SCRIPTURE: Romans 1:8-15 (ESV)
DATE: 6-25-17
SERMON INTRODUCTION
Lindsay Holmes — the Deputy Healthy Living Editor of the Huffington Post — wrote an article titled “7 Habits of Grateful People.” In the article she quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson — who once said that to find contentment — one must “cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously.”
Later in the article she writes that “cultivating gratefulness in your life requires action.” She mentions things like journaling, serving others, and doing “small acts of kindness.”
So cultivating gratefulness — or thankfulness — requires action on our part. You don’t just wake up one day a thankful person — it takes some effort.
And Ralph Waldo Emerson wasn’t the first to recommend giving thanks continuously — according to the Bible — that’s the life expected of those who follow Jesus.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
And today we’re going to look at this topic of thankfulness and how it should affect our lives.
We’re in the third week of our series in the book of Romans. This year we’re looking at the first two chapters of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. And over the past two weeks, we’ve been reminded of what the gospel is. The gospel is the Good News that God has sent a Rescuer to save His people.
This world we live in is broken — it’s not the way it should be — and we all know this — we can see the brokenness around and in us — so we’re all in need of a rescuer and we’re all desperate to be rescued. We just haven’t agreed upon who or what will be the rescuer.
And the Christian faith claims that rescue has been provided for all who believe the gospel because God’s Rescuer — Jesus — has come. And He’s provided a way for us to be saved — from not only Satan, sin, death, and Hell — but from so much more.
Two weeks ago we saw that we’re to be unashamed of the gospel. Even though others may shame us because of the gospel — followers of Jesus are to be unashamed of it. And we saw that to be unashamed of the gospel means we believe it, share it, and live by it.
Last week we saw that the gospel is found in the whole Bible — in both the Old and New Testaments. We saw that the Bible tells One Story — God’s Rescue Story — so we need to read the Bible with God’s story in mind. So as we read the Bible we’re to look for Jesus — the Rescuer — and we’re to look for ourselves — those in need of being rescued.
And as a side note — you may remember that last week we ran out of the resources — the books — that I mentioned during the sermon. Well we ordered a bunch more and have them available for a donation out in the lobby. So if you missed out last week, be sure to stop by the resource table before you leave.
Now today we’re going to look at something else the gospel does to those who believe it — the gospel connects us to one another.
And because we’re connected to one another, something is expected of us — an action is required of us — a new way of living is to be our focus. And this new way of living includes being thankful for one another.
So let’s turn to our passage for today.
ANNOUNCE THE TEXT
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Romans chapter one. We’ll be looking at verses eight through fifteen.
And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do here at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question into the number that’s on the screens or you can submit it on the Gateway app. And we post our responses on our church blog — the Gate.
RE-ANNOUNCE AND READ THE TEXT
Here are the words found in Romans chapter one. Beginning in verse eight. Paul writes…
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” (Romans 1:8-15 ESV)
Here’s the takeaway for us.
PROPOSITION
“Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must be thankful for each other.” Our belief in the gospel connects us together — therefore — we must be thankful for each other.
Look with me in verse eight — and when you see a word in all caps, yellow, and underlined…go ahead and say those words out loud with me.
In verse eight Paul writes…
“First, I THANK my God through Jesus Christ for all of YOU, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” (Romans 1:8 ESV)
Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must be thankful for each other.
As many of you know, Gateway’s mission is to “connect people to Jesus Christ and to one another.” Now what we mean by that is that we want to do everything we can to explain the gospel clearly so that if you don’t believe it — God will help you believe it. And if you do believe it — we want you believe it more deeply. We want to help connect you to Jesus Christ.
But we also want to help connect you to one another relationally because our faith in Christ has connected us to each other spiritually. The Bible describes us as…
- Stones that have been joined together to build a temple,
- As individual parts of one body,
- As members of one family,
- As sheep with One Shepherd.
All of these examples are meant to show us that we’re spiritually connected to one another and our hope — what our mission statement means — is that we hope to make visible our spiritual reality. That we’d make visible — for others to see — the spiritual connectedness that is ours because of our faith in Jesus.
And one demonstration of our spiritual connectedness is our thankfulness for one another.
TRANSITION
So what does it mean to be thankful for one another? How should thankfulness display itself among us — we who are spiritually connected to one another?
We find three things in our text that help us understand what it means to be thankful for each other. To be thankful for one another means we pray for each other, we strengthen each other, and we go with each other. We pray, we strengthen, and we go.
Let’s look at the first way we demonstrate our spiritual connectedness by being thankful for one another. To be thankful for one another means…
MAIN POINT 1
“We pray for each other.” We pray for each other. Look with me in verse nine.
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my PRAYERS…” (Romans 1:9-10a ESV)
Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must be thankful for each other. And one way we demonstrate thankfulness is by praying for each other.
So what is prayer? A simple definition for prayer is “communication with God.” And communication involves both speaking and listening. Earlier this year, we taught on prayer in a series titled “A.C.T.S.” which I would recommend to you if you weren’t with us in January.
But to quickly summarize the series — to pray is to adore God — to be in awe of who God is. And to pray is to confess our sins — to admit our shortcomings and brokenness. To pray is to be thankful for all that God has done for us. And to pray is to bring our requests to God.
Prayer is one way we worship God. And when we pray to God for each other — we are demonstrating our thankfulness of being connected to one another.
But did you notice Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome? In verse nine Paul says that “God is his witness that he always prays for them.” Wow.
Paul hasn’t even met many of these people, but he’s so thankful for them — because of their spiritual connectedness to him and to one another— that he calls on God as his witness as to how he continually prays for them. And that’s incredible.
I was wondering — though — if like Paul — can any of us say to others in this congregation, “With God as my witness, I always pray for you.”
Now Gateway’s a pretty big church — we’ve got lots of people coming and going on Sunday mornings — so it’s easy to disappear in the crowd. And I’d guess that some of you like it that way — you want to stay hidden for whatever reason. But others of you feel isolated and you really want to get to know some folks. And you know you can’t say “God is my witness, I’m praying for you” because you don’t know anyone — but you want to.
Others of us — though — are connected.
You’re in a Life Group, you serve, you’re connected — yet even you might not be able to say, “With God as my witness, I always pray for you” because it’s easy to not live in the reality of our spiritual connectedness to one another. And when we drift from living out of our spiritual connectedness — our thankfulness for one another diminishes and our grumbling and complaining about one another increases. So our thankfulness for one another diminishes — as does our commitment to pray for one another.
So I thought we’d do something a bit different — it’s going to stretch some of us — there’s an element of risk to what we’re going to do — but every now and again you just have to jump out of the plane and trust that the parachute will open — at least that’s what they told me in Airborne School.
So here we go. For the next seven days can we — can you and I — commit to praying for one person in this congregation? For seven days — one week — can we pray for one person in this congregation?
Now here’s what you may be thinking — “Who am I going to pray for?” But here’s the question that went through my mind when I thought of doing this.
“How can I make sure that everyone gets prayed for? Especially those who haven’t connected with others? How can I help our spiritual connectedness — because of our faith in the gospel — become a visible reality?”
So here’s what I came up with. Here’s what we’re going to do. I hope you’re ready to trust the parachute and jump.
I want you to pair up with the person sitting behind or in front of you — I’m going to trust that we can make sure that everyone gets a partner — but don’t pick the person sitting next to you — because you probably came with them — so pick the person sitting behind or in front of you and — and — in 30 seconds or less — I want you to tell each other your name, something they can be praying for, and then say, “With God as my witness, I’m going to pray for you every day this week.”
And I know this may be uncomfortable — especially for my fellow introverts in the room — but can we try this? The gospel has connected us to one another, so can we give this a try? Can we commit to praying for each other every day this week?
Just think of the assurance you’ll have in knowing that someone is praying for you every day this week?
And who knows — the person you pray for may have no one else who prays for them. They may feel so isolated that your prayers will be an encouragement to them. And maybe next Sunday they’ll seek you out — or you’ll find them — and see how the week went.
So take thirty seconds — turn to the person in front or behind you, share your names, one thing to pray for, and then commit to praying for each other every day this week.
[PAUSE AND WATCH CLOCK!!!]
Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must be thankful for each other. And one way we demonstrate thankfulness is by praying for each other.
Here’s a second way we demonstrate our spiritual connectedness by being thankful for one another. To be thankful means…
MAIN POINT 2
“We strengthen each other.” We strengthen each other. Look with me in verse nine again.
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to STRENGTHEN you— 12 that is, that we may be MUTUALLY encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:9-12 ESV)
Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must strengthen each other.
The article I quoted earlier mentioned serving as a way to develop our thankfulness. And even though the journalist wasn’t writing from a biblical perspective, many of her thoughts on developing thankfulness come straight from the Bible. And strengthening others — using our spiritual gifts for each other’s benefit — is a great way to demonstrate thankfulness.
Earlier I mentioned prayer as an act of worship. And worship is one of our values here at Gateway. We want everyone to be a worshipper.
Additionally, we value connecting to and serving one another. Connect and serve are our next two values.
And we connect in Life Groups to demonstrate visibly our spiritual connectedness. This is where we are “mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” as Paul says in verse twelve. And if you’re not in a Life Group, I’d encourage you to stop by the What’s Next Wall and get connected so you can both encourage and be encouraged by others.
Also — at the What’s Next Wall — you can find all kinds of opportunities to serve here at Gateway. These are ways you can strengthen us as you’re also strengthened by the service of others. That’s something I really love about Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome.
He wants visit them to strengthen them, but he also longs to be strengthened by them. There’s a mutual benefit to being connected to one another — we’re strengthened and encouraged as we connect to and serve each other.
[HOLD UP “GO OR SEND” CARD]
Finally, I’ll remind you of the “Go or Send” cards that were mentioned during the announcements. Now I’d love to think that everyone filled out a card — that no one thought, “I ain’t filling this out” or “I’ll just accidentally drop this on the floor” or anything like that. I know that would never happen here at Gateway.
But we’re going to North Main street as a church to reach people in that community who need to hear the gospel. We can invest and invite all we want — but people in our North Main campus’ neighborhood aren’t coming to us — so we’re going to them. It takes both strategies — investing and inviting AND going and telling to reach people with the gospel. So we’re going to North Main as a church to reach people with the gospel.
But we don’t want to neglect the people who come to this campus either. This isn’t a competition between the two campuses. We don’t want to go and reach people while we neglect to shepherd the people who come here. I don’t think the two are in competition with each other. Both are biblical. Both are to be our focus.
And we’re doing all of this to make much of Jesus so that His name would be worshipped among people who don’t currently worship Him. We’re not doing this to make a name for ourselves. We’re doing this for the sake of Jesus’ Name and the good of all people.
So if you’ve been attending Gateway for awhile and have yet to engage in the life of the church — you haven’t connected to us in a Life Group or strengthened us by using the gifts God has given you to serve us —
then the next step for you is to get connected to the people in this congregation and to start using the gifts God has given you to strengthen this congregation.
And think of the benefit of knowing you’re not just take, take, taking, but that you’re adding value to this congregation — that you’re strengthening us — that you’re being used by God to “connect people to Jesus Christ and to one another.”
Do you want purpose for your life? Do you want to not waste your life? Do you want to be an encouragement to people who’ve been an encouragement to you? Then connect to us in a Life Group and start serving.
Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must be thankful for each other. And one way we demonstrate thankfulness is by strengthening each other through service.
One last way we demonstrate our spiritual connectedness by being thankful for one another. To be thankful means…
MAIN POINT 3
“We go with each other.” We go with each other. In verse thirteen Paul writes…
“I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to COME to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under OBLIGATION both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are IN Rome.” (Romans 1:13-15 ESV)
Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must go with — I almost worded this — go to — each other.
Paul wants to go to these Christians in Rome. He wants to be with them. He wants to preach the gospel to them — even though they already believe the gospel. Why?
- Because he wants to have a harvest among them.
- He wants to see God use his preaching to strengthen these Christians in Rome.
- He wants more people to find life in Christ.
- Paul is desperate to go to them.
So how do we demonstrate thankfulness by going with each other?
I just said it, but I’ll say it again. We’re going to North Main Street as a church. And all of us — if this is your church — all of us are either going or sending. Doing nothing isn’t an option. But enough beating that drum.
How else are we going as a church?
We’ve got a family missions trip going to Pikeville, Kentucky in just a few weeks. This is a missions trip where whole families have the opportunity to go together — kids, parents, grandparents — whoever — can go together on this trip.
And one way you can help them go and “connect people to Jesus Christ and one another” is by bringing in a pair of NEW tennis shoes of any size.
The community our team is going to has economic challenges and something as simple as a new pair of shoes can be a significant blessing and an opportunity to start a conversation that can lead to sharing the gospel. So help us be a going church by bringing in a pair of NEW shoes by next Sunday.
“But Josh. That’s great and all — but I really want to go. Are there any missions trips that I can go on?” Great question. And…YES. THERE. ARE.
We’ve got a trip scheduled to go to Costa Rica — in late September early October — and there are still openings if you’d like to be part of that team. If this trip interests you, stop by the What’s Next Wall for more information before you leave today.
Are there any men here who like baseball? We’ve got a missions trip in November going to the Dominican Republic that will be using baseball as a way to connect to people in that country. We want to use baseball as a relational bridge so we can share the gospel. So men — if that interests you — stop by the What’s Next Wall for more information before you leave today.
The What’s Next Wall should be a happening place after the service today.
Now listen. Whether it’s our North Main campus, Kentucky, Costa Rica, or the Dominican Republic — these are all great opportunities for you — especially if you’re looking to grow in your faith and take your next step here at Gateway.
And these are great opportunities if you feel kind of disconnected or isolated because you don’t know many people and want to get better connected to other folks.
I mean, think of what’ll happen if you go to North Main or go to Costa Rica or go to the Dominican Republic. You’ll get to see God’s harvest with your own eyes. Paul desired to see a harvest among the people in Rome and our hearts desire should be to see a harvest among people wherever we go — whether here in Findlay or overseas.
All because the gospel connects us to one another, so we must be thankful for each other. And we demonstrate thankfulness by praying for each other. By strengthening each other. And by going with each other.
CONCLUSION
And I want to close this sermon by doing something a bit different — this’ll be a bit unorthodox — you won’t find this in a book on preaching. I want to end this sermon by letting you know that I’m thankful for you.
Gateway Church, I hope you know that I love you. I know I haven’t been here very long —
but I don’t just say “I love you” at the end of a worship service because I’m a super lovey-dovey kind of guy — if you know me well — you can say “Amen.”
- I tell you “I love you” because I know that nobody hears the words “I love you” enough.
- Nobody hears “God loves you” enough.
- And nobody hears “I’m thankful for you” enough either.
So I want you to know that I’m thankful for you and that I love you. But I even want to get more specific than that.
Cody and Carlee Fletcher. I’m thankful for you. Thank you for taking photographs at the Memorial Day cookout, for serving in the preschool ministry, and for being one of the first families to welcome the Hansons to Findlay and to Gateway. And tell Brilee thanks for inviting — and I quote — “Her favorite pastor” to her birthday party. She’s four years old, if you’re wondering.
Jim and Lora Kane. I’m thankful for you. Thank you for serving as preschool teachers all year round. And — if you don’t know — Jim can really wiggle it up with the preschoolers during Wiggle Worship. And he’s not four years old, if you’re wondering.
Lori Loewen. I’m thankful for you. Thank you for serving faithfully on our greeter team.
Steve Graybill. I’m thankful for you. Thank you for serving as a video director and for making me look better on the big screens than I do in real life — which is no easy feat.
Dick Schrock. I’m thankful for you. Thank you for overseeing all of the renovations at North Main. The renovations we’ve planned for — but especially for all of the renovation surprises we didn’t plan for.
Matt and Erin Buttermore. I’m thankful for you. Thank you for serving on the tech team and in our kid’s ministry and for having the Hansons over for dinner.
To John and Kathy Murray, Ben and Brianna Patterson, Dave and Mary Ann Culver, John and Debby Brodman, Bob and Annie Dickmann, Chad and Cori Benedict, Emily Bingley, Mike and Chrissy Montgomery. I’m thankful for each of you. Thank you for serving as Life Group leaders.
And to all of our Life Group leaders — there are too many of you to mention by name — I’m thankful for all of you.
Thank you for investing in the people in your group and helping them “connect to Jesus Christ and to one another.” We’re a stronger church because of you.
To our worship team members. Our vocalists and guitar players. Drummers, keyboardists, and bass players. To our worship leaders — Jon, Heidi, Austin, Jenna, Lindsay, and Shaun. To the tech team — the audio, video, and lighting volunteers — I’m thankful for all of you. Thank you for leading us, for practicing throughout the week, for showing up for rehearsals, and for being the first volunteers to arrive on Sunday — they get here before 7am to serve all of us.
To Justin Stiles, Kristi St. Amour, Mark and Bonnie Olson, Hannah Otley and Lisa Simmons — two high school students who both showed up to serve in the nursery during our 8:30am service after being out all night for prom — to David and Tracy Rath, Ted and Renee Cribley — and to all of you who invest in our next generation — from birth through high school — thank you for planting the seed of the gospel into the minds and hearts of our children and students. There’s an army of volunteers who show up every week to “connect the next generation to Jesus Christ and to one another.” I’m thankful for all of you.
To our college students and college ministry volunteers. Thank you for all that you do. To all of you who have gone on a missions trip…thank you. To all of you who serve week in and week out greeting, ushering, counting the offering, keeping us safe, helping people find a parking spot, and making sure we have coffee and snacks in the cafe…I’m thankful for all of you.
To the elders and their families. The Hefts, the Tomlinsons, the Otleys, the Barnharts, the Kiesels, the Fousts, the Ratnasamys, the Yates, the Tans, and the Tietjes. I’m thankful for you. Thank you for faithfully shepherding the people of Gateway. For growing in Christ-likeness. And for fighting the good fight.
To Gateway’s staff. You guys and gals are great. You inspire me to be a better pastor and leader. Let’s keep working for God’s glory and the good of all people. I’m thankful for each of you.
Pastor Ben and Kathy. Kathy you’re an amazing woman. You’ve managed to put up with Ben’s sense of humor for nearly four decades — and that says a lot about you. But seriously, I’m thankful for both of you. Thank you Borsays for welcoming the Hansons to Gateway.
For having us in your home. And Ben, thanks for trusting me as a co-laborer in ministry.
To my wife — Emily — and our kids — Wesley, Caleb, and Alice. I’m thankful for you. It’s hard having your husband and father be your pastor. You kind of get jipped on both. As C.S. Lewis says, “You get to see the cesspool of my heart” up close. Thank you for supporting what God has called us to do. Thank you for praying for me, for loving me, for being patient with me, and for being on this journey with me.
Gateway — I wish I could thank all of you by name. May we continue to grow in our thankfulness for one another. May we pray for each other. Strengthen each other. And go with each other. As we make visible the spiritual connectedness that is ours because of the gospel.
Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I pray that we would all respond to Your Word today. I pray that You will remind us that we are connected to one another because of the gospel. And because we are connected to one another, we must be thankful for each other.
I pray that we would demonstrate our thankfulness by praying for each other, by strengthening each other, and by going with each other to share the gospel.
Father, if there’s anyone here longing for community — longing for connectedness — longing for an end to their loneliness — I pray that they would believe the gospel and — through their belief — connect to this church. May they step out in faith and believe — and then step out in obedience by joining a Life Group and by strengthening us through service.
But Father, we ask that You would connect all of us more deeply to You. For we need Your power, grace, and mercy in order to make visible the spiritual connectedness that is ours because of Your gospel. May we show all people what it means to be connected to one another because we are connected to Your Son, Jesus.
We pray these things in His name. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Because the gospel connects us to one another, we must be thankful for each other. May we leave here committed to praying for each other, strengthening each other, and by going with each other. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.