Iowa Falls Evangelical Free Church Sermon Podcast

Gospel living is tough. In Christ, we have "the good life" - but we also have the hard life. Along with our own worldly desires and the attacks of the devil, we stand against godlessness in the last days.

We'll again hear Paul's encouragement to Timothy, who lives amidst worldly people and evil leaders. What should Timothy do? How should he live among a truth-opposing generation? This morning, let's sing the Word, pray the Word, read the Word, and spread the Word as a truth-loving people.

Work is hard. Quitting would be easy; enduring is hard. God has called young Timothy to pastor a church and pass on the gospel. But the job is filed with challenges. How will Timothy endure?

We are grateful for Paul's letter written to encourage Timothy. Today, we start chapter 2 of 2 Timothy where we'll see that Paul's message to Timothy is applicable to us: Strengthened by grace with an eye on the end, we must endure in the hard, suffering-inducing work of passing on the gospel.

Last week we started our summer series in 2 Timothy with a very encouraging text. Today, we finish chapter 1 and the tone gets much more serious. But it is still very hopeful. It's hopeful because it is saturated with gospel hope. Paul's message to Timothy and God's message for us today is this: By the power of God, be unashamed as you suffer for and guard the gospel.

When living in scary times, it's easy to shrink back in fear. Do you feel that in our day? Today we begin an 8-week series in Paul's second letter to Timothy. It was a letter written in scary times and it is filled with warnings, exhortations, and encouragement for Timothy to keep the faith in the face of false teaching, persecution, and suffering. What an encouragement it must have been for Timothy to receive this letter from Paul! As we look at the first seven verses, I hope we are convinced that as we remember people we love, we should give God thanks for them, pray for them, and encourage them.

Today we cover the 6th of what we're calling gospel essentials.

Here's a review:

1: The gospel begins with God who is holy, almighty, eternal Creator, on the throne and worthy of worship.

2: We are sinners, all of us, accountable to God and unable to save ourselves.

3: God judges justly, pouring out wrath on sinners.

4: Only through faith in Jesus can sinners be justified by God and saved from His wrath.

5: Through Jesus' resurrection all who are born again live with hope now and forever.

Today we look at Romans 6:1-14 where we'll see the good news that those who God saves are united to Christ Jesus to live a new life.

We are desperately in need of hope. The gospel of Jesus Christ is filled with hope. What is the gospel? We've covered 4 essentials so far:

1: The gospel begins with God who is holy, almighty, eternal Creator, on the throne and worthy of worship.

2: We are sinners, all of us, accountable to God and unable to save ourselves.

3: God judges justly, pouring out wrath on sinners.

4: Only through faith in Jesus can sinners be justified by God and saved from His wrath.

Today, we turn to a short but rich passage in 1 Peter 1 where we'll see what we'll call gospel essential 5: Through Jesus' resurrection all who are born again live with hope now and forever.

We are halfway through our Gospel Essentials sermon series. Here's where we've been:

#1: The gospel begins with God who is holy, almighty, eternal Creator, on the throne and worthy of worship (Revelation 4)

#2: We are sinners, all of us, accountable to God and unable to save ourselves. (Romans 3:9-20)

#3: God judges justly, pouring out wrath on sinners (Romans 1:18-25)

These first 3 gospel essentials make us desperately in need of the 4th gospel essential which we get to today.

The gospel begins with a God who is the holy, almighty, eternal Creator, on the throne and worthy of worship. This was gospel essential #1.

Last week, we turned to Romans 3:9-20 and saw gospel essential #2: We are sinners, all of us, accountable to God and unable to save ourselves.

Today we go back to the book of Romans to see gospel essential #3 which flows from those first two contrasting gospel essentials. The central point today is this: God judges justly, pouring out His wrath on sinners.

The first sermon in our Gospel Essential series was called "God Is." From Revelation 4, we saw that the gospel begins with God who is the holy, almighty, eternal Creator, seated on the throne and worthy of worship. Today, we will see a stark contrast as we turn to Romans 3 for a sermon entitled "We Are." Today, we hear the bad news that we are sinners, all of us, accountable to God and unable to save ourselves.