FREE: A LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,

but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has distributed to each of you.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,

so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. . . .

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:3-21

Live in harmony with one another. Romans 12:16

THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body,

and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5

A DEEP SENSE OF

OUR BELONGING

We serve where we are gifted.

We invite others to join us.

Be devoted to one another in love. Romans 12:10

philostorgoi

philostorgoi

philostorgoi

A DIVINE SENSE OF

BROTHERHOOD/SISTERHOOD

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9

agapē

We pray fervently.

We give generously to advance the mission of Christ.

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:20-21

A DISCIPLINED COMMITMENT

TO DIVINE JUSTICE

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

For to be fleshly minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the fleshly mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Romans 8:1-9

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

WHAT’S YOUR MINDSET?

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5

Because the fleshly mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:7-8

YOUR MINDSET IMPACTS

YOUR MISSION

YOUR FOCUS DICTATES

YOUR FUTURE

For to be fleshly minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6

But then he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 14:31-32

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him. . . . Matthew 14:31-32

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:36-38

EVEN WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR FOCUS

GOD WILL NEVER LOSE HIS GRIP

FREE: A LETTER TO THE ROMANS

I do not understand what I am doing. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do. . . . I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. . . . I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Romans 7:15-19

INVISIBLE CHAINS

HAMARTIA = SIN

enslaved to sin. . . . Romans 6:6

OUR NATURAL STATE

IS SLAVERY TO SIN

STRATEGY OF RELIGIOUS

DISCIPLINE

THE STRATEGY OF DISCIPLINE

LEADS TO THE SYMPTOM OF DESPAIR

THE SYMPTOM OF DESPAIR

LEADS TO THE STATE OF DENIAL

[A]re you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death. . . . For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims. Romans 6:3-7

DEATH TO SELF

BRINGS FREEDOM IN CHRIST

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free¨from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:14-15

There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.

Their throat is an open tomb;

With their tongues they have practiced deceit;

The poison of asps is under their lips;

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Destruction and misery are in their ways;

And the way of peace they have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Romans 3:11-18

HOW BAD IS IT?

Greed, sexual depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, hatred toward God, insolence, arrogance, boastfulness, disobedience, willful ignorance, unfaithfullness, untrustworthyness, heartlessness and cruelty. Romans 1:28-31

[A]t whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. . . . Romans 2:1

hamartía

Hamartía entered the world through one man. . . . Romans 5:12

There is none righteous, no, not one. . . . Romans 3:10-12

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:22

For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth . . . . Romans 1:18-20

[T]he wages of sin is death. . . . Romans 6:23

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:15

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace. . . . Romans 4:16

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

THE CURRENCY OF THE KINGDOM

Pastor Mark Segraves

October 11, 2020

www.onefamilychurch.com

THE CURRENCY OF THE KINGDOM

When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" (John 2:15-16, NKJV).

Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves'" (Matthew 21:12-13, NKJV).

PRINCIPLE: Without the right currency, I can’t fully participate in the Kingdom of God

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12, NKJV).

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Point of Grace: Grace Comes from God

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love (Psalm 145:8, NIV).

But God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But the grace of God was much greater; many people have received God's gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:15b, NCV).

The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17, NCV).

Point of Grace: Grace is a Gift from God

And if he chose them by grace, it is not for the things they have done. If they could be made God’s people by what they did, God’s gift of grace would not really be a gift (Romans 11:6, NCV).

All of us need to be made right with God by His grace, which is a free gift ... through Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24, NCV).

The Lord longs to be gracious to you (Isaiah 30:18).

Point of Grace: Grace is for Everyone

Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? (Mark 11:17a, NKJV).

The promise is not only for those people that live under the law of Moses. It is for anyone who lives with faith like Abraham (Romans 4:16b, ICB).

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13, NIV).

People receive God's promise by having faith. This happens so the promise can be a free gift (Romans 4:16a, NCV).

Point of Grace: Grace is Forever

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23, NLT).

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV).

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16, NIV).

REIMAGINING RACE THROUGH THE EYES OF GOD - Part 1

WHO CREATED RACE?

DID RACE COME FROM GOD?

God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth. . . .” Genesis 1:27-28

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

THERE IS NO THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR THE IDEA OF RACE.

THERE’S NO BIOLOGICAL BASIS FOR RACE

On the Different Races of Man by Immanuel Kant, 1775

Kalmuckishe

Hinduische

Negerrace

Weissen

[I pray]. . . that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us. . . that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one. . . . John 17:20-23 NKJV

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 NKJV

[W]ith all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bear[ ] with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:1-5

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NLT).

HOW TO WAIT FOR MY NEXT SEASON

A. Seasons aren’t forever.

B. What we do in one season can impact what we get out of another season

While I Wait…

1. I declare the power of God

It is He who changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise And [greater] knowledge to those who have understanding! (Daniel 2:21, AMP).

Wait and trust the LORD. Don't be upset when others get rich or when someone else's plans succeed (Psalm 37:7, NCV).

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him (Lamentations 3:25, NKJV).

Those who wait for me shall never be ashamed (Isaiah 49:23, TLB).

For since the world began no one has seen or heard of such a God as ours, who works for those who wait for him! (Isaiah 64:4, TLB).

2. I trust the promise of God

Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry (Habakkuk 2:2-3, NKJV).

3. I accept the plan of God

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:3-4a, NKJV).

And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:10, NLT).

And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good … for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose (Romans 8:28, AMP).

He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—

yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end (Ecclesiastes 3:11, AMP).

4. I listen for the voice of God.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said… (Job 38:1, NKJV).

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority (Acts 1:6-7, NKJV).

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you… (ACTS 1:8)

5. I stay connected to the family of God.

So encourage each other and give each other strength (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NCV).

God is Working While I Wait!

1. God is making me stronger .

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 50:31, TLB).

2. God is developing my character.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us — they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us… (Romans 5:3-4, TLB).

God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient (Colossians 1:11, NCV).

3. God is clarifying my purpose.

You have heard about Job's patience, and you know the Lord's purpose for him in the end (James 5:11, NCV).

The Lord Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen (Isaiah 14:24, NIV).