Romans 1:23-25

Romans 1:23-25 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Yesterday we learned about people who thought that they were really smart. Today we read about people who think that they can make God into anything that they want Him to be. They make idols that look like birds or animals and then they worship them as gods. But that doesn’t make sense. Why would someone worship a thing that they had just made? Some people worship baseball players or golf celebrities or movie stars. They make these people like their idols. But this doesn’t make sense either. These people are just ordinary people who have great talents given to them by God. The true God in heaven is the only One Who should be worshiped. Should we worship the Creator or the creature that the Creator has made? Well that’s simple! God, the Creator, is the only one that we should worship. He alone is worthy!

Romans 1:22

Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Sometimes people think that they are pretty smart. They may think that they are smarter than everyone else. But that’s just what they think. Are they smarter than the President? Are they smarter than a college teacher? Are they smarter than Granddaddy? Well, may be that one! Usually, if someone thinks that they are pretty smart, they aren’t pretty smart. They are “too big for their britches”. The only One who is truly smart is God. He knows everything. So if someone thinks that they are smarter than God, they are crazy - they are a fool. And a fool is someone who is really stupid. Uh oh! I shouldn’t say stupid. But anyone who thinks that they are smarter than God, well the only word for them is stupid. Too bad, but they are!

Romans 1:20

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Someday, everyone will all stand before Almighty God in judgment. God will judge us based on whether we have received Jesus as our Savior or not. But what about those people who have never heard about Jesus? Will they have an excuse? Our verse says, “No”. When anyone looks at the beautiful world; when anyone looks up at the distant stars; when anyone looks at how complex the plants and animals are, they must know that there is a really, really intelligent Creator. God’s wonderful creation points people to God. Even though people may not have a Bible, from creation they know that there must be a God. God’s creation is His natural revelation. God’s creation reveals to everyone that God is real!

Romans 1:16

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Paul was in trouble for speaking about Jesus. Do you remember what finally happened to Jesus? He was executed by jealous men. And now Paul was in trouble for following Jesus and teaching others about Him. But was Paul afraid? No. Was Paul embarrassed to talk about Jesus? Absolutely not. And here in this great verse, Paul said that he preached to the Jews first and to the others next. Does this mean that the Jews were more important that others? I don’t think so. Paul spoke to the Jews first because he was a Jew. Then he spoke to the Greeks because he didn’t want to leave anyone out of the good news of the gospel. We need to share the gospel with the people that we know first, and then go on to tell people who we don’t know. But, like Paul, we need to tell everyone about Jesus! They ALL need to know of His salvation!

Romans 1:1

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. Today we start the book of Romans. We just finished the book of Acts where Paul was arrested and sent to Rome to be judged by Caesar. Paul wrote the book of Romans to the church in Rome - but he had not met them yet. He was looking forward to meeting them face to face. In our verse for today, Paul talks about three different groups of people, and he was in each of those three groups. First, Paul called himself a servant of Jesus. As Christians, we all belong to Jesus – He is our Master. But secondly, Paul was also an apostle. An apostle is a follower of Jesus who has actually seen Jesus while He was living here on earth. Then third, Paul said that he was separated unto the gospel of God. That means that God selected Paul as one of His preachers. When a farmer gets ready to sell one of his sheep, he must separate it from the rest of the flock. He has something special in store for that particular sheep. He separates it from the other sheep. A preacher of God has a special job to do. And Paul had a special job to do. Are you a servant of Jesus? I hope so. Are you an apostle? No, you can’t be. Are you separated unto the gospel of God? Are you called to be one of God’s preachers? May be you aren’t a preacher, but at least you can tell others about Jesus. I hope you do.

Acts 28:22-24

Acts 28:22-24 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. When Paul got to Rome, he was awaiting his trial. But he didn’t waste his time sitting around. He called the Jews together and spoke to them about Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah. He preached very forcibly. Some believed, but some did not believe. That is the way it is today.  Some will listen to what we have to say, but some will not. So we must focus on those who will hear. We should teach and preach as if everyone will accept what we are saying about eternal life in Christ. But some will not believe. No matter. We must just do our best and leave the rest to God. Don’t worry about those who will not believe; talk to those who will believe!