I Am What I Give Away

In the master there is a servant, in the servant a master.

Marcus T. Cicero (c. 106-43 BC, Roman orator, politician)

Romans 16:1-2

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae. So you should welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever matter she may require your help. For indeed she has been a benefactor of many—and of me also. (HCSB)

This has been a verse that I think has given cause to many to read it quickly and skip over any kind of scrutiny. But, if I read this right, Paul is recommending Phoebe as a servant, or if you will a deaconess of the church in Cenchreae. Which, by the way, is the meaning of the word in the Greek, Deacon translates to the word “servant.”

Jesus gave us direction to understand this better while He sojourned here, and I will give that to you and let you reach your own understanding. Jesus said in Matt 20:26-28 “It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many.”

If I hear Jesus correctly then the positions I can obtain here and their rewards are these; I can be a servant and be great, and if I want to be first among the greatest, I can be a slave. I think that turns our thinking upside down on what it is that we can best achieve while we are here. Our worth is not determined by what we obtain, but by what we give away…God’s Blessings.

Pastor William

Peace I Give Unto You

To be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions, but not contented with yourself until you have made the best of them; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends, and every day of Christ; and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit, these are little guideposts on the footpath to peace.

Henry Van Dyke (1852--1933, American protestant clergyman and writer)

Romans 15:33 (HCSB)

The God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

It is easy to pass by this ending verse and not see what Paul is communicating to those he loves, and has taken the time to write to. I mean, come on, do you remember the letter writing days, it took a lot to make us sit down and write our thoughts on a piece of paper to someone. It was a task that my Grandmother took seriously though, and she did it often.

I still have those words, written in her own defining hand that, to this day, still brings me encouragement, peace and good memories. This small verse is wrapping up all that Paul has said in the whole of chapter 15, and beginning the start of the final chapter of this letter to the Romans. What was his whole purpose of this letter? It was peace, for everyone.

So how do we keep this peace, look at Paul’s ending of 2 Cor 13:11-12, “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be restored, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.” Here are the keys, rejoicing, restoring and encouraging each other, and being of the same mind, will bring peace. It will cause all of the saints to rejoice with us…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

The Power of The Assembled Church

I have never seen a man who could do real work except under the stimulus of encouragement and enthusiasm and the approval of the people for whom he is working.

Charles M. Schwab (1862-1939, American industrialist, businessman)


Romans 15:30-32
Now I implore you, brothers, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to agonize together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf: that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and that, by God’s will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you. (HCSB)

There is something so special about being together with the body of Christ. We shouldn’t miss that here in Paul’s letters to the church in Rome. Paul has asked for prayers for a completion of his mission to the Jerusalem church, and now he is asking that as he leaves there and approaches them in Rome that they would begin refreshing prayer.

Paul knows the power of the assembled body of Jesus Christ and he knows that when the church is together it is an awesome force. He is asking for the church to pray for his heart to be filled with the Joy of the Glory of the Lord, so that when he reaches them there, they will together be strengthened and refreshed in the Assembled Church, The Body of Christ.

Watching preachers on TV is ok, but the real power and strength comes when Christians are assembled together. Too many people sit at home on Sunday and miss this power, simply because they are spiritually lazy. They sadly have no time for God, until their lives fall apart, and they are in need. Let us agree to take hold of every opportunity that we have to receive the power of the Assembled Body of Christ…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

Have You Agonized Lately?

It is privilege of living to be... acutely, agonizingly conscious of the moment that is always present and always passing.

Marya Mannes (1904-1990, American writer)

Romans 15:30-32
Now I implore you, brothers, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to agonize together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf: that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and that, by God’s will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you. (HCSB)

Paul is asking for a multiple blessings here. He is asking for love, and many around the world today are in this same shape. There are missionaries and many others that stand against Satan daily in their endeavors as they strive to preach the gospel and convert souls to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and there is something that we can do for them.

We can agonize. When is the last time that you got down on your knees in agonizing prayer? Was it when someone in the family was deathly sick and you fell on your face at our Lord’s feet and begged for their lives. Today there are so many people eternally sick and hell bound, and around the world somewhere, obedient saints are trying to reach them for Jesus.

The church is in the shape it is in today because it has forgotten its main mission, and that is to save the lost and join hand in hand with others that are. You and I are comfortable in our homes, but somewhere in this world today someone is sleeping in a hot tent under a mosquito net to reach lost souls. Can you and I this morning and every morning take a few moments in agonizing prayer for their mission and for the lives of the lost…God’s Blessing’s.
Pastor William

Expectations

A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.

Patricia Neal

Romans 15:28-29
So when I have finished this and safely delivered the funds to them, I will go by way of you to Spain. But I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. (HCSB)

I love to read and feel what Paul is saying here. Paul was a proclaimer of God’s Truth, and he lived the truth. But also look at the many ways that Paul encouraged others to live the Truth as well. He encourages those he leaves behind him by taking the success of the labors in the Gospel and helping someone else.

Paul now finishing the first task is already raising the expectations of those that he longs to see. You can almost hear, and feel the words he speaks to them as he says to them “I know” how I will find you when I see you again. He recalled to them all the fullness of their first meeting with Christ, and Paul says, I know I will find you full of Christ!

That’s an encouragement to them even before he arrives. I’ll bet when they read Paul’s letter that I they weren’t full…they got full pretty quick. Now wouldn’t it be nice if those that know you…before they met you next, could say about you, “I know when I see you that you will be full… of Christ? God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

Spiritual Obligations

A man's indebtedness is not virtue; his repayment is. Virtue begins when he dedicates himself actively to the job of gratitude.

Ruth Benedict (1887-1948, American anthropologist)

Romans 15:25-27
Now, however, I am traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints; for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to Jews in material needs. (HCSB)

When you read Paul’s writings and even in today’s scripture you find and important word that Paul uses, and that word is obligation. Why does he use this word so much? It is because he saw Jesus, he knew the Word of God, and all of the Messiahs promises were then secured before him and were within his grasp, and he felt he owed a debt.

Paul sees God reaching out and redeeming the Gentiles through his ministry, he is watching the fulfillment of scripture and he is asking all of those around to make an investment in the Christ. Paul collects money from Gentiles to reach out to the poor among the Jews who had missed the coming of the Messiah, using this key, hoping to open their eyes to Jesus.

We too are indebted, and I’m afraid sometimes that we invest to much in buildings and not enough in the lost of this world. The church mainly operated in homes and open places then, and it left the resources open for the use of the Gospel to reach those really in need, not just of food, but of a visit with Christ. We are obligated and we are indebted to Him, He gave His all for us, we cannot do less…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

But Now I'm Found

Deuteronomy 4:29-30 – “But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find ⌊Him⌋ when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God in later days and obey Him.”

Romans 15:24-26
For I do hope to see you when I pass through, and to be sent on my way there by you, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints; for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. (HCSB)

You can see clearly that Paul was aware that he was living in the later days. He is in a hurry to accomplish those things that he felt led by the Holy Spirit to do. You know you also have the Holy Spirit living in you, are you listening to Him? The Holy Spirit will keep us on track and on task for the day of Our Messiah’s Return.

What are we to be doing in His absence? We are to be doing the will of The Father, our Father, which is in Heaven. How are things going in your life? It could be that you have let the deceiver take you out of the fight, off the track , and you are spinning your wheels, much as a tortoise on his pack setting on a fencepost, feet churning the air.

It’s not hopeless for us when we get that way, if we cry out for our Father and desire Him with our whole being, then God says He will be found by us. In other words, God Himself will find us and place Himself in our path, right where we are, and love us, bind us up, and put us upright, right on track, and back in the fight. He makes Himself available to us, but we must desire to find Him…does that answer some questions for you…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

We Are Travelers

We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through.

Australian Proverb

Romans 15:24-26
For I do hope to see you when I pass through, and to be sent on my way there by you, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints; for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. (HCSB)

Forgive me for saying so, but it seems we are always looking for a place to sit. Do you know what I am trying to say? We are looking for a comfortable place to relax and feel at ease. Does that seem to be Paul’s aim? You say, “Well Paul was an evangelist, a disciple,” and indeed you are right, but aren’t we all his disciples that have tasted His Grace?

These that he has really yearned to see, he lets know his intentions before he arrives. I will enjoy your company for a while, but then you’re going to send me on, and support me in God’s business. Paul wasn’t looking for a piece of land to build an estate, or even a humble abode, Paul wasn’t ever in a place long enough to let that kind of thing happen to him.

Paul was assured after his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus that this place was not home. He wasn’t going to leave anything to fight over; it was going to be in the hands of someone who needed it. Are you passing through, you see what I am saying now, I’m afraid that many Christians are not, they have settled down, and settled for less, because they are seeking the wrong rewards…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

What is Your Aim?

The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions.

William F. Scolavino

Romans 15:20-23 (HCSB)

So my aim is to evangelize where Christ has not been named, in order that I will not be building on someone else’s foundation, but, as it is written: Those who had no report of Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. That is why I have been prevented many times from coming to you. But now I no longer have any work to do in these provinces, and I have strongly desired for many years to come to you

Listen to the deep conviction and commitment of Paul. Paul was in the building business. Paul looked at the great sacrifice that Christ had made for him, the great foundation that was given him to work on and he got down to business. He isn’t wasting his time, if you will notice, on those that had already received the good news.

What do you make of this? Listen to his yearning to see those that he had led to Christ and had not been able to see for many years. He wasn’t wasting a lot of time singing hymns with the redeemed and having fellowship suppers and going to conventions. No Paul knew there was no time to waste, and so he was sharing with those that had not yet heard.

We are meeting regularly in our churches, encouraging each other, which we should be doing. But, we also live in a world that is lost more today than ever before. We should not forget the time, but we too should be looking for those who have yet to hear, and understand that should be our aim, we should all have a lost person in our sights…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

Boasting of Christ

There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn't matter who gets the credit.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882, American poet, essayist)

Romans 15:17-19
Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God. For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed, by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the good news about the Messiah from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum. (HCSB)

We all deal with the great monster and deceiver “pride.” He looms over our lives every day trying to insert and manifest his deity when we are least suspect. But, what Paul is speaking of here is pride in his Lord. He also has reason for his boasting, a reason that God would wish that we all could boast and brag of daily.

Paul is boasting of what pertains of God in his life. No credit due him, for Paul was a murder and a well known and greatly feared torturer and murderer of Christians. So, his relief from all of this was to boast, to dwell on, and to share with others the greatest thing that was happening in his life…he was being used by God.

He is very careful to give God glory also, for he says that he would not even dare to take credit for what God was accomplishing in him. But, he would declare and share the miracles and wonders of God around him, so as to share the Good News. So what do think of this Paul, one of the greatest of the apostles, wasn’t he aware most every day that the Greatest miracle of all was that God would love…him…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William

For Someone Else

God asks no man whether he will accept life. This is not the choice. You must take it. The only question is how.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887, American preacher, orator, writer)

Romans 15:15-16
Nevertheless, to remind you, I have written to you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of God’s good news. My purpose is that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (HCSB)

The attitude of Paul in these verses is well worth our consideration as a way for us all to live. His first attitude; it was of grace, he spoke boldly because he was forgiven, therefore without guilt he was able to do the second thing. The second thing was to serve as a minister of God’s Good News.

These two attitudes of living gave his life purpose, and that purpose was of major importance to me and to you. He strove to make us, that’s you and I, acceptable to God, and sanctified by The Holy Spirit. Now through the Holy Spirit of God that attitude is passed down to me and to you, to live with that same attitude.

We together, saved by the Grace of God, are to minister to others around us, and share the grace given to us. The Good News is still the same Good News that Paul spread to those that God had chosen to adopt into the Multitude of the Redeemed. We too have that very same purpose given to us by God, through His Holy Spirit. The main purpose of our lives is to help others receive life; it’s not about us just making a living for ourselves…God’s Blessings.
Pastor William