Thank you for taking the time to read the Weekend Sermon this week. I hope that everyone is having a good week.
This week has been hard. On Monday, my garage and part of my crawlspace flooded. I thank the Lord that not too much damage was caused. The house is OK. We are supposed to get more rain tomorrow, so please continue to pray that all will be well. Thank you for your prayers.
I have been working hard this week on writing and at my new job. I am thankful to the Lord for providing me with work to do.
Please pray for those in Florida and the Southeast who were hit by the hurricane this week. Pray that people will receive the aid that they need. Please continue to pray for the people in Indonesia who were affected by the hurricane and the tsunami.
Pray for those affected by the Ebola virus in Congo. Pray that this virus will stop spreading, and that those who are sick will get well.
Let us all pray for peace in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan and South Sudan. Pray for peace wherever you know that there is a conflict.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in Benin and China. Pray that many will hear about the love of Jesus.
During the course of the last few weeks, we have been in a series of message on the last chapters of the book of Romans. For today's message we will be focusing our attention on Romans 12 verses 14-20.
Paul begins in verse 14 by telling us that we should bless those who persecute us. This is a hard thing to do. Our natural reaction when people treat us badly is to strike back. If someone says something hurtful to us, we want to respond by saying something that will hurt them. Paul urges us to bless those who curse us.
When I was working at a place where people called in to make insurance claims, I found that if I got upset when people started being nasty, the situation just escalated. If I said something nice back when someone was nasty, it had the effect many times of stopping their nasty behavior. They didn't know how to respond.
Our example in all things is Jesus. Jesus did not say anything bad to those who were persecuting Him. When He was on the cross, Jesus prayed that the Father would forgive those who were crucifying Him.
When we are faced with those who are persecuting us or making our lives miserable in some way, the way that we can overcome is by praying. We need to pray that the Lord will allow us to have a Christ like attitude. We need to pray that the Lord will help the other individual, and we need to pray that the Lord will empower us to do the right thing.
In verse 15, Paul calls on us to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and to weep with those who are weeping. When people we know are happy, we should join in the celebration. When they are sad and need us to be with them, we should seek to be of help and comfort.
The essence of verse 17 is that we are to be humble people. This is one of the characteristics of those who are trying to imitate the way of Jesus. Jesus had a humble heart. We are to have a humble heart like unto His humble heart. That means that we are not filled with pride. We don't go around boasting thinking that we are better than someone else.
This type of pride can manifest itself in several different ways. Some people think that they are better than people of different races or ethnic backgrounds. Some people believe that they are superior to others because they have a lot of money or they have a high level of education. Of course no one is superior to anyone else.
If we think that we are better than someone else, that is pride, and that is a sin. We are always to realize that all that we are and all that we have is because of the grace of the Lord.
All of us are one in the Lord Jesus. Everyone is of great value to the Lord Jesus. Jesus doesn't love one person more than another person. Jesus cares just as much for the person who is poor as He does for the rich. He loves people of all races and ethnic backgrounds exactly the same. We should follow the path that Jesus has set forth.
In verses 17 and 18, we are urged to live peaceably with everyone and to do what is right. Christians are called to live at peace with others. We aren't to repay evil for evil.
Verses 19 and 20 speak about vengeance. We are to leave this in the hands of the Lord. One day, the Lord will return to this earth. He will rule and reign in righteous. Justice will be over all of the earth. The Lord will make sure that everyone who has done what is evil will receive what they deserve.
We are called on to do good to everyone. We are even to do good to those who are our enemies. The only way that we can do this is to follow Jesus' example and pray that the Lord will give us strength to do what He has asked us to do.
Next week, we will finish up Romans 12. I will post the Weekend Sermon on Saturday. On Monday, I will post the verses. I will post the next chapter in the book about my friend Toby on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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