Romans 1:8-17
“What Will Keep Us From Chasing Sticks?”

Introduction
1. It’s easy to forget why we are here. Our feelings are sometimes like Snoopy in a Peanuts
cartoon. Linus had just thrown a stick for Snoopy to retrieve. His 1st instinct was to chase the
stick. He paused and decided against it. “I want people to have more to say about me after I’m
gone than, ‘He was a nice guy…he chased sticks.’
2. It’s easy to chase sticks and we forget what’s really important, and then we come face to face
with the Gospel. Then I’m reminded of the Gospel’s power to change lives; I’m motivated to
stop ‘chasing sticks’ and get back to what’s really important. Are you chasing sticks this
morning? Are you spending you whole life on what doesn’t really matter?
3. What will keep us from chasing sticks?
4. Romans 1:8-17 Paul is motivated by the Gospel, and so should we. How are we motivated to
stop chasing sticks?

What will keep us from chasing sticks (spending your whole life on what doesn’t matter)? Come face to face with God’s Good News!
I. LIVES WILL BE CHANGED 1:8-9
I thank my God. Seneca called Rome, ‘a cesspool of iniquity’. Juvenal called it, ‘a filthy
sewer into which the dregs of the empire flowed.’ Something happened…something
changed!
A. Praise To God 8
My God through Jesus Christ for you all…
1. His Resource of Praise The God/man who never sinned…who died. The One qualified to enter the courts of heaven…the center of the Gospel.
2. His Reason for Praise Your faith (a positive act and affirmation of divine revelation)is spoken of throughout all the known world…the Roman Empire! The Gospel makes new dads, new moms, new on the job…new parents…the Gospel works! Believing God’s word and acting upon it changes lives!
B. Persistence Before God 9
1. Participation Whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel. We give 100% to so
many things. My spirit…eager, with all my heart I serve the Gospel!
2. Prayer First, I thank my God…Without ceasing I always make mention of you in
my prayers. Paul prays for those who have been saved. Do we remember to pray for those who have been recently saved. What’s the greatest thing that ever happened to you? What’s the greatest thing you could do for someone else?

What will keep us from chasing sticks (spending your whole life on what doesn’t matter)? Come face to face with God’s Good News!
II. LIVES WILL BE COMFORTED 1:10-12
Everyone who is saved has something to give.
A. Petition To Come 10
Lives will be comforted…we may not always be comfortable.
1. By any means…by the will of God…to come to you. We have all prayed for ‘coming to Rome.’ God’s will is often different than ours.
2. Prosperous Journey God said, ‘Wait’ Paul from a human perspective didn’t have his prayer answered. Eventually he did! He went as a prisoner in chains. He suffered ship wreck…bitten by a viper…through all of his experiences he was brought to Rome! By the will of God…in God’s time…in God’s way Paul’s prayer was answered!
3. God’s way was not Paul’s way. It is so hard to wait! Prayer is not to get what we want, but to discover God’s will!
B. Petition Of Concern 11-12
I long to see you…3 Reasons:
1. He Saw an Opportunity to Give 11a Impart some Gift…he was an apostle!
2. He Saw an Opportunity to Ground 11b Establish…plant firmly
3. He Saw an Opportunity to Grow 12 Even Paul needed the support of the Body. Each
believer is equipped with a Gift. If I don’t use my Gift the Body will suffer. If you don’t
use your Gift the Body will suffer. “If every Christian were just like me where would
Christianity be?

What will keep us from chasing sticks (spending your whole life on what doesn’t matter)? Come face to face with God’s Good News!
III. LIVES WILL BE CHARGED 1:13-15
“I am a debtor”
A. Paul’s Plans Are Frustrated 13
1. He and we still owe a debt.
2. He doesn’t want the Christians at Rome to feel as though he has forgotten them. I
purposed…but was prevented.
3. Fruit was always on his mind…you even as among other Gentiles.
4. Have your plans been frustrated? People are still lost. These are people who have no hope!
B. Paul’s Plans Are Formulated 14-15
His plans centered around God’s Good News…the Gospel. 3 ‘I ams’ of the Gospel: I
am a debtor…I am ready…I am not ashamed
1. His Burden I am a debtor It speaks of obligation. Paul saw the Gospel not as an option,
but an obligation. It was a debt he must pay back.
*Greeks and non-Greeks…anyone who was not a Greek was considered a barbarian.
*Wise and unwise…educated and uneducated…EVERYONE!
*Paul was soul-conscious. Every person he met was either on their way to heaven or on their way to hell. His debt is to God not men. The great 19th century missionary to China Hudson Taylor realized this. Someone suggested he had given his life to the Orient because he loved the Chinese. He shook his head thoughtfully: “No, not because I love the Chinese, but because I loved God.
2. His Boldness “I am ready” 15
*Two different Greek words are translated ‘ready’ in the KJV: One is ‘prepared’
(Acts 21:13) I am ready to die. The other is the word here…’eager’ Paul was prepared to
die, not eager. This is the eagerness of a soul winner.
*Are we eager to give out the Good News? We have a debt to pay…an obligation
to everyone.

What will keep us from chasing sticks (spending your whole life on what doesn’t matter)? Come face to face with God’s Good News!
IV. LIVES WILL BE CHALLENGED 1:16-17
I am not ashamed of the Gospel Are we? Gospel: There is none righteous. There is none
that seeks after God. For all have sinned. Sin must be paid for. Jesus the perfect Sacrifice
died for our sins, was buried, and on the third day rose from the grave. Salvation: Grace
Alone…Faith Alone in Christ Alone. Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us.
A. It’s Sufficiency 16a
1. It (the Gospel) is the power of God. Power we get out word dynamite. This Good
News of God is dynamite! Paul had seen its affects in hundreds.
2. Unto salvation…Salvation is deliverance. I am freed from the Penalty of Sin. I am
being freed from the Power of Sin. The Gospel sets me Free!
B. It’s Simplicity 16b
1. To everyone that believes. This is the one condition between heaven and hell!
2. Believes is a commitment to the message presented. There were 3 ideas in ‘believe’:
To rest your full weight on an object…To take refuge in…To roll you burdens on an
object. To many: ‘that just too easy.’
3. To the Jew first and also the Greek…
C. It’s Supremacy 17
1. Righteousness…is to restore a right relationship between God and man.
Righteousness is a key word.
2. This is the third of God in this section (10, 16, 17) Just as the Gospel is of God so is
this righteousness of God. This righteousness is revealed in the Gospel. All of my
righteousness are as filthy rags! Sin must be paid for…Christ bore the punishment
for our sin.
3. From faith to faith, the just shall live by faith. Faith is the way I am saved and the
way I live! It is not by works. There is nothing I can do…it has all been done! It
is received by taking God at His word!
4. As we believe (a positive and an affirmation of divine revelation) the just…Our
Likeness to God Shall live…Our Life from God. Do you want to really live? It begins
with Jesus Christ!

Snoopy: “I want people to have more to say about me when I’m gone than,
‘He was a nice guy, he chased sticks.’”

We forget what’s really important until we come face to face with the Gospel!