The Gathering Surf City

Before I go any further,

I'd love to pray.

So let's pray.

Lord, thank you for the privilege and
opportunity to come together and

worship, dear Lord,

to worship and celebrate you,

what you're doing in our lives.

Dear Lord,

I just pray that as we
continue to worship,

dear Lord,

that you would just continue go before
me and what you have me to say.

And dear Lord,

that you would just open hearts and ears
and minds to what we just sang,

dear Lord,

that you are a firm foundation,

that you gave us the gift of grace and
righteousness and the only reason

we get to stand before you is because
you loved us enough to give us

Jesus to pay for it all.

And I hope we're just reminded of the
power that we stand in believing in

that. And dear Lord,

I pray that if there's anybody
that doesn't know that,

that they would hear it and believe
it and confess it and receive it.

I look forward to what you're
going to do and I love you,

Jesus name,

Amen.

We've been in the Book of Romans
since the beginning of the year.

Does anybody remember?

If you're wondering where
Pastor Bobby is,

he's in Bergal today.

Continue to be praying for that congregation
and our involvement in it.

Like I said,

we've been in Book of Romans.

We're. We're still in chapter one.

Last week we talked.

Bobby had talked about,

you know,

Romans 16 and 17 is what
he preached on.

That is kind of the thesis,

one of the kind of purpose statements
of Paul writing the letter.

It is the cure for what Paul is fixing
to go into talking about,

which is kind of the diagnosis
and the disease.

Bobby asked a couple
questions last week.

When you go to talk to people,

a lot of times,

if you're a Christian and you feel
bold and confident enough,

you'll ask people,

do they have faith and do we take that
a step further and what do you

have faith in?

And from faith to faith is kind of
this idea of Romans that and to.

Just like it says in 16 and 17,

it is through faith that a righteous person
has life from start to finish

by faith.

And as we're walking that out,

Paul in the beginning of Romans,

I'm eager to preach and proclaim,

he introduces himself as
a slave of Christ.

He doesn't introduce himself as,

look at all these things
I've accomplished.

Look at all this prestige,

look at all this status,

look at all this wealth.

He introduces himself
as a lowly servant.

He even says,

and Bobby had brought it up
last week in Philippians,

all those things you could
count it all as waste,

garbage, a bunch of bull.

It's worth nothing.

What are you proud of?

Was another question he asked.

A lot of times what you're proud
of is what you talk about,

right? Talk about your kids,

talk about your job,

talk about your sports team,

especially if they're winning.

But do you talk about
the Lord that way?

And that's where I believe that boldness
and confidence comes from,

is when you are reminded who God is and
who you are or who you get to be

by receiving,

believing, accepting what
God has to offer you.

Well, Paul gives us kind
of the cure in 1617,

and now he's about to explain
why we need a cure.

So I had asked the question,

how many of you know
you got a disease?

Anybody else?

Not a fit.

And I'm not talking about a fit.

Maybe y'all got physical diseases,

but you got a spiritual disease.

You get the cure before
you get the diagnosis.

And this is kind of the diagnosis
of the disease.

And next week we're kind
of going to go into,

these are some symptoms you might
have if you have that disease.

And guess what Paul says.

I'll just read Romans,

chapter 1,

verse 18 says,

for the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and

unrighteousness of men,

all.

Guess what all means?

Everybody. Everyone.

The ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men who by their unrighteousness

suppress the truth.

Guess who's in the all category?

Me and you.

Everybody, right?

Who's ungodly,

who's unrighteous without the blood
bought grace gift of God.

Jesus.

That's me and you.

You got a disease,

I have a disease.

The problem is,

do you acknowledge you have a disease
and that is killing you?

Or maybe you don't acknowledge that
you have a disease and that's the

problem. Or maybe when I read that first
sentence for the wrath of God.

Why does God have wrath?

Nobody likes to talk about that,

does he?

God would not be God.

God would not be a just judge if
there was no penalty for sin.

It would be like saying.

It would be like saying,

let's say I raped and killed your
daughter and go to court.

And the judge says,

you know what,

Nick? Just let that one go.

Don't worry about it.

You know,

we'll.

We'll deal with that later.

Would that be justice?

Would that be the penalty?

No. So it isn't that.

If God just excused all your sins,

he wouldn't be God,

would he?

The great thing is that
he sent his son Jesus,

he didn't excuse our sin.

He sent Jesus to pay for our sin.

So it's like God being the
just judge that he is,

Jesus steps in front of us and says,

I will take that penalty that doesn't
do away with the wrath of God,

that doesn't do away with that.

There needs to be justice for wrong,

for ungodliness,

for unrighteousness.

It means that Jesus took it for us.

So we're born with sin.

Maybe you don't acknowledge that.

Maybe you think,

you know,

I'm pretty good,

but have you ever had to
teach a baby to sin?

I got a two year old and I'm
about to have another one.

I got a 10 year old
and 7 year old too.

But watching them all grow up,

that's one of the reasons
children are blessing.

You ever had to teach a
kid to stop sharing?

You ever had to go to them and say,

hey, stop sharing,

stop giving your stuff away,

stop being so nice.

Y'all ever had to teach
y'all kids that?

No, you have to teach them
to share because you,

they just have this inherent nature,

this collateral damage from the
fall from Adam and Eve,

that what?

Mine, mine,

mine, mine,

mine, mine.

Right?

Like I said,

the other half,

maybe the other half of you don't acknowledge
that you have a disease.

Maybe some of you acknowledge
that you do have a disease.

And your problem is you compare your
disease to somebody else's disease

and say,

at least it ain't.

I ain't as infected as they are.

Talked about righteousness
last week,

16, 17.

It is through faith that a
righteous person has life.

Righteousness isn't your
right activity.

It is your right standing with
God because of Jesus.

Jesus stepped in front of you and took
what you deserved and paid for it.

So I don't know what side you're on.

Either you think you're not
good enough and you hide,

or you think you can be good
enough if you do enough.

Religion, right?

That's religion.

I went to three services today.

I worked the parking lot.

I went to Bible study,

I went to worship.

I wrote a letter to
my compassion kid.

I signed up for a meal train.

I'm doing pretty good.

At least my intellectual infection
isn't as bad as somebody else's.

Or maybe you think you're
not good enough.

I'm still a little hungover
from last night.

I don't want anybody to know
the things I'm doing.

I'm going to hide.

I know I need to change.

I know I want something different.

I know this don't satisfy me,

but I'm scared to tell anybody.

You don't acknowledge that you have
something going on with you.

You know,

you can go to hell,

be separated from God forever,

sitting in that chair right there,

as good as you can anywhere else.

The good news is the Gospel,

just like God's all ungodliness and
all unrighteousness of men.

Guess what?

The gospel,

like he says in verse 16:17,

that's why it's the cure.

The gospel is for everyone.

It's for the religious and
it's for the rebellious.

Joby Martin,

who I quote a lot,

who's probably one of
my favorite pastors,

like I've said before,

because he is a redneck from Dillon,

South Carolina,

and I'm a fellow redneck
from Keener,

North Carolina.

So he speaks my language and opens the
word of God up to me in a way that

helps me remember.

But he was on a podcast and he said,

you know how you can tell somebody knows
the gospel is when they're in

trouble. Do they say,

I'm in trouble,

don't tell dad.

Or they say,

I'm in trouble,

go get dad.

When we get into the
symptoms next week,

a lot of times us as Christians like
to use Romans chapter one for

atheists or gays.

This is why you don't do that.

And you missed the whole part about
haughtiness and deceitfulness and

lies and maliciousness and
suppressing the truth.

Another thing Jubie says that I remembered
that I like is the Bible's not

binoculars to look through at someone
else to see how they're doing as

much as it is a mirror to
reflect back to you,

to remind yourself how you're
doing and that you need help.

Write those two things down.

Don't qualify or compare sin.

And the Bible is a mirror,

not binoculars.

Last half of verse 18 says,

who by their unrighteousness,

suppress the truth.

That's the ESV version.

The NLT version says,

sorry, wicked people who push away
the truth from themselves.

Ephesians 5:6 says it this way.

In another letter Paul wrote,

don't be fooled by those who
try to excuse these sins,

for the anger of God will
fall on all who disobey.

That's another way of saying
what I just said.

You try to compare.

You try to say,

well, at least mine,

I don't look as bad as that.

I ain't gray and yellow and got
stuff oozing out of me.

So, you know,

you suppress the truth.

You push it away.

I like the way the NLT Says that because
you keep God at arm's distance,

you don't let him come
all the way in you.

Lord, stay right here.

There's a difference in believing that
God is who he is and believing in

God. There's a difference
in believing.

I'm sure you've heard Bobby,

if you've been here any length of time
or a lot of pastors use this.

There's a difference in believing
that if I stand on this table,

it'll hold me up.

Or if I get on top of the table and show
you that I believe in this table

because it holds me up.

Verse 19 says,

for what can be known about God is plain
to them because God has shown it

to them plain as day.

You ever heard anybody say that?

It's kind of sounds like
southern saying,

give you an example.

By the looks of this table,

it's as plain as day that they
didn't read the directions.

We bumped into Randy's ex girlfriend at
the store today and it's as plain

as day.

They're still in love
with each other.

Is Chrissy pregnant?

Well, this is plain as day.

You can clearly see something
is different,

right? What Paul's trying to say,

it's plain as day.

How does everybody know
right from wrong?

Where do morals values,

where they come from?

You ever thought about that?

Every culture has some
sort of moral code,

some sort of standard.

There might be cultures that
are a little different,

but everybody,

they have,

there's some level of expectation.

Where does that come from?

Pete Holmes,

who's a stand up comedian.

I love being able to study and prepare
a message and see what God

highlights and gives you
throughout the week.

And throughout the week I just
stumbled across this guy,

Pete Holmes and he's doing this stand
up bit about God is nothing.

And he says in thinking about what I just
said about where does right and

wrong come from.

Some people think God created a universe
and some people think nothing

created a universe.

Which is the funniest guess and the
nothing people make fun of the God

people and they say
God doesn't exist.

Okay, maybe.

But you know what definitely
doesn't exist?

Nothing. That's the defining characteristic
of nothing is that it doesn't

exist. So it has to come
from somewhere.

Verse 20 For his invisible
attributes,

namely his eternal power,

divine nature have clearly been perceived
ever since the creation of the

world in things that have been made.

So they are without excuse.

Like I said,

like I learned the Bible
is not binoculars.

It's not for you to be able to weaponize
this first and say you're

without excuse.

Yes, God has clearly
made Himself known.

But how do you go about telling
people that with love,

with respect,

with a commonality of I have
a disease just like you.

And even though our infections
might be different,

1617 the cure right.

God made us right in his sight because
he gave us his only son who paid

it all.

And that's the only way you're
going to get out of this.

That's the only way you're
going to get over this.

It's the only way you're going
to get rid of this infection.

Psalm 19:1 2 says,

the heavens proclaim
the glory of God.

The skies displays craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue
to speak.

Night after night they
make them known.

I love when you look at creation,

when you look at the sky,

when you look at the stars,

when you look at plants,

animals, when you look at people,

they reveal who God is
and that he is much,

much bigger than we are.

Job, chapter 38.

Write that down.

If you need to be reminded how small
you are and how big God is,

read job,

chapter 38.

I'm not going to read
the whole chapter,

but in thinking about
nothing and God,

and where does right and
wrong come from?

And we are without excuse,

he responds to Job after a series
of going back and forth with his

friends and going back and forth with
God and Job trying to figure out,

God, why have you done all
these things to me?

Lord, answered Job from
the whirlwind.

And this is just the first.

Let's say nine verses.

Who is that that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?

Brace yourself,

because I have some questions for
you and you must answer them.

Where were you when I laid the
foundations of the earth?

Tell me,

if you know so much,

how do you know its dimensions
were determined?

And who did the survey?

What supports its foundations?

Who laid its cornerstone as the morning
stars sang together and all the

angels shouted for joy?

Who defined the boundaries of the
sea as it burst from its womb?

And as I closed its clouds
it in thick darkness,

for I locked it behind barred
gates limiting its shores.

How does God make all that water
out there stop right there?

Have you ever thought about that?

If you look around,

it's as plain as day.

And to know that that God that can
make the water stop right there,

all that water,

I don't even know how many
gallons or volume.

I ain't even smart enough
to figure that out.

That God loves you and in spite
of yourself gave up his son,

not only so you can be saved from the
penalty of sin but that you are

being saved from the power of sin.

If you have believed and that's
happening right now,

you can have the power
of sin leave you.

If what?

Faith to faith,

start to finish,

moment to moment.

If you just have faith.

So are we as believers
reminding believers,

unbelievers and fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ of that very thing?

Or do we say,

well, the Bible says this
and you ain't doing it.

So thinking about hiding
right from wrong kids,

they instinctively hide
when they do wrong.

Do you have to teach them that?

I can give you two examples.

Happening in my house now,

like I said,

I got a two year old.

There's a picture of my phone of Olivia
in the snack cabinet with the

door closed.

At my mom's house,

she's got a snack cabinet and it happens
to be the bottom cabinet because

she's Gigi and she constantly
reminds me,

it's your job to train your kids.

It's my job to spoil your kids.

You know,

there's all kinds of
snacks in there.

But one day,

couldn't find Olivia.

And this was when,

I don't know,

she's two or three walking,

I hear this rustling in
the snack cabinet.

And she's hiding because she's in there
eating peanut butter out in the

jar with her hand.

But she knows she ain't supposed
to do it that way,

so she gets in there and hides.

Henry about to start potty training
when he's got a poop.

Guess what he does?

He goes in the corner and hides.

And you'll ask him and you can
tell something's going on.

Henry, are you pooping?

No, dad,

no. He's lying.

Did I have to teach him that God
has clearly made himself known?

Jesus says,

ask, seek,

knock, and the door will be open.

Ask somebody.

Christians, help.

Remind me,

Paul, in the first half
of the letter,

like we've been learning,

what does he say?

He says,

I'm hoping to get to you so I can encourage
you and you can encourage me

so that I can be encouraged
by your faith.

And I can encourage you with my faith
so that we can be reminded that

we're being released from the power of
sin and that it's an ongoing thing.

Ask if you don't understand.

Do we give people the freedom
and the comfort?

And are we humble enough to allow people
to ask those questions that

aren't always easy to answer?

Or are we just in here trying to be
good enough by showing our stuff,

which, as Paul said,

are just filthy rags.

Knock and the door will be open.

Keep on I'm not asking you
to understand everything.

I'm not asking you to
know everything.

I'm just asking you to have faith.

The cure to this disease.

We all got a disease.

Like I said,

the cure to this.

Romans 16:17.

For I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

It is the power of God for
salvation to everyone.

Power. Dunamis is a Greek word,

which is where we get our word.

Dynamite.

You ever felt the power of
something exploding?

I'm sure some of you marines have.

I'm not a Marine,

but I'm a redneck.

And I had a buddy,

two examples.

I worked for a farmer
named Mike Wilson.

And every Fourth of July after
we get done working,

we'd set off fireworks.

And because he had irrigation
ponds and land and swamps,

he always had dynamite to
blow up beaver dams.

But he also would take a half
a stick of that dynamite,

and at the very end,

we would blow something up.

And you would put it under a.

Some appliance that somebody threw
away and you'd blow it up.

Well, a lot of times I had no idea.

You know when you have felt something
blow up and you felt the force and

the wind and impact and your ears ring
and you not be able to hear and

you feel it,

it is an experience.

And that's what I'm reminded of,

the power of God.

God has the power to save you.

You can never do.

You can never be too bad.

You can never be too good.

And guess what?

It's for everyone who believes.

For in it,

the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith.

For faith as it is written,

the righteous shall live by faith.

If you have believed in this gospel,

like I said,

you've been saved from
the penalty of sin.

But don't stop right there,

right now.

If you're living by faith,

you're being saved from
the power of sin.

Guess what?

We all are.

So encourage each other to
go back to the source,

to go back to the only person
that can cure your disease,

instead of pointing out whose
disease is worse than whose.

And guess what?

One day we're going to be saved
from the presence of sin.

No more sickness,

no more death.

No more crying,

no more tears,

no more of any of that.

That's what heaven's
going to be like.

Jesus is going to be there.

And like Toby says,

they got so much gold,

they're going to use it as pavement.

Do you know you're in trouble?

That you have a disease
that is killing you?

Dad, I'm in trouble.

I need your help.

Like the Father with the mute Son,

Lord, I believe.

Help me with my unbelief.

As Christians,

do we turn to God?

Do we turn to other.

Hey, you're in trouble.

Let's go get dad.

I'm going to pray.

The band's going to come up and I want
you to ask yourself some of those

questions. I'm going to be right down
here and I dare you step out in

faith to lay something down.

Maybe you're suffering,

maybe you need healing.

Maybe your marriage is in trouble.

Maybe you need saving.

Stop hiding,

run to your father for help.

And if I can help you,

I'd love to tell you.

If you don't know what
I'm talking about,

I'd love to explain it to you.

I'd love to pray for you.

I'd love to have the opportunity to remind
you the power that our creator

has and that it can save you,

it can sustain you.

It can break,

like we sang,

it can break those chains,

it can break those bonds,

those things that are holding you back
from experiencing an abundant life

freedom.

So I'm going to pray the band's going
to come up and you just respond

however God leads you to.

Let's pray.

God, thank you for reminding me that
I'm infected with the fallenness of

this world and my own selfishness and
pride and sinfulness in that it is

when I run to you that
I stop hiding,

that I confess that I let go of these
things and cast my cares to you,

that I am released from
the power of it.

Thank you for Paul and this letter and
his boldness to remind us that we

all are infected,

dear Lord,

and that you provided the way.

Help us just to step out in faith,

dear Lord,

not just simply not knowing and going
anyway and trusting that you're

going to meet us there.

And I pray that you'll do just that
in these next few moments.

Love you.

Amen.