Plan for evangelism

(Rom. 15:22-33)

Introduction: Last Sunday’s sermon title was ‘The mission of preaching’ based on Rom. 15:14-21. Paul considered himself as a priest for the gospel for the Gentiles and it was his sole mission to preach the gospel. In fact, Paul was not the only one who was appointed by God as a priest of the gospel; we are all God’s priest for the gospel. Thus, the gospel is the only one we should boast about. Paul said he made a decision to know nothing but the gospel in his life. There are so many people who have not heard about the gospel, and it is our job to present it to them. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Today’s passage is Rom. 15:22-33. Paul is talking about his plan to visit Rome, to have fellowship with brothers there, and to visit Spain for evangelism. Paul asks them to help him visit Spain and to pray for his immediate visit to Jerusalem. It is beautiful to talk about the gospel and to ask for help from brothers and sisters for the gospel. I hope our youth group to do the same when you meet together.

1) Plan (22-24): Paul planned to visit Rome several times but could not go due to many factors. Even a person like Paul did not know what would happen in the future. It is normal that we do not know about the future as a human being. Now, Paul is planning again to visit Rome to have fellowship with believers in Rome. Eventually, Paul will have a chance to visit Rome as we can see from Acts chapter 27, not as he planned, but as God planned. Paul went to Rome as a prisoner, but stayed there for two years and presented the gospel to many people without any disturbance. If presenting the gospel to others is in your heart and if you have a plan for it, God will make it happen. There are many ways to have your life in this world, and you are young. Some people want to be a president, some a very rich person, a scholar, or a movie star. These jobs are all concerned with temporary matters. They will all disappear and they will not give you eternal satisfaction. I hope you have a holy plan for your life, preaching the gospel. You don’t have to be a preacher or missionary. Whatever you do for your job, you still can present the gospel to other people. It will give you eternal joy and eternal reward.

2) Helping others with what you have (25-29): In addition to visiting Rome and Spain, Paul needs to go to Jerusalem to help the needy believers with some money. Some Gentile believers from different cities donated their money for the needy believers in Jerusalem. Paul had done this work to help others in the past as we can see in Acts 11 and 12. Now, he is doing it again. Since the Gentile believers received the gospel from the Jewish brothers, it is natural for Gentile believers to help the Jerusalem Christians with their money. It is my hope that God gives you the heart to help other people in need, especially the believers.

3) Prayer request (30-33): Paul is asking the Roman believers to pray for him while he is planning to visit Jerusalem. There are some non-believing Jews who have very negative attitude toward Paul. Paul is asking the Roman brother to pray for him so that God saves him from the Jews. But, Paul will be arrested in Jerusalem because of the opposing Jews as we can see from the Book of Acts. Paul also asks them to pray for his plan to visit both Rome and Spain. It is meaningful to pray for those who preach the gospel. In a sense, this is the end of the Epistle to the Romans because in chapter 16, we will see greetings and final praise. Now, we see that the most important theme of the Romans is the gospel and preaching the gospel. We have learned Paul’s passion for the gospel and evangelism. I hope it has given you challenges in your life. Thank you and God bless you.