This time of year is graduation speech time. There are some fun graduation speeches, some ‘boring and lame’ speeches for sure, but occasionally there are some amazing graduation speeches to challenge and charge graduates. But I think the best speeches are the farewell speeches because they are the ones that lay out the most critical things to live for. Dwight Eisenhower gave a great one when leaving the presidency. George Washington gave a great speech when he left office. Paul, at this end of this letter of Romans gives his farewell speech of sort, and it was a wrap up of the most important things he wants to leave with the church. Here in the last couple chapters of the book of Romans is where we find this ‘farewell address.”
This Sunday June 16th is Fathers Day. We will have a special treat for everyone on this delightful day. But I am also taking the sermon time and trying my best to give a final message on this series. And what is the series again??? The Gospel Truth. I am so glad that last September when we began this series that we arrived at the title of our teaching “The Gospel Truth.” I thought it was a really good title last fall, but now having worked my way through this book I find it providential that we used the title. There are a great many ‘truths’ in this world that we love to base our activities on in this world. But in the end, there honestly is only one truth, and that is the Gospel.
As you come to worship here at LifeWay this next Sunday morning, I would ask you to read a much longer passage than normal. I challenge you to read and think through Romans 15:14 – 16:27, which is most of the last 2 chapters in the book. And DON’T overlook all the names that are seen in chapter 16 as they are unbelievably important. We will take the time to lay out not only some important highlights of those two chapters, but I believe they are an amazing summary of how critical the Gospel is for the world.
I can’t wait for Sunday morning.
