THIS SUNDAY - OCT 2

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!!!!!

Bring your favorite breakfast dish......

Enjoy the fellowship, great food, and a great lesson......

OCT. 2: ONE GREAT COMMITMENT

By Justin Randolph
Pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville

Focal Passage: Romans 10:1-3, 8b-13

I was in the Walmart checkout line recently, impatiently waiting my turn (don’t judge me), when I glanced at the shirt of the man in front of me. It made the observation that “only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you; Jesus Christ and the American soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.”

While I had seen this quote before, it took on new meaning as I prepared for this Sunday School lesson. Most religions in the world, including the Jews of Paul’s day, are very zealous for their beliefs. At the core of these beliefs is the idea good works can earn one favor with God.  Even in our churches, we can find people who are living their lives attempting to connect with God by the things they do. My thought as I read this shirt was this: why would God send His Son to die for us if being good was good enough?

Paul attempts to answer this question in chapter 10 of his letter to the church at Rome. He begins by expressing his great love for his fellow Jews and how he fervently prays for their salvation. This causes me to question myself: do I fervently pray for the salvation of my co-workers, neighbors, and friends? It is one thing to say you care about the lost, it is quite another to put action to our desires though prayer and intentional evangelism.

After confronting the fallacy that one can earn salvation for themselves, Paul turns to how one must be saved. He argues one must confess and believe. But, what does one confess? Namely a person confesses, or agrees, that Jesus is Lord. For the Jew, this connects the name used for God in the Old Testament with Jesus in the New Testament. In other words, it is the confession that Jesus is God and thus He has authority over my life.

Second, one must believe that Jesus died in their place so that their personal sins might be forgiven and rose again proving that His sacrifice for sin was acceptable to God.  Once this is done, a person is saved from the future wrath of God upon sin and saved unto good works for His God that will make a difference in eternity. These ideas do not stand alone, but are etched together.  For we cannot be saved without first accepting Jesus as our Savior and then embracing Him as Lord over our life.

Finally, Paul demonstrates the openness of this salvation. Christ loves all and died for all. This gospel is for Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, rich and poor, women and men alike. Christ is “rich unto all.” Salvation is free to all, but it is not automatic. Like any gift, salvation is bought and paid for, but it must be opened and received. We receive God’s gift of forgiveness and grace through confession and belief. This confession of Jesus as Lord and the belief in His death, burial, and resurrection is how we all are saved and it is the hope of all mankind.

Lesson for SEP. 18: ONE GREAT PROBLEM

By Justin Randolph
Pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville, TN

Focal Passage: Romans 3:9-12,19-20, 23

It is popular today to discuss whether or not it is relevant or important to name the problem.  Does not identifying the problem make solving it easier? I would argue without proper identification of a problem, a solution is nearly impossible to find.

So, why do people today seem to find it so difficult to name a problem? I believe it is because of their feelings about the problem. It is easy to armchair quarterback, or in other words to offer solutions from the outside looking in. However, when a problem hits close to home and becomes personal, by invading your life or inner circle, it becomes so much harder to name the problem and take the necessary steps to solve it. 

This is why Paul takes such great pains in the first part of his letter to the church at Rome to identify the problem that plagues all of humanity. Paul clearly articulates that the problem mankind faces is inherent in his nature. In other words, he is born with it and can do nothing about it.  The word he uses 47 times to describe mankind’s problem is sin. To sin is to miss the mark or the target. It refers to missing the intended purpose for which we were created, namely to obey and glorify God. Anything we think, say, or do that opposes God or His character as revealed in Scripture is sin.

The main point made by Paul in the remaining verses of Romans 3 is that sin is a universal condition of all mankind and therefore we all stand guilty before a Holy God. Likewise, none of us can be saved by our own merit. I like how Paul puts it in the form of a question in verse nine: “What then are we better than they?” How many times have we compared ourselves by the standard of ourselves and looked across the street at our neighbor and said, “Well, at least I am not as bad as they.” And, yet in God’s eyes you are still sinful and still unable to be justified in His sight. You may not be as bad as some, but you may be worse than others. Regardless, simply one sin is enough to keep you apart from God.

So then, what is the purpose of the law? Paul says it is there simply to make us aware of our problem. Then, once the problem is identified, we can start searching for a solution.  But, this is where we run into an even bigger quandary because a solution cannot readily be found.  Enter grace through the redemption offered in Jesus Christ. Therefore, God is just in that sin is exposed and rightly punished, but man is justified by the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  One great problem solved and even greater solution.