Christ-Centered Sermons by Bryan Chapell

Author:Bryan Chapell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: American Sermons, Preaching
ISBN: 9781441242679
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2013-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

Hope’s Journey

Romans 15:4

Scripture Introduction

At the intersection of two rural highways in eastern Maine lies one of our nation’s most photographed churches. The church is small and remote, sitting between nondescript fields. But that very isolation seems to have given those in the church a sense of responsibility for helping passersby locate their place and time in the world. The little church has an enormous steeple with a large clock face on each side. I don’t know what to compare it with—an ant carrying a banana, or a toddler with a tuba? It seems so out of proportion. Yet that out-of-proportion design is what forces people to pay attention to the church, orients them to their location, and keeps them from losing their way. In a rather curious way, that church helps us understand what’s going on in this passage. Here we see the church in Rome made small by bickering. People from both Jewish and pagan backgrounds have become Christians, and they are getting lost in little squabbles over what they should eat or drink or celebrate. The petty debates seem only to need a little refereeing from the apostle Paul. But instead, he writes of an enormous truth, stating the purpose of the entire Bible. Though the concept is contained in one verse, the truth is so massive that the little church will be forced to abandon its small-minded ways and reorient itself to the great gospel purposes of every church in every age.182 This is what Paul says to make a small church think and act in accord with the great purposes of the gospel.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.