Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

There are group dynamics of size that haven't changed one bit over the past 2,000 years. We might be inclined to look back on the way Jesus or the early church made disciples as a quaint relic of the past, but the truth is people today still need that same level of relationship. Being a face In a crowd isn't enough. But many of us have decided that we have to function in a "realistic" way. Those early believers simply spent too much time together. We admire them, but the part about finding time to be with other believers just doesn't work for us. And frankly, we're not sure who we'd trust enough to open up to them our hearts. There's a scary element to this. We could get trapped into something icky, or maybe we have gotten trapped into something icky in the past and promised ourselves we'd never let that happen again. So we carry on pretty much alone. We might call for prayer when there is a serious physical Illness or some other crisis, but we do the best we can by ourselves. Yet always in the back of our minds there's the hope that somebody will reach out to us; somewhere there's a place we're needed and belong, that someday this lonely walk will end, that someday we'll labor in God's harvest field sIde-by-side with others. As Paul closes this letter, he greets two dear friends who are now living in Rome. And this couple is doing there what they always do wherever they live. They've gathered believers into their home. They're the kind of people we lonely believers are always waiting for. I'm sure they must have been hospitable and welcoming by nature, but more than that they obviously understood how disciples are made. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at [email protected] and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!

When we step out to serve the Lord, we come under spiritual attack. You're not just imagining that. It's true; you are. But the answer is not to hide your faith or do nothing for God and hope the devil doesn't notice you. The answer is to learn to pray for one another. This is the truth Paul models for us in this brief passage. We hear him asking believers in Rome to "agonize" with him in prayer in order to spiritually prepare the way for his mission. He needs protection from hostile unbelievers and deceived believers. He knows he's headed into trouble, so he's marshaling prayer warriors to provide a prayer covering for the mission. He's convinced that if sufficient prayer is not offered, he's likely to fall into hostile hands. He could be assassinated or arrested and executed, and he realizes he may also face stiff opposition from some in the Jerusalem church. Legalism had gained a strong foothold there in spite of some formal discussions that had been held among church leaders on that topic (Ac 11:1-18; 15:1-3; Gal 1:11-19; 2:1-14). But the dangers he faced didn't immobilize him. They focused him. He felt God wanted him to go, so he went, and though his trip wasn't uneventful (Ac 21-28), the prayers that were offered were answered... more amazingly than most people realize. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at [email protected] and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!

Neither Jesus, nor the eleven apostles, nor Paul asked people simply to believe the message they proclaimed. Listen to Jesus: "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but If I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." (Jn 10;38). Neither He nor the early church tried to argue people into faith. They told the truth and then let people see the power of God at work. Reaching the lost was a genuine partnership: humans working with God. As they went out, God accompanied them performing signs and wonders to confirm His Word (Mk 16:20). Jesus established this model of ministry, and then His apostles merely continued where He left off (Portico of Solomon). And that model was so effective Christianity exploded in numbers. It only took 300 years to become the official religion of the Roman Empire. But its success became Iis undoing. As its political power grew, it developed a rigid structure, the gospel was lost, signs and wonders ceased, people joined the church for political and financial benefit and the passion to win the lost subsided. And as time went on, it became virtually unrecognizable from the religion Jesus began. He had started a movement based on radical disclpleship and the power of the Holy Spirit, and what emerged was loveless and powerless, and the damage that was done was so severe we're still living with its repercussions. But mercifully we have the Bible. In fact, now more than anytime in history a believer can go back and listen to Jesus speak again, they can read firsthand reports of what He did, they can watch that first wave of believers, fresh from His hands, carrying the gospel into the world. So, if anyone is willing to set aside the confusion and prejudice we've inherited from the past two millennia, we can return to the faith Jesus started and to the power He promised would accompany us. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at [email protected] and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!

My body has a mind of its own. And it's not a happy mind. It worries; it fears; it grows angry; it looks for comfort in all the wrong places. It replays unpleasant memories over and over again. It fixates on whatever's negative, and I can find myself getting upset before I even recognize what's happening to me. I don't try to think these thoughts; they're effortless. They just come. I don't want to think these thoughts, but they keep right on flowing through my brain. When I realize what's happening, I usually try to stop, but my attempts only bring a momentary halt, and as soon as I relax, there it is again. And if this goes on long enough, it wears me out physically, emotionally and spiritually. My sleep becomes disrupted. My patience grows thin. I become discouraged. The future looks dark. Paul's so right when he says this type of thinking led to "death" (Ro 8:6). But Paul also assures us that we don't have to remain trapped by this kind of thinking. He says when we are born again, God gives us access to an entirely new way of thinking, but it's not automatic. It's a resource we must choose to draw upon day after day, situation by situation, and far too many of us have no idea how to live in this new dimension. We go on thinking and responding just like everybody else... so our lives look just like the lives of everybody else. We love God, but our flesh still controls us. Today we'll let Paul show us how to live like who we really are: children of God. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at [email protected] and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!

There's a secret to having God's power that only a few seem to understand. The secret is this: He only blesses what He initiates. When we speak His words, there's anointing; when we do what He asks us to do, the miracles flow. No one understood this more deeply than Jesus. His all-absorbing desire was not to do His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him (Jn 6:38). He spoke what He heard the Father say (Jn 5:19,20,30; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49,50; 14;10), and He did what He saw the Father do (Jn 5:36; 10:25,38; 14:11). In other words, He constantly responded to and depended on the Holy Spirit. And God worked through Him in amazing ways. But the obstacle that prevents so many from experiencing this walk is that it requires great selflessness, humility and love. You have to care enough about others to earnestly wait on God, to seek His will, to guard the "anointing" and let nothing steal It. You have to be willing to pay any price to have His Spirit come and remain in power (Jn 1:32,33). This is true for a person, and it's also true for a church. God has very distinct criteria which must be met for this to happen, and they're not what you might think. They have nothing to do with our abilities, none of the things the world relies on so heavily. They are the deep attitudes of our heart. It was this "anointing," this mighty work of God in Rome, that Paul was trying to protect. He pleads with them and prays for them to have one heart, one mind, and one mouth. Let's see what he means, because we want to see God do a mighty work in our cities as well. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at [email protected] and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Genesis at no charge, we are giving out this book as well!