Monday: Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome
There’s no question that the personal touch is the best way to communicate in most cases. We can phone, email, text, even Skype, but face to face, flesh to flesh, is the best way to communicate. That’s why Paul announced in his letter to the Romans that he intended to see them in person. He wanted them to know that he was coming, and why.
Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com
Read Romans 15:20-27. What reasons does Paul give for not having visited Rome earlier? What made him decide to come when he did? How central was mission to him in his reasoning? What can we learn about mission and witnessing from Paul’s words here? What interesting-and important-point does Paul make in Romans 15:27 about Jews and Gentiles?
The great missionary to the Gentiles felt constantly impelled to take the gospel to new areas, leaving others to labor in places where the gospel had been established. In the days when Christianity was young and the laborers few, it would have been a waste of valuable missionary power for Paul to work in already-entered areas. He said, “So have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation,” so that “they that have not heard shall understand” (Rom. 15:20-21).
It was not Paul’s purpose to settle down in Rome. It was his aim to evangelize Spain. He hoped to get the support of the Christians in Rome for this venture.
What important principle can we take away regarding the whole question of mission from the fact that Paul sought help from an established church in order to evangelize a new area?
| Read again Romans 15:20-27. Notice how much Paul’s great desire was to minister and to serve. What motivates you and your actions? How much of a heart of service do you have? |
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many of us have a zeal to preach like paul but church have there policies that those policies alone will make you not to evangelize I think our leaders should open doors for that by then we will preach this gospel to the world..
Lazarus Manasseh, I am not entirely sure what you are trying to say here, but it appears to me you think that the Church has policies that stop us from trying to evangelize. If I have incorrectly interpreted what you have said, my apologies, but you may like to think about a couple of things:
1) There is no church policy to stop you from being kind and understanding to your neighbors and the people you come into contact with every day. The very best evangelistic effort we can make is to live the Gospel every day. That does not require a church mandate, just a love for God and for the people around us. (Now where have we heard that before.)
2) Often when people start complaining about church policy it is because they want to do something in a way which will bring the church into disrepute. I am not saying that is always the case, but sometimes in our zeal we sometimes make errors of judgement. We need to listen to our community of believers because preaching the gospel is a collaborative effort.
3) Whenever we get the urge to say "the leaders should ...", we should stop and say to ourselves "How can the Holy Spirit use me to ..."
The question at the bottom of Sundays lesson asks a similar question that Maurice and Lazarus mention. The question asks; what kinds of issues are agitating your church at present? Some comments to this blog are general applications but the question in the SS lesson is more specific . We are for the most part different. Our preferences are different and criticism is a natural instinct for some. I and others in my particular church have been exposed to relatively recent change. This has not set well with some older members. Some of us see our worship service directed to things other than reverence and focus for God.
We all need much more of that "heart of service"! This blog allows us to share ideas from totally different points of view! Literally! Because we all come from different parts of the planet, just to start with!
Thank God because apart of what we think and discuss, which is also important, His plan to take the story of His love for humanity will be taken to every one, whether we think this is possible or not!
May we all be open to gain from the H Spirit real inspiration and participate on this work!
May you all have a day with Jesus in the heart!
Amen Brother Maurice! I could not have said it better.
In Volumes 6,7,and 8 of Ellen White's Testimonies to the Church is rather clear about how our worship services need for more testimony time and less preaching time even to where the counsel there goes as far as to preach less sermons each Sabbath. I have been a SDA for over 50 years and and this counsel is ignored by most SDA churches and preaching every sabbath seems to be a must.
Sadly, I'm at the point in my christian experience where I am not expecting the church to have a collective effort in outreach anymore. Although I missed those days when the church was organized for outreach, I long to hear those announcements, "bring your walking shoes we will be going out into the community". My comments are personal and should be treated as such.
While I understand your disappointment, it also raises a challenge for us because it switches the burden of spreading the gospel back to the individual. In today's religious climate there is a distrust among the general public about organized religion. People have seen the enormous extravagances of some churches, the cover-ups of immorality and so on, and has a consequence are often not interested in listening to what corporate religion has to say.
This situation provides an opportunity for individual Christians to bear their testimony to neighbours and friends. Going out into the community "cold turkey" could be replaced by inviting your unchurched friends around for a meal. There is a really great book available in Australia: Peter Roennfeldt, "Following Jesus: Disciple Making and Movement; Building", Signs Publishing Co. There is also a video series available online:
www.following-jesus.com
Peter is an Adventist Pastor whose ideas of meeting people shift the focus from corporate campaigns to individual witness.
Note: Following Jesus: Disciple Making and Movement; Building also available in Kindle format on Amazon.com
If I were to take a pole between corporate campaigns that require significant funding, and individual witness, I would opt for the best results of record. Having been exposed to both, I would side with individual witness every time. The lasting results come from a personal effort and meaningful understanding of Jesus and the future that He offers.
Unfortunately, there is something that i think i do not agree with in today's evangism. I have noted that some people have taken evangelism as some sort of a compaign to snatch people from their churches to ours!in my own view, this approach results into catastrophic failures and frustrations to the point where the person involved feels disappointed that his/ her efforts have yielded no results when no body gets baptized! Let us understand that we have to attempt to live in good books with our neighbours, relatives and workmates first. For some people, actions speak louder than words. That done, people will be willing to listen when you talk. Immediate conversion of the people you talk to may not be possible but the word you have shared will certainly bear fruits. It is not your duty to keep on checking that the person you eveangelised to has got baptized, conversion is purely the work of the holy spirit, speak and give him chance to do his work. In my local church, the administrative elder who was there last year is a man who got baptized 10 years after he heard the advent message and bought a book called Great Controversy. It is so refreshing to hear this man talk! So brother/sister, do not be in a hurry to get people baptized. Plant and someone else will water. You can keep on sharing the word but do not force people to get baptized and get frustrated when none of the people you share with are coming to church with you. People need to know Jesus and fall in love with him first before everything else. And this is why the message of the cross is central to Paul's evangelism. Shalom...
I concur...as long as we are up to the task, we help in one way and the other persons comes and accomplishes to the Glory of God.
I’m a layman. In addition to teaching Sabbath School classes, I’ve held elected offices in five SdA congregations but I’ve never been ordained--not even as a deacon. There isn’t any denominational policy to prevent me from asking people thought-provoking questions to determine whether they have an interest in the spiritual realm. There isn’t any denominational policy to prevent me from going door-to-door to ask people whether they know where the nearest Seventh-day Adventist church building is and asking what they know about Seventh-day Adventists. There isn’t any denominational policy to prevent me from finding people who are interested in what I believe and showing them the biblical basis of my beliefs. Not only have I done those things but I have had some success in terms of encouraging people to trust the Lord and his written word.
There isn’t any denominational policy that would prevent me from conducting evangelistic meetings. But please consider this: If you were to tell someone (or many people) a dozen stories about Jesus and then ask them whether they “believe in” Jesus and if that person or some of those people answer in the affirmative, would that be evangelism? If they answer in the affirmative would you consider them to be Christians, even if they haven’t joined the SdA organization?
Let’s suppose you were to preach (or read Bible verses in someone’s home) about the purpose of the Lord’s second advent and if that person or those people say they believe he will return to resurrect the people who have died in faith and take the living believers with them to the mansions he has gone to prepare, would you consider them adventists, even if they haven’t joined the SdA organization? Would that be considered evangelism?
Let’s suppose someone were to preach that everyone is going to hell who doesn’t rest on the seventh day of the week. Would that be considered evangelism? Let’s suppose someone were to preach that Pope Francis is the anti-Christ. Would that be considered evangelism? Let’s suppose that someone were to preach that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit don’t comprise one God or, conversely, that the God of the Bible is not three co-eternal persons. Would that be considered evangelism? Let’s suppose someone were to teach that Satan is our sin-bearer. Would that be considered evangelism?
There are very good reasons for our denomination to be careful about who preaches his own personal beliefs as if his beliefs--and the way he explains them--are representative of ALL Seventh-day Adventists. At the same time, if you choose to explain your personal beliefs and show people the reasons you hold those beliefs and if you are careful to not represent your way of explaining those beliefs as exactly how all adventists do so, there is no denominational policy to prevent you from preaching.