John K. Jenkins Sr - A Walk Through Romans, Chapter 7

Good evening to everybody! Good evening on this wonderful Tuesday evening. It is my prayer that you’ve had a tremendous day and that you’re doing well. I want to just pause and give God a shout. Even though it’s chilly outside-it’s cold, around 30 degrees or somewhere in that neighborhood-it’s freezing. But I’m just grateful to be alive; I’m grateful to have life, and I hope you are too. I hope you’ve had an incredible Thanksgiving and that you have many things to be grateful for, and that you never forget that. I know it’s easy for us to forget how good God has been to us, the blessings He’s provided, the prayers He’s answered, and the goodness of God. So we thank the Lord for His goodness and His mercy towards us as we exit the Thanksgiving season and prepare to enter the Christmas season.

Before I delve into the teaching tonight, I want to say this real quick: I pray that you don’t go crazy and feel like you have to buy all these gifts and put yourself in incredible debt to prove your love to anyone as we enter into December. So many people make the mistake of thinking that by going out and getting into debt, by buying all these gifts, they 're proving their love. Listen, you have 12 months prior to Christmas to show people that you love and care about them. My prayer and excitement is that you are in a season of your life where how you walk and live demonstrates to your family, friends, and those you truly care about how much you love them. I believe that’s the call of God upon us.

So, Happy Thanksgiving! I praise the Lord as you enter into this Christmas season. I’m going to pray, and you know what I’m going to pray for? I know many people feel depressed around Christmas time. I’m going to take a moment before we get into the Word to pray for God to help you know His love and to rebuke the spirit of anger, depression, frustration, and defeat-everything the devil tells you. We’re going to pray that God helps you to understand that.

Alright, let’s pray. Heavenly Father, from the bottom of my heart, I give You thanks and praise for Your loving kindness to us and for Your tender mercies. Thank You for being an incredible God. I thank You that we recognize, with our hands up and our hearts open wide, that we lift Your name on high. You are worthy to be praised, exalted, and lifted up. Thank You for Your miracle- working power, that You have saved us and forgiven us. I pray for the people, the sons and daughters of God, that each one might know they belong to You and that they are Your children.

I pray, Heavenly Father, for families, and I rebuke the spirit of depression, frustration, and defeat and the lies the enemy seeks to tell us. Lord, time after time, we pray that we would be in the center of Your will, knowing Your love and truth. I pray for unsaved people, backslidden individuals, and the unchurched that, Heavenly Father, You would communicate with their hearts, and they will become rooted, grounded, and bound to Your kingdom and a part of Your family in the name of the Lord.

Let me be Your conduit for these next few moments. Heavenly Father, I pray that You would flow through me-not because I’m worthy, because I know I’m not — but God, let me somehow be a conduit to convey Your truth to the people of God, and as they embrace and understand it, they will be able to apply it to their lives. They will be rooted and grounded in Your truth. Now, Father, put a hedge around this place as well as around every home, family, and location that is viewing this teaching, and let Your truth prevail. In Jesus' name, I give You thanks, the glory, and all the honor. You are worthy to be praised and honored. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.

Let me just give you a couple of quick announcements before I forget, because I might forget at the end. Today, we’re in Romans chapter 7; that’s our teaching for the day. Next week we’ll cover Romans chapter 8. After that, we will take a break as usual. We take the remaining part of December and January off and will resume in February. In February, we’ll pick up with chapter 9 of Romans. So, please mark your calendars accordingly. If you haven’t gotten your tickets for our Christmas production, please do so.