This is the message I shared with the youth group this past Sunday. There are some run-on sentences and I added some things as I spoke, but this is what I prepared for it. I thought since I haven't posted in a while, I would share it on my blog!
Romans 15:14-33
Good morning! Can you believe it’s already been 5 weeks since the winter retreat? Who remembers the three main points from Pastor Jane’s messages? (slide) 1. Worship is obedience. 2. Worship is sacrifice. 3. Worship is the joy of my salvation. I know every single one of you who went was really blessed. And it’s important to not forget what God did at the retreat and what He taught you as well. Some of you sitting here today went up to the altar call - to surrender your life to Jesus and for the time, you experienced the joy of your salvation. I was so excited for those who went up and I’m sure there was much rejoicing in heaven. God encountered you personally - and that moment marks the beginning of your new life and your relationship with Jesus. And others went up to different altar calls - and God convicted each one in different ways and it’s important to not forget what God did. It’s easier to feel and experience the presence of God at a retreat, but God is also working in our midst. Last week was one of the hardest week for me so far in the semester because I had a test Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. So I was studying all week and my brain was done by Friday, but in the midst of me struggling, God was whispering to me - “Grace, I’m here with you. Even though you can’t see it, I’m working.” So even though I can’t see anything in front of me, I trust that God is working.
And last week we learned that it is important to accept one another. Romans 15:7 says “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to praise to God.” Philippians 2:3-4 says - “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” This is my key verse for the year. God always teaches me through the key verse I choose for the year - and this year, he really highlighted this verse. And since January it challenged me soo much. Whenever I read Philippians 2 in the past, I thought it was just about considering other people to be better than me. But this year, I realized that Paul encouraged the Philippian church to consider others above themselves, not looking to their own interests, but to others’ interest all for the sake of unity. This really ties into last week’s theme which was - accept one another. I think it’s easy to say “let’s accept one another” but actually really hard to do. I know when I’m in a big group environment, I can do 3 things. 1, not really engage in conversations with the excuse that I’m an introvert 2, talk to my friends and only my friends 3, engage in a conversation with someone that I have not much in common. Often times, I find myself just talking to my friends - because it’s my comfort zone. But God has been reminding me and challenging me again to go, talk to people I have nothing in common with because I sooo important to be unified as a church - as a youth group. We all have different interests from each other but we should accept each other. That was a bit of a recap and now we’ll go into today’s passage.
We’ve been studying the book of Romans for a quite a long time. So what was Paul’s purpose in writing this letter to the Roman church? Let’s revisit Romans 1:11-12 - let’s read it together. “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong -- that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Paul’s purpose in writing Romans was to encourage and to be encouraged by the Roman church. After addressing problems within the church and teaching them how to practically love one another, Paul shares his personal mission and calling from God in the second part of Romans 15. Today I have two main points. 1. God calls 2. Glorify God. And more specifically how we can glorify God.
Point I: God Calls
Let’s read verses 15-16 “Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
We know Paul’s story and there is a detailed account of his encounter with God in Acts 9. I want us to revisit this story so can I have a three volunteers to act out Paul’s story? I need 1. a narrator 2. God 3. Paul
Acts 9
Narrator: Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him
Jesus: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Saul: “Who are you, Lord?”
Jesus: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Narrator: The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
Thank you - you can sit down now.
God met Paul on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians and he was forever changed. After God struck Paul to be blind, he called Ananias to go to Paul so that he could see again. Before Paul did anything, God told Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” When we look at Romans 15, we can see that Paul took on this calling to preach the gospel to the Jews and to the Gentiles very seriously. Despite his past of persecuting Christians, Paul received God’s grace and mercy and carried on his calling to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Verse 16 talks about a priestly duty but what does this mean? What did priests in the old testament do? They prepared animal sacrifices - offerings on behalf of people in order that the they may be clean before God. In the same way, Paul brings Gentiles to God so that they may be acceptable to God. He doesn't sacrifice animals but he preaches so that they may hear and their hearts may be ready to accept God. Because Paul received so much grace from God, he wants others to come to know and have this personal relationship with God. He wants them to become more like Jesus. When I look at Paul, I’m like “wow, Paul lived such a passionate and radical life for Jesus.”
But you know God didn’t just call Paul. He calls each one of us - and says we are chosen. We belong. I love the message of the cross because God says that we belong - we belong in His family. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, we are adopted into God’s family. Let’s read 1 Peter 2:9-10 together - “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
If I were to go back in time to 7th grade Grace, I would have never imagined myself to be standing here, in front of you, giving a message. I was really awkward, really shy, and really timid. Everything was so new for me in 7th grade that I really can’t remember anything that happened. For example, I never went clothes shopping before 7th grade. I grew up wearing a lot of hand-me-downs and unlike most of my friends who had brothers and sister around their age, I had a sister seven years younger than me so I hung out with some of you guys. I don’t know if any of you felt this way, but when I first joined youth group, I didn’t feel like I belonged. Everyone was so much older and knowledgeable than me and I was really clueless, but God used Sarah, Aug, and Paul as well as other youth group members - to invite me, to encourage me to come - even to pplay softball (btw I never played any sports before that). And through this, God showed me that yes, he chose me and I did belong. Although I was also left out at times and I was hurt, God reminded me that it was through this, that he gave me a heart to reach out to those who need a friend. As Aug said in his message a few weeks ago - we are forever indebted to God’s love. We can never repay him for his love, so we continually struggle to love others. I don’t know how I’m where I am now - but one thing I know for sure. It is only by God’s grace and mercy that I am here where I am. God transformed my life - and continues to transform it so that I can be more like him. To those who surrendered your life to Jesus at the retreat, be excited! God is never boring and he will take you to places you’ve never thought you would go to - and you will do things you never imagined you would do as well. Our stories are all unique. And we are all called - called to different things. Some of you may be called to be pastors, some of you may be called to be doctors, engineers, lawyers, graphic designers. We may not all end up preaching in front of people - but we are all called to share this grace we have received with others.
A great example is Pastor Lee who created a baby box to save abandoned children. This past week was my spring break and on Monday night I went to watch the DropBox film with a couple of people from YDJ. This is the trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTQ2VTf5vWc. So far Pastor Lee and his wife adopted 19 children with disabilities. They have one biological son - who they have been taking care of for years. He cannot do anything for himself and cannot walk or talk. They sacrifice their time, money, energy, and health to take care of these children - children who cannot do anything to return the favor. After people started abandoning children at his doorsteps, he installed a baby box - a box that allows parents to leave their baby anonymously. And since then they have saved more than 300 children. Why does he do this? He was not always a pastor. He struggles with drinking. He mentioned that whenever he drank, he would get into a fight and once he unconsciously punched the president of his company. I was watching a youtube video on his testimony and He experienced God’s grace in his life. He noticed babies being abandoned and he said yes to God. I don’t know what God’s plan for your life is - or even where or God is going to lead me in my future, but I know that he will reveal every step of the way when you seek Him.
Point II: Glorify God - do your best, share the gospel, be united
Let’s read Romans 15:17-19 “Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done - by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.”
I am really bad with geography, but I looked up the map from Jerusalem to Illyricum. Here we can see Paul’s route as he preached the gospel. This looks really small compared to the world now, but this was the “ends of the earth” back then.
When we look at Paul’s life, he did amazing things. I’m sure the life that Paul lived out after he encountered God was greater than the life he ever imagined living.
Acts 19:11 - “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”
I believe that God calls us to do greater than what we can do with our own strength and power - because he’s concerned about helping us grow in our faith. I learned over the years that God qualifies the called. Like Moses, we may not feel adequate to do what God calls us to do, but God is faithful. God is good and He is for us.
Verse 20-21 “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: ‘Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.’”
Paul preached the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum in order to glorify God - to make God known to all kinds of people, especially the Gentiles. As I mentioned before, not everyone is called to be a pastor, but we are all called to share the gospel with others. By preaching the gospel where it was not known, Paul glorified God. Right now, I don’t think many of you know what you want to major in college or even what career you want to pursue. It’s okay because I didn’t know for a while either but make sure you think about it and pray about it before you get to college. But I learned that a good way to glorify God is to always do my best whatever I am doing - and to be faithful to whatever God has given me, whether it’s something small or something big.
1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Whatever responsibilities you have, be faithful to it. Whether you’re in the praise team, leading a school club, doing your homework, playing an instrument do you best for God!
When I read “it has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known…” one particular mission field comes to my mind. Schools. Middle school and high schools. God gives us opportunities in specific timeframe of our lives. I’m no longer in high school and can’t go back to high school. However, there are people in college that I can share my faith with. In middle school and high school, there are so many people who need to hear the gospel - your friends, classmates, acquaintances. I loved high school, but one thing I regret was having the mentality that later - I could share my faith with my friends. Later, when I was more knowledgeable, older, bolder etc. However, God will qualify the called. I’m no longer in high school so it’s difficult for me to reach out to high schools other than you guys. But you still have a great mission field and are called to reach out to your friends. There are so many ways to reach out to people in high school but one thing you can do is when you enter the cafeteria for lunch, sit with someone who’s sitting all by themselves. Be careful who your friends are because you will be the influence or be influenced.
In verses 23-29, Paul shares how much he longs to visit them in Rome. But he so far he has not been able to because of the work God called him to do. However he is finished his missionary work and plans to visit them. Verse 30-31 says - “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord people there, so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.” According to Acts 21, Paul anticipated trouble in Jerusalem. As a result, he asked the Roman church to with him by praying for him. Going back to what we learned last Sunday, as a church, we are called to accept one another. We are called to be united as one - to rejoice when others rejoice, to mourn when others mourns, and to struggle when others struggle. It's hard to live out your Christian life alone. I love how our church has the prayer topic slide. When you're on the slide you know you're going to be prayed for. When I took my SATs for the first time, my parents told me I had to get a certain score to go to the Mexico Missions trip. I had so much peace going in because I knew that I had so many people praying for me. And as a youth group, we are called to struggle in prayer for each other, to keep each other accountable, and to pursue God together.
To recap,
God called
Glorify God
do your best
share the gospel
be united
Let’s pray.
