Sermon Central
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The Power Of One Series
Contributed by Stephen Schwambach on Jun 18, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: Why are some people all by themselves able to make such a huge difference?
THE POWER OF ONE
(The Power of JOY!)
BTCC Summit • December 17, 2006
Verse-by-verse through the Book of Romans
“Unexpected Power” Part 3
IMAG 01 – Unexpected Power
Going verse-by-verse through Book of Romans
• The last in our 3-week “Unexpected Power” series
o “The Hidden Power of the Poor”
o “The Hidden Power of Prayer”
• Today: “The Power of ONE”
Please turn with me to one of the “folksiest” passages in the Bible:
• Romans 16:1-16, 21-24
o [P. 806…Zchurch virtual Bible]
Names/descriptions of 37 people!
When you begin to list just SOME of the things God did NOT see fit to include in the Bible…like –
• What was going on in Jesus’ life between the ages of 2 and 12 – or 12 and 30?
• What did God have in MIND when He made Tyrannosaurus Rex?
• Why are some the world’s best-tasting foods so BAD for you?
• Why do women THINK like they do?
• Why do people wait until the most critically important part of the football game to walk into the room and ask you a question?
When you think of all the things that are NOT covered in the Bible…it blows your mind that THIS made it!
• A chit-chatty list of 37 mostly obscure names!
EXCEPT…
• Every time I think I know better than God…I end up being wrong!
So why are all those names IN there!
• Actually, a number of excellent reasons…
o Today, going to focus on just ONE of them:
“The Power of ONE” – one PERSON!
Why are some people – all by themselves – able to make such a huge difference?
• Why are some people able to ACCOMPLISH more?
o Able to make a bigger IMPACT?
Well…some people are just SMARTER
• …more INTENSE
o …more GIFTED
…more DRIVEN
Wouldn’t it be great if God had provided an amazing source of power for EVERY Christian?
• Something that would enable ordinary people…to make an EXTRA-ordinary difference?
He HAS!
“…the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Joy appears 246 times in Scripture!
• The joy of the LORD is ALL OVER the Bible!
o This morning just a taste of this feast!
For those of you who are mature Christians…
• You know that God’s joy in you is more powerful than anything else out there!
(Psalms 4:7) You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.
(Psalms 30:11) You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…”
(Psalms 94:19) When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
(2 Corinthians 7:4) I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.
Ah, but we have with us this morning a number of you who are brand-new in your relationship with Jesus!
(1 Peter 1:8-9) Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, {9} for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
(Matthew 13:20-21) The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. {21} But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
My 13 year-old was recently paid $50 to participate in a survey
• I told her I deposited it into a savings account on our bank’s web site
o Worried look on her face
• She believed me when I told her it was there
o But the next thing she wanted to know is how to ACCESS it!
How do you ACCESS the joy Jesus has already deposited in your heart?
(Psalms 119:111) Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
(Psalms 51:12) Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
(Psalms 43:4) Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
(Psalms 21:6) Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
(Luke 6:22-23) Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. {23} "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
