{"id":23451,"date":"2022-10-04T22:00:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T05:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-14_13-23-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-09-20T17:21:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T00:21:33","slug":"romans-15_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-15_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"When You Get Tired of Serving Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Romans 15:1-13 \u00a0 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

There are so many lessons we can learn from today\u2019s passage, Romans 15:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Romans 15:1-3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 One of the big lessons of Romans is that we don\u2019t live to please ourselves, but we live to serve others.\u00a0 That\u2019s the whole point of Romans 14 and now in Romans 15:1-2 says it even more directly.\u00a0 And why do we live not just to please ourselves but to serve others?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s how Jesus lived (v3).<\/p>\n

Romans 15:4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4:\u00a0 In typical Pauline fashion, after the point about serving others and using Scripture to back it up, Paul starts on a tangential point, this time about the whole purpose of Scripture.\u00a0 He says that God gave us the Scriptures so that we could find encouragement and hope.\u00a0 That\u2019s the ultimate reason why the Bible was given to us:\u00a0 not so that we could have a rulebook of do\u2019s and don\u2019ts, not as a means by which to judge ourselves or others, but that we might have encouragement and hope.<\/p>\n

Romans 15:5a (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0May the God who gives endurance and encouragement\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5a:\u00a0 God is not one who saps our strength; rather He gives us endurance.\u00a0 God is not one to discourage us, but He gives us encouragement.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re getting tired of serving others, if you need endurance or encouragement right now, the best person you can go to today is God.\u00a0 Cry out to Him.\u00a0 Spend quality time with Him.\u00a0 Endurance and encouragement happen when you draw near to God.<\/p>\n

Romans 15:5b-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5<\/sup>\u2026give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5b-6:\u00a0 To me it\u2019s incredible how much the importance of unity gets emphasized in the Bible, especially in the New Testament.\u00a0 I believe it\u2019s because God knows our sinful tendency to misunderstand and judge others, to get offended easily, to hold grudges, to distance ourselves from others, and to think of ourselves as better than others.\u00a0 God made His church to be fully united as we follow Jesus.<\/p>\n

Romans 15:7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you,\u00a0in order to bring praise to God<\/u>.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 7:\u00a0 When you love accept others the way Christ loved and accepted you, you bring praise to God.\u00a0 That\u2019s the three-way-ness of Christian relationships: when you love others well, not only are they blessed, but God is glorified.\u00a0 God being glorified is not a side benefit of loving others.\u00a0 Glorifying God is the main goal.\u00a0 So try this:\u00a0 intentionally make it your goal to glorify God in the way you speak and interact with others today.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find that life takes on a new meaning and joy when you intentionally do things to give God glory.<\/p>\n

Romans 15:8-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-9:\u00a0 Paul notes how Jesus served the Jews and in so doing made it possible even for Gentiles to know and glorify God as well.\u00a0 It goes to show that when we seek to glorify God just by loving the person directly in front of us, God uses that to advance His kingdom and bless other people in ways we don\u2019t even realize.<\/p>\n

Romans 15:10-12 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Again, it says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples.”
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-12:\u00a0 As if Paul had not already made a clear and convincing case that God\u2019s plan included bringing Gentiles into His family, Paul cites Deuteronomy (v10), the Psalms (v11) and the prophet Isaiah (v12) to show that every part of the Old Testament \u2013 the Law and the Prophets \u2013 points to God\u2019s plan to reach the entire world, both Gentiles and Jews.<\/p>\n

Romans 15:13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 13:\u00a0 This is one of my favourite verses in the Bible.\u00a0 You can preach a whole sermon on just this one verse.\u00a0 We learn from this verse that God Himself is full of hope and made us to be full of hope as well.\u00a0 We learn that hope is not something we manufacture; rather it is the product of God\u2019s power working in us.\u00a0\u00a0 We learn that when God is the source of our hope, the result is joy and peace.\u00a0 We learn that the hope God gives is meant to be shared; you were meant not just to contain hope but to overflow with hope so that it affects others.\u00a0 At Thrive it\u2019s what we call contagious hope.<\/p>\n

Father, I recognize today that the reason I live is not to please myself but to glorify You by serving others.\u00a0 Since endurance and encouragement come from You, I run to You today and ask for more of You.\u00a0 Please help me to live the life You want me to live, for Your glory.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

There are so many lessons we can learn from today\u2019s passage, Romans 15:1-13.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Romans 15:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-3:\u00a0 One of the big lessons of Romans is that we don\u2019t live to please ourselves, but we live to serve others.\u00a0 That\u2019s the whole point of Romans 14 and now in Romans 15:1-2 says it even more directly.\u00a0 And why do we live not just to please ourselves but to serve others?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s how Jesus lived (v3).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23451"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23455,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23451\/revisions\/23455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}