There is one more aspects of the church's maturity that Paul wants to address and it is to do with mission. In the second half of chapter 15 Paul affirms once again his calling to be a missionary to the Gentiles. So far this has been in the east of the Roman Empire, but now he knows his calling to the western part of the Empire and to places where the gospel has never been preached. Paul is writing the letter to the Romans while in Corinth and he will leave there to go to Jerusalem to leave with them the collection from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia and then head to Spain. En route he will stop in Rome to visit with the believers there.

His purpose for stopping in Rome is two-fold: (1) to encourage the believers there and (2) to give them opportunity to share in this mission. They may not be able to go to Spain, but they can support Paul through their prayers and giving as he makes the journey and spends time at the ends of the earth of his day.

Paul knows this is part of their ongoing discipleship, but he also knows that the work of the Holy Spirit is essential as they do this together. And so we learn of the need of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we undertake God's mission in the world. We can see these in three Ps:

1. Power of the Holy Spirit
2. Partnership in the gospel
3. Prayer for all the church

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

The heart of the gospel is knowing that we will be

2

safe on Canaan's side, the promised

land, the land that is ours.

3

And so this evening, as we get close

to the end of Paul's letter to the

4

Romans, We only have two more passages

to consider after this evening,

5

whenever we look at chapter 16.

6

And tonight Paul wants to bring us

back to his mission, to that message

7

of the gospel going out so that indeed

all anxious fears will be subsided.

8

And that a people of God's choosing

will be landed safe on Canaan's side.

9

And it is his mission to the Gentiles.

10

And he's gonna tell us tonight how

this ministry will take him to the

11

ends of the known world of his day.

12

And whenever we look back on the

history of the church, it is effectively

13

the history of God's mission.

14

Because in his grace, Christ has preserved

and grown his church through all ages.

15

And even as we were praying just a moment

ago, even today, he's continuing to grow

16

his church through all ages, even through

the digital means that we now know.

17

He's been working through the

faithfulness and zeal of brothers

18

and sisters of many different stripes

and many different generations.

19

But the church has known bloodshed,

it's known strife, It knew that in

20

the 16th and the 17th centuries.

21

And by the 18th century, those had largely

subsided in our church history with

22

most European countries established in

some sense as either being Protestant or

23

Roman Catholic, but faithful Christians.

24

In this time of peace of the church have

been scattered to the ends of the earth

25

by the biting winds of persecution and

the stage was set for a new evangelistic

26

effort of which today's mission

agencies are the closest offspring.

27

One such missionary at the very beginning

of all of this was William Carey, born

28

in 1761, who, he was an extraordinarily

gifted man, and God achieved

29

remarkable things through him in India.

30

One of his primary achievements

was that of translating.

31

He began translating the New Testament

into Bengali, and then into Sanskrit.

32

and related languages.

33

And in his lifetime, the mission

that he started translated and

34

distributed at least part of the Bible

in over 30 languages and dialects.

35

Kerry also had broader influence in

Indian society by bringing the values

36

of the gospel to bear on the system

that they had, the caste system.

37

And by the middle of the 19th century,

there were as many as half a million

38

professing Christians in British India.

39

William Carey had birthed

the model of modern missions.

40

And he is quoted as saying how

modern missions should happen.

41

It's to, so he says, to know the

will of God, we need an open Bible.

42

and an open map.

43

He knew that the mission of God's

people was to know scripture and then

44

to proclaim it wherever God would lead.

45

Kerry lived at a time of history, of

the great expanse of the British empire,

46

and this allowed him to travel as the

map was, was really being written.

47

But Kerry was not the

first to practice this.

48

To Kerry, India was the end of the

earth, but actually it was the Apostle

49

Paul who demonstrated the need for

the church to be engaged in mission.

50

And so we come to the second half of

chapter 15 where he makes this very clear.

51

He begins in verse 14

by providing a survey.

52

of what he has written already in

Romans and to commend his readers

53

for their faith in Jesus Christ.

54

The Roman church was a growing church.

55

It had both, uh, growing in numbers

and it was growing in faith.

56

They were devouring scripture.

57

They were eating it up, but

they were also applying it.

58

They weren't simply just

sitting and learning.

59

They were actually living it.

60

But Paul has one more challenge

for them in verses 15 and 16.

61

And this is what he says.

62

But in some points I have written to you

very boldly by way of reminder, because of

63

the grace given me by God to be a minister

of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the

64

priestly service of the gospel of God,

so that the offering of the Gentiles may

65

be acceptable, sanctified, and blessed.

66

Paul here is acknowledging that he has

not written exhaustively about every

67

issue that the church needed to hear.

68

Rather, he has proclaimed to them

the key issues that they need, that

69

needed to be addressed in the church.

70

He also recognizes that

he's spoken boldly to them.

71

Perhaps often wondering if he

had overstepped the mark, but

72

he's not pulled punches or dumbed

down what he had need to say.

73

Paul, as we've seen, cares about this

church and he wants it to grow in

74

maturity and there's still one area for

them to grow and it is in partnership

75

Gentiles that he has been called to.

76

Notice in verse 16 Paul refers to his

ministry as that of priestly service.

77

Now whenever we think of priestly service

in the church, we ultimately have to

78

think of Jesus Christ, our great And his

priestly service was self sufficient.

79

He didn't need anyone else.

80

But, but it does require

human ambassadors.

81

By grace, Paul serves in

this role to the Gentiles.

82

He is willing to go for the sake

of Christ in this priestly duty.

83

to the Gentiles.

84

He is Christ's agent, as it were,

in, for the proclamation of the

85

gospel and his envisioned goal is the

conversion of Gentiles so that they

86

will be acceptable before God, having

been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

87

Now that's a, an interesting wee phrase

there, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

88

I wonder, do you know

what sanctified means?

89

Well, let's go to what many

of us learned as children, the

90

Westminster Shorter Catechism.

91

It's that concise understanding

of what a lot of these terms mean.

92

And even though it's in old English, the

question is asked, what is sanctification?

93

And the answer is, first of

all, sanctification is the

94

work of God's free grace.

95

They go on to say, whereby we are

renewed in the whole man after

96

the image of God and are enabled

more and more to die on the sin.

97

and live unto righteousness.

98

Sanctification comes from the image

of the temple, because each day

99

blood would be splattered on the

altar, and this would be done to show

100

that there was forgiveness for sin.

101

And so each day we are being sanctified

by the Holy Spirit, not by the blood

102

of a lamb, but the blood that was

shed once by the lamb Jesus Christ.

103

And so today we are sanctified not

only in the Holy Spirit, but by the

104

Holy Spirit, because sanctification

is God's work of free grace.

105

And what that work does is it renews us.

106

And so Paul's desire is to see the

lost not only one with the gospel,

107

but renewed after the image of God.

108

To die, to sin, and to live

in the right ways of God.

109

And this hasn't changed.

110

Because when we speak of

sanctification, this is the work the

111

Holy Spirit does in each of us today.

112

We are renewed daily, because we each

daily need to die a little bit more to

113

sin, and we need to live a little bit more

each day to the right ways of God, so that

114

through Jesus, we will be accepted by Him.

115

We will be accepted as redeemed.

116

Now, this is important for us to know,

because often we think that we can

117

simply say that our coming to faith

was at a certain point and a certain

118

time, and we rely on that rather

than the work of the Holy Spirit

119

each and every day in our lives.

120

You see, the Gospel grows in us.

121

Yes, it is a message that changes

us in the miracle of a moment,

122

but we don't remain stagnant.

123

We have to grow and we must trust in the

Holy Spirit to sanctify us every day so

124

that we will die more to sin, or onto

sin, and we will live onto righteousness.

125

That we will die, the sin within

us will die a little bit more every

126

day, and every day we will grow

in our living onto righteousness.

127

And Paul's already written

this, about this, in 2

128

Thessalonians 2, verses 13 to 14.

129

But we ought always to give thanks to God

for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord,

130

because God chose you as the firstfruits

to be saved through sanctification by

131

the Spirit and belief in the truth.

132

To this he called you through our

gospel, so that you may obtain the

133

glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

134

You see, what Paul tells us is that in

coming to We are sanctified by the Spirit.

135

We believe the truth.

136

And the Spirit renews it in us each day.

137

This is how we are to live.

138

The Gospel, the heart of the

Gospel that Paul is talking about

139

throughout this letter, is that we

will know it and we will live it.

140

And we will know it daily as we

are sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

141

And Paul wants to continue talking about

the Spirit and our openness to the Spirit

142

and so in verses 17 to 20 Paul is clear

of what the method of his mission is.

143

He will proclaim the truth of the

gospel and he confirms this in verse 18.

144

For I will not venture to speak

of anything except what Christ has

145

accomplished through me to bring the

Gentiles to obedience by word and deed.

146

In pointing us to word and deed

here, Paul is saying that he will

147

live out the gospel so that people

will see it grounded in real life.

148

The Gentiles of Paul's

day are philosophers.

149

They're worshipers of a pantheon

of gods, a whole arena of gods.

150

Gods that you can pick and choose

who you want to worship on that day.

151

They're not necessarily realists when

it comes to religion, so they need

152

to see the so called philosophy of

Paul, or that philosophy as they see

153

it, it has to be grounded in life

so that it will actually make sense.

154

And he will proclaim the gospel

and he will live the truth.

155

But he is also aware of the work of the

Holy Spirit, because he says in verse

156

19, By the power and signs and wonders,

by the power of the Spirit of God, so

157

that from Jerusalem and all the way

around to Eliakim, I have fulfilled

158

the ministry of the gospel of Christ.

159

Paul recognizes his testimony of faith.

160

His living out of the gospel will

have a part to play, but he will

161

not hinder and indeed he expects

the work of the Holy Spirit.

162

That work of the Holy Spirit to

convince the heart and the soul

163

of what is this wonderful truth.

164

And so Paul will not only be spirit

filled, he will be spirit led.

165

This he will need as he goes to places

where the gospel has never been preached.

166

And isn't it wonderful that he wants

to go to the unreached, the completely

167

unreached, the new tribes, as it were,

that have yet to hear the gospel.

168

He doesn't want to

build on someone else's.

169

He wants to be the pioneer, not for

his own glory, but for God's glory.

170

And this is the example for

us as we engage in proclaiming

171

the good news of the gospel.

172

As we share this good news, and we

must be sharing it, We should be open

173

to the Holy Spirit leading us, and not

only leading us, but enabling us to

174

speak the truth that needs to be heard.

175

The Apostle Paul, William Carey, Hudson

Taylor, and many who have stepped out

176

in faith to cross the seas or cross the

street have spoken the truth in boldness

177

through the power of the Holy Spirit.

178

And we shouldn't think that the

same can't be done through us.

179

It can.

180

God can use us.

181

We don't have to be theologically

trained at a seminary or a college.

182

We simply need to know the gospel

ourselves to be living it out

183

so that those in this modern age

who are more philosophical about

184

religion will see the gospel and life

matching up and will see it grounded.

185

and well lived and something

that is to be followed.

186

Because Jesus assures us that when we do

take this step of faith, led by the Holy

187

Spirit, Jesus says in John 14 verses 25

to 26, these things I have spoken to you

188

while I am still with you, but the Helper,

the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send

189

in my name, he will teach you all things

and bring to your remembrance all things.

190

You see, we haven't been abandoned.

191

We haven't been left alone.

192

We haven't been pushed out the

door and said, There you go.

193

get on with it.

194

God graciously has given us the Holy

Spirit and it is the Spirit who enables

195

us and so we should be attentive

to the Spirit's work in our lives.

196

And you might ask, well how do we do that?

197

Well I think, I think we know.

198

I think we know when there's

been missed opportunity.

199

I think we know when we had the

moment to do the right thing and to

200

say the right thing and even put a

little word in simply to say I'll be

201

praying for you when someone opens

up about something they're facing.

202

That's how the Spirit leads.

203

Opportunities.

204

To live out faith before a watching world.

205

It's not about writing

and preaching a sermon.

206

It's about who you will go

into work with tomorrow.

207

It's about who you will see

in the supermarket queue.

208

Who will you talk to behind the counter?

209

Who will you meet up with for coffee?

210

Who of your family will you meet?

211

who's going through something where

you can simply say, I'll pray for you,

212

and you will be surprised what that

will do and the reaction that comes.

213

And of course, there may be times

when harder words are needed.

214

We need to confront when something

is blatantly wrong, but we must

215

back it up with Scripture that,

so that we show what our standard

216

is, so that we can point others to

the good standard of Jesus Christ.

217

That's what it means to be

spirit led in our lives.

218

To be attentive and to be willing

to having that open Bible and

219

as it were that map in front of

us, wherever God will lead us.

220

Now Paul continues in verse 23 of this

passage to speak of his visit to Rome.

221

He wants to get to the imperial city and

he's, he sought repeatedly to get to Rome

222

but he's often been hindered because of

regions in the east of the Roman empire

223

to which God has preferred to send him.

224

And in saying that he has no longer,

has any room for this work means either

225

that he has reached all the areas.

226

that he has intended to meet, that is

under the Lord's criteria, or that others

227

have evangelized so many other areas in

the east that it's time for him to look

228

to the west, to fresh horizons, so as not

to build on someone else's foundation.

229

If and when Paul does reach Rome,

it will be en route to Spain.

230

Now, it's not going to Spain for a

package holiday, I can tell you that,

231

but Spain was the end of the earth.

232

Whenever Jesus said, go to the ends of the

earth, That's exactly what Paul is doing.

233

The earth finished.

234

That's Spain.

235

That was it.

236

You couldn't see land.

237

There was nothing in front of you.

238

And so this was it.

239

To the end of the earth.

240

And as he travels there, yes, he planned

to stop in Rome, and when he does, he

241

expects the Roman church to participate

in this mission to the Gentiles.

242

In Spain through contribution of

money, food, and other necessary

243

assistance as Paul may require.

244

Early missionaries like Paul

relied on local and spontaneous

245

assistance since established mission

support didn't exist back then.

246

Paul's desires to enjoy the fellowship

of the Roman church, but this is

247

not his point of traveling there.

248

According to his plans at this point,

he wants to go, yes, to encourage

249

them, but not as they think.

250

to give them a wider perspective

that they've yet more to grow in

251

their maturity to encourage him

and support him in this mission.

252

But his first step will be to Jerusalem

and to bring aid that has been

253

collected for the Jerusalem church.

254

This has been done on Paul's

third missionary journey where

255

he started there in Palestine.

256

He made his way across, uh, if you

can see it, uh, or sorry, he made

257

his way up through, uh, Syria, the

solid line through, uh, Asia Minor.

258

collecting money for

the church in Jerusalem.

259

And now he's on his way back.

260

He's writing this letter

from Corinth there in Aichea.

261

And so the dotted line then

follows him back to Jerusalem

262

where he will bring the money.

263

And this collection has been a process

of years to support the harsh social

264

and economic conditions that the

believers in Jerusalem have been facing.

265

And the church in Macedonia there,

Asia Minor, and at Aichea, that

266

peninsula where Corinth is, have made

generous contributions to this appeal.

267

These are churches made up of

overwhelmingly Gentile believers.

268

Now they are Gentiles who have

received the gospel as a result

269

of the Jews rejection, and

Paul's already spoken to that.

270

And because of that rejection, then

Paul has been led to an outreach

271

over many years to these Gentiles

in this part of the Roman Empire.

272

When they, or what they now offer

to the Jerusalem church, is the

273

spiritual blessings they have known.

274

And so they respond with

these in material blessings.

275

Do you see how it works?

276

A demonstration of knowing our

spiritual blessing overflows in what

277

we can give to the work of the Lord.

278

And these are churches who, as

they know the gospel and respond

279

to it, give generously and happily,

as verse 27 confirms for us.

280

And so after Paul has taken this

gift to Jerusalem, because of the

281

outpouring of gratitude from these

Gentile believers, he will then

282

travel on for Spain, stopping in Rome.

283

As I've said, Paul's here in Corinth.

284

There's quite a number of months

yet before he'll get there.

285

And as we know from the Acts

of the Apostles, Paul travels

286

to Jerusalem in chapter 21, but

he's arrested in the temple.

287

And in his trial, Paul appeals

to Caesar as a Roman citizen, and

288

he has that right, and he's then

transported to Rome in chapter 27.

289

Now, we don't believe he ever made it

to Spain, but his heart and calling

290

was for the Gentiles to respond to

the Gospel and know an engrafting

291

into the covenant promise of God.

292

Paul did make it to Rome.

293

The church in Rome did have the

opportunity to serve him, but they served

294

him as a prisoner under house arrest, not

as one who would go further on to Spain.

295

We don't know what happened to Paul, and

we think about that whenever we finish,

296

uh, our study in Acts of the Apostles

next year from September through to June.

297

But as this chapter finishes, Paul is

telling these people he will see them.

298

And he makes one more appeal to these

believers, because in verse 30 he asks

299

them, I appeal to you brothers by our

Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of

300

the Spirit to strive together with me

in your prayers to God on my behalf.

301

He asks for their prayers in this

mission to the Gentiles so that he

302

can complete his work in Judea and be

released to go to the ends of the earth.

303

Paul's, Paul challenges the church

in Rome to see his mission as their

304

own mission and to support him in it.

305

And in many ways, that's what's reflected

within our Presbyterian system through the

306

United Appeal, because the United Appeal

does what no one congregation can do.

307

And so over 500 Presbyterian congregations

get to club together, as it were, to give

308

financially and to pray for the mission

of the church so that work can be done

309

where not every congregation can work.

310

And he concludes with this by a blessing

or a benediction over them in verse 33.

311

This is the fourth of five

benedictions in Romans.

312

And Paul says, May the God

of peace be with you all.

313

Amen.

314

And Paul in this benediction is

demonstrating his concern for every

315

individual in the Roman congregations.

316

He does not regard them as a faceless

religious establishment, but as brothers

317

and sisters in Christ, who he one day

hopes to visit and to worship with.

318

You see, Paul is the great missionary

to the Gentiles, but he loves

319

to worship with God's people.

320

And as he does, he will worship.

321

He will encourage.

322

And he will see grow deeper in maturity.

323

So that's us almost finished

Romans to the end of chapter 15.

324

But there's three things I want

us to consider as the mission of

325

God's people from this chapter.

326

And the first is the

power of the Holy Spirit.

327

Do you see what Paul points us to

by his actions in his own life?

328

He wants us to know the

Holy Spirit at work.

329

And all too often Presbyterians are

accused, or indeed those in the Reformed

330

tradition, are accused of making little

of the Holy Spirit, because we apparently

331

don't express the gifts of the Holy

Spirit as Pentecostal churches would.

332

Well, I refute that challenge against us.

333

Because, uh, we believe in

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

334

There are not three gods, but one.

335

There are not three Christs, but one.

336

There are not three, uh,

Holy Spirits, but one.

337

We believe in one Trinity.

338

We believe in the work of that Trinity.

339

None was begotten or formed.

340

They all were and all have been.

341

And it is the Holy Spirit who works in

ways that we do not fully understand.

342

But yet the Spirit works.

343

Paul's challenge and question

for us this evening is will we

344

be attentive to the Holy Spirit?

345

And again being attentive to

the Holy Spirit doesn't mean

346

you have to go to college.

347

Being attentive to the Holy Spirit

means that tonight you pay attention

348

to what God's Word says, and

tomorrow morning as you wake up,

349

you eagerly expect the Holy Spirit.

350

And so while you're having your

breakfast tomorrow morning, while

351

you're on your way to work, I wonder

will you understand the power of the

352

Holy Spirit in your day tomorrow?

353

Whatever you will face, Whatever you

will listen to, whatever confrontations

354

you will have, will you be attentive

to the power of the Holy Spirit

355

who will lead you in His ways?

356

so that you will give a

good representation of the

357

gospel that you profess.

358

So I want you to consider, as Paul has

taught us, of the power of the Holy

359

Spirit in each of our individual lives.

360

The second thing is the

partnership in prayer.

361

Now whenever Paul talks about this

partnership, of course he's talking

362

about the great missionary movement that

he establishes here, that we now know

363

in the missionary movements of our day.

364

But Paul isn't just talking about that.

365

Notice what he's talking about at the end.

366

He's talking about them

praying for each other as well.

367

He recognizes that the church

is in partnership together.

368

And so as much as Christ has assured

us that the Holy Spirit has been giving

369

us, given to us as the comforter,

we also must recognize that each

370

of us here have been given to each

other to encourage along the way.

371

We are together partners in Christ.

372

in the gospel.

373

My place of gospel expression

is different from yours.

374

But together, because of our unique

position of being part of this one

375

congregation, means that we are

partners together in the mission.

376

We are partners together in the gospel.

377

But the problem is, half of us don't

know what the other half is doing.

378

And why?

379

Because we don't talk

to each other about it.

380

So maybe tonight, in preparation

for tomorrow, there's a cup of

381

tea and there's a cup of coffee.

382

to stay and to have those conversations

that don't simply talk about the

383

weather and football, but that talk

about where our workplace gospel

384

partnership will take us tomorrow.

385

So not only may we know the power of the

Holy Spirit, but may that we may know

386

we are partners together in the gospel.

387

The last thing then that Paul tells

us is prayer for all the church.

388

We must be people who pray.

389

We must be praying for each other.

390

We must be praying for gospel ministry.

391

We must be praying that Christ

will be worshipped as Lord of all.

392

I wonder, do we pray for each other?

393

Whoever's sitting behind you tonight,

or in front of you, or to your side,

394

will you now, in your mind and in your

heart, commit to pray for that person?

395

Because Paul says that there must

be prayer for all the church.

396

And by the way, I hope you're impressed

that these are all three Ps, because

397

I've told you before, I struggle to get

things like this, but it just came to me.

398

Power, partnership, prayer.

399

It's quite easy.

400

Power of the Holy Spirit, partnership in

the Gospel, and prayer for all the church.

401

What does the mission of

God's people look like?

402

It looks like this.

403

It looks like these three things.

404

As we take the gospel out, knowing we

are led by the Spirit, that we are in

405

partnership together so none of us are on

our own, and that we each uphold the other

406

in prayer so that we will last and we will

be kept until that day when we cross the

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Jordan and land safe on Canaan's side.

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We are called to be faithful in our

witness because the gospel is great and

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the gospel is worthy of such a response.

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Most of us here will not head overseas

or go into full time Christian ministry,

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although it would be great if some here

were called that way, but we are called

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to our family members and our neighbors

as William Carey recorded in his journal,

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I feel that it is good to commit my soul,

my body, and my all into the hands of God.

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Then the world appears little, the

promises great and God and all sufficient.

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What a wonderful perspective from

William Carey, who went to the ends of

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the earth, to India, to proclaim the

gospel, knowing that as he committed

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himself fully into the hands of the Lord,

well then the world wasn't so scary.

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The world seemed that little bit

lesser than it used to, and the

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promises of God greater than it.

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The gospel is good news and it is

our strength because it is the truth.

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Friends, tonight I urge you to know the

gospel deep within and know it as the only

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truth that can save you and the nations.

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And as you know, it's truth.

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Live it out at a hundred miles an hour.

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ever in the Holy Spirit so that

we will be counted faithful in

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the work God has called us to.

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As Jesus assures us in Matthew 28 and

verse 20, May you know it deep within that

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teaching them to observe all that have

been commanded you and behold I am with

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you always to the very end of the age.

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What a promise for the

mission of God's people.

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To know the power of the Holy Spirit,

to be in partnership together in the

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Gospel, and to be in prayer for one

another as we undertake this work.

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Let's pray.

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Our Father God, we thank you

for the heart of the Gospel that

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challenges us to live well for you.

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So may we be faithful in it, and

may we know it and its strength

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at work in us, so that we will

proclaim it faithfully to others.

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Help us to be brave.

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Help us to be confident.

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Help us to place our whole self,

body and soul in your hands so

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that the world will be less and we

will have a greater understanding

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of your great promises to us.

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And we ask this in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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Mhm.