Road Trip – “World Changing” 

We’re down to the final few weeks of our “Road Trip” with the Apostle Paul, and on that trip we’ve frequently taken the time to look at a map to give us perspective on his journeys. Maps allow us to pull back and look at the big picture, and in Paul’s case that big picture is about how God literally changed the world as Paul went from place to place in the Roman Empire teaching and preaching about Jesus.

1.  The World Changing (Acts 19:23-29a^NIV)

• As Paul’s teaching began to spread in Ephesus and the church there grew, it became a threat to those who profited from the worship of Artemis, the god whose temple was in the city. An uprising resulted because Christian beliefs and practices were clashing with the prevailing culture, changing the world. 
• The world was changing because people were changing. The gospel – the good news about Jesus Christ – was transforming people’s lives, and that transformation impacted their families, communities and cities. That transformation ultimately reshaped the entire Roman Empire itself.
• When we first choose to believe the gospel, it’s like a seed has been planted – and change begins as the “seed” begins to grow. We become transformed, and things are different. Our growth as believers doesn’t just come from Jesus making us feel good – he actually makes us good, into better people.
• That growth is (ideally) a lifelong process – the process by which God’s Holy Spirit changes believers through teaching and trials, conviction and correction. We cooperate with the work, but it’s God’s work that brings about the change. We should never confuse our work with his work.

2. The Big Book and the Big Picture (Romans 3:23; 5:6-8; 6:6; 6:22-23; 8:1-2; 8:31-32; 10:9-10^NIV) some text
   • Paul’s time in Ephesus was drawing to a close, and his overarching desire remained to go to places where the name of Jesus was not yet known. He had his sights set on going all the way to Spain (by way of Rome), but first he needed to go back to Jerusalem to deliver on offering for the church there.
   •  But before he headed east, Paul went back to Corinth, to see the good effect that his letters to the church there had had. While in Corinth, he wrote his magnum opus – his letter to the church in Rome. It’s Paul’s longest letter, but it’s more – it’s a complete summary of all that he believed to be true about what it means to trust and follow Jesus.
   • Romans is deep and dense theology, and it lays out a clear case for why trusting in Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross is the only hope for a lost and broken humanity. Reading Romans gave birth to Saint Augustine’s faith, and to the Reformation of the Church led by Martin Luther. It also inspired John Wesley to begin a revival effort that would shake the world, the Methodist Movement.
   • Within Romans, a series of verses and passages can be followed that logically leads to the need for salvation – and to how one can accept that salvation. “The Romans Road” lays out, as Paul saw it, the path to the cross for each of us – and the path to a full, changed, productive life that can change the our families, our communities, and the world, just as the early believers did.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Psalms 1:1-3; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:15-16; Colossians 1:9-10; 1 Peter 2:1-3

Video of the Week: Romans 5-16 by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. As you read and hear about Paul’s travels around the Roman Empire during his missionary journeys, what aspect of his work and teaching impresses you most? 

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2. If someone asked you, “How, exactly, did Christianity change the world?” how would you answer them? 

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3. What’s your understanding of the process of growth and change in the Christian life?  If “it’s God’s work that brings about the change,” then what’s our role in the process?

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4. Read Romans 3:23 again.  This short verse is considered to be the beginning of “The Romans Road.”  Why is its premise so important – and so difficult for some to accept?  

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5. As you read through “The Romans Road,” do you find the logic of Paul’s path to salvation to be easy to follow?  Why or why not?  Could you explain it to someone else?

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6. Read Romans 10:9-10 again.  What’s your understanding of what (according to these verses) a person needs to believe (and do?) in order to be saved? 

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