October 7-Pastor Bill's Reading Plan

October 7      Romans 1
We have been talking about Paul's actions and how active he was for the sake of the Gospel throughout Acts.  Here he declares that he is not ashamed of the Gospel- because it leads to salvation to those who believe. He understood that there was power in the Gospel, so he spoke boldly and without concern for what may happen to him.  It is one thing to claim to not be ashamed of the Gospel, but it is another to demonstrate a life that showed that he was unafraid.  I hope that we can say that we are not ashamed of the Gospel not just with words, but with actions.
Nobody can make an excuse that they did not know that there was a God.  We read that the existence of God is evident through all that He created.  We know that there is a God because we can see all that He has done.  Creation points us to a Creator.  When I consider the complexity and beauty of the world, I cannot help but be absolutely convinced that there is a creator who made it all.  The creation can point us to a God who created. The God created also spoke to us and we have the Scriptures to teach us who he is and how to have a relationship with Him.  I read a book several years ago called "I Do Not Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist".  With all the evidence we see pointing to God our faith comes with a good reason to believe.  In some ways you can say it takes more faith (foolish faith) to see all of the evidence and say there is no God.  When we see that they turned from God's ways and the knowledge they had and chose to go their own sinful ways it reminds us- it is often not that someone cannot believe in God, but rather it is because they refuse to believe in God. The depraved behavior and wickedness that we see in the world is not because there is no God, but rather because God is ignored and rejected by people. They worship everything but God and it leads to destroyed lives.  
Why would someone not want to believe in God?  Because if there is a God in Heaven that means the person you see in the mirror is not God. If there is a God that means you are not really in control.  If there is a God that means we are going to be held accountable for what we do in our lives.  All of the evidence points us to God.  Science itself which is used by people sometimes to try to disprove God actually cannot even exist without a God who created everything orderly and perfect.