The Book of Romans: “Sincere Love In A Shallow World”

 

The Book of Romans 

Introduction:

Good morning Eastern Shore Baptist Church. Happy New Year to all of you. Hard to believe that it is 2026. I want to report some news for you this morning. Talk about starting your New Year off on a good note. I want to report to you that we have not only met but we have surpassed our goal for our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Our goal was 12,500 and we have nearly reached $20,000. So praise the Lord for that. Here is the other news that I wanted to report to all of you. Our budget for 2025 was $1.4 million dollars. Friends, through God’s goodness and your generosity, we were able to meet that goal. Again, praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow. 

If you are visiting with us this morning, let me be the very first to welcome you. Hopefully you were greeted in the parking lot. Hopefully you were greeted at the doors. Now, I want to greet you. My name is Stuart Davidson and I am the pastor here at Eastern Shore Baptist Church. If you have a prayer request this morning, it doesn’t matter if you are a member or a visitor, we want to hear from you. All you have to do is text your prayer request 251-222-8977. That phone line is available 24/7. Rest assured that you will 100% be prayed for the very moment that you text. You might even hear back from a member of our prayer ministry. 

Opening Illustration:

Friends, let me ask you a question this morning. Do you feel connected? Think about that before you respond. Do you feel connected? Do you possess real, true, authentic, genuine, long lasting connections? What do I mean by “connected”? I mean relationships, friendships, brotherhood or sisterhood. A connection is another person that will be there for you in the good or bad, the thick or thin. A connection is someone that you will be there to celebrate with you in the victory and dry your tears in defeat. 

I recently heard that we are living in the most “connected” time in human history. That is probably true. Through technology and technological advances, we are more connected and online than ever before. Through social media, email, instant messaging, and video conferencing, human beings are certainly connected. 

Maybe we are the most connected generation in human history. But does connected mean real? Does connected mean deep, substantive, or enduring?

Some of us in this room have hundreds, sometimes thousands of followers…but how many of those followers are real friends?

At the click of a button, we can have instant feedback and receive thousands of “likes”…but how many of those clicks count as someone that you can turn to when the storms of life arrive at your doorstep?

We can see pictures of people’s meals, vacations, kids, and highlights of their lives. We know what they are doing, where they are going, what they are thinking at any given moment. We can scroll through their timelines and view all their posts. Nearly daily we can participate in their lives like invisible voyeur and they can do the same thing to us. All this information and no real connection. 

Just the other day I was at my gym. I ran into a fella who out his hand and he said “hey there Pastor Stuart”. I said “hey there, do I know you?” He gave me his name and he said “you and I have been friends on Facebook for a few years now”.

This stranger and I were connected without any real connection. 

That moment at the gym stuck with me. Two people who were supposedly connected, yet we had never shared an in person conversation, a prayer, an actual burden, or a moment of real life together. The encounter was not really unusual but it was revealing. It exposed something about the world we are living in. We are surrounded by information, interaction, and images, but starving for depth, meaning, and genuine relationships. We know a lot about people, but we are often unknown by people. We are connected, but we are shallow. We are informed, but not invested. We are visible, but not vulnerable.

This leads me to give you the title of my message this morning. “Sincere Love In A Shallow World”. 

Today’s Message:

“Sincere Love In A Shallow World”

All the way back in November, I told you that in the new year that we would be back in the book of Romans to start the new year. So I’m going to keep that promise this morning. We are going to be in Romans 12 for the next few weeks. This morning we are going to read only one verse. Specifically Romans 12 verse 9. I will read that in just a second. On your outline I have given you the thesis statement for the message this morning. Fill in these blanks under “Today’s Thoughts”. 

God stirs us to practice sincere love that stands for what’s good. 

The emphasis there is sincere love. True love. Real love. To the Christian, what does sincere love look like? Well Jesus tells us. 

Jesus defined sincere love this way when He said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). In other words, real love is sacrificial. It gives of itself for the good of others. It is not content to watch from a distance or merely express concern, it steps in and serves.

Sincere love looks like the love of Christ, a love that acts, a love that sacrifices, and a love that stays.

Today’s Thought:

God Stirs Us To Practice Sincere Love That Stands For What’s Good!  

I read Francis Chan’s book “Crazy Love” years ago. I remembered a quote from that book that I highlighted. I put it there for you on your outline. 

Today’s Quote:

“Loving people isn’t about saying the right words or having good intentions. Real love costs us something. It moves us to action. If we claim to love God but our lives show little concern for people, especially when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable, then we need to honestly ask whether our love is genuine at all.”

Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love”

I love that definition that he gives about sincere love, real love. “Real love costs us something. It moves us to action.”

There was nothing shallow about Jesus. Jesus always had His eyes open. He was always on the move, looking for people to love, to serve, and to set free. Non-believers called Jesus a lot of things, but insincere was never an adjective that was used in reference to our Savior and Lord. 

Introduction of Scripture:

So, this morning we are back in Romans. Romans 12:9 to be exact. 

After eleven chapters of explaining what God has done for us through the gospel, Paul is now showing us what a transformed life looks like. He begins with love because love is the clearest evidence of a spiritual transformation. When Paul says, “Don’t just pretend to love others,” he uses a word that literally means without a mask. Christian love is not a performance or religious role, it is real, honest, and rooted in a changed heart.

Next, in the same verse, Paul tells us what love does. It hates what is wrong and holds tightly to what is good. The word hate means to deeply reject what dishonors God and harms people. The short phrase “hold tightly” means to cling or glue oneself to what is good. In a shallow world that confuses tolerance with love, God calls His people to practice authentic love that is discerning, committed, and visibly different.

Statement of Belief:

“We are opening the living and powerful Word of God…truth without error, breathed out by Him, and fully sufficient for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. It is our authority, our guide, and our hope. In honor of the God who gave us His perfect Word, I invite you to stand with me as we read it together.”

Today’s Scripture:

Romans 12:9 NLT

“Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.”

Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord. 

Congregation: Praise His name. Praise His Holy name. 

Paul Gives Three Ways To Live Holy Lives in 2026

I. Practice Sincere Love

So, let’s cover these three points this morning. Paul gives us three ways to live holy sincere lives in 2026. 

Our first point this morning is to practice sincere love. Paul tells us in verse 9 to not to just “pretend to love others”.

There is a short explanation there for you on your outline. 

“God calls believers to love genuinely, not with hypocrisy or religious performance, but with authentic Christlike affection.”

Not sure if you remember this story but when I heard the details of what happened, I made a note in my Bible right here on Romans 12:9. I made the note because I thought it was one of the clearest definitions of sincere love that I have ever seen. 

It was March 2023. The city was Nashville. The place was the Covenant School. If you remember there was an armed gunman who entered the building, a former student who had become angry and jaded. She entered the building with murder on her mind. There were two teachers, Katherine Koonce and Cynthia Peak, who lost their lives protecting their children. 

According to reports, when the gunman entered the building, these two teachers did not run for safety, it was not every man for themselves. These two teachers ran towards the danger, putting themselves between the hail of bullets and gunfire. They helped children escape and moved other teachers towards safety. 

These two brave women did not have time to make a statement, post a thought, or craft the right words. In that moment of crisis, true love rose to the challenge. Sincere love met that horrible moment. They laid down their lives for others. 

Paul tells us in the first part of verse 9 to not “pretend to love others”. The Greek word for “pretend” literally means “without hypocrisy or without a mask”. The word comes from the world of Greek theater, where actors wore masks while playing a role. Christian love is not something to be acted out or performed. It is meant to be real, genuine and authentic. 

By the way, sincere love is hard. It is difficult. It is costly. It takes effort and thought. It means showing up for someone even when it is not convenient for you.  It is costly. It does not happen accidentally or effortlessly. Sincere love requires intention. It takes effort, prayer, and thought. It means slowing down when you would rather rush on, listening when it would be easier to avoid, and caring when it would be more comfortable to stay detached. 

It means rearranging your schedule, spending emotional energy, and sometimes stepping into uncomfortable spaces. It is choosing presence over preference and people over personal comfort. That is why sincere love stands out in a shallow world. Most people are willing to watch from a distance, but God calls His people to move close, to engage, and to love the way Christ has loved us.

The Apostle Peter said something similar to Paul in his epistle. I Peter 1:22. You can read that Scripture with me. It is there on your outline. 

1 Peter 1:22 ESV

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

Paul Gives Three Ways To Live Holy Lives in 2026

I. Practice Sincere Love

II. Practice Strong Opposition to Evil

So, the first piece of advice that Paul gives us is to love sincerely. His second piece of advice is to practice strong opposition to evil. 

Go back to verse 9. “Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong.”

You can think of this point like this…

“Genuine love does not tolerate sin but rejects what dishonors God and harms people.”

Again, seeing the Greek definition sometimes helps us understand what we are really reading. The Greek word for “hate” is “uh-POS-tuh-GAY-oh.” It means to detest, to abhor, or to have deep moral revulsion. It is not just a simple dislike. It is to hate something so much it brings about a physical, emotional, and spiritual revulsion. 

So what does it mean to “hate what is wrong”?

We are living in a world that has blurred moral lines and redefined evil as preference or personal truth. We see the normalization of sexual immorality, the celebration of pornography, the confusion of gender, the destruction of the family, the devaluing of human life in the womb, the spread of violence, racism, greed, corruption, and the casual acceptance of lies as truth. 

We see bitterness applauded, selfishness rewarded, and wickedness repackaged as freedom. And the danger for the church is not that the world embraces these things, but that believers grow silent, passive, or indifferent toward them.

The tragedy is that the evil of the world does not stay outside the church, it seeps in. When we stop hating what God hates, the church slowly loses its spiritual clarity. Biblical teaching becomes softened, edited, or avoided altogether. 

Truth is replaced with preference. 

Conviction gives way to comfort. 

And into that confusion step false teachers, people who speak confidently but are untethered from Scripture, offering a message that sounds loving but lacks truth. Paul warned that this would happen, and we are watching it unfold in real time.

Instead of standing firm on the essentials of the faith, we see churches dividing over trivial matters while ignoring what truly matters most. 

We argue over styles, personalities, and secondary issues, while remaining silent on sin, holiness, repentance, and obedience. Even more concerning, many churches have allowed political ideology to shape their theology. We have confused loyalty to a party with faithfulness to Christ. We have blended American nationalism with the gospel, creating a message that sounds patriotic but is not biblical. When politics become central, when politicians become our prophets, Christ becomes secondary, the gospel is muddied, weakened, and distorted. 

Our allegiance is not to a platform, a flag, or a party. Our allegiance is to Jesus Christ and His gospel alone.

Strong opposition to evil does not mean hateful people or harsh spirits. It means we love God enough to hate what dishonors Him and love people enough to reject what harms them. We speak truth with compassion. We refuse to participate in what God condemns. We do not applaud sin, excuse sin, or redefine sin. 

Instead, we stand firmly on God’s Word, trusting that real love tells the truth, even when it is uncomfortable. In a shallow world that calls compromise love, God calls His people to practice courageous, discerning, Christ honoring love.

Paul Gives Three Ways To Live Holy Lives in 2026

I. Practice Sincere Love

II. Practice Strong Opposition to Evil

III. Practice Steadfast Commitment to Good

So, let’s move to our last point this morning. 

Practice sincere love. Practice strong opposition. Our last point this morning is to practice steadfast commitment to good. 

Go back to the back part of verse 9. 

Romans 12:9 NLT

“Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.”

Look there on your outline for the explanation of this point. 

“God calls us not only to avoid evil but to cling to, remain with, and stay attached to what is righteous and pleasing to Him.”

My boys are all a good bit older now but I can remember when they were younger. I can remember those hot summers when the kids were learning to swim. At young ages we would take them to swim lessons. 

I remember when we would go swimming with them, maybe taking them on vacation where we would have a pool, I would always get in the pool and encourage the boys to either jump in or swim to me. 

You probably know the story if you are a parent. Most kids have a pretty health fear of the water. They are not confident in their own swimming abilities. They are scared that if they make the jump they will sink to the bottom like a rock. 

As parents, we know that our children can trust us. We would never let anything happen to them. We would catch them, hold them, protect them. It didn’t matter which boy it was, Jay, Jack or Jett, if they had the confidence to make the jump, once they landed in my arms, they would hold on to me for dear life. They instinctively knew that if they held on to me, everything was going to be ok. They could be in the deep end of the pool, surrounded by deep waters, and be totally secure, totally confident, as long as they held on to me. 

When Paul says, “hold tightly to what is good,” he is not talking about a casual preference or a loose grip. He is calling us to cling, to remain attached, to refuse to let go. Just like a child wraps their arms tightly around a parent in deep water, believers are called to wrap their lives around what is good, righteous, and pleasing to God.

Those boys did not hold on to me because the water suddenly became shallow. They held on because they trusted who was holding them. The danger did not disappear, but their fear did. In the same way, the world around us may be deep, dark, and dangerous, but when we cling to what is good, when we hold fast to Christ, His truth, His Word, and His ways, we can live with confidence and security. We are not called to float aimlessly or tread water spiritually. We are called to hold on.

That is what steadfast commitment to good looks like in 2026. It is choosing to cling to God’s truth when culture pulls the other way. It is staying attached to righteousness when compromise feels easier. It is refusing to let go of what honors Christ, even when the waters feel deep. When we hold tightly to what is good, we discover that God is faithful, sufficient, and strong enough to carry us through anything. 

I like what Paul communicates in Galatians 6:9. 

Galatians 6:9 CSB

“Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.”

Closing:

So as we step into a new year together, let us remember what God has called us to as His people. In a shallow world, we are called to live differently. We are to practice sincere love, loving people genuinely and sacrificially. We are to practice strong opposition to evil, refusing to compromise truth or confuse conviction with cruelty. And we are to practice steadfast commitment to good, clinging tightly to what honors Christ and pleases God.

If we will live this way, the church will stand out, not because we are loud, but because we are faithful. Not because we blend in, but because we reflect Christ. As we move forward into 2026, may this be our commitment together, to Live Well, Love People, and Shine Brightly for the glory of God.

Live Well, Love People, Shine Brightly!

Closing Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your Word and for the clarity it brings to our lives. As we step into this 2026, we ask that You would shape our hearts, deepen our love, and strengthen our commitment to what is good. Help us to live in a way that honors You, to love others as You have loved us, and to shine the light of Christ in a world that desperately needs hope. We pray Your blessing over every family, every individual, and every home represented here today. May this new year be marked by faithfulness, growth, and joy in You.

Lord, for those who are searching, lead them home. For those who are not yet part of this church family, give them clarity and courage to take that step. For those who are ready to serve, show them where they can use their gifts for Your glory. For those considering baptism, help them walk in obedience and public faith. And for anyone who has never trusted Jesus as Savior, draw them by Your grace today. 

We give You this new year and our lives, and we pray all of this in the powerful name of Jesus. 

Amen.