Hello & Happy Monday :),

Here is the audio for this week’s message.

Dave

Message Title: You Do the Same Things!

Message Text: Romans 2:1-16

• MP3: LESSON 5 Sunday August 10 2014 You Do the Same Things Romans 2-1-16

About three posts back, I shared this C.S. Lewis quote:

• I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.

Maybe the most horrifying aspect of God’s judgment is when, after all of our demands that God let us go to live our lives, he does just that.

And we are free to roam about the darkness.

Here is part of my text from last week’s message:

• (Romans 1:24, 26,28 ESV)²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in …

  ²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to …

  ²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to … 

This week my wife pointed out a Scripture in Proverbs that came to her mind as she thought through these things. 

• (Proverbs 1:24–33 ESV)
  ²⁴ Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, ²⁵ because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, ²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, ²⁷ when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. ²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, ³⁰ would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, ³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. ³² For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; ³³ but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Please note the progression. God extends his hand and is consistently rejected.

• I have called and you refused to listen,
• Have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 
• You have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,

Now, it is only you and the storm … 
When the calamity, terror and storm come like a whirlwind, no God because you successfully rebelled and refused his love and grace. The fool said in his heart “no God” and that is where he now stands – no God!

So God reveals what will then happen … 

•  I also will laugh at your calamity;
• I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
  

Now possibly some will call out to God, but they will not come in reverence, so … 

• Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
• they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 
• Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 
• therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. 
• For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.

We refuse to listen to God because we believe that we can handle life as we see it. But there is the catch. We have such a limited view apart from the knowledge of God. So when reality explodes the myth of our lives, we are left without hope, without help, without God.

Alone to face eternity and the terror that will come.

Or we can receive God’s gracious gift of eternal life and know we will be in his care forever, no matter the storm.

Hello to You,

Here is an overview of how our study has progressed thus far:

• 1:1-15 Paul introduces his letter, establishes himself as a spokesman for God and cultivates his connection with the believers at Rome.
• 1:16-17 The great statement of the Gospel. The entire letter captured in two verses.
• 1:18-32 A general statement of the sinfulness and rebellion of mankind.

And now this week … 

• 2:1-16 Paul goes after the religious crowd.

I have never preached through Romans, so maybe this is why I have not seen this sequence so clearly before. Paul has just in general terms spoken to the sinfulness and foolishness of humankind. But now he gets more personal as he sets his sites on established religion. In this case, the Jews.

• (Romans 2:1 NCV) If you think you can judge others, you are wrong. When you judge them, you are really judging yourself guilty, because you do the same things they do.

They judged others, and in so doing, they brought condemnation upon themselves.

Message Title: You Do the Same Things!

Message Text: Romans 2:1-16

• PDF 5 You Do the Same Things : Romans 2-1-16 : FFC : dave scott : 081014 : STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF 5 You Do the Same Things : Romans 2-1-16 : FFC : dave scott : 081014 : STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello Everyone,

Here is this week’s bulletin. Don’t forget our congregational meeting for the land purchase for our parking lot.

Sincerely,
Dave

• PDF Bulletin FFC August 10 2014

*Please note that this is a link to my personal blog. For whatever reason, I could not get this site to find the audio file.

Here is the link: http://dave.dlscott.info/?p=1948

Hello All,

Here is this week’s bulletin.

Dave

• PDF Bulletin FFC August 3 2014

Hello & Happy Friday to You,

How do you picture God’s wrath being revealed from heaven? The fist of God? God having sinners under his thumb? God coming after you.

God will one day judge those who have not believed in Jesus Christ and received his gift of eternal life. It will be worse than a fist or a thumb.

But our text today tells us something very different about the wrath of God being revealed, something much more terrifying than God’s continued involvement in our lives, whether positive or negative.

So what does God do that should paralyze us with fear (if we had the sense to acknowledge it) as he reveals his wrath from heaven?

He merely leaves us to ourselves. We didn’t want God involved in our lives; we wanted to be free from God and his rules and direction. So God left us to our own way.

And the human race is in a tailspin … No hope unless … By God’s grace and mercy, we turn once again to him for his Way and his salvation.

Message Title: “Successful Rebels: Getting What We Demanded from God!”

Message Text: Romans 1:18-32

• PDF 4 Successful Rebels-Getting What We Demanded from God Romans 1-18-32 : FFC : dave scott : 080314 : STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF 4 Successful Rebels-Getting What We Demanded from God Romans 1-18-32 : FFC : dave scott : 080314 : STUDY SHEET TWO