1 Chronicles 12:19-14:17, Romans 1:1-17, Psalm 9:13-20, Proverbs 19:4-5
Today is the 12th day of July, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we get going in our new work week and actually we have new territory. We finish the Book of Acts yesterday. So, when we get to the New Testament portion we’ll be moving into totally new category and so we’ll talk about when we get there but first we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week, 1 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 19 through 14 verse 17.
Introduction to Romans:
Okay, so as I mentioned at the beginning, we concluded the Book of Acts yesterday. Acts is generally thought of as New Testament history and so in concluding the Book of Acts yesterday we earned our New Testament history badge for kind of keeping track in the Daily Audio Bible app. And so, now we’re moving into some new territory. We left the Book of Acts with Paul arriving in Rome. And so, the last part of the Book of Acts we were really right alongside the Apostle Paul, as he journeyed around and all the controversies that arose in his travels around the Roman Empire bringing the good news of the gospel. We went to Jerusalem and we saw him get arrested and we saw the appeal to Caesar and so he’s sailed to Rome and that’s the end of the Book of Acts. We will spend the next generous portion of our time through the year here working through the letters that Paul wrote that have been preserved that Paul had sent directly to different churches that had been established to encourage and instruct them. And what we need to understand is yes, currently at the moment we are reading the New Testament and these letters are included in the New Testament of the Bible. But when these letters were written there wasn’t a New Testament to include them in. And so, these letters were copied and passed around from church to church. Descriptions of early church would be to sing a hymn to have a meal together to maybe read from the prophets or to read from the law from the Mosaic law, the law and the prophets. Or to read the Chronicles of the apostles or to read some of these letters and over time they were collected together and now we have them in the New Testament so we’ll be spending time in Paul’s letters. He’s not the only one that wrote letters that ended up in the New Testament but Paul’s letters, they are grouped together and we’re gonna move through them at once. And another thing to understand is that we’ve read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we’ve read the Gospels, that’s how we got going, that’s where we spent the first half of our year in the Gospels. These letters though, were written before the Gospels were written and so, these letters some of them are the earliest Christian writings that exist. So, today were going to move into the book of Romans and this is the first, like I said, many of the letters that Paul wrote in the New Testament. But this is the first one that we’re coming to and most scholars agree this is like the crown jewel, this is the very comprehensive work that provides an incredible amount of our theological understanding of Jesus and his work and what it represents. This letter was probably written from the city of Corinth where the Corinthians were, some of Paul’s strongest missionary work was performed in Corinth and so this was probably written from there, probably somewhere in the mid-50s. And I don’t mean like the 1550s or the 1950s, I mean like the 50s like the 0050 length of 50s. And this is one of the more lengthy letters of Paul. And so, when he finished it, at least according to the book of Romans, he sent a Deaconess, her name was Phoebe, to hand deliver the letter. Phoebe was from the church Incontraia and that was like a suburb of Corinth. In this case Paul is sending a letter to the church in Rome. But this is not, Paul had never been to Rome so he didn’t plant the church in Rome and nobody really knows who did or how the gospel made its way to Rome other, we remember that Stephen was stoned and then people began to run. People began to spread out looking for freedom in a peaceful way to live and to avoid, kind of, marginalization and persecution. And so, you know, a likely scenario, probably the likely scenario is it, that’s how the gospel got to Rome, somebody or group of people who had been present with what the Holy Spirit was doing at Pentecost and in the church in Jerusalem, ended up carrying the message back to Rome and eventually a church was established there. So, Paul was a naturally born Roman citizen. He hadn’t been to Rome but he was looking forward to it. We know the story, he went to Jerusalem, got arrested and then made his way to Rome as a prisoner and we’ve watched all that and we’ve watched you know, the Sanhedrin, against Paul plan to assassinate, assassination plots are unearthed, and Paul is rescued and saved in we’ve seen the difference between the Sadducees and the Pharisees when Paul has addressed them. We’ve seen all that’s coming against Paul everywhere he goes, like he can’t really hardly get to a new city without the Jewish people stirring up some kind a mob against him so, he has this reputation and we look at that, we may think like “okay, yeah, this is this is how they treated Jesus, this is how they treat Paul, this is how they treat everybody” but we me wonder like what’s going on here? Why are they so mad at Paul, why were they so mad at Jesus for that matter? As we move through the book of Romans we’ll be able to explore some of that, begin to understand why this good news was a controversy, why it was thought of as a heresy even, why it was thought of as like an anti-God thing, this is why the Sanhedrin, other than just to stay in power, lie they’re raging against somebody like Paul because they cannot get their minds around what he’s saying and we’ll begin to be able to understand the lay of the land there as we move through the book or letter of Romans. And so let’s get started, Romans chapter 1 verses 1 through 17 today.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this new territory. And as we begin the Book of Romans and start our journey through these letters these very, very, the earliest of preserved writings that were centered around the story of the good news of the gospel, we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead and guide us to open our eyes to see and open our ears to hear and we might understand the implications of the Gospel and how much it actually changes things for we who believe. Come, Holy Spirit into this next season that we will share together in the letters of Paul. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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And that’s it for today I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Prayers and Encouragements:
Hey my amazing DAB fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. To the unnamed brother, you’re battling unforgiveness and you find it hard to let go sins of the past. John 8:36 simply tells us, my friend, if the son sets you free you will be freed indeed. So, my brother, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and repented of your sin, you are free indeed. You simply have to walk that out and so sometimes I know that the stumbling blocks and the snares and the pitfalls of the enemy wants to try to remind us. That’s all he can do though is just try to remind us. We’ve got to press, set our affections and our mind on things above so you are free. So, let’s just keep pressing forward. Father lift up your son. I pray that You would cause him to remember who he is in You in the name of Jesus. And then for Ava from Colorado Springs, God I’m asking that You would be with her and the six children that will have to testify concerning this sex abuse court hearing. What would You give her and the children the ability to speak the truth and give them the strength to declare what needs to be declared and I pray that Your Spirit would govern all of these matters in Jesus name. Kirah, oh my goodness, thank you for your testimony this contrite in Jesus, hallelujah, thank you so much woman of God for that powerful testimony. Love you family.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family. I am missionary from Chicago calling in asking for prayer. I am the sole caregiver for an elderly mom suffering from dementia. I’ve been a sole caregiver going on two years now when she moved in with me and if you’ve ever dealt with someone with dementia, you know it’s very unpredictable but every day just gets a little bit harder and harder as the disease progresses, as well as just the pressure and the stress on caregivers. And I’ve just noticed the last few months my patience has decreased and my stress levels and kind of, frustrations with the situation that I’m in has only increased so I’m just asking for prayer. Prayer for my mom first and foremost that she will just continue to have all of the positive aspects of her personality and hold onto as much as herself for as long as she can. But also just prayers for me as I try to get more patience and kindness and less frustration and anger about the situation and that I can just be surrounded by guidance and support and just increased faith and perseverance for the situation that we’re in. Thank you very much for your prayers. I know God is listening and it’s also so comforting to know that all of you all are are listening and praying for me as well. Thank you.
Hey from beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio it’s Daniel Johnson Junior this goes out to Margo the missionary from Australia and Liberia and your husband oh my goodness you guys are going through a lot. I mean, we hear about how hard things have been with the pandemic in Africa and India and South America and I know you’re there among it all and as you say you’re feeling some compassion fatigue. And I can’t even imagine what that’s like. So, I just, my heart goes out to you Margo, I pray for respite for you and your husband. I pray for renewed renewal through Jesus through the Spirit of Jesus that may rest in you and on you, but you may continue to do God’s work and until it’s time for you to not do it there anymore so may God continue to provide for you and to bless you, our sister. You are one of our heroes in this community and we love you and you’re definitely one of God’s favorites. God bless you from beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio, Daniel Johnson Junior.
Hi, I just wanted to call in for this girl that was struggling at a hospital at Africa. I don’t really know her name, Margo, is her name from Liberia. That’s what my Aunt Rachel told me. And I just want you to help her God and please help good people to come in the hospital and help. Please help there not to be anymore bad people there. Please help the people to get better and there to be miracles. My name is Kailee. Hi, I’m Jaylyn and I wanted to pray for the same girl with my sister. I’m here with my sister and my cousin Benice and my Aunt and I wanted to pray for this girl Margo in Africa for there to be good people at her hospital and for them to get money to help those people and I just wanna pray for them and yeah. Hi, I’m Ben. I’m Big Hearted Ben I’m going to help Margo to have a good life and help the people in need. And to get and to help everyone, Amen. Bye.
Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Billy from Montgomery with the Trinity Stone. I wanted to put a prayer request out there for Margo from Australia now it’s Margo from Liberia. You started, ya’ll went back to do mission work in Liberia, and I just, ya’ll sounded like ya’ll were having issues with things that were going on over there. I just wanted to wash y'all in the blood of Jesus and let ya’ll know that I was praying for y'all and keep ya’ll covered up in prayer. It sounded like ya’ll were really having issues with things that were going on over there. I just wanted to let you know I was covering, keeping you guys covered in prayer and I will talk you later. Alrighty. Bye for now.