We His People - We Beseech

We His People - We Beseech

Dave Riddle - 9/24/2023

Key Passage: 2 Corinthians 5:20

Beseech: implore, beg, ask urgently and fervently. To request earnestly or anxiously.

We plead (beseech) on God’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

- 2 Corinthians 5:20

- The spotlight is on God, not us.

- …for Christ …God is …On God’s behalf… to God

- The gospel should be the only obstacle to receiving Jesus, not us.

- God could have revealed himself to the world in an infinite number of ways… he chose us as his ambassadors.

- We each have a role and a part to play.

- Ambassadors = presbeuo: to be a senior, act as a representative, to be an ambassador.

- You represent Jesus to everyone you meet.

Boldness and Urgency

- Ephesians 6:19-20

- pray that I might be bold…

- Do we have a sense of urgency in sharing the gospel?

- parakaleo: to call near. Invite, invoke, implore. To beg or beseech.

Be Reconciled to God

- Settle your debts and differences

- “Let God change you from enemies to friends” (GNT)

- Our message: live at peace with God. Come back to God.

- 2 Corinthians 5:17 - …God reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

Just a Couple More Things...

Just a Couple More Things...

Dave Riddle - 3/08/20

Key Passage: Romans 16:17-23

Caution

• Romans 16:17 - “Now I urge you brothers and sisters to watch out...”

  • “Urge”: parakaleō (παρακαλέω) - to admonish, exhort, entreat, beseech, or beg.

  • “Watch out”: skopeō (σκοπέω) - to take aim at (spy), to consider, take heed, mark.

• Romans 16:17 - watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles...

  • Divisions, disunity...

  • Obstacles: skandalon (σκάνδαλον) - a trap, snare, any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall.

• Romans 16:18 - ...such people do not serve our Lord but their own appetites.

  • Serve: douleuō (δουλεύω) - to be a slave, serve, do service

    • Slaves to their own desires

• Romans 16:18 - ...they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.

  • Avoid: ekklinō (ἐκκλίνω) - to deviate; to shun or turn away from, to go out of the way, avoid. 

    • Separate yourselves from such people. 

Encouragement

• Romans 16:20 - The God of peace will soon crush Satan.

  • Not just caution, but encouragement!

    • Victory is on the way!

  • Psalm 8:16 - everything is beneath God’s feet.

• Romans 16:21-23 - greetings from Paul, and his entourage.

  • Timothy: Paul’s protege

  • Tertius: Paul’s administrative assistant.

  • Gaius: Paul’s host

  • A reminder that they are all in this together.

Pray for Me!

***We’re sorry to say that this week’s message was not recorded due to some technical difficulties. The notes from the message can be found below and we hope to be back up and running with audio next week. We’re sorry for the inconvenience! ***

Pray for Me!

Dave Riddle - 2/23/20

Key Passage: Romans 15:30-33

Paul’s Passionate Plea

• Romans 15:30 - “I appeal to you”

  • “Appeal”: parakaleō (Greek: παρακαλέω) - to beg, entreat, beseech. 

• Romans 15:30 - “strive together with me”

  • synagōnizomai (Greek: συναγωνίζομαι) - agonize together, struggle in company  with, to labor fervently, i.e. (figuratively) to be a partner (assistant):—strive together with. Used to describe ancient Olympic wrestlers.

• Why don’t we ask for prayer in this way?

  • Pride? Unbelief?

Paul’s Specific Requests

• Related to Jerusalem

  • Protection

    • Romans 15:31 - “pray that I may be rescued...”

  • Reception

    • Romans 15:31 - “pray... that my ministry will be acceptable to the saints”

    • Why is Paul asking this?

      • The offering we talked about last week.

      • There was some tension between Paul and the Jewish believers who felt that he had devalued his Jewish heritage.

• Related to Rome

  • Arrival

    • Romans 15:32 - “that, by God’s will, I may come to you with joy.”

      • He has been prevented many times from visiting them already (Romans 15:23b)

  • Rejuvenation 

    • Romans 15:32 - “refreshed together with you.”

Paul’s prayer for them:

• God’s Serene Presence

  • Romans 15:33 - “May the God of peace be with all of you. Amen”

  • eirēnē (Greek: εἰρήνη) - peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord. The tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is 

How does the story end?

• we can assume the Roman believers prayed along with Paul for these things.

  • Most likely an answered prayer

• We don’t know how the Jewish believers accepted Paul’s gift.

  • From what we can see this gift didn’t appear to have caused any problems. 

    • Most likely an answered prayer.

• Was Paul protected?

  • A mixed bag of answered and unanswered prayers.

    • He went through some terrible things and was protected from some terrible things.

• Did Paul arrive in Rome safely?

  • An answered prayer, but not in the way Paul expected. 

    • Paul arrived, but as a prisoner after a long and harrowing journey.

The Surrendered Life

Romans 12 - The Surrendered Life
Dave Riddle - 09/15/19

Key Passage: Romans 12:1-2

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you:” - Romans 12:1 (Message)

An Impassioned Plea

• I urge you (Romans 12:1)

  • parakaleō (Greek: παρακαλέω) - to admonish, exhort. to beg, entreat, beseech...

To whom? All the family of God.

• Romans 12:1 - “therefore brothers and sisters...”

On what grounds? God’s mercies.

• Mercies plural

• Not because of anything we’ve done, but because the mercy he shows us again and again.

This call has two facets

• A Living Sacrifice (12:1)

  • Our bodies

    • A shocking statement for Paul’s Roman audience who saw the body as a grave.

  • Our worship

    • Our body is not a tomb, but a tool to worship God in everything we do!

    • Our physical bodies become a spiritual act of worship.

• Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (12:2)

  • Don’t just be like everyone else. (Conformity)

  • Allow yourself to be transformed.

    • Daily and continually, not a one time event.

    • metamorphoō (Greek: μεταμορφόω) - to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure.

  • The world’s standards and God’s will are so far apart that you cannot just take a little bit of each.