There are many voices in the world today that say they have the truth. They bombard our time and our thinking and our hearts with things that are not true. We need to guard ourselves against these thing with the truth found only in God’s word.

We want to begin today on a series of messages from the book of Romans. It is a treatise or a systematic explanation of the truth to Gentile believers. Like the book of Hebrews that was written to the Jewish believers. As we go through this series, we need to keep the continuity of the explanation in our thinking, so that we do not get off the path.

God has called us to walk worthy of our calling. He wants us to tell others that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Our lives should demonstrate that to others, daily, moment by moment. When we do, it will bring trouble upon us, especially in this day!

Here is a passage of scripture that teaches us how to have joy in trouble when we challenge an ungodly world.

For 30 years in full time ministry, the message that I have preached has been focused on teaching and admonishing people to walk with the Lord according to His word. The reason is that the world, our country, our society has drifted away from the truth. Christians are taking on the ways of the world instead of Christ. As I observe the progression away from worship of our God, I am convinced that we are not ready when the fire of opposition shows its face. In fact we are at that point now. We live in a godless society and we are being attacked on every side. So, how are we reacting to this? Are we hiding among the world and its ways, or are we taking a firm stand on the word of God that we say is our foundation.

Today is celebrated as Mother's day. Mothers borne us; cared for us; fed us; taught us; nagged us; all because they love us! Their instruction was something that would keep us doing what is right, if we listened to it. We have a great example of a mother's prayer to show us how to trust in God.

Have you ever built a house? There are many parts of the process; building plans, foundation, framing, roofing, wiring, sheetrock, floors, paint, etc. Building a house requires time, effort, know how, or skill. It takes many different people to make it happen.

Building for the Lord is no different;

-building means growing and maturing in the Lord;

-building means service;

-and building means pleasing Him in all things.

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Psalm 127:1

The days are evil! You might say it is not that bad, there is still good out there. That is exactly what the world and satan wants you to believe. We have been conditioned by the schools, movies, tv shows, news, social media, and the list goes on. We have taught people to love themselves above anyone else, go after the money by establishing what is considered poor. There are people out there defying the powers that be because they want their own way. There are a large number of families that have children that are disrespectful, and disobedient because of what they have been taught. People are not grateful for what they have. There are people who bully others to manipulate them to do things their way. There are people who gossip maliciously to bring others down. Many people are downright wicked. They are brutal to others. They are stupid and foolish. They pursue pleasure without restraint of any kind. They play the religious game, even though they do not believe.

Being a Christian requires the Master's Equipment to live for God. The most important piece of equipment is the word of God. It is required for us to be successful.

We need to know about equipment, and how to use it. To make sure we get the right, not a cheap imitation. Then we need to familiarize ourselves with it, so we can use it properly to accomplish the goal. The goal is to be like Christ.

Here we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! The holiest day for those of us who believe! It is the defeat of sin and the fullness of our eternal hope! The condition of man is without hope for redemption if we are the ones to bring it about; whether in our own circumstances, or national circumstances, even in our life as sinners before God. The only way for redemption to happen is when people seek out the Redeemer of man. Oh, we come up with temporary fixes, but nothing that will last. Only God can redeem us; and He has! As we look at His redemption today, may we come away with a gratitude for His redemption.

We are on a journey of faith! Every day, week, month, year we are on a journey. We make an annual journey to remember the things that give us salvation from sin and eternal life with the Lord in heaven. The song of ascents was important for Israel as they made their journey to Jerusalem. These songs reflected confession of sin, praise for Almighty God, humbled hearts, Thanksgiving to God for deliverance, and dependence upon the covenant God of Israel. We need to model our lives as believers in the same way. We do not need to travel to Jerusalem as Israel does, but we can make this trek reminding ourselves who our God is and the deliverance that He gave us at the cross.

We live in a world today that does not have any great expectations to give us encouragement and hope for tomorrow! In 2 weeks we celebrate our salvation and our hope. Jesus Christ, very God Himself, came to die for our sin and cause us to have and eternal hope, life everlasting for those who put their faith and trust in Him. Rest your faith on the hope we have in eternal life with God. In light of the fact that we are sinners, we are saved by faith. Because of this we have a great expectation that awaits those who trust in and follow the Lord Jesus Christ! Don't be downhearted for we are to be looking up, because our redemption draws near! We want to renew our hope and expectation for the days ahead!