool thing. Let's be honest. When you look at all those medicine, what it does, do we really understand what it's going to do? Some people who are pretty smart will figure it out.
[23:44] But for the layman, and does it matter whether we understand it? No, right? You see, the power is found in the medicine.
[23:59] It's not found in the doctor. It's not found in the prescription. It's not found in the pharmacist that gives us. So when Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, he's saying, I'm not ashamed of the prescription.
[24:12] I'm not ashamed of the prescription. But there's a problem that we face in this world today. You still need a doctor who can rightly diagnose your illness.
[24:26] And the fact of the matter is, we know there's a lot of quack doctors out there. Right?
[24:38] There is. There's people offering all sorts of, how do I say that? And, you know, different ways that dispense all sorts of wrong ointments, medications, crystals, oils.
[24:58] I'm sure there's voodoo chanting somewhere along that people talk about. And I have met those people who've been to those doctors, who continue to be offered those things.
[25:10] And some people in the search, because the reality is, is we're going to find out, every man truly knows they are broken. They know they're sick. There is nobody in this world, as we're going to find out when we get to, to Romans one and after verse 18, there is no person that doesn't know that they are sick.
[25:31] So, so what do they do? It says, you know, some people climb the highest mountain, will search the, the deepest jungle, go through the hottest desert, just searching to find that right doctor.
[25:47] Because man can't figure it out. Years ago, I had a friend who was really sick. And I remember he had to do all sorts of tests.
[25:59] And this is when I was working in the government. He was in Ottawa and he was going through his doctors. Then he had to go to the University of Ottawa. And, you know, they're, they're special medical heads and testing after testing, after testing and no one could figure out what he had.
[26:13] And then finally, there was a specialist in downtown Toronto who properly diagnosed him. And I just said, you know, what happened? How did you feel?
[26:24] And he says, I broke down and cried in the office. And he said, after all these years of dealing with my body, not doing it in pain, the relief of knowing that someone under stood him.
[26:40] the fact of the matter is there is a God that understands our pain. And you know how they're supposed to find God?
[26:59] Through us and you. Through us sharing the gospel. It's like walking down the road and you see someone walking. He say, he's got the, the same limp as you.
[27:11] And you know, you can say, Hey, Hey, I used to have that limp. And you can just create a conversation. Tell me what's, what's going on. Well, I got this prescription. That this doctor gave me.
[27:24] And it changed my life. Can you do something with this? Take this. Let me give you this truth. So there's this gospel truth, this word of God, which we know is applying the scriptures.
[27:38] It's the good news. It's God's word, but it has to come from somewhere. Sometimes it comes from a preacher. Sometimes it comes from a preacher on the radio or TV, but most often they say 86% of people who are saved comes from someone else who knows what it's like to have been lost.
[27:59] And now found to have been sick. Who's the person that they can trust the most? It should be us as friends, right? Because we know, and I'll tell you a funny story.
[28:12] Um, I had pneumonia and my medical insurance had run out in the States and it was a brutal, brutally sick. And, um, and I'm at this big mega church.
[28:24] There's about 15,000 people there. So of course there's doctors on staff. So one of the guy on staff says, Hey, my wife's a doctor. She'd love to take it. She'll take you for free. I've already called. So I show up at her place and she's using her maiden name, not their name.
[28:38] So I'm kind of lost, but it's this like Eastern medicine acupuncture place. Right. And I'm thinking like, it's not against these guys to send me to a joke place.
[28:48] Right. Like, Oh my gosh, there's, they're just yanking my chain. And I remember she has me lie down on this, you know, the, the bed thing, whatever.
[29:00] And before I even know it, there's pins in my head and there's all these things. And you got to understand to me, that's all voodoo stuff, right? Like that's witchcraft. I don't want any of that stuff near me, but I was so sick.
[29:15] And, um, she's like that. She goes, yeah, seven minutes. I'll come back. And she leaves. I'm like, what am I doing here? I'm so desperately sick. In about seven minutes, every ounce of mucus comes out of me and I'm clear.
[29:30] I'm clear. So I endorse acupuncture now, um, but you go in kind of can this really, but their testimony was true and it was right and real.
[29:45] And I had to trust them. And you do trust people that love you. You do trust people that know you, you know, it's interesting.
[29:55] Um, uh, J.I. Packer, the great Christian scholar wrote this very powerful book. And I would encourage you to get it. Maybe we'll get a few copies. It's called evangelism and the sovereignty of God.
[30:08] And, um, and evangelism is tough, but he says, you know, sometimes you're able to make a connection with person in 30 seconds and other persons that might take you three years, right?
[30:21] Some relationships come way easier. And sometimes you might be able to take that 32nd relationship and, and go to the gospel, but others that might take three, four, five years before you're able to do that.
[30:35] But, um, once you've had that trust, you can offer, because until that time, you're just offering a doctor amongst many other doctors in this world.
[30:47] But you're at least living testimony to the healing of that doctor. Amen. Um, there was a guy, I, you guys probably knew a couple of years ago, I had foot ankle surgery and I was in just getting, um, being checked on by the doctor.
[31:01] And there was another guy who was just before me and he was trying to set, and people don't realize that when you have bad ankles, like we do, um, we have to literally walk like this in Squamish.
[31:12] Like honestly, going up on a nice hike is actually, Daniela knows I can't just simply walk around Brougham Lake, which you guys might appreciate because my ankle is going to go out at, it just always does.
[31:25] It just, it's very weak. And, um, the guy was trying to tell the doctor and I, and I kind of heard him from the next drape. And I said, dude, I hear you.
[31:38] Um, but I'm going to tell you, I, I had the surgery and I can walk again. Like I, I don't need to always look down where I'm walking.
[31:49] I, my, my right ankle doesn't give out anymore. They put new ligaments on it and it's wonderful. And he was like, he's like, he just, thank you. He just needed to hear that this was going to work because it was a painful surgery.
[32:03] And I went through a lot, but it was worth it at the end. And that's us in sharing this gospel. And it's like, I told you guys a couple of years ago, your testimonies matter.
[32:15] Your testimonies speak. God uses your story because you're all so different, but the same God. Amen. We are all joined different ages.
[32:27] We come from different parts of the country, sometimes different countries. We spoke different languages in our home, but it's the same doctor. And this doctor has universal appeal.
[32:39] You see, through the power of the word and the power of the Holy Spirit, it produces a faith that is certain, produces a faith that is assured.
[32:57] It's unshakable. It's unassailable. It cannot be overcome because it's a salvation given to us by Jesus Christ, empowered by the God of the universe.
[33:11] Now, what's interesting about God's word is that we can't always control where it goes. Right? You might be aiming for someone. Part of my testimony is kind of a weird one.
[33:21] My dad's partner and his wife were praying for him. And they told me this years later after we were saved. She goes, we were, we were praying for your dad. We weren't even praying for you and your mom, but it was you and your mom that got saved and not your dad.
[33:35] Like, but just through that faithfulness, thinking there was going one way, said, you know, it's like catching a line to catch my dad, but they got my mom and me. The power of God's word.
[33:45] I heard it and responded. Now, this is the good news, my friend, who is salvation for? Notice in verses one 16, he says, for it is the power of God for salvation to, everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
[34:05] The fact of the matter is, we know that salvation is from God. It is God's power. The question is, can anybody truly be beyond God's power? Can anybody be truly beyond God's power?
[34:18] No. And when he uses this word Jew and Gentile here, it's kind of interesting. He's making a dichotomy. The Gentiles did not have the law.
[34:29] They did not know who God is. They did not worship God. So it makes sense. They were outside of God's will, right? Like it's kind of hard to accept that they would get God. And that's what we're going to be dealing with in the new year.
[34:42] But the ones who had the law, guess what? They were just as lost as those who didn't have the law. Right? The fact of the matter is, everyone needs salvation.
[34:57] The reality of the power of the gospel, God's gospel, which is powerful than anything else, means that there is nobody too far from the gospel.
[35:08] Sadly, when we share the gospel, we honestly think people are close to believing, right? You ever have that conversation with someone? Or you've talked to someone, right?
[35:18] Been talking to my neighbor. Man, they're so close to salvation. Oh, they're just so close. Why? Well, they're so moral. They're so kind. They love Donald Trump, right?
[35:29] You know, they'll say some silly stuff like that. They got to be so close. That's not, that's usually the person we try to reach, but we usually don't share the gospel with someone who thinks that their sins are so dark, so deep, so black, that no one could ever save them.
[35:58] There's one man, in fact, like that, that I know I've shared the gospel with many times, but he contends that his sins are greater than God's. His, God's ability to save.
[36:10] And the reality is, he never misses church. He gives heaps of money to the church, but he is desperately lost because he believes the lie that his sin is more powerful than God.
[36:24] Do the number of your sins matter to God? No. Do the types of sins matter to God? No. No. The fact of the matter is, there is no difference in the sight of God between a murderer and the most selfish, self-righteous person on earth.
[36:44] They are both equally lost, and they are as much without hope as the other. The desperate, the most violent, the darkest, or as lost as the kindest, the nicest, the most respectable people.
[37:05] And the reason why it's so easy for both of them to be saved is because it's the exact same power that saves the, those that do not have the law, is the same power that saves those who do not have the law or have the law.
[37:24] To God, there is no difference at all. This is why Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel. Why does he glory in the gospel?
[37:36] Because this gospel saves the most desperate and hurting of men and women. It never matters how deep they have sunk in life, or how vile their sins have been.
[37:50] There are even, as one article or one quote that I read, says, some people are so bad they have no good character to lose. But they still can be saved by the gospel.
[38:06] It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. My conclusion this morning is that some of us, we do need to share that prescription more, don't we?
[38:24] There are people who had the same disease as we have. Some of those people were able to spot in a minute. Some, it might take time. But if there's ever a thought in your head that it won't work for them like it worked for you, perhaps you need to think more on what is the power of God.
[38:51] Maybe we just simply need to share the gospel and give God the opportunity to power it and send it where he wants to power it. Let's pray. Dear, good, holy, powerful God, we thank you for your willingness to save us.
[39:11] I know some of us, we think we're pretty good. Even, I look back as a kid, being young, and around 10 or 11, when I first heard that gospel, I still knew and understood that even at that point in my life, that I was far from God, that I did not live in a way that glorified God.
[39:34] I knew my sins, which were done willingly, were just as great as an act of rebelliousness than anything that I could do.
[39:44] Father, we thank you for the sensitive hearts of our young people, our kids and our youth. Right now, as they grow and they do understand what is right and wrong, and they do know when they've hurt their parents, their siblings, their friends, and that can add up over time, a very guilty, shame-filled conscience.
[40:13] And that's why you've created us, oh Father. Just as Paul was eager to share this gospel, a man who was a murderer, a blasphemer, who set himself against you.
[40:27] What an example we have, that you took him and made him the disciple for us, the Gentiles, the outsiders, the ones who were without a law, those who did not know there was a law to follow.
[40:44] But God, yet in your rich mercy, you did tell us these things. God, I just pray for this church. I pray for the opportunities, and I pray for even opportunities that we can have some talks as pastor and leaders to our congregation, oh Father, on not just strategies, but how to think through the aspect of sharing our faith with those that we know and love.
[41:13] God, we take pleasure in your word. We take pleasure in sharing it. Paul says, simply, I am not ashamed, because sometimes it is easy to be ashamed. We want that relationship to continue.
[41:28] But Father, more than anything, just give us an understanding of your sovereignty. May you transcend our brains that we exist, and give us a bigger understanding of how things work in this world, that we would just trust you, that you are indeed king of all, and you control all aspects.
[41:49] Whether we understand it or not, it's still true. Let us depend upon that with childlike faith. So God, as we come to this communion table, we thank you for what you did on the cross, this gospel that we preach, that we were wicked, lost, and without hope.
[42:21] And the wrath of God was due to us, and you went to the cross for us, and you've called us here in obedience to share in this meal, that we long for you to come back.
[42:37] We wait for you, and this is a sign of our fellowship, our waiting, our obedience to you. It's not obedience that we do begrudgingly, but it's an obedience we look forward to, to claim the promises that are due.
[42:54] We're forgetful people. We forget things all the time. And I'm glad you knowing us said, hey, do this regularly. Take this cup and this bread, and break it together, and remember what I have done and what's going to happen.
[43:14] This is our hope, upon which our faith is founded. We ask you these things in your great and wonderful name.
[43:26] Amen.