1. I want to visit you and go on to Spain (23-24)

Spain seemed to be the end of the earth. Paul wanted to preach the gospel there in obedience to Jesus' command, and he wanted the Christians in Rome to share in this missionary vision and work.

2. But first I must go to Jerusalem (25-33)

It was dangerous for Paul to go to Jerusalem (31). He was well-known as a Pharisee who had become a follower of Jesus, and the unbelieving Jews hated him. But he thought that it was worth risking his life to take an offering from the Gentile churches to the Christians in Jerusalem. This offering was the Gentiles' acknowledgment of their spiritual debt to Israel, and their spiritual identity as Abraham's children. Paul asked the Romans to pray: (i) for him--for his safety and for his visit to Rome; (ii) that the Jewish believers would accept the offering from the Gentiles, and that they would accept God's missionary purpose for themselves.

Application: Lord, give me missionary vision and a sense of history.
One Word: God's history and God's vision