Eternity Daily Bible Study - No. 497 Series: Romans 1-8 "A Righteousness That Is By Faith" Verses: Romans 1:13-16 Topic: The International Gospel Date: 10th August 2005 Romans 1:13-16 But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you, and was kept back until the present; that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other nations. (14) I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the foreigners, both to the wise and to the unwise. (15) So, as much as is in me lies, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome also. (16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Paul says the gospel is for all nations (v.13), Greeks and foreigners/barbarians (v. 14), wise and unwise (v.14), Romans (v.15) and Jews (v.16). To all these people the gospel is the "power of God unto salvation" (v.16) that produces spiritual fruit (v.13) and as such Paul is not ashamed of it (v16). Because the gospel is for all, then Paul saw himself as a debtor to all until they had all heard this gospel, which would save them. "I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the foreigners, both to the wise and to the unwise." Those with an apostolic mindset feel a burden to get the gospel to ALL. Ministries like Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Campus Crusade, TWR, FEBC and many others try to reach the whole world. They feel "in debt" to the unreached peoples of the world and cannot rest until the gospel has been preached to them. This can even apply at national level as in John Knox's prayer "Lord, give me Scotland or I will die!" or on a local level such as Richard Baxter's pastoral concern for his parish and his door to door visitation of every member. These people are concerned that every single soul is reached for God and are not at rest until the job is done. This sense of being in debt until the job is done is very healthy and should prompt us to deep strategic thinking about our various ministries. We need to ask questions such as: 1. Who should we be reaching with the gospel? 2. What is our calling: global, national, an ethnic group, a city, a neighborhood, a school campus ? 3. Who among those we should be reaching - are not yet reached? 4. Where are they? (the unreached) 5. Do those who are not yet reached share some common characteristics? What are these characteristics? 6. How can we meet them where they are at (e.g. if we translate our material into Spanish will that help)? 7. Can we organize people so they are allocated each to a specific group of unreached people with common characteristics? 8. How should we apportion our finances between discipleship to the already reached and evangelism of the unreached? 9. Can we create fast-moving highly adaptable structures for outreach ministry in order to expedite the task? 10. How can we disciple people so they share a burden for the unreached and thus multiply the ministry to those who have not yet heard? It is not the duty of the unevangelized to go to church - is the job of the church to go to the unevangelized! It is not enough to have a good Sunday School and a big sign and hope that people turn up! There has to be an intentional observing of the community and the developing of an outreach strategy using the wisdom provided by the Holy Spirit of God. Here are some possible strategies: - Networking - each member brings an unevangelized friend to church. - Questionnaires - go door to door and interview the community (which is what Rick Warren did). - Community Involvement - visit prisons and hospitals and liaise with community leaders get to know the city and its needs and minister to them. - Media Ministry - tracts, radio, TV, newspaper ads, church websites aimed at outreach. - Direct Evangelism - divide your neighborhood into blocks and go visit people with a gospel presentation or invitation to an Alpha course etc. It can help to get census data on your area or missions statistics from sources like http://www.strategicnewtork.org , http://www.census.gov/ and of course Google searches on your town, city or people group e.g. "census statistics Smithtown 12345" or "population statistics Zambia" then create a map or chart depicting who has been reached and who is missing out. This sounds like hard work - and it is! But we do this hard work because we have the gospel, which means that we have the power of God to transform the world and we want all to know about it and to have the opportunity for salvation. Paul was an outward looking strategic thinker who wanted all to hear and we should also follow in his footsteps. Blessings In Christ, John Edmiston (johned@aibi.ph) __________________________________________________________________ REFER OTHERS: If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family member that would like to start receiving this daily bible study. 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