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Romans 9-16

Applying Righteousness: Towards Others/Everyday

Josh Combs · Sunday, 2 November 2025 · Romans 12:9-21 · 42:34 · 5,328 words

Romans S28 · 12:9-21 Goodrich

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Romans 12 teaches that believers should not be overwhelmed by the world's evil but should overcome it with genuine love. The passage describes authentic love as hating what is evil, honoring others, serving with zeal, rejoicing in hope, praying constantly, and caring for the needs of fellow Christians. It calls listeners to examine their own love, practice generosity and hospitality, and bless those who persecute them. The sermon invites non‑believers to trust in Jesus for forgiveness and asks believers to read Romans 12 daily and live out its love.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

evil 44 overcome 24 genuine 17 love 71 distraught 6 meant 15 serve 20 overwhelmed 8 hypocritical 6 weep 8 contribute 7 enemy 12

Topics

Hope 2 Faith 2 The Holy Spirit 1 The Body of Christ 1 Prayer 1 Salvation 1 The Gospel 1 Atonement & Sacrifice 1

Scripture referenced 60

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 12 0:35 Romans 12 0:55 Romans 12 1:10 Romans 12:21 1:10 Romans 12:21 1:29 Romans 12:9 2:59 Romans 12:21 2:59 Romans 12 3:26 Romans 12 3:56 Romans 1 4:02 Romans 12 4:14 Romans 12 4:29 Romans 12:9 4:51 Romans 12:3 5:26 Romans 12:8 5:26 Romans 12:9 7:22 1 Corinthians 13 7:34 1 Corinthians 13:6 7:39 Psalms 97:10 7:50 Ephesians 4:15 8:05 Ephesians 1 8:09 Ephesians 1:14 8:09 Romans 12:10 9:41 Romans 12:11 11:02 Galatians 1 11:55 Galatians 1:10 11:55 Hebrews 13 13:57 Hebrews 13 14:40 Hebrews 13:2 14:49 Hebrews 2 15:26 Hebrews 2 15:44 Hebrews 2:14 15:44 Romans 12 16:56 Romans 12:13 17:03 Romans 12:14 19:42 Matthew 5 20:11 Matthew 5:43 20:15 Matthew 5 20:32 Matthew 5:43 20:33 Romans 12 21:27 Romans 12:15 21:38 James 2 22:38 Romans 12:14 24:38 Matthew 5 24:46 Matthew 5:17 24:48 Romans 12:17 26:32 Romans 12:19 26:37 1 Peter 2 27:14 1 Peter 2:23 27:33 Romans 12 28:55 Romans 12 29:15 Romans 12:19 30:55 Romans 12:20 31:12 Proverbs 25 34:01 Romans 12:21 34:40 Romans 12 36:28 Romans 12:9 36:29 Romans 12:21 38:03 Romans 12 38:20 Romans 12 40:54

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hi everyone, my name is Jules, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

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Thanks again for joining us, and we hope that you are blessed by today's message.

Let's open our Bibles this morning to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 12.

If you don't have a Bible, I want to encourage you to share with someone sitting next to you.

Or you can take out your phone, you can download a Bible app or the River Church app.

There's a Bible feature on there.

I want to encourage you as much as I can to be following along with the scripture, Romans chapter 12.

It's in the New Testament.

If you're a guest, I want to welcome you.

Thank you for being here with us today.

Honored to have you here.

If you're watching online, I certainly want to welcome you as well.

Romans chapter 12, let's pick up at the very end of the chapter, verse 21.

Apostle Paul is writing to the Christians in the city of Rome.

The Bible says, verse 21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

It's easy to look at our world today and be discouraged to see the evil of our day, the depravity, the brokenness, the violence, the wickedness,

the rebellion against God, and it's easy to feel overcome, overwhelmed.

Many people wonder, "How can I push back against the evil that I see in the world?

How can I change what I see?"

For Christians 2,000 years ago in the city of Rome, the depravity that they faced on a massive scale was almost unbelievable.

Paul says to those Christians, "Do not be overcome by evil."

Don't be overwhelmed, distraught, or feel defeated.

Don't be overwhelmed, distraught, or feel defeated.

Don't be overwhelmed, distraught, or feel defeated.

Don't be overwhelmed, distraught, or feel defeated.

Don't be overwhelmed, distraught, or feel defeated.

Don't be overwhelmed, distraught, or feel defeated by the evil that you see, but overcome that evil with good.

And in the prior verses to that, the verses just prior to that, Paul has laid out what good will overcome evil.

Let's go back to verse 9, and we'll work our way all the way to verse 21.

Paul says,

Now Paul is not creating the Christian checklist here to read Romans 12 and create a checklist of, okay, this is what I need to, you know, I must be doing is the wrong mentality.

It is to take Romans 12 out of context of the rest of the book of Romans.

We see in Romans chapter 1 through 11 that we can't make ourselves right before God.

We can't justify ourselves before God.

And so that's what Jesus came to do.

So we are saved not by checking the boxes of the checklist of Romans 12.

We're saved by putting our faith in Jesus, his death on the cross for our sins and his resurrection from the dead.

That's how we are made right.

Romans 12 begins with this idea of being transformed.

Well, how?

How are we transformed?

How are we changed, conformed into the image of Christ?

We're done so first and foremost by putting our faith in Jesus.

And then these actions come about because we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We're transformed by the Holy Spirit.

So beginning in verse 9, let love be genuine.

There's several translations that I think say this in a different way and maybe even in a better way.

The New Living Translation paraphrases it.

Don't just pretend to love each other.

Actually do it is what the scripture is saying.

The New American Standard says, let love be without hypocrisy.

Meaning the love that we are meant to feel for each other as we utilize our spiritual giftings.

That's what we see in the previous verses.

Verse 3 down to verse 8 is meant to be motivated by a genuine love for each other.

Not counterfeit.

Not hypocritical.

Hypocritical meaning a pretend or an.

Acting Warren Wiersbe says, Christian fellowship is much more than a pat on the back and a handshake.

So to begin this passage, Paul is talking about the affection, the love that is meant to be in the church.

Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

How do we do that?

Well, we first and foremost need to have genuine, authentic, real love within the church.

Again, as Wiersbe says, it's more than just shaking hands with someone on Sunday, for example.

A bit silly here.

But if I saw my wife for an hour and a half per week, I shook her hand once per week.

And then I confessed to you, I love my wife.

You'd say, I don't think so.

You'd be like, really?

No, no, I do.

I see her every week.

I'm there every week with her.

We sing songs together.

I say hi to her.

I shake her hand.

And man, I really love her.

You'd be like, yeah, and you're probably on your way to divorce.

Right?

Because it just, that does not jive.

That doesn't make sense.

We, we.

We would not qualify that as love.

And yet in the context of church, we're like, oh yeah, I'm very committed.

I'm there 2.5 times a month for an hour and a half.

I love those people.

Really?

Well, so Bible say, let love be genuine.

Let it be authentic.

It doesn't need to be counterfeit.

Don't let it be hypocritical.

And in this passage, it's going to show us what that authentic, genuine love is meant to be.

Well, first of all, Paul says that love, verse nine, abhors what is evil.

And it holds fast to what is good.

So this is a love that is committed to truth.

First Corinthians chapter 13, which is read at many weddings, sometimes referred to as

the love chapter of the Bible, defines love in verse six by saying, love does not rejoice

at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Psalm 97, verse 10 says, oh, you who love the Lord, hate evil.

So genuine, authentic, non-hypocritical love.

Also has a real commitment to truth.

Ephesians 4, 15 says, we speak the truth in love.

Jesus is described in John chapter one, verse 14, as full of grace and truth.

So what ought the church to be?

How can the church resist evil and overcome evil with good?

It is a love that will be in this place that is committed to truly, genuinely, authentically

caring for people and telling them things.

Might not like to hear.

Some of us are better at one or the other.

We often point this out.

Some of us are like, man, let's just love people.

And some of us are like, let's just give them the truth.

And both are essential for love to be genuine because we as believers hate what is evil

and we hold fast to what is good.

We're committed to speaking truth, but we are always committed to speaking the truth

in love.

Now, please hear me because this is sometimes a little trick that some people like to play

in their minds.

Well, telling someone the truth is love.

Not necessarily.

If it was in the Bible, just say, tell the truth.

But the Bible says, speak the truth in love.

Do so in a loving, compassionate way, not in a pretend to care for someone way.

We want to overcome evil.

Well, love that we have for one another needs to be genuine.

It needs to be a love that hates evil, holds fast to what is good.

Look at verse 10 continues.

Love one another with brotherly affection.

That's the Greek word where we come up with.

The name of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.

So it's a family outdo one another in showing honor.

One commentator said it this way.

The insistence on position and rights rather than privilege and responsibility is the seed

bed in which a crop of evil flourishes.

The church isn't to be a place where we insist to take the commentator on our position or

on our rights.

It's a place where we accept.

Our family responsibility to love one another.

And we insist on outdoing one another in showing honor.

We give preferential treatment to one another.

It's Philippians two.

Let this mind be in you, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

We're looking for ways to honor each other.

We're looking for ways to care for each other.

We're looking for ways to promote one another and not ourselves.

That's a genuine love.

Love that hates evil honors one another.

Verse 11 continues.

Do not be slothful in zeal.

Be fervent in spirit.

Serve the Lord.

You could simply paraphrase this.

Don't be lazy within the family of God.

Don't be lazy.

That's the idea of being slothful in zeal, but be fervent.

Have a fire in your soul and always remember as you serve God's people, you are serving

God in loving God's people.

You are loving God.

You are loving the Lord in sacrificing and showing kindness to God's people.

You are doing that to the Lord.

That's why the Bible says, whatever you find your hand finds to do, do it with all your

might, but do it as unto the Lord.

That's in the work context.

How much more within the context of what we do within the confines or the family of God?

Paul says in Galatians chapter one, he says to the church there in verse 10, he says,

am I now seeking the approval of man?

Or of God?

Am I trying to please man?

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be the servant of Christ.

So as I preach today, I can't try to please you.

I can't try to, you know, gain from you a handshake at the end or pastor.

That was really good.

We're coming back.

We love the preaching here.

That's, that's a nice compliment.

And I, and I hope for those things.

Those are nice things.

But if that's the goal and the bullseye, I'm failing to serve God.

What the point here in Romans chapter.

12 is saying, remember all that you're doing, you're serving the Lord.

So when we serve in the kids classes, we're not just serving kids and parents.

We're serving the Lord.

The tech team that's serving right now.

It's not just serving to put this online.

They're serving the Lord and guest services and parking and security.

And every person that's involved in serving in the many, many different ways here.

We must remember, don't be lazy.

Remember, we're not just serving people.

We're serving the Lord.

That's how we overcome evil.

That's the good that we use to overcome the wickedness of this world.

It's love.

That's genuine.

It's love that hates evil.

It's love that looks to honor one another.

It's love that looks to serve one another.

Verse 12, rejoice in hope, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Verse 13, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Flip over to the book of James.

Just a little bit.

Just a little bit to the right.

And on your way to James, stop by Hebrews.

It's right next door.

Right before you get to James, you'll hit Hebrews.

Look at Hebrews chapter 13.

2,000 years ago, as you're turning there, as Christians, as folks would convert to Christianity,

it would cause a lot of upheaval with their family.

Meaning a child, a young adult comes to know the Lord, their family would disown them.

So the church was really important as not just a place to hang out, but it was important for family.

And it was, in some cases, a place for them to live.

The church provided that.

That's what it means here by showing hospitality.

Look at Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number one.

It says, let brotherly love continue.

Verse two, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.

For thereby, some have entertained angels unaware.

Paul's saying that person who shows up, that Christian, so to speak, that follower of Jesus who shows up,

who has no place to stay, you're welcoming them into your home.

Paul says, or excuse me, Paul, Paul may be the writer of Hebrews, he may not,

but the writer of Hebrews says there are people who have actually hosted angels in their home

and they didn't even know it.

Flip over to James, James chapter two.

James chapter number two, here's the challenge to contribute to the needs of the saints.

Seek to show hospitality.

James chapter two, verse 14.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one of you says to him,

go in peace, be warmed and filled without giving them the things they needed for the body.

What good is that?

It's very self-explanatory here.

Paul says you claim, James, I keep saying Paul.

Paul did not write the entire New Testament, everybody.

I need to slow my roll here.

A little spazzy.

I didn't have caffeine either.

James says here, it's great that you claim to have faith.

You're assembled together, but someone comes in and is hungry or may need a coat for winter

and you just shake their hand, pat them on the back and say, man, God bless you.

Have a good day.

And you have an extra coat and you have extra food saying that's not how this is supposed to work.

Your faith ought to produce in you works.

Go back to Romans 12, which Paul wrote.

Romans 12, verse 13.

In Galatians, the Bible says,

As you have opportunity, do good, but do good especially to those of the household of faith.

We ought to be looking for opportunities to meet needs amongst the church.

That's how love is genuine.

We want to overcome evil.

Then there's going to be a radical generosity amongst God's people to God's people.

There's going to be hospitality and care.

We're not just going to look at someone and say, oh, you need that?

Man, I hope God blesses you with that.

And we have that resource.

We've been entrusted with it.

Sometimes that might be a car.

Someone's like, man, I'm having real car trouble.

I don't know what to do.

And we have extra cars in the driveway.

Oh, man, I hope it works out with your car.

Could we meet that need?

That's what the Bible is trying to talk about.

Someone might go, man, I started a new job.

I got my winter coats all beat up.

And we got six Carhart coats in the closet.

And we're like, oh, man, I hope you're able to get a coat, man.

It can be things like that.

It can be things like helping out with someone's children.

They have a need, and we have an ability.

It could be a financial need, and we have an ability.

I think sometimes we yell about overcoming evil in the world.

And the Bible says, here's how you can overcome it.

Here's how you cannot be overcome or discouraged or overwhelmed by evil.

You can start by having a genuine, authentic, non-hypocritical love for each other.

And that love will hate evil.

It will.

It will honor each other.

It will serve each other.

It will rejoice in hope.

It will strengthen each other through prayer.

And it will contribute.

It will be real, tangible love.

Bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse them.

Now, let's turn back to Matthew, just a little bit to the left.

Matthew chapter number 5.

And this is the words of Jesus.

Matthew chapter 5 and the end of the chapter.

Matthew chapter 5.

Jesus says,

You have heard that it was said,

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good,

and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?

Do not even the tax collectors do the same.

And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same.

I want you to hold that thought and go back to Romans 12.

Because the Apostle Paul is going to return to that thought in just a moment.

Look at verse 15.

Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Never be wise in your own sight.

Here's how the church is meant to operate.

We're meant to weep with those who are weeping.

Some of you in this room today are weeping.

There's sorrow in your life, a difficult, challenging diagnosis,

or a family struggle, or a death in your family,

or an impending death in your family, and you're grieving.

The church is not meant to run away from problems like that,

or challenges like that.

We're meant to run into the fray with people.

We're meant to be there with folks.

Weeping with those who weep.

But we also rejoice with those who,

We live in harmony with one another.

We're not haughty.

We associate with the lowly.

James 2 talks about not showing preferential treatment to the wealthy.

Like, oh, hey, man, a rich person's here.

Let's give them a good seat.

We hope they stay.

They'll bring other people.

They'll bring money.

They'll bring influence.

Like, the church is not meant to be that.

The church is meant to associate with all levels of people.

The rich, the poor, black, white, doesn't matter.

And then there's meant to be this humility,

never being wise in our own sight.

I want you to think about it.

That is how Christians are meant to be characterized.

That's what Christians are meant to look like.

That is the transformed mind.

And I'll just say this.

If that is how the church is operating,

the world will come running to Jesus.

The world will come running.

They'll say, my family isn't like that.

The government isn't like that.

My workplace isn't like that.

But these weirdos over there who love Jesus,

they care for each other.

They're honoring each other.

They're contributing.

They're contributing to the needs.

They weep with each other.

They celebrate with each other.

What is going on over there?

People will be drawn to Jesus.

That's what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount.

He says, let your light shine before others

that they will see your good works

and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

That's the gospel effort.

Transformed mind.

How we overcome evil.

How the church functions as an outpost of heaven.

Now, up to this verse here,

it seems like Paul's talking about relationships,

inside of the church.

Christian to Christian.

Someone who follows Jesus

in a relationship with someone else who follows Jesus.

But now he changes.

He pivots to talk, it seems,

about our relationship,

Christian relationships

with those outside of the church.

And he returns to that idea in verse 14

of those who are persecuting.

He returns to that idea that Jesus talks about

in Matthew 5 of loving your enemies.

Look at verse 17.

He says,

He says,

He says,

He says,

Now here's the deal.

Some people don't want to be at peace.

And you're free.

You're clean.

But if they want to be at peace

and you're the problem,

what does the Bible say to you and I?

So far as it depends on you,

live peaceably with all.

1 Timothy talks about living a quiet,

That's the Christian ambition.

That's the Christian goal.

That's how we are salt and light in the world.

I think there's a lot of believers

who don't like this idea of being peaceable.

Everything is an argument.

Everything is a confrontation.

we're going to go to war over this.

And then in verse 17,

Paul returns to that idea.

This is a quote from Deuteronomy.

I'll have times where someone does wrong to us.

You need to hold your spot in Romans.

Go over to 1 Peter.

Hopefully this will encourage some of you.

1 Peter chapter 2.

Here's Christ saying,

1 Peter 2.23

It's not cliche.

I love hearing the pages of your Bible's turn.

I really do.

And if you're on your phone,

I love seeing you on your phone

looking at the Bible too.

But just not as much as I like hearing the pages turn.

This is the not responding to evil with evil.

When he was reviled,

he did not revile in return.

When he suffered,

he did not threaten,

Here's the key to this verse, I believe.

But continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Here's the bottom line.

God keeps score.

God knows.

God knows the terrible wrongs that have been done to you.

You don't have to avenge yourself.

You can go back now to Romans 12.

You don't have to avenge yourself.

You can leave that in the hands of God.

Just a,

maybe a practical thing here.

When someone does something wrong to you,

I don't encourage you to be snotty and be like,

well,

wrath of God's on you.

Have a good day.

Don't think that's a faithful application of Romans 12.

But sometimes we Christians are like,

God's going to crush you.

Don't be pumped about that.

Okay?

You need to slow our roll there.

But when things are done wrong,

when there's a family member who's wronged you,

or a spouse who's wronged you,

or a child,

or a boss,

or a neighbor has wronged you,

God sees that.

God knows that.

We are to try to pursue peace,

not responding evil for evil.

They cut down that tree.

I love that tree.

You know what I'm going to do?

I'm going to run into their fence.

Like,

we all,

how,

it just says fallen people.

If we're honest,

we know how to repay evil for evil really well.

Like someone did something wrong to me a couple weeks ago,

and in my head,

the amount of things I had on a list that I was going to do to them,

it took me four seconds to come up with a long list,

and they were good too, man.

They were good.

And it was just like,

We just,

it's so fast,

And it's so counter our fallen human nature to say,

I'm going to pursue peace if at all possible.

I'm not going to avenge myself.

I'm going to leave that to God because God's promised vengeance is mine.

Oh yeah.

And I've,

I've wronged people too.

So if we're keeping score,

I'm on the losing end as well.

Here's now Jesus from Matthew five to the contrary.

If your enemy is hungry,

feed him.

If he is thirsty,

give him something to drink for by so doing,

you will heap burning coals on his head.

what are we talking about with enemies here?

We're not talking about enemies that you have gained,

because you're a jerk.

That's not what we're talking about here.

We're talking about an enemy because you're a Christian,

because you're standing up for the truth.

You're doing so in love.

Peter talks about always being ready to give an answer of the hope that is within us,

but do so with gentleness and respect.

So I think we have to discern,

am I being persecuted?

Am I,

do I have this person as an enemy at work or in my life because of being a Christian

or because,

me,

those are two very different things.

And I want to be honest with you.

Pride makes us always think it's because we're a Christian,

but I believe there are a lot of Christians that are persecuted because they're

rude and always want to argue and are know it alls.

So we have to discern.

Are we,

is this person an enemy?

Is this person opposed to us because of the gospel or because we were a jerk and

we need to go and make peace and be humble.

Well,

if it's because of the gospel,

what's the Bible say?

Serve them.

Let that sit out there for us.

serve them.

What does Jesus say in Matthew five?

Pray for them.

When's the last time you prayed for your arch nemesis?

We're so grieved by the evil we see in the world.

How can we overcome it?

We can overcome it by being transformed.

And what is a transformed person?

Somebody who's transformed by the gospel look like it looks like a,

a person who radically loves,

genuinely loves and serves their enemies.

Quote here is from Proverbs 25 for,

by,

so doing you will heap burning coals on their heads.

When I was a kid,

I heard this,

summarized as kill them with kindness.

I didn't understand that because that usually meant fake kindness.

It usually wasn't genuine.

It was usually kindness for manipulation.

do not be overcome by evil become a,

because we overcome evil with good.

This is what our King did for part of his kingdom.

This is what our King did.

If we're part of his,

this is what our heavenly father did in the year three 12 ad emperor Constantine,

who was leading the Roman empire at the time had a dream and a vision in the

It was right before a battle and in the vision he saw a cross and he recounted

hearing in his dream in this sign,

the sign of the cross you will conquer.

And can I tell you,

I think that has messed up Christianity for the last 1700 years.

We're not an army with swords and tanks and guns and all the things that have been developed over the last 2000 years.

That's,

that's not the army that we are.

We don't physically conquer lands with a cross at the front of the arm or a cross on our uniform,

but the cross,

the real cross of Jesus has changed the world.

And how did it change the world?

Look at Romans chapter 12,

beginning of verse nine.

I'm just going to run you through these on the cross.

was genuine for each of us.

This was not a hypocritical fake hollow pretend love.

It was a genuine love where the son of God laid down his life to pay the penalty for our sins.

What a genuine love.

The Bible says outdo each other in showing honor.

What did Jesus do?

who was the center of the worship of heaven before time began,

tens of thousands times,

tens of thousands times,

tens of thousands of angels,

sang to him in worship.

And what did he do?

He set down his privileges and came to the cross and he laid down his life in the worst possible way for you and I doing what?

Humbling himself so we could receive honor.

What did he do?

He gave his life to meet our need.

If anybody contributed to us,

it is Jesus.

What did he do?

He blessed his persecutors when he could have,

cursed them.

He associated with the lowly and I'll raise my hand because there I am.

he made a way for us to live peaceably with God and his enemies crucified him.

And yet he entrusted himself to God who judges justly.

And verse 21,

what would we say about Jesus?

He overcame evil.

That's our king.

That's our heavenly father.

And that's our call.

So,

if you're frustrated by the evil that you see in the world,

Then read Romans 12 and go,

that's how we overcome it.

This is an outpost of heaven where we ought to genuinely love and care for and contribute to each other's needs,

grieving with each other,

celebrating with each other.

And then the world's going to look and go,

I'm drawn to that.

Or some are going to become enemies.

And what does God's word say?

We do for them.

We pray for them.

We love them.

We serve them.

We pursue peace.

We seek peace with them because that is how Jesus overcame evil.

that is how we will overcome evil.

It's the only way.

Maybe you're here and this is just how you're hearing Jesus for the first time.

This is why we sing about Jesus every week.

This is why we worship Jesus every week because he's awesome.

He's awesome and an extraordinary example who has changed our lives.

And he has said,

And we go,

okay,

that's how I do it.

All right,

that's really hard.

I don't really feel like doing that,

but that's the right way.

And maybe you're here and you're not a follower of Jesus.

Maybe you've heard his name,

but you've never been born again.

You've never been transformed.

You've never been saved from your sin.

The Bible does say that God loves you,

that he sent Jesus to die for you.

Jesus was buried.

Jesus rose from the dead.

And it's through what Jesus has done that you right now can receive the forgiveness of your sins

and the hope,

the gift of eternal life.

The Bible says,

if you'll confess with your mouth,

Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised you up.

He raised Jesus from the dead.

You'll be saved right here.

Right now.

You can be born again.

You can be transformed.

You can be rescued.

Your sins that are heavy on your heart and on your mind can be forgiven.

That's the joy of what Jesus offers to each of us right now.

I'm going to ask you just across the room to bow your heads,

to close your eyes.

Just a moment,

an opportunity between you and the Lord.

Maybe you're a Christian here and the evil of the world is grieving you.

And my prayer is that right now you'll commit to reading Romans 12,

maybe every day this week,

every day,

for the next month or every day for the next year,

looking and seeing how we can overcome evil with good.

And the good that we have,

the good is a transformed heart by the gospel.

Maybe you're here and you don't know the Lord.

Give your life to Christ today.

We'd love to meet you.

We'd love to talk to you.

We'd love to help you get baptized.

That's the next step for you.

Whatever it is,

we pray that you'll commit to it.

Just a second.

I'm going to pray.

Band's going to come and lead us in a closing song.

Maybe you're here.

You need to talk to someone.

You can go right out.

The double doors at the back of the auditorium,

there'll be some folks back there.

They'd love to pray with you.

Maybe talk to you about baptism or something going on in your life.

You got questions.

Maybe it's after the gathering,

but I encourage you to not ignore that conviction that you're hearing in your

heart from the Holy spirit.