Why We Can Share the Gospel Without Shame (Rom. 1.14-19

Scripture: Romans 1.14-19

Translation: ¹⁴Both to Greeks and Barbarians, both to smart people and stupid people I am a debtor, ¹⁵such that in this way the desire that clicks with me is to also tell the Good-News to you who are in Rome. ¹⁶For I’m not ashamed of the Good-News, because it is God’s power resulting in salvation for every believing person, both to the Jewish person first of all and to the Greek person, ¹⁷because it’s God’s righteousness is being revealed in that person from faith to faith, just as it really is written “And the righteous person will live by faith. ¹⁸For God’s fury is being revealed from Heaven on every impiety and unrighteousness of humans, those who hold down the truth with unrighteousness, ¹⁹because what is knowable about God is clear to them, because God made it clear to them.

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       I it owe to them to tell the Good-News

                                                              i.      Because I’m not ashamed of the Good News

1.      Because it is God’s power to save every believing person

a.       Because it’s God’s righteousness being revealed in that person by faith

b.      Because God’s anger is being revealed against all sin and unrighteousness done by humans, who pretend they don’t know what the truth is

                                                                                                                                      i.      It’s pretend, because what can be known about God is clear to them

1.      Because God made it clear (i.e. it really is clear)

2.      Themes

a.       Why/explanation

b.      Faith

c.       Righteousness/unrighteousness

d.      God

e.       Clarity

f.       Different social, cultural, ethnic classes

g.      Good-News/Gospel

3.      Doctrines

a.       The Gospel is God’s power in action to save anyone and everyone who will believe

b.      God is super-infinitely righteous

c.       God does get angry: as much as God takes action to save believing people, He takes action to punish and destroy unbelieving/unrighteous people

Applications

1.      Outline: Why should we feel the need and want to tell other people about Jesus without shame

a.       Because our Good-News really is good news!

b.      Because our Good-News really has the power to save believing people

                                                              i.      See part of our problem is that we don’t really believe our Good-News saves people. Either because

1.      We don’t think God will actually show up and work when we tell people

2.      We don’t think our friends, family, co-workers, fellow-students, that random guy on the bus, the girl whose name you can’t seem to remember, the barista at the coffee shop you talk to sometimes actually need saving

                                                            ii.      In response,

1.      For thinking God won’t show up, Paul makes it very clear that our Good-News and our Christian lives is all about faith, have you ever considered that perhaps sometimes God doesn’t show up, because you don’t trust Him to. Our God is all about faith. He wants us to trust Him. Our lives with Him that are based on trust, must have trust that goes all the way through every aspect of our lives. We don’t just trust God to save us, and that’s it. Paul is saying that we trust Him for everything, starting with when we became a Christian until we meet Jesus face-to-face. That includes when we tell other people about Jesus

2.      For thinking that people don’t really need saving, see the next point, but also note

a.       The very fact that we are saved ourselves, proves that people need saving. We are not so special or so broken that we are different from the rest of the world. No, as much as we needed to be saved, they need to be saved

b.      More than anything this shows we probably don’t know or understand or love or even trust God very well, so let’s see

c.       Because our Good-News really is the only way to avoid getting the punishment our sins deserve

                                                              i.      Because our God is righteous

                                                            ii.      Because our God gets angry

                                                          iii.      Because people really are rebellious and anti-God

1.      Because they could know God if they wanted to, but instead they strangle the truth God has made clear to them.

2.      In our culture some people say, I need proof that God is real, how could I ever really know there is a True God out there? And while part of our desire is to give some proof, at the end of the day, whether they realize how much they could have known or not, God will say to them when they meet Him, not “well, how could you have known I was real. After all, I didn’t give you any good ways to know.” He is going to say, “Don’t tell me you couldn’t know Me, because the truth is you wouldn’t know me.

d.      Because our Good-News really is for everyone

                                                              i.      Because anyone can trust, even cute small children, to old senile grandparents—you don’t have to work at anything to enjoy it

1.      This means that there are no barriers to knowing God and having a true and healthy relationship with Him. Also, it is one of the things that makes being a Christian so radically different than any other religion. All the other religions eventually come down to you and me doing something to make God like us, to force God to give us some eternal reward

                                                            ii.      Because there is no gender, social, cultural, ethnic, economic intellectual—any—barrier that God has imposed.

1.      And this really is good news, because if you look at the other world religions, this really is something that sets Christianity apart. For example, in most of the world religions, if you’re a woman, you’re in trouble. There is no guaranteed hope for you. In Islam and Mormonism, for example, there is no real future or guarantee or hope, because you are just not as valued or considered for saving. In fact, at the beginning of the church, pastors had to argue about whether women even had souls or not, because the culture they were in basically was saying, “No, women don’t have souls, so they can’t be saved.” But, the Gospel is great news for women, because Christians believe you really do have souls and God really does have great plans for you and great love for you. Why do you think that wherever Christianity goes, women come to God in droves, because it is only in Christianity that women will be truly loved, empowered, and accepted as full-members of the community. The only reason American culture treats women with any level of equality is because Christianity’s value system at one time reigned supreme in Western culture.

2.      Or why is it that the poor come to God so much, because only God truly values the poor, loves the poor, and doesn’t require they become rich to be a good Christian.

3.      And aren’t you glad that we don’t all have to be Einstein to become a Christian, because let’s face it, most of us are not that smart.

4.      And aren’t you glad that our Good News is not for only Koreans, or only white people, or only Jews—there’s no one you can’t tell, and there’s no requirement that we become a totally different culture, in a lot of muslim places, if you are not an arab, you’re a second rate muslim

e.       Because our Good-News really is a guaranteed salvation

                                                              i.      Because it is by faith, people who really do believe the Good-News really can expect to be saved. In our culture and in other religions there is not any absolute hope, because it is totally based on whether you were good enough. But our Good-News really is good news because it not about whether you or me are good enough, because it’s all about how good God is, that He is good enough

2.      Questions

a.       Do you want to tell other people about the Good News of Jesus? What makes you want to or not want to?

b.      Do you understand why people need to be saved? What makes it easy or hard to believe people need saving?

c.       Have you ever written somebody off as too lost, bad, or ignorant to be saved?

d.      Is your current life marked by faith in God? Does everything you do flow out of faith in Him? Why or why not?

e.       Are you comfortable with trusting in a God Who gets angry at bad things? What about a God Who has to do what is right? Is it possible those to characteristics of God are two sides of the same coin, two sides of one truth? 

EASTER!!! Jesus is alive! Be a Better Ending! (Mark 16.1-8)

Scripture: Mark 16.1-8

Translation: ^16.1And after the Sabbath had passed, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought perfumes, so that going [to the Tomb] they could anoint Him. ²And very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they were going to the tomb as the sun was rising. ³And they were saying to themselves, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” ⁴And looking up, they were seeing/staring that/because the stone really was rolled away, because it was very huge.

⁵And going into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side wearing a white long-flowing-robe. And they were totally freaking out. ⁶And he was saying to them, “Don’t freak out. You’re looking for Jesus the One from Nazareth, the One Who really was crucified. He is risen! He’s not here. Look, the place where they put Him! ⁷Instead, go, tell His followers and Peter that He is going ahead of them to Galilee. There you will see Him, just like He told you.” ⁸And going out, they fled from the tomb, because trembling and shock was seizing them. And they didn’t tell anyone anything, because they were scared.

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Journey to the Open Tomb

b.      Interaction with the Angel at the Empty Tomb

2.      Themes

a.       Surprise/shock

                                                              i.      The set up relates to the theme of failure, because while they should have been anticipating His resurrection as He told them, they were anticipating a cold body in a tomb, with rot and decay setting in. That’s why they brought the perfumes and spices

1.      they expect the tomb to be sealed

2.      but they look up and see that the stone is moved, and their jaws drop

                                                            ii.      the next surprise is that when looking into the tomb they see not the body of Jesus, alive or dead, but the presence of an angel

                                                          iii.      the message of the resurrection is another surprise, as is the reminded that Jesus said He would meet them in Galilee, and that they would be commissioned to tell the rest of the disciples

1.      in fact their shock keeps them from fulfilling their commission to spread the news of the resurrection

                                                          iv.      the last shock is where the story ends, it shocked the church so much that there are 3 different endings added to the story way after the fact by the church

b.      Fear

                                                              i.      Fear begins the story as the women fear that they will not be able to anoint Jesus’ body because of the stone

                                                            ii.      The fear continues when the tomb is open

                                                          iii.      The fear explodes when they see the angel instead of Jesus

                                                          iv.      The fear is also the reason the women flee and stay silent about what they have seen

c.       Resurrection

                                                              i.      The sun rising is of course a literary foreshadowing of what is about to happen to the women, they will see the light, but more importantly of what has happened, Jesus like the sun swallowed up in night for a time, has risen back to prominence and glory

                                                            ii.      The resurrection is never directly narrated by the author, instead the angel delivers the news that Jesus was raised from the dead by God and is keeping His promise to meet them in Galilee

                                                          iii.      However, the crucifixion is presented in the perfect tense-form to mark the intensification of the statement, the pragmatic effect being along the lines of “You’re looking for Jesus who really for sure died by crucifixion” in order to also highlight the truth and the importance of the fact that Jesus in fact rose from the dead

                                                          iv.      While it is clear that God raised Jesus from the dead, at the same time it also clear that Jesus raised Himself from the dead—death couldn’t hold Him, He overpowered death!!!

                                                            v.      The resurrection is so important that an angel is sent to confer the message and make sure that people really believed that the resurrection had happened, and that the women were told to share the news

d.      Commission

                                                              i.      The angel is commissioned to the tomb, implicitly

                                                            ii.      However, the women are explicitly commissioned to

1.      Tell the news of the resurrection of the disciples

2.      Tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee as promised

3.      Tell the disciples that they will see Him

4.      (implicit to the readers) Tell the world that Jesus rose from the dead

e.       Message

                                                              i.      The message is that Jesus rose from the dead and that He really was seen

                                                            ii.      There was all kinds of proof, angelic messengers, eyewitnesses, even women

f.       Failure

                                                              i.      The theme of failure is rife throughout the book, it came to a head with Peter’s denial of Jesus

                                                            ii.      However, now it comes again, because the women fail

1.      To expect the resurrection of Christ in faith

2.      To tell the news of the resurrection/deliver the angelic message to the disciples

g.      Faith

                                                              i.      Faith is a theme that we see more implicitly than explicitly, and more by contrasts than by example

                                                            ii.      The women should have trusted Jesus that He would raise from the dead

                                                          iii.      The women should have trusted the angel’s message

                                                          iv.      Faith just as before is the only way to have a relationship with Christ, and the resurrection only makes this more true

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus rose from the dead!!!

b.      Jesus is God

c.       Angels are Real

d.      Faith is necessary to know and follow Christ

e.       Christians must tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection

Applications

1.      Outline

a.       The Part of the Story We Read: Jesus Rose From the Dead!

                                                              i.      This is the best news ever!

                                                            ii.      It means Jesus was Who He said He was, He was the Son of God

                                                          iii.      It means that we can have eternal life

                                                          iv.      It means that His death really was enough to take the hell we deserve away from us

                                                            v.      It means we have hope for when we face sickness and death and trial and suffering and persecution

                                                          vi.      It means we have a new identity shaped by Jesus, an identity without fear, without hopelessness, and without purposelessness

                                                        vii.      This is what we are supposed to be expecting by now, this was we have been prepped to believe with all the stories and miracles and sufferings of Jesus—they have all been taking us to this point, the point where we see that Jesus really is alive, that He is God in the flesh!

                                                      viii.      It means we can love and know Him like we do a living person, because He is alive!

                                                          ix.      It means that our experiences of His presence and our understandings of His word are not false, pointless, or fading. Instead they are true, real, meaningful, and lasting!

b.      The Part of the Story We Write: We Have to Tell the World Jesus is Risen!

                                                              i.      We are the end of the story, we finish the story, because it is not just their story, it is our story—will we let fear and shock and low status keep us silent, or will we fulfill the commission and tell the world that Jesus lives!

                                                            ii.      It is funny that we as a community called out some sins on Friday and we nailed them to the cross, to put them to death with Jesus. One of the big issues that we discussed was not engaging in worship, whether through singing, sermons, small groups, fellowship—whatever and however we’re failing. The truth is that one of the reasons we act and respond that way is because we forget or don’t always full believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead, that He is a Real Person that we can really interact with, that we really do have eternal life through Him, and that He really is our Lord and Mission-giver

1.      Why don’t we care about songs, well, because we don’t care enough about Jesus, or perhaps more accurately because we forget how truly alive Jesus is! Jesus being alive is not just a random fact that we know, He is a real person we know! And can know more and more, and the truth is that through singing, prayer, sermons, small groups, fellowship, serving, and whatever else God has given us to do and enjoy we can come to know, experience, and interact with the Risen Jesus! You want to know what made the early church so bawlsy? They knew Jesus, they knew He was alive, and they knew that they still had a relationship with Him, that in fact their relationship with Jesus was stronger and better after the resurrection, but it wasn’t perfect, because they were still waiting to be with Him face to face again

2.      We also identified that we are weak and fail as a community in the area of compartmentalization. We divide our lives up into little sections that don’t interact. And while some compartmentalization is going to be a natural outworking of us having different networks of friends, family, school, work, etc., and different roles to play in different settings, I think the problem is that we see that our lives are too compartmentalized. There is not enough overlap, our identities are not expressing themselves fully in all these areas. This ending is here to shatter our artificial walls and dividers and bring our worlds together!

a.       This happens by giving us a core identity of being in Jesus, and empowered and hope-ified by Jesus’ resurrection

b.      It also happens by kicking us out into the world and saying, “hey, it’s on you. go write the end of the book, tell the world that Jesus rose from the dead for real!”

                                                                                                                                      i.      It is hard to have a life full of compartmentalization and secret Christianity, if we are trapped in fear or shame or confusion, so much so that we don’t tell the world that Jesus lives

                                                                                                                                    ii.      You want our youth group to not be so compartmentalized, then we need to find some courage and get bold about spreading the word!

                                                                                                                                  iii.      Some angel is not going to show up to finish the story for you, you and I and we as a community have to tell the world that Jesus lives!

2.      Small Group Questions

a.       How easy is it for you to believe that Jesus really did die on the cross and raise from the dead?

b.      What does it look like for us to finish the Mark story? And how did it make you feel to hear that the ending of the book was never written by Mark? Concerned? confused? fearful? Excited?

c.       How could the resurrection of Jesus shape how you think of yourself, shape your identity?

d.      The resurrection has changed the focus of the church from merely inward to outward. How can we as a community and as individual not only have an inward focus, but a focused outward momentum?

Illustrations/Explanations

1.      Why did we stop reading the story at v.8?

a.       well the short answer is “because the rest of the book is not really part of the Bible”

b.      the long answer is

                                                              i.      because there are actually several different suggested endings found in copies of the Book of mark, which all start after v.8

1.      two  shorter endings

2.      one longer ending

                                                            ii.      Because those suggested endings from different copies of the Bible are not in the earliest and best copies of the book

                                                          iii.      Because the many of the copies that did have that ending have notes in them that say the section is not from Mark

                                                          iv.      Because the words used in the last section don’t seem to be words in Mark’s more common vocabulary

                                                            v.      Because the other suggested endings don’t flow well from the ending clearly written by Mark

                                                          vi.      Because the book’s themes resolve well by leaving the tension open

c.       What does this mean, well, it means that God gave us a shocker of an ending, that this is actually the right ending for the Gospel of Mark, that it is the ending that calls us and shocks us into following Christ

d.      But what it means is that we write the ending of this Gospel with our lives. The question set before by God today is, “Will you let fear keep you from sharing the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection?” and “Will you trust Jesus as the Risen Lord and Savior?” 

GOOD FRIDAY!!! Jesus--Tried, Crucified, and Buired (Mark 15)

Unfortunately, because of the structure of the service, no sermon audio is available for this set of notes, I still hope it helps you though. 

Scripture: Mark 15

Translation: ^15.1And immediately, early in the morning, because the chief priests had made a plan with the elders and the scholars and the whole Sanhedrin, having tied Jesus up, they took [Him] away and handed [Him] over to Pilate. ²And Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus to answer him was saying, “You’re saying [it].” ³And the chief priests were accusing Him of many things. ⁴And Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Aren’t You going to answer anything? Look! They are accusing you of so many things!” ⁵But Jesus no longer answered with anything, with the result that Pilate was shocked.

⁶And according to the feast, He would release to them one prisoner, who they requested. ⁷And the one called Barabbas was chained with the terrorists/rebels, who in a rebellion had committed murder. ⁸And rising up the crowd began to ask just how much he was going to do for them. ⁹And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰(For he knew that because of jealousy the chief priests had handed Him over.) ¹¹And the chief priests stirred up the crowd, that instead he should release Barabbas to them. ¹²And Pilate again to answer was saying to them, “So, what should I do about who you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴And Pilate was saying to them, “Then what bad thing did He do?” And they shouted a lot more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵And Pilate, because he wanted to do enough for the crowd, released to them Barabbas. And he handed over Jesus, after flogging [Him], so that He could be crucified.

¹⁶And the soldiers took Him away inside the courtyard, that is the Praetorium, and they were summoning the whole cohort. ¹⁷And they dressed Him up in purple and weaving a crown made of thorns they put [it] on Him.. ¹⁸And they began to greet Him, “Hello, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹And they hit His head with a reed and spit on Him and putting down their knees, they swore allegiance to Him. ²⁰And when they made fun of Him, they stripped Him of the purple and put His clothes on Him. And they were taking Him out, so that they could crucify Him.

²¹And they forced someone who was passing by, Simon from Cyrene, who was coming from the field, the father of Alexander and Rufus, in order that he could carry His cross. ²²And they brought Him to the place ofGolgatha  (which is translated “The Place of the Skull” ). ²³And they were giving Him drugged wine, Who also would not take [it]. ²⁴And they were crucifying Him and “dividing up His clothes by throwing lots for them, so that someone could take something. ²⁵And it was the third hour and they crucified Him. ²⁶And the written statement of the charge against Him was clearly being written, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷And with Him they were crucifying two muggers, one on the right and one on His left.

²⁹And the people traveling by were slandering Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Hey You, the One Who’s going to destroy the Sanctuary and build it up in three days, ³⁰save Yourself, by coming down from the cross! ³¹Similarly, the chief priests also mocking [Him] before one another with the scholars were saying, “He saved others. He can’t save Himself! ³²The Messiah, the King of Israel had better come down right now from the cross, so that we could see and believe!” And the guys who were actually getting crucified with Him were insulting Him!

³³And when it became the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus yelled with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani!?” (which is translated “My God, My God, for what purpose did You abandon Me!?) ³⁵And some of the people standing there, after hearing, were saying, “Look, He’s shouting for Elijah!” ³⁶And someone ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it around a reed, and gave Him a drink saying, “Leave [Him] alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”

³⁷And Jesus after letting out a great shout breathed out for the last time. ³⁸And the curtain of the Sanctuary tore apart into two pieces from top to bottom. ³⁹And the centurion standing there in front of Him, because he saw that He breathed out for the last time like this, said, “Truly, This Man was God’s Son!”

⁴⁰And there were also women watching from a long way away, among whom were also Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of Little James and Joses and Salome, ⁴¹who when He was in Galilee were following Him and serving Him, and many other women whom who had come up together with Him into Jerusalem.

⁴²And becoming night already, since it was the preparation, that is the pre-sabbath, ⁴³coming Joseph from Arimathaea a prominent councilor, who also was himself looking forward to the Kingdom of God, daring, he went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴And Pilate was shocked, since He really was already dead. And summoning the centurion, he questioned him if He had died already. ⁴⁵And because he knew from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph as a gift. ⁴⁶And buying linen cloth, taking Him down he wrapped [Him] with the linen cloth and put Him in a tomb, which was carved from the rock. And he rolled a stone in place at the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷And Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses watched where He really was put.

Passage Summary: xxx

The Point I’m Stressing: xxx

Hook:

1.       

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Jesus before Pilate (vv.1-5)

b.      Jesus rejected by Jews (vv.6-15)

c.       Jesus mocked and beaten by Soldiers (vv.16-20)

d.      Jesus crucified (vv.21-28)

e.       Jesus mocked by Jews (vv.29-32)

f.       Jesus abandoned by God (vv.33-36)

g.      Jesus dies (vv.37-39)

h.      Jesus witnessed by women (vv.40-41)

i.        Jesus buried by Joseph of Arimathaea (vv.42-47)

2.      Themes

a.       Rejection

b.      Mocking

c.       Crucifixion

d.      Death

e.       Burial

f.       Mock Trial

g.      Accusations

h.      Suffering

i.        Son of God

j.        King/King of the Jews

k.      Innocent Jesus

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus truly died on the Cross

b.      Jesus was buried

c.       Jesus’ death on the cross took the sins of those who would believe away

d.      Jesus was innocent of all wrongdoing and sin

e.       Jesus suffered for us

f.       Jesus is the Son of God, that is, He is God, Who became man, for the glory of God the Father.

Applications

1.      Outlines

a.       We have all rejected and devalued and disbelieved Jesus—the essence of sin

                                                              i.      There is the same temptation to cave to the pressure of the crowds, instead of loving Jesus

1.      We can cave to the pressure of people who are against Jesus,

                                                            ii.      There is the same temptation to reject and devalue Jesus for other things

1.      Romans

2.      Sex

3.      Money

4.      Power

5.      Grades

6.      Status

7.      Fame

8.      Friends

9.      Family

10.  Games

11.  TV

12.  Sports

                                                          iii.      There is still the temptation to disbelieve Jesus

1.      By not trusting Him to save us

2.      By not trusting Him to lead us

3.      By not trusting Him to teach us

4.      By not trusting Him to be Who He is and said He was

b.      We all deserved to be judged and punished by men—but Jesus was judged and punished for us

c.       We all deserved to be shamed and mocked---but Jesus took it for us

d.      We all deserved to be abandoned and judged by God--but God did it to Jesus instead

e.       We all deserved to die a physical death for our sin—but Jesus died for us

f.       We all deserved to be buried and left to rot—but Jesus was buried for us

2.      What is sin?

a.       Sin is the rejection of Jesus

b.      Sin is the bad things we do

c.       Sin is not believing that Jesus is Who He says He is

3.      What makes sin so bad?

a.       Sin is bad because it devalues God, Who created everything, which means that He gave everything value

b.      Sin is bad because it is actually a form of rejection and hate against God, because God loves us and our sin is a way of saying “I hate you” to God, and a way of saying, “I don’t need you!”

c.       Sin is bad, because at its core it is us trying to be God, which we are obviously not, we are trying to steal God’s worship and glory

d.      Sin is bad, because it loves lies rather than the truth

e.       Sin is bad, because it hurts others

f.       Look, basically sin is bad, because instead of giving God what He deserves, instead of giving Him what we own Him, we steal it and give it to ourselves or something else that we love

g.      God is a Father to us, and sin is bad because it is like rejecting the Father’s love and care for us

4.      Prayer Topics

a.       Let’s pray and thank Jesus for being judged and punished like He was guilty

b.      Let’s pray and give all the shame and embarrassed feelings we have over our failures and sins

c.       Let’s pray and thank Jesus for being abandoned and judged by God for us

d.      Let’s pray and thank Jesus for His death and burial for us

e.       Let’s pray and confess our sins, our rejection and disbelief in Jesus or what Jesus taught