John K. Jenkins Sr - A Walk Through Romans, Chapter 1

Thank you all for being here tonight. I’m so grateful and thankful for the dedicated saints who, even though we take a break over the summer, always come back regularly. I am super proud, super grateful, and so honored to pastor a church where people take the study of God’s word seriously. So thank you all for being with us tonight. I see we have 18 states viewing. Let me give a shout-out to Illinois, South Carolina, Mississippi, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington State, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, California, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, and New York. Thank you for being with us! We also have viewers from six countries: Puerto Rico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Zambia, St. Kitts, and Jamaica. Let me give a shout-out to all of you! How blessed and pleased I am that you have joined us.

I need to tell my technical team that I used to have a clock I could see to know when my time was up, so you ' re going to have to help me with that. I’ll try to use my computer for that today, but please remember to bring the clock next time. Thank you all for joining us!

We 're starting a new series tonight on the Book of Romans. It 's a rich book, filled with significant information and teachings. We will be spending one chapter a night, covering eight chapters. We will take a break over the Christmas holidays, and we will pick back up sometime in February to complete the final eight chapters. Trust me when I tell you that the Apostle Paul’s writing to the church in Rome contains significant theological conversations and teachings for us to understand in our lives.

Again, don’t forget I think they are going to put up information. If you have a question while we go along, just make sure to send in your questions and, when we get to the end, we will try to take some time to answer them.

Tonight, Father, we thank You for the wonderful privilege and opportunity You give us to be Your children. Thank You for waking us up and giving us the activities of our limbs. Thank You for giving us, Your sons and daughters, a heart to study Your word. I want to pray that You take these next few moments and let us be Your instrument-not because I’ve earned it or deserve it, but Heavenly Father, let me be Your conduit to speak Your truth to Your people. Give us clarity of communication, clarity of thought, and let the people have clarity of understanding. Put a hedge around not only me as I do this teaching and our facilities, but I pray for a hedge around every home, every car, every building, and every place where people are receiving Your word, no matter where they are or what part of the country or world they’re in. God, we pray that You would open their eyes to Your truth and give them revelations. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen and Amen.

Alright, thank you again for joining us tonight. We 're going to dive into the Book of Romans. Again, it is a significant book for us to learn from and read. I want to start off by giving you some basic, elementary information about this book so you can gain some understanding.

Number one, this book was written most likely in the mid to late 50s AD- just about 20 years after Jesus was here. During that time frame, the Apostle Paul was in Corinth. He was in the city of Corinth when he sent it to Rome, Italy, as we call it today. He did have a person who wrote and transcribed it for him, but this is a letter from him, and we’ll discuss that a little more later.

The majority of the members of the church in Rome at that time were Gentiles. We will find out why that is an important piece in just a few moments. There were, however, a few Jews who were part of the church, but the majority of the church in Rome were Gentiles. That 's a significant point because in this epistle to the church in Rome, Paul speaks to people who were not originally part of the chosen people of God.

God chose Paul for the assignment of bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. That includes you and me-whether you know it or not, you are a Gentile; I am a Gentile; we’re all Gentiles. I know people have raised questions about Black Hebrews, and I’ve been asked to discuss that. Listen, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Black Jew or wish to be part of the Black Hebrews, the bottom line is that for you to be saved, make it to heaven, and have a relationship with God, you must accept Jesus Christ.