Out of divine love, He decided not to give you what you deserve for your sin—eternal judgment. That’s what we call MERCY, and it’s the focus of today's passage. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: ROMANS: The Power of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
TEXT: Romans 9:14-18
TITLE: Sweet Mercy
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
I. Moses and the Golden Calf
II. Pharaoh’s Hard Heart

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

ILLUSTRATION: People running from God toward a cliff to hell

“Out of billions lost, God chose to stop you on your hell-bound path and bring you to Himself. You didn’t deserve to be saved. God wasn’t obligated to save you. Out of divine love, He decided not to give you what you deserve for your sin—eternal judgment. That’s what we call MERCY, and it’s the focus of today's passage.”

“In 6-13, Paul explained that God chose Isaac and Jacob over Ishmael and Esau—here’s the kicker—apart from any human qualities or influence. Their redemption was purely God’s choice.”

“To the natural mind, that seems unjust. Like the Yankees taking the field at Fenway, the moment Paul finishes 13, he can hear the hisses and boos. If God is truly just, He must choose one and reject the other based on something within the individual. What could be more fair than that? But reaching out to grab some but not others, without regard for anything in the individual, seems monstrously unfair. It makes God look arbitrary, capricious, and even unrighteous.”

“Paul knows the human heart, so he anticipates the objection. So in 14, look at it with me. In response to 10-13, he says—What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? Paul’s response—By no means! We could say—Certainly not! No one can charge God with even a hint of injustice.”

“Here’s the truth: God is perfect in every way. That means His choices are perfect. God is sovereign over all. He answers to no one and is responsible to no one, which means He is sovereign over the salvation of sinners. If He chooses to mercifully reach out and draw certain sinners to Himself while allowing others to keep running from Him, that is His prerogative because He alone is God.”

“This is what Paul sets out to prove in these verses. He does it by continuing his OT tour. Last week it was Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Today it’s Moses and Pharaoh.”

“Paul’s words are from Exodus 33:19.  If you recall, Moses went to meet with God at Mt. Sinai. In his absence, the Israelites grew restless and decided to build a golden calf. When Moses returned with the Ten Commandments in hand, he found them singing, dancing, and worshipping the idol.”

“Think about that. Moses is with God on the mountain, receiving the Ten Commandments that begin with—you guessed it—You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make a carved image for yourself. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. When he returns, he finds them doing exactly that.”

“That incident brought severe judgment; 3,000 Israelites lost their lives, and the Lord told Moses that His presence would no longer be with them. But Moses pleaded with God for reassurance of His continued presence. Despite their grievous sin, God relented, showing mercy to Moses and Israel by assuring them of His continued presence. God chose to be merciful to Israel (not destroying them all for their idolatry) not because they deserved it, but simply because he chose to have mercy on them—(16) It does not depend on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”

“IMPORTANT: Moses responded to God’s mercy by asking to see His glory, and God replied: Exodus 33:18-19”

“By quoting Exodus 33:19 in Romans 9, Paul argues that God is not unjust in showing mercy to some and not to others. On the contrary, He remains true to His nature. This is fundamental to being the all-glorious and sovereign God of the universe: the freedom to show mercy to whomever He wills, free from any human exertion, merit, or will.”

“Now, we see the flip side of God’s sovereign mercy in His treatment of Pharaoh—read 17.”

“I know you’re familiar with the story of the Exodus. Pharaoh was an idolater who believed he was a god and brutally oppressed God’s people. His heart was very hard toward God. Like everyone else in the picture, he was running hard and fast away from God. God heard His people’s cry and, through Moses, liberated and led them out of Egypt, but not without a showdown. In 17, Paul quotes from Exodus 9, where after the seventh plague God tells Pharaoh why He raised him up: so that through Pharaoh’s prolonged resistance to letting God’s people go, there would be a dramatic display of God’s power through the plagues, and His glory would be proclaimed in all the earth as a result. But notice what it says in 18.”

“Paul puts God’s mercy and hardening together. He mercifully reaches out and grabs some who are running away from him, and he allows others to keep running right off the cliff into hell. The point is that both are His sovereign choice and both reveal His glory. More on the theological implications of this next week!”

“Today, here’s what we need to grasp: No human being deserves God’s mercy. A primary objection, as in Paul’s day, is that election is unfair. In truth, the question we should ask is why God would save anyone at all. We all deserve God’s immediate judgment. If any situation proved this, it’s the golden calf.”

“We have already seen in Romans that we are all running hard and fast away from God. No one is righteous. No one desires God. All have sinned. All are guilty before God. All deserve God's wrath. No one has a claim on God’s mercy. If God chooses not to reach out and mercifully save someone running from Him, that person receives justice because they were running from God. No one deserves God’s mercy, but God is merciful, so He made a way at the cross where justice and mercy meet in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.”

“And God is not obligated to show mercy to one person just because He shows it to another. If the president pardons one person (an act of mercy), is he obligated to pardon everyone? No. So it is with God. God has mercy on whom He chooses to have mercy.”

“This is our only hope: that God will show us mercy. The problem isn’t that we lack the will to make our own choices. We do. We choose what we desire. In the imagery of people running away from God, they are doing what they desire. That’s called free will. The problem is that our will is wicked, so we only choose wickedness. When you finally choose to have faith in Jesus, it’s only because God willed you to choose Christ by quickening your heart and making you alive to Christ, so that you put your faith in Christ. It’s the miracle of regeneration, and apart from it, no one believes in Jesus.”

“CHURCH, TAKE HEART: By God's Sweet Mercy, you are no longer running from Him. In Christ, through the Spirit, you have been brought near to God. He did this, not you. So go to Him every day for new mercies, so that you experience Him, enjoy Him, and trust Him, for His all-sufficient mercy that is new each morning. And the next morning. And the next morning. And the next morning. All the way to heaven.”

APPLICATION:
What should this truth do for us? 
1. Kill pride and cultivate genuine humility: God did what we could not do.
It’s not that God looked down the corridors of time, saw you would choose Him, and chose you. That’s not mercy; that’s God rewarding us for human effort. There is no more room for pride in the Reformed view of salvation. When we talk with those who disagree, we engage humbly because we have no reason to boast (Ephesians 2). God did what we could not do, and that should kill pride and cultivate genuine humility.

2. It provides strong assurance in times of discouragement: God’s mercy isn’t merely for salvation; it’s for everyday living. Lamentations 3. What does that mean—God’s mercies are new every morning? It means that when you wake up tomorrow, your merciful God will be there. As you go to His Word in prayer each morning, asking Him to help you see the wonders and promises of His grace and glory, He will never turn you away or withhold from you what you need to love, enjoy, and be satisfied in Him as your portion. He will mercifully give you what you need to get through the troubles, burdens, pains, and sin of the day. And it won’t be yesterday’s mercies. Yesterday’s mercies were for yesterday. It will be new mercy fit for your new day in Christ.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Deuteronomy 9:4

QUOTES:
John Piper - “In essence, he says, I exist freely, without cause or control from any other. And I have mercy freely. At the deepest decision of my mercy, there is no cause, control, or constraint from anything outside my own will. That is what it means to be God, Yahweh. That is my name and the essence of my glory.”

R.C. Sproul - “God in his sovereign disposition of grace interrupts our life while we were alienated from him, dead in sin and trespasses, and the Holy Spirit comes and quickens us from death to life and changes the disposition of our heart. Where formerly Christ seemed repugnant, now he is the sweetest thing in the world. We rushed to him, we choose him, we embrace him, and we trust him, because God's grace has given us the Pearl of great price.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
God Is Faithful (Psalm 114)
His Mercy Is More
My Lord I Did Not Choose You
How Great Is Your Faithfulness
His Mercy Is More
Thy Mercy

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 9:19-23

THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:

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I want you to recall the moment you placed your faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation. Got it? Now ask yourself: Why did I believe in Jesus while others reject him? Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: ROMANS: The Power of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
TEXT: Romans 9:6-13
TITLE: Chosen to Choose
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: You believe in Jesus because God chose you to believe in Jesus.

POINTS:
I. Paul’s Thesis
II. Paul’s Proof

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

“People sit in church for years. They hear the gospel preached repeatedly. They witness the gospel’s power lived out beautifully. They even embrace church life eagerly. Like you, they experience the gospel's privileges. Still, they reject Jesus. What’s the difference between you and them? Answer: God’s choice.”

“If you’re a Christian, it’s because God chose you to be a Christian. Being a Christian is about God’s choice before it’s about your choice. His choice leads to your choice. You were chosen to choose Jesus. That’s the focus of Romans 9—God’s sovereign and gracious choice.”

“Before we begin, today’s text is part two of eleven parts in Romans 9-11. In other words, it’s one brick in the wall of election. Don’t look for all your questions to be answered in a single sermon. Paul’s argument is progressive, so write down your questions along the way. Do some additional study. Ask a pastor. Stay engaged.”

“The first five verses pose a dilemma for Paul’s gospel. Although Israel possesses God's salvific promises, their rejection of Jesus seems to render those promises null and void. This is the source of Paul’s deep anguish in 1-3, which leads him to be willing to be cut off from Christ in their place, if that were possible. But Israel’s future doesn’t hinge on Paul’s selflessness; it hinges on God’s faithfulness. Naturally, the question is: Can we trust God to keep His word? To this Paul says—read 6.”

“Paul’s assertion here is that denying God’s faithfulness because Jews are cut off from Christ misunderstands God’s promises. The truth is, God never promised that every ethnic Israelite would be saved.”

“Paul makes this point three ways: 
- 6—For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel 
- 7—and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring
- 8—it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring”

“Paul’s assertion is significant. Salvation isn’t inherited biologically. An ethnic Jew isn’t equivalent to a child of God. Being born into Abraham's lineage doesn’t guarantee a place in God's kingdom. God never made that promise.”

“So Paul is clear: There is an Israel within Israel. Some embrace God’s promises, and some don’t. Those who respond to God inwardly (i.e., by faith in God and His promises, circumcised of the heart) are true Israelites to whom God’s promises belong. There are Jews who are physically children of Abraham, and there are Jews who are both physically and spiritually children of Abraham. The promise belongs to the latter.”

“Picture a circle representing everyone who has physically descended from Abraham. Ethnic Israel. Israel according to the flesh (8). Within that circle is a smaller circle representing Israel, according to God’s promise. It’s the remnant Paul will discuss later in the text. It’s the true Israel, the spiritual Israel, the chosen Israel, the Israel to whom God’s promises belong. This is why Paul can say God’s Word does not fail; not every ethnic Israelite belongs to God.”

“This is crucial because the gospel is at stake. If you can be saved by your bloodline, the blood Jesus shed is meaningless, and God’s promise to save by grace alone fails. To the contrary, Galatians 3 says: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise—(Galatians 3:28-29)”

“Paul doesn’t say that if you’re Abraham’s offspring, you’re in Christ and heirs to the promise. He says that if you’re in Christ, you’re Abraham’s offspring and heirs to the promise. That makes Jesus the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. That makes the gospel the only way to heaven.”

“Unbeliever—Don’t spend money on Ancestry to dig up some Jewish blood. Turn to Jesus in repentance and faith.”

“So when Paul says in 4—some with privileges reject Jesus—it doesn’t mean God’s word has failed. If that’s your conclusion, you misunderstand God’s promise. God’s word is true and faithful in Christ Jesus. That’s the thesis. Now Paul gives the proof.”

“Paul goes back to the beginning of Abraham’s family to prove the point he has just made in 6-7. He has already let the cat out of the bag in 7 by quoting Genesis 21:12—Through Isaac shall your offspring be. But he expands on the importance of Isaac and Ishmael—read 7b-9.”

“If you remember, in Genesis 12 and 15, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. But as Abraham and his barren wife, Sarah, grew older, his faith wavered. Instead of trusting God to keep His promise, Abraham took matters into his own hands and fathered a son with his wife’s servant, Hagar. She conceived and gave birth to Ishmael. Fast forward to Genesis 18, and we find Abraham asking God to make Ishmael the son of promise. The conversation went like this: Genesis 17:18-21”

“In these verses, God makes it clear to Abraham that although Ishmael is his physical son, he is not the son of promise. Isaac, not Ishmael, is the son of promise. The point is that receiving God’s promises is a matter of His choosing, not of ethnicity or bloodline. The promise of salvation is about God’s sovereign choice, not human effort or physical descent.”

“But Paul says, let’s go down another generation to Esau and Jacob for an even stronger argument—read 10-13. A few details to note here: 
- (10) Unlike Isaac and Ishmael, who had different mothers (Ishmael’s mother, Hagar, was Egyptian, a Gentile), Jacob and Esau were twins with the same mother, Rebekah, and the same father, Isaac. All Israelites.
- (11) God made His choice when they were still in the womb, unable to do good or bad.
- (12) The statement that the older (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob) is a reversal of order. In that culture, the firstborn held the position of honor and was the primary recipient of the inheritance.”

“Why are these details important? Because they prove God’s promises are not guaranteed by ethnicity, behavior, or birth order. Individual salvation comes by the sovereign and unconditional call of God—read 11.”

“Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, and Esau were all physical descendants of Abraham, ethnic Israelites. All of them fit in that big circle. But only Isaac and Jacob fit in the inner circle, not because they deserved it or because of anything they had done, but simply because God sovereignly and mercifully called them to be children of His promises. As it says in 13.”

“We could translate this—Jacob I loved, Esau I rejected. Paul is not saying that God was filled with malice and loathing toward Esau. The point is that God chose Jacob, not Esau.”

“Both were undeserving sinners, yet God chose to set His divine affections on Jacob, not Esau. God’s love for Jacob was expressed in His unmerited grace and mercy. His hatred for Esau was expressed in His righteous and just rejection, both to the praise of His glory. More on that in the coming weeks!”

“God is faithful, and His word never fails. He chooses according to His electing purposes. Nothing can thwart those purposes. Everyone He chooses to be saved in Jesus Christ will be saved. Why are you a Christian? God chose you to choose His Son Jesus Christ. You believe in Jesus because God chose you to believe in Jesus. You were chosen to choose. As we will see next week, what a merciful God we belong to.”

APPLICATION:
How does this impact our daily walk with Jesus?
- We can personally rest in God’s electing purposes - Just as Isaac and Jacob received salvation not because of their race but because of God’s grace, so your salvation is by grace and nothing else. That’s not to diminish the importance and significance of faith. More on that in chapter 10.

Our temptation is to feel the need to earn God’s favor. We want to measure our identity in Christ by our intensity for Christ. We want to measure our standing with God by our sacrifice for God. If you struggle with condemnation, if your joy in Jesus ebbs and flows with your performance for Jesus, or if you think you just need to be better or do more, you’re not resting in the gospel; you’re trying to earn your way to God. It’s pure pride, and you need to repent of it now. Rest in knowing that if God chose you, He will be faithful to keep you—Romans 8:31-39!

We can trust God with His electing purposes - One of the hardest things is seeing those we love reject Jesus. A natural question is—Why doesn’t God save them? 1-5 reveal Paul’s personal anguish over his fellow Jews who didn’t know Jesus. Yet he never gave up. When he visited a city, he always took the gospel to the synagogues first. We shouldn’t either. 

First, don’t assume God won’t save your loved ones, no matter how many times they have rejected the gospel. As long as they are breathing, their redemptive story is unfolding. God’s chosen are faceless to us. 

Second, no matter how much you love the unsaved person in your life, don’t think they deserve God’s love. They don’t. They are sinners who deserve God’s eternal judgment—just as you were. God’s rejection of Ishmael and Esau was righteous and deserved. God isn’t unjust in not saving your loved one. Pray that He will save them. Share Jesus with them. Don’t give up on them. But trust God with His electing purposes. As we will see in the coming weeks—He alone is God!

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 2:28-29

QUOTES:
Douglas Moo - “Love and hate are not here, then, emotions that God feels but actions that He carries out.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Sing
Here Is Love
It's Your Grace
God Is Faithful (Psalm 114)
All Things

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 9:14-18

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How good are YOU? Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

TEXT: James 2:10
TITLE: How Good Are You?
PREACHER: Tim Lambros

POINTS:
I. A Misunderstanding of God’s Law
II. A Misunderstanding of Jesus

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
ILLUSTRATION: story of “I hope so”

“These are the people we run into every day of our lives. James will help us grasp what’s going on in two ways – people misunderstanding God’s Law and people misunderstanding who Jesus is.”

“James is writing to Jewish Christians scattered about and gathered in small Churches. He opens his letter to “the 12 tribes in the Dispersion.” 

“James 2 is dealing with a specific situation where the Church is sinning.  It’s the sin of partiality.  It was easy for Church members to prioritize the rich person visiting the Church. Gold rings, fine designer clothes – hey come sit with me. If you’re rich it means you have credibility and opportunity that may benefit me.  Poor people are a drain on us. This guy, this couple could be super helpful. And so on…”

“Like in all the NT epistles to Churches, God will preserve this situation in His Word so all future Churches will learn.  There is a profound truth that arises from this situation.”

“NOTICE He begins on the positive side READ V. 8.  ROYAL LAW – YOU ARE DOING WELL.  Then he brings correction.  READ V. 9  If you are partial to some in the Church and treat the poor as 2nd class citizens YOU ARE COMMITTING SIN.  Don’t you love how James is clear and direct?”

“More importantly, you are committing sin AND ARE CONVICTED BY THE LAW AS TRANSGRESSORS.  James tells us you are convicted by the law and you are a transgressors.  Being a transgressor of the law is huge.  You have violated the standard of a holy God. Showing partiality to the rich violates a long held law that Israel was to treat the poor the same as the rich.  Israel as God’s chosen people were to be equitable with everyone. James audience of Jewish Christians would know this. Then he drops this grenade into their thinking.”

“READ V. 10. You are guilty of it all because you are a transgressor.  You have transgressed God’s law.  It might seem too high of a bar but that’s how God intended it to be.”

“Most people out there misunderstand God’s law.  Israel certainly did. What is the law?  The law was God’s revelation of His holy standard to Israel.  The law is a reflection of God’s character.”

“Why was it given? The law was given to show Israel how they needed a Savior.  To point them to their utter failure to live to God’s standard. To point to the  hope of the promised Messiah that would come.  The law was given to show Israel they could not keep it.”

“So James says quite succinctly what we know in Scripture.  God’s law is an interdependent whole.  Meaning God’s law functions in our lives in such a way that we violate one aspect of the law we violate the whole thing.   James tells the Churches that if they show partiality to the rich they’ve violated all the law.  We are transgressors of God’s holy law.”

ILLUSTRATION: A jar of water and one drop of poison or food coloring.

“Have you ever thought about what is the most popular religious belief out there?  Is it historic, orthodox Christianity?  Or secular humanism?  I submit to you this – GOOD PEOPLE GO – good people go to heaven. Transgressors go to heaven. Underneath Catholic believers, Muslims, Mormons or any works-based belief system is this common thread GOOD PEOPLE GO.”

“This is the aquarium most of America swims.  People you work with.  Family members you see regularly.  They’ve never really been asked to explain why this functions in their life but it drives their unexamined theology of God’s law, sin and heaven.”

ILLUSTRATION: When was the last time you had a gospel conversation with someone?  Conversations usually progress from social to religious to gospel.  How many of you got to a conversation about the gospel and asked this question “Why would God allow you into heaven?” TYPICAL ANSWERS … I’ve been a good Dad, I’ve worked hard, I’ve never killed anyone … etc etc so why wouldn’t a good God allow me in?

“When you think about the GOOD PEOPLE GO, it makes perfect sense. Good God, good place reserved for good people whose good deeds outweigh bad deeds. Sounds good doesn’t it? Imagine if God sent BAD PEOPLE TO HEAVEN.  That wouldn’t work!!”

“The Bible drops a bomb into this thinking.  James says if you break one part of the law you’re a transgressor.  Transgressors of God’s law don’t get into heaven.  All the people swimming in this aquarium culturally - hearing this day after day misunderstand God’s law. God’s holiness, His perfections, His utter purity.”

ILLUSTRATION: How Good Are You tract
LLUSTRATION: RC Sproul conference

“We need to help our friends who misunderstand God’s law. But theres’ more. People who believe in the GOOD PEOPLE GO religion misunderstand Jesus.”

“So we know from Scripture that if we break one part of the law we’ve broken the entire law.  We are transgressors.  We must accept what God’s Word says about us and not our cultural explanations.  Why?  Because of God’s holiness. Not our flattered view of self and good intentions.  We must see our sin in light of God’s holiness. Otherwise we are a cursed like we saw in Gal. 3:10.”

“God’s Word shows us something very different.  Scripture doesn’t lower the standard for mankind.  God doesn’t look the other way for transgressors who have sinned against Him. The Bible tells us the story of one person – namely Jesus Christ – who perfectly fulfilled the law.”

“The four gospels give us four different views of Christ earthly life and mission. They all say the same thing.  Jesus came and lived in the flesh to fulfill the law.  God’s holiness demands a very high standard.  Jesus put on flesh and lived a perfect life.  Never once broke the law. Paul dealt with this in his letter to the Romans. First he says how people CANNOT be saved: Romans 3:19–20. Then he says how people can be saved: Romans 3:21–26. We are saved by the gift of Christ righteousness by faith.  Not by works.  Not by how good you have been.”

“Think about this for a minute.  The good people go has some pretty easy holes in it to be seriously taken if people stop and think about it for a minute. 1st problem – who decides who is good? For our generation do we put Mother Theresa way up here and Hitler way down here and comfortably put ourselves somewhere in the middle?  That’s what the avg person in America does. Have you ever met someone who sees themselves as a bad person? 2nd problem - what if my good isn’t good for my neighbor – how do we know what is right? Who decides the goodness standard? What if my definition of good in my neighborhood is different than my neighbors definition? Even religious people have differences – are all religious beliefs basically the same? You get below surface and there are massive differences. We just had the 25th anniversary of 9/11.  What if they religious Islamic Jihadist believe they did good when the crashed airplanes into the twin towers? Who am I to say that’s bad?”

“Also, how good do you have to be?  How do you measure? Does 7 get us in? What if you’re a 4.9 and 5.0 is the goodness standard and you’re one good deed from getting int? We can’t know and you will never be sure. No wonder people only hope they will get in.”

“People who believe in the GOOD PEOPLE GO haven’t taken time to fathom that God’s law is a reflection of His holiness, His standard.  They also tend to have a high opinion of self as they compare themselves to others and come away with a flattering self-assessment.”

“The reason the Bible throws a grenade into the comfortable I’m a 6/7 on the goodness scale is because of Jesus.  America is consumed with the goodness theory – consumed because as long as it’s all about me doing more good than bad deeds I’m going to make it.  I don’t have to consider my evil heart intentions, I don’t have to consider the holiness of God and I don’t even have to consider the claims of Jesus.”

“What is God like?  Look to Jesus. What do we see in Jesus? The perfect fulfillment of the law His entire life.  Never once sinned. Here’s the bottom line … Good people don’t go to heaven, forgiven people go to heaven.”

APPLICATION:
1. Pray
Remember Paul’s example from last week’s message? - Romans 9:1–2
That should lead us to pray.  Great sorrow for those who are captured by this false religious belief. This is their theology.  They believe there is a God. He is good, He’s created heaven as that place where good people go.  I’m a good person – my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds so I’m in. It starts with prayer.  It calls us to pray.  We are helpless to change what people of believe apart from God’s work in their lives.  So we pray.

2. Grow in asking wise questions 
Tell me about … 
What’s your spiritual journey been like?
What are some of your spiritual beliefs?
What do you believe happens 5 minutes after you die?
Who do you say Jesus is?  Good person, good teacher or Savior?

3. Get acquainted with the Bridge course 
Personal evangelism help
Course designed for unbelievers

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Galatians 3:10
Romans 3:10

QUOTES:
Kent Hughes - “James sees the law as a seamless garment which, when ripped in one place, tears the whole garment.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
All Sufficient Merit
It Is Finished
We Have Been Healed
And Can It Be
Rock of Ages

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
James 2:10 - Bridge

THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:

CLICK BELOW TO PURCHASE ONE OF OUR BOOKS OF THE QUARTER:

Israel had all the privileges of the old covenant, yet it was meaningless because they missed the one thing they absolutely needed—Jesus. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: ROMANS: The Power of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
TEXT: Romans 9:1-5
TITLE: Don’t Miss Jesus
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Jesus is everything, and without him we have nothing. Don’t miss Jesus!

POINTS:
I. Jesus is Everything
II. Everything Points to Jesus

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

ILLUSTRATION: Stranded in the desert with everything but WATER - the one thing you need to live!

“Today we will see that this is Israel's tragedy. They had all the privileges of the old covenant, yet it was meaningless because they missed the one thing they absolutely needed—Jesus.”

“Paul spent the first eight chapters of Romans to show that the ground is level at the cross. Jew or Gentile, all have sinned, all are under God’s wrath, and all have only one hope—the gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s power unto salvation. No matter who you are or where you come from, faith in Jesus is the only way anyone can be declared righteous and justified in God's eyes.”

“That leaves one big question—How is the gospel consistent with God’s promises to Israel in the OT and His plan throughout salvation history? Romans 9-11, one of the most debated sections in the NT, answers that question. Here’s what we learn today: Jesus is everything, and without him we have nothing. Don’t miss Jesus!”

“We can experience all the joys and privileges of being part of the church, but without faith in Jesus, it’s all meaningless because it’s Christless. If we’re not careful, Israel’s tragedy can be ours.”

“Paul begins Ch 9 shockingly. With a stroke of the pen, he moves from joyful assurance in 8:31-39 to intense anguish. It’s as if he anticipates the shock of his reader, so he frames his anguish in 1, saying—look at it with me—I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit. In other words, I know this sounds radical, but it’s no joke. Paul’s grief isn’t for effect. His sorrow is real, his anguish is deep, and his concerns are grounded in truth from the Spirit. He wants his readers to get it. So what is the source of his great sorrow and unceasing anguish?”

“The source of Paul’s anguish is that many of his fellow Jews are cut off from Christ. The word Paul uses for accursed in 3 is anathema. Paul doesn’t use the word anathema often, but when he does, it’s not good. (1 Corinthians 16:22, Galatians 1:9)”

“To be anathema or accursed is to be cut off from Christ, which means being spiritually damned without hope. Paul’s fellow Jews are lost and under God’s condemnation, and this deeply grieves Paul. So much so that he would, if he could, trade places with them. Of course, he knows he can’t, because, as he just said in the preceding verses—Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: Paul’s heart for his unsaved fellow Jews is both commendable and convicting. It should compel us to examine our hearts toward the lost in our lives. Do you agonize over the fate of the lost? Do you carry a burden for the unsaved? Or are you indifferent toward them? Do you sit in self-righteous judgment of the unbelievers in your life, or do you grieve over their condition? 

ILLUSTRATION: Older man in the coffee shop

“This needs continual evaluation. It sounds like a good CG discussion. If I believe what the Bible teaches about the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the judgment of hell, but I don’t grieve over the lost—why not?”

“At the heart of Romans 9-11 is God’s sovereignty in saving sinners. But the doctrine of election should not make us indifferent to the lost; it should give us a heart for them, knowing God will save whom he will save.”

“When we see God in His sovereignty and holiness, and we see others in their sin, just like we were, and we know what our sin deserves and where it ultimately leads us, and we know what Christ has done for us, it should give us a heart of grief and compassion for the lost. It did for Paul, and it should for us.”

“Nothing is more serious in this world than being outside of Christ, and nothing in this world matters more than being united to Christ by faith. Jesus is everything!”

“Paul’s anguish runs so deep because of everything God has given to them as His people. He rattles off numerous spiritual privileges that belong to Israel as God’s people. Let’s briefly look at each one…”

“Adoption: This adoption language goes back to the Exodus. In His love and mercy, God led the Jewish people out of Egypt and redeemed them as His own. As Hosea 11:1 says—Out of Egypt I called my son. This was not an individual adoption like the NT adoption in Ch. 8. That adoption comes through faith in Jesus and guarantees personal salvation to all who believe. Israel’s adoption was corporate. Out of all the nations, God chose to brand Israel as His people who would serve Him and be a blessing to others. What a privilege.”

“Glory: Israel had the privilege of being the people among whom God dwelt. This has always marked God’s relationship with His people—His presence with them. Think of the fiery cloud in the Exodus, God’s presence at Mt. Sinai, or the Ark of the Covenant, first in the tabernacle and then in the Temple. This is where God’s glory, His supernatural majesty, was manifested—in the presence of Israel and no other nation. What a privilege.”

“Covenants: The covenants, those strategic moments in redemptive history when God said in different ways—You will be my people, and I will be your God—from Adam to David—belonged to Israel.”

“Giving of the Law: After leading them out of Egypt, God led Israel to Mt. Sinai, where for the very first time He gave them His written word. He did not leave them to figure out who He is and how they should live for Him. He graciously gave them His Word. What an amazing privilege.”

“Worship: Paul probably has the temple worship system in mind. The priesthood rituals. The animal sacrifices. The festivals. All of these were central to God’s people entering God's presence to praise Him.”

“Promises: God is the God of promise. His ultimate promise in Genesis 3, where God promised that the seed of Eve would crush the serpent, was the first promise of the gospel. Then from Abraham to the patriarchs to the prophets, God was and is faithful to His promises.”

“There’s actually one more privilege. It’s different from the others. Instead of belonging to them, Paul says it comes from them—read 5.”

“Paul’s words are stunning. This Jesus, the Messiah whom the Jews have rejected and been cut off from, comes from their own flesh. He comes from the lineage of Abraham, Moses, and David. Yet he is far greater. He is God in the flesh. Paul declares this emphatically at the end of 5 when he says—Christ who is God over all.”

“They missed Jesus. This is what breaks Paul’s heart. Amid all their rules and religion, they missed Jesus. The privileges of 5, as glorious as they are, were all pointers to Christ and are ultimately nothing unless you are joined to Christ by faith.”

“They missed Jesus, so they have nothing. That’s what Paul is saying here. Your privileges are real. They are precious. They matter. But if you haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it doesn't matter what privileges and advantages you have. You don’t have Christ. And if you don’t have Christ, you don’t have God and all His promises and blessings.”

“That’s the source of Paul’s grief and the tragedy of a Christless religion. It’s just as relevant to us as it was to the church in Rome.
You can come to church every Sunday and miss Jesus

• You can read the Bible every day and miss Jesus

• You can have deep theological conversation and miss Jesus

• You can attend CG and miss Jesus

• You can have great morals and miss Jesus

• You can have all the Christian traditions and miss Jesus

• You can give generously and miss Jesus

• You can serve everywhere all the time and miss Jesus”

“For the young people:
You can grow up in a gospel-centered home and miss Jesus. 

• You can attend youth faithfully and miss Jesus. 

• You can be homeschooled or attend Christian school and miss Jesus.”

“Don’t miss Jesus, because without him you have nothing. Your religion is Christless, which makes it meaningless. Are you missing Jesus? If you are, come to him now through repentance and faith.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: Maybe you haven’t missed Jesus, but you have misplaced him. You love Jesus as your Savior, but if you're honest, he’s getting lost in the shuffle of your life. Every Sunday, you leave him in this room instead of taking him with you. You have Christ, yet your life seems Christless. You are like the Ephesians in Revelation 2:4, to whom Jesus says you have abandoned the love you had at first. Come back to Jesus today and lay it all down.”

“If you get stranded in the desert, it doesn’t matter what supplies you have; without water, you have nothing. When it comes to faith, without Jesus, it’s all meaningless. But with Jesus, you have everything you’ll ever need for a life of joy, meaning, peace, and an eternity with God. Jesus is everything, and without him we have nothing—Don’t miss Jesus!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
This is what the Jews missed. In all their glorious privileges, they missed Jesus:

• According to Matthew 2:15, Jesus is the focus and fulfillment of Israel’s adoption.

• According to John 1:14, Jesus is the presence of divine glory with God’s people. He condescended to our world, born a man, while remaining fully God.

• Through his saving work on the cross, Jesus is the climax of the covenants, ushering in a new covenant, as Matthew 26:28 states, with his blood.

• As 10:4 says, Jesus is the goal and fulfillment of the law, keeping it perfectly and providing the righteousness God demands of us. 

• As the letter to the Hebrews powerfully proclaims, Jesus fulfills the priesthood and is the ultimate once-for-all sacrifice that all other sacrifices pointed to.

• As 2 Cor 1:20 says, Jesus fulfills and confirms all of God’s promises, making them Yes and Amen in him.

QUOTES:
John Stott - “One would think that Israel, favored with these blessings, prepared and educated for centuries for the arrival of her Messiah, would recognize and welcome him when he came.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
All I Have Is Christ
Christ Is Mine Forevermore
Christ Our Hope In Life And Death
All Glory Be Forever
I Need You

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
James 2:10 - Bridge

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The truth is, there is very little in this life that cannot be broken. But the gospel assures us that there is at least one thing that cannot be broken: God’s love for you in Christ. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Romans: The Power of God in the Gospel of Christ
TEXT: Romans 8:31-39
TITLE: Unbreakable Love
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Because you are bound to God in Christ, NOTHING can separate you from His love.

“TABS”:
Tab #1 Since God is for you, no one can successfully oppose you
Tab #2 Since God has justified you, no one can successfully condemn you before God
Tab #3 Since you are bound by Christ’s love, nothing and no one can successfully separate you from God’s love

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

ILLUSTRATION: Browser tabs open for quick access

“As Paul brings the first half of Romans to a climax—what a climax it is—he gives us three gospel tabs. If you want to grow and thrive spiritually, in good times and bad, you need quick and constant access to these three tabs. They can be described this way: Because you are bound to God in Christ, NOTHING can separate you from His love.”

“God’s love for you is unbreakable. Nothing can deprive, disqualify, or separate you from God’s love. Nothing! You may feel like God’s love for you is fading. You may feel like God has separated Himself from you. You are wrong. God loves you with a love that is unbreakable because it is rooted in the victorious work of Jesus Christ.”

ILLUSTRATION: Cancel culture

“It might not be as vicious as cancel culture, but you know what it’s like when someone is determined to come against you. As a pastor, I’ve experienced it. As a family of churches, we’ve experienced it. No doubt, you’ve experienced it. At times, it feels as though the whole world is against you.”

“In this verse, Paul is not saying that no one will oppose us. He’s saying that, in the end, all opposition in this life is meaningless because it cannot overthrow the glory of God that awaits us, as we saw last week.”

“Even the great accuser, Satan himself, cannot oppose us successfully. He thrives on trying to cancel out your faith; to sow spiritual doubt and fear in our hearts…Satan is right. We don’t stand a chance against him. But Paul qualifies the question with If God is for us, who can be against us? That’s a different question. If God is for us, no one, not even the collective powers of hell, has a chance against us because God is on our side! The proof of that is the cross—read 32. The cross of Jesus is God’s way of doing all he could do for us. And (32). Who gave Jesus up to death? It wasn’t Judas for silver. It wasn’t Pilate for peace. It wasn’t the religious leaders for power. God Himself gave Jesus up to death! That is the supreme evidence that God is for you.”

“Write that down: Because of the cross, I know God is for ME!”

“That means God will withhold nothing in taking care of you and preserving you for heaven. The cross was the ultimate sacrifice. God will not allow it to be in vain. People and things may come against you. It may even seem as if they are successful. But ultimately, no one can successfully oppose you because God is for you!”

“Since God has justified you, no one can successfully condemn you before God. We need quick access to this tab because we are vulnerable to self-sufficiency that leads to self-righteousness. No one can oppose me, not because I am a super-Christian, but ONLY because God is for me in Christ!”

“There’s plenty of material for accusations and condemnation. And they’re all true. But Paul says none of them can stick. Why? 33-34 says that it is God who justifies us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.”

“To be justified is to be declared righteous by God. It means God no longer holds our sin against us and sees us through the lens of Jesus’ perfect righteousness. God is the Judge of the world. He hears Satan’s ongoing accusations against us and knows the extent of our sins. But through our faith in Jesus, the Spirit has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west, and God no longer counts it against us. So who can bring any charge against God’s chosen people that will stick? No one. Ever. God has already spoken on the matter at the cross. In Christ, we have been pardoned.”

“There is no Double Jeopardy in God’s kingdom. Jesus paid the price for your sins at the cross. Judgment has been rendered. God has declared all who come before Him in the name of Jesus not guilty. Pardon has been granted. It’s finished. It’s done and can’t be undone. No mistrial. No retrial. God’s word at the cross is final. All charges are dismissed, and all accusing voices are silenced.”

“To ensure this, Jesus continually intercedes for our justification before the throne of God—read 34. Jesus died to remove the curse and penalty of sin from us. His resurrection demonstrated the Father’s acceptance and satisfaction that Christ’s work on the cross was sufficient.”

“Now, Jesus sits at the right hand of God, the place of all power and authority. His work is finished, yet he is not idle. Jesus is not bored as he awaits the Father’s word to return for his Bride, the Church.”

“Paul says that Jesus, with his nail-scarred hands and feet, is interceding for us. He is an ever-present mediator who sits between you and the throne of God, silencing every voice that tries to condemn you before God.”

“When condemnation sits in, which tab are you clicking? The tab of your performance—Just do better, Derek—or the tab of Christ’s perfect performance on your behalf, which is the basis of your justification?”

“The truth is, there is very little in this life that cannot be broken. But the gospel assures us that there is at least one thing that cannot be broken: God’s love for you in Christ.”

“In these verses, Paul considers every conceivable thing that could separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus. He throws out every worst-case scenario and concludes that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”

“First, Paul says that no amount of suffering can separate us from God’s love—read 35-36. After exhaustively listing the sufferings in 35, Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 to acknowledge that God’s people aren’t exempt from suffering. Suffering is unavoidable. At times, we feel like sheep being led to slaughter. Yet even our suffering cannot separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus.”

“Listen, in the midst of suffering, it can feel as if we’ve been separated from God’s love. It can feel as if His love for us has been severed. It’s easy to say—He’s not for me. How can He be when I see all the things happening in my life? To the contrary—read 37. When Paul says Christians are more than conquerors in our suffering, he means we are super conquerors. We can’t be beaten. We will win. We will persevere. We will endure to the end. We can say this because of the gospel. We are super conquerors—look at the second half of 37—THROUGH Christ who loved us.”

“The gospel brings us into union with Jesus, guaranteeing we will be victorious in life and in death because Jesus was. Jesus came out on the winning side, triumphant and inheriting the world. In him, this is who we are now and will be forever. Last week’s passage, 28-30, is the guarantee—God is working all things for our good in this life and to ensure we will see him in glory! We are Super Conquerors!”

“When life gets difficult, are you clicking the tab of your roaring subjective feelings to inform you or the tab of the objective gospel that says you can live triumphantly in trials because you know they can’t separate you from Christ; they are actually conforming you to Christ.”

“Now, like the grand finale of a July 4th fireworks show, Paul pulls out all the stops, even switching to the first person—read 38-39.”

“Paul names ten things that would seem powerful enough to separate anyone from anything. 

• Our greatest enemy: death

• Life with all its powerful allurements

• Spiritual powers, whether good or bad

• Cosmic forces and powerful rulers

• Nothing in the present or the future—disappointment, disease, broken marriage, mental illness, physical suffering, besetting sin

• Nothing in the highest heights of heaven or the deepest depths of hell

“Here is the exclamation point on the first half of Romans—I am convinced, and I remain convinced that nothing in all of God’s creation, at any time, in any place, in any way, can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is no match for and no outer limits to the divine love of God that flows to us from the one who has all authority over all things in all of creation—Jesus Christ!”

“I don’t know which tabs you keep open for quick access on your computer, but I am convinced that if we want to thrive spiritually, in good times and bad, we need quick and constant access to these three tabs. 1. Since God is for you, no one can successfully oppose you, 2. Since God has justified you, no one can successfully condemn you before God, 3. Since you are bound by Christ’s love, nothing and no one can successfully separate you from God’s love!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 56:9

QUOTES:
Kent Hughes - “If accusations are brought against us, we need not fear, for the charges are silenced by the upraised, pierced hands of our Intercessor. If we are to be condemned, it will have to be over Christ’s dead and now resurrected body, which actually is the basis of our salvation!”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Sing
How Vast The Love
In Christ Alone
It Is Well With My Soul

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Psalm 147

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Nothing in your life is pointless. Whether it’s the good, the bad, or the ugly, there is a purpose for it all. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Romans: The Power of God in the Gospel of Christ
TEXT: Romans 8:28-30
TITLE: Unstoppable Glory
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: God is using everything in your story to bring you to His glory.

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

ILLUSTRATION: “What’s the point?”

“How often have you said, “What’s the point?” not to your bugging spouse but to God? When the heartache, difficulty, and disappointments of life strike, how often is your response discouraged, downcast, or even defiant—Lord, what’s the point?”

“We can all relate, but take heart! Romans 8:28-30 not only tells us what the point is but also promises the outcome. God is using everything in your story to bring you to His glory.”

“Nothing in your life is pointless. Whether it’s the good, the bad, or the ugly, there is a purpose for it all. God is moving you from one glory to another until you reach the glories of heaven. In this work, God is unstoppable. God is using everything in your story to bring you to His glory.”

“Paul begins our passage by admitting that what he is about to say is nothing new. He says—And we know. What follows is very familiar. Romans 8:28 is one of the best-known passages in the Bible. How many times have you used it to find comfort and confidence in your life and to help others do the same?”

“At the same time, Romans 8:28 is one of the hardest truths in the Bible to accept and to believe with joy, peace, and contentment. So what do we know according to 28?
- We know that God is at work in His people
- We know that God’s work is for our good
- We know that God’s work is not aimless; it’s purposeful.”

“We know this. We are grateful for it. We love it. God is powerfully, persistently, and purposefully at work in us—AMEN! Here’s the hard part: Romans 28 says God works ALL things together for our good. Every circumstance in your life, including the really hard things—the miscarriage, the wayward child, the chronic pain, the painful chapter in your marriage, the mystery illness, the unreasonable boss, the hostile neighbor—ALL of it is being used by God for your good, according to His purpose for you.”

“God’s not saying—’I wasn’t expecting that but I think I can make it work.’ There isn’t a single thing in your life that fails to accomplish God’s purpose for you because everything in your story, not just the good things, not just the nice things, not just the comfortable things, but ALL things is part of that purpose. None of it is by chance. None of it is in vain. None of it is pointless. There is always a point, and it’s a profound one because it ALL comes from your Abba Father’s loving hand and He is perfectly used by Him to fulfill His purpose in you.”

“It’s called providence. Without getting technical, it means God has ordained all things and is using all things to bring about His redemptive purposes in and through you. Scripture presents two powerful examples. Joseph and his brothers: Genesis 50:20. What you meant for evil, God meant for good… to save many people. Jesus and the cross: Acts 2:23 and 4:27 say that the horrific death of Jesus was ultimately from the hand of God, according to His purposes. The most horrible thing that ever happened led to the most wonderful thing that could ever happen—Jesus’ death became our life!”

“And now, God is providentially working ALL things for our good. I want you to take note of the word good in 28. Earlier, I said that Romans 8:28 is one of the hardest truths in the Bible to believe. I think that’s because we wrongly define good. What does Paul mean by good? He tells us—read 29”

“Our highest good, the good Paul has in mind here, is being conformed to the image of Jesus as we wait for our full glorification at Christ’s return. That is God’s ultimate purpose for us and our highest good.”

“The preparation for this future glory is called progressive sanctification, or, as 29 puts it, being conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he (Jesus) might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

“Through the gospel, you have been saved. You are now united with Christ, who went before us, paving the way for our adoption into the family of God through his life and death. Now God is working out His gospel purposes in you, causing you to look more and more like the royal child of God you already are. God is making you more like Jesus in your character, thoughts, affections, and behavior. To that end, God uses whatever means He deems necessary to bring about His gospel purposes in you. He knows exactly what we need to move us closer to Him and to conform us more fully to Christ.”

“But God’s sanctifying work is moving us toward something. Progressive sanctification isn’t an end; it’s a means. God is preparing us for His eternal glory. Look at what Paul says next—read 29-30. Scholars call these verses the Golden Chain of Salvation because they explain the stages of God’s redemptive work from beginning to end. I’m going to give you a snapshot of each one.”

“Foreknowledge (29) For those he foreknew…Translation: God foreloved you. That’s what you’ll learn when you study the word know in the context of God and His people, particularly in the OT. This foreknowledge isn’t merely that God knew facts about you. The point isn’t that God looked down the corridors of time and saw you would respond to Him favorably. It’s an intimate, affectionate knowing. In the words of John Murray, it’s a sovereign and distinguishing love. God set His love on you and set you apart for Himself in eternity past.”

“Predestination (29) Those he foreknew he predestined…The verb predestined means to be decided beforehand. The Bible calls sinners to repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a real decision we must willingly make in order to be saved. That said, we can never take credit for our salvation because ultimately, God has our destiny planned out. He fixed the moment of your salvation in eternity past according to His good pleasure. You decided to follow Christ because God had already decided it for you. That’s predestination. God knew you and set His love on you in eternity past, and He began to put His foreknowledge of you into effect by predestining you to salvation.”

“Calling (30) And those whom he predestined he also called…This calling refers to the moment you heard and believed the gospel. In one sense, there is an open invitation for all to come to Jesus whenever the gospel is proclaimed. This calling in 30 is the effectual call that makes grace saving grace irresistible.The moment you heard the gospel and believed, through the Holy Spirit's regenerative work, is the moment you were called to follow Jesus. You believed because God foreknew you and predestined you to believe. So in God’s perfect timing, you willingly believed in Jesus!”

“Justification (30) and those whom he called he also justified…We have talked a lot about justification lately because it’s at the heart of Romans. The moment you placed your faith in Jesus, you were declared not only forgiven but righteous in the eyes of God. By virtue of your faith union with Jesus, you were robed in his perfect righteousness, and that is the lens through which God now sees you. Holy and without blemish!”

“Glorification (30) and those whom he justified he also glorified. Our glorification is what we talked about last week. It is that moment when Jesus returns, we receive our resurrection bodies, and we will be made like him in every way. It is the consummation of our salvation that 1 Thes 4 and 1 Cor 15 reveal. All will be made right in the presence of Jesus, as we will finally and fully be saved! If you’re a Christian, this is where it’s all going. This is the point of the circumstances in your life. The prosperity and pleasures. The sin and suffering. The heartaches and headaches of life. God is using it all to prepare you to enter His glory!”

“Did you notice the tense of glorification? It’s the only step in the Golden Chain of Salvation that has yet to come. Those God foreknew, He predestined. Those He predestined, He called. Those He called, He justified. All of that miraculous and glorious work of God is complete. Yet Paul states our glorification in the past tense. Because it is God doing the work—He, He, He—the work will be completed. The glorification that will be ours when Christ returns is so certain that it’s as good as done. I am sure of this—God will finish the work He began in you (Phi 1:6).”

“Nothing in your life is pointless. God is using everything in your story to bring you to His glory. In this, He is unstoppable. So take heart and embrace His work as your friend, so you will fully benefit as you await your full entry into His glory.”

QUOTES:
John Stott - “On it believers of every age and place have stayed their minds. It has been likened to a pillow on which we rest our weary heads.”

Thomas Schreiner - “God’s unstoppable purpose in calling believers to salvation cannot be frustrated, and thus he employs all things to bring about the plan he had from the beginning in the lives of believers.”

APPLICATION:
So how can we benefit from this precious passage? How can we grow in seeing our trials as friends because through them God is bringing about His gospel purposes in us? 

1. Cherish Romans 8:28-30 as a gift from God because it is.

Imagine a world without Romans 8:28-30. What assurance would we have, and where would our confidence come from amid suffering? In a world without Romans 8:28-30, we would be left to believe that there is no good and that no goodness could ever come from our trials and suffering. In a world without Romans 8:28-30, we would be left wondering whether we are alone in our suffering and whether it’s all in vain. In a world without Romans 8:28-30, we would be vulnerable to believing that our purpose, not God’s, is why we exist.

Are you living as if Romans 8:28-30 didn’t exist? Good news! We have Romans 8:28-30. God has given us this passage as a gift. Give your mind to it. Give your heart to it. Give your time and energy to it by memorizing it. Give your fellowship to it.

2. Embrace God’s gospel work in you as a friend because it is. Read “Perspective in Trials” in The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent

3. Don’t limit God’s purpose to yourself because it’s much bigger than you. ILLUSTRATION: Imagine I was unjustly fired from my job. As a Christian, you are part of God's greater purposes. He is saving sinners. He is building His kingdom. He is preparing His church for heaven. And yes, God is using your trials and sufferings to conform you to Christ and, at times, to bring about His purposes in others, bringing them to glory. What a privilege!

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
My Soul Will Wait (Psalm 62)
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
All Sufficient Merit
All Things

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 8:31-39

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When we fix our eyes on future glory, our present sufferings become insignificant. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Romans: The Power of God in the Gospel of Christ
TEXT: Romans 8:18-27
TITLE: Groaning for Glory
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: When we fix our eyes on future glory, our present sufferings become insignificant.

POINTS:
I. A Massive Claim
II. An Incomparable Glory

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

“Romans 8 is about assurance. As we saw in Ch 7, life in a fallen world is a spiritual battlefield. Enter Romans 8. We have been given the Spirit, adopted by God, and made heirs with Christ. All we go through is being used for our good until the day we are glorified in heaven, a day no one can keep from us because we are eternally bound to Christ. In a world filled with sin and suffering, that is the future glory assured to every believer.”

“That raises one BIG question: Does the promise of future glory outweigh our present sufferings? Suffering is hard. No one asks for it. No one seeks it. No one enjoys it. Yet, as 17 says, glory and suffering go together. Is it worth it? Does the promise of future glory outweigh our present sufferings? When we fix our eyes on future glory, our present sufferings become insignificant.”

“The future glory of heaven is so glorious that it renders whatever we are going through today unworthy of comparison. No contest. That’s a massive claim. When we fix our eyes on future glory, our present sufferings become insignificant. It’s the claim Paul makes and wants us to believe.”

“As I thought about Paul’s words this week, a two-sided scale came to mind. On one plate are the sufferings of this present time. Persecution for our faith, mental and emotional anguish, and the physical pain we endure because we live in a sin-ravaged, broken world are all piled on one side of the scale.”

“On the other side of the scale is the glory that will be revealed to us when Christ returns. Defining the glory of God is ultimately impossible because God is God and there is none like Him. But when we think about the glory of God, I think it’s something like this: The glory of God is His infinite perfection, power, and majesty, made visible.”

“God has made His glory known in creation, in us as beings created in His image, and most powerfully in Christ, who is the radiance of God’s glory (Heb 1:3). Yet it’s a veiled revealing. But one day, the day Paul refers to in 18, it will be FULLY revealed to us. When it is, there will be no comparison between our suffering in this life and the glory that awaits us in heaven. The difference is so immense that, as Paul says in 18—it’s not even worth trying to compare them.”

“The most difficult thing you have experienced, are experiencing, will experience, or could experience in this life is like fine ash on the scale, not even registering, when you consider the future glory that awaits you as a Christian in the presence of God and Christ.”

“Our burdens are real. Suffering is difficult. But as the old hymn declares, they grow strangely dim when we turn our eyes upon Jesus and our future with him. That’s a massive claim!”

“To emphasize the wonder of the future glory that far outweighs our present sufferings, Paul says that everything and everyone, even God Himself, groans for it. This groaning isn’t audible; it’s an inward longing to see this fallen world give way to the glory of life in the new heaven and earth. It’s a groan of anticipation and expectation, recognizing that although the world is not as it should be, one day God’s glory will be fully revealed as He makes all things as they should be. Ultimately, the groaning isn’t for the end of life in a broken world but for the beginning of a glorified life with Christ.”

“Creation groans for God’s glory—read 19. Paul personifies the material world. He says that creation is eagerly longing for what lies ahead at Christ’s return. Our full redemption as children of God will be so glorious that even the impersonal forces of nature long for it. Why is that? A) On that day, all will be made right, and it will be glorious beyond comparison! That includes making creation right—read 20-21.”

“To understand Paul here, we have to go back to the moment God judged Adam for his sin in the Garden. Genesis 3:16-17 tells us that creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, as it says in 20, but because of Adam’s sin and the divine judgment that followed. Ever since that moment in the Garden, creation has been broken. It doesn’t function as God intended.”

“Your favorite plant dies. The wood on your house rots. Animals fear people. Famine wipes out crops. Earthquakes destroy. Pandemics kill. Creation is broken. God’s original creation wasn’t like this. The creation God ordered is now in disorder. The imagery in 22 says it all—like a woman in the painful throes of childbirth who desperately wants the baby to be born, creation groans as it desperately longs for the completion of the salvation God has already worked in his people, or as it says in 19 and 21, the revealing and glory of the children of God. That future that lies ahead in heaven is so glorious that even creation longs to see it. And so do we.”

“God’s People Groan for God’s glory—read 23. Paul captures the great dilemma of every Christian. We are made for God’s glory. We are created to see it and share in it. We do see and share in it, but only in part, not as we will in heaven. We live in the now but not yet.”

“Last week, we saw that we are God’s adopted children, filled with His Spirit and heirs of all that He is. We are that now, and we experience countless blessings from heaven in many ways. Still, we are not yet who we should be. Our true nature as God’s adopted children is not yet fully known. The battle described in 7:14-25 is real. Sin and temptation dog us. Our bodies grow old and frail. We fall and break our hip. We experience pain and suffering. We get sick and die. We are no longer under the Genesis 3 curse, but we still feel its effects, and our own sin only makes it worse for creation and for us.”

“So like creation, we groan in longing for the day Christ returns and our bodies are redeemed, that is, our glorified, resurrected bodies in the presence of Christ. On that day, our true nature as God’s adopted children will be revealed as we will be fully liberated to the glory that is ours as fellow-heirs with Christ in the eternal presence of God. I don’t know exactly what that will be like, but I know this—No more sin. No more suffering. No more death. No more decay. Endless, perfect praise from perfected people before the glorious throne of our Abba Father.”

“Paul just promised this in 17, saying that if we suffer with Christ, we will also be glorified with him.”

“Oh man, I can’t wait! Whatever I have to go through until then is far outweighed. That is where our salvation in Christ is taking us. This is what the cross accomplished for us. This is what the resurrection promises us. This is what the Spirit guarantees us. This is what God’s Word holds out to us. This is what we spur one another on to every day. We can’t see it. We can’t fully grasp it. But we look forward to it. That’s what faith does. It looks forward to the day when our salvation will be final, not with uncertainty but with conviction and assurance, as we patiently wait for what we only see by faith but believe God will do—read 24-25.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: How do you rejoice in God in the face of cancer? How do you stand unwavering in your faith amid persecution? How do you celebrate God’s goodness when you lose a child? How do you testify to the faithfulness of God when you can’t pay your bills? How do you persevere in grace as you battle indwelling sin? How do you remain content in Christ alone when everyone  is winning except you? How do you project genuine joy in the all-sufficient God of your salvation when you wake up every morning consumed by emotional or physical pain? You keep your hope-filled eyes on that day!

ILLUSTRATION: UK pictures create longing to return

“Look back up at 18. Notice how Paul begins—For I consider. Paul has pondered the question—Does the promise of future glory outweigh our present sufferings? He has thought long and hard about it. He often thought about heaven. So should we.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: Do you groan and long for Christ's coming? Do you live each day in heartfelt anticipation of his return and of the glory and bliss of the new heaven and the new earth? How are you cultivating an eternal perspective? How often do you remind others that heaven is coming? That’s all I’m doing today—reminding you that you’re not in heaven yet, but it’s coming.

“Take heart, you are not left to your devices when it comes to getting from groaning to glory.”

“The Spirit groans for God’s glory—read 26. Paul says Likewise, in other words, just as the creation groans for our future glory, just as we groan for our future glory, the Spirit groans for our future glory. We are not alone in our groaning. God is with us!”

“The Holy Spirit is the personal and intimate presence of God, living, working, and helping you in your weakness. The Spirit understands your temptations. He knows the pain of your suffering. He sees your spiritual struggles. And He sympathizes with you. He is intimately involved, united with you in your struggle as you patiently hope and long for the day you will receive full salvation and sonship, when you are glorified in the presence of Christ.”

“And in our groaning, there are times when we don’t even know how we ought to pray. The burden of suffering. The condemnation of sin. The ache for a wayward child. In these moments, we find ourselves at a loss to express the deep longings of our hearts to our Abba Father. Paul says that in those moments, the Spirit groans for us. He silently intercedes to the Father. As someone said, it’s an inter-Trinitarian conversation for our well-being. You are not alone in your groaning. It’s incomprehensible. It’s utterly amazing. It should bring us great assurance—read 27”

“Because the one who groans for you is God the Spirit, He knows the mind of God because He has it. That means He knows the will of God. If He knows the will of God, He knows exactly how to intercede for us according to that will, invariably securing the answers to our prayers and working all things for our good.”

“This is how glorious future glory is—even God can’t wait for His consummation of all things!”

“Does the promise of future glory outweigh our present sufferings? When we fix our eyes on the future glory with Christ that awaits us, it absolutely does!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
2 Corinthians 4:17
Colossians 3:4
1 John 3:2

QUOTES:
Sam Storms - “The material world in which we live is unable to properly fulfill the purpose for which God brought it into existence. The material world was originally designed by God not only to draw attention to his creative genius and power but also to provide a place for men and women to live and thrive and enjoy the good gifts of God.”

Jonathan Edwards - “Tis abundantly represented in Scripture as the spirit and character of all true saints, that they set their hearts upon, love, long, wait and pray for the promised glory of that day.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Christ Our Glory
Christ Is Mine Forevermore
Is He Worthy
Christ Our Hope In Life And Death
When We See Your Face

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 8:28-30

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As God’s adopted children we’ve been given privileged access that we didn’t earn, and certainty don’t deserve. And yet because of God’s gracious work to save us and adopt us, it is ours anyway. As we will see it is wonderful access. It’s life changing access that gives us strength for today and hope for our future. And it’s given to us when God adopts us. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Romans: The Power of God in the Gospel of Christ
TEXT: Romans 8:14-17
TITLE: The Privilege of Our Adoption
PREACHER: Brett Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Our adoption into God’s family grants us privileged access to God forever.

POINTS:
I. God Makes Us His Children
II. God Makes Us Heirs

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

ILLUSTRATION: “Take your child to work day”

“…not just any kid could just walk in there and sit at my dad’s computer or flip through his notebook or attend a meeting with him. I was given this privileged access for one reason: I was his son. I didn’t earn it, I didn’t work for it was simply granted to me because of who I was. That meant I didn’t have to fear what would happen if my dad turned corner down the hallway and saw me sitting in his office chair. No other kid in that building was given access to my dad’s private office, that privilege was reserved for me because of who I was.”

“This privileged access is exactly what we find in our text today. As God’s adopted children we’ve been given privileged access that we didn’t earn, and certainty don’t deserve. And yet because of God’s gracious work to save us and adopt us, it is ours anyway. As we will see it is wonderful access. It’s life changing access that gives us strength for today and hope for our future. And it’s given to us when God adopts us. Here’s the big idea from our text: Our adoption into God’s family grants us privileged access to God forever.”

“As Paul writes to the church in Rome, he knows how easy it for the believer to lose sight of this. The same is true for us today. We can walk through the Christian life like nothing’s changed when in reality everything has changed because we’ve privileged access to God. Romans 8 prepares us to treasure this new reality. My prayer for today has been that this truth, as we unpack it from God’s word, would fall on us as if it were the first time and that it would consume us and stir our affections for God.”

“Romans 8 offers us two claims about what God has done for us that gives us this privileged access. He makes us his children and he makes us heirs.”

“We begin in verse 14 where we find Paul connecting us to what we read in the first 13 verses when he identifies “all who are led by the Spirit” in VS 14. In just a few words, Paul is summarizing the new life of the believer that we saw last week.  If you remember, Tim defined it as a Spirit-powered, transformed life. But then Paul says something shocking next. He says that all of those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. This is significant, church. We have been called many things in the book of Romans so far, but this is first time we’re called sons of God. Paul is making an identity statement about these believers in Rome. It speaks to their new status before God. But it’s also a statement about us and it means if you have believed in Jesus and received him as your Savior, then you are a child of God.”

“ I don’t know how verse 14 lands on you, but let it take affect. This is a divine declaration from God about us. His eternal, authoritative word declares that you have been granted sonship. Not just some of us. Not just the most mature among us. Not just those who stand up on stage but all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. That means the moment God saved you, he gave you His Spirit and made you His child. As I prepared this sermon, I found myself unable to get out of verse 14. I just wanted to linger and let the word of God speak this truth over me.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: As Christians we can struggle with our identity, can’t we? There are countless voices telling us what we should be and who we are. We’re too easily tempted to find our identity in our career, in our success, in our parenting in our performance. We run to social media and the internet to find ourselves when it is right here in front us in God’s word. You are sons of God. I know we just started, but don’t rush out of verse 14.

ILLUSTRATION: Alan Jackson song, “We Are All God's Children”

“We are all created by God but nowhere does scripture teach that we are all by nature, children of God. In fact, the reason verse 14 should stop us in our tracks and overwhelm us is that scripture teaches the opposite. We saw in Romans 5 we are enemies of God and Ephesians 2:3 tells us we are by nature children of wrath. But now according to verse 14 something has changed.”

“We weren’t born into the family of God, but when God saved us by grace through faith, he adopted us into the family. This is what we read in the very next verse [look at the 2nd half of 15]; Paul tells us that we’ve received the Spirit of adoption. Here we find that wonderful biblical doctrine of adoption. We love doctrine around here. We love to sit and talk about election, or justification or sanctification – all worthy of our attention and vital to our faith – but how often to you dwell on the doctrine of adoption. Spend some time studying this doctrine church, it will fuel your love for God.”

“I love [Wayne Grudem’s] simple definition because the emphasis is on God acting toward us; God initiating toward us. This is how adoption works. The child does not wake up one morning and decide, “I want to be adopted.” It is the loving disposition of the parent to move toward that child. We see the same thing in our adoption into God's family.  In fact, this is what we see throughout all redemptive history. God is moving towards sinners like you and me. God is the initiator of our adoption.”

“In our legal system today (and this would have been true for Paul in his day), when someone is adopted, two things happen. First, the relationship between the child and the former parents is completely severed from a legal standpoint. All of the rights, privileges and obligations cease to exist. Second, by decree of adoption the child is welcomed into the new family and granted all legal rights, privileges and obligations as though they were a biological child. All of this is consummated with the child being given a new name.”

“This is what God does for us: When He adopts us into his family our old relationship to sin and the law, which Paul has already defined as enslavement, is severed and we are now welcomed into this new relationship with God as His children. In this new relationship we are granted all of the rights, privileges and obligations that come from being His child. It’s a wonderful new reality.”

“Adoption was common in ancient Rome, particularly among wealthy and political families. These families would initiate toward the child and deliberately choose them so that they would become their heirs and successors. To be adopted into an elite Roman family was an incredible privilege. It came with the blessings, rights, protections simply because you had been adopted into their family. So, the image being put forth here was not some destitute widow adopting a young child into a difficult situation. To be adopted and given a new name was a tremendous privilege that would have filled their thoughts with the benefits that come as a result of their new status.”

“And if this is true for someone adopted into a Roman family, how much more for those who are adopted by God himself? As God's adopted children, we now share in the privileges and benefits of being children of God. We’re even given a new name. No longer are we called children of wrath, but the beloved of God. No longer are we called enemies of God, but His precious daughters and sons. Everything changes for us.”

“Imagine we’re back in that in the courtroom scene. We learned a few chapters ago about our justification. That term is a legal term. It's the legal act by which God declares us not guilty of our sin and credits us with the righteousness of Christ, and so our legal standing before God the judge changes. We are declared righteous by the judge. Let's play this scene out. If you go to the courts in downtown Tucson tomorrow and witness this, what happens after that legal declaration is made? The newly justified person leaves the courtroom to go on with his life, the judge leaves his bench and retires to his private chambers, and there is no relationship between the judge and the justified.”

“And so theoretically, you could be justified in the eyes of God but share no fellowship or relationship with God. Our adoption into God's family changes that. It brings us into an intimate relationship with God. It's as if the judge declares us righteous and then instead of retiring to his private chambers, he initiates toward the justified and says come with me to my home, come sit in my family room, I want to have a relationship with you. I am adopting you into my family and giving you all of the benefits and privileges that come from being my very son.”

“Church see the manifold wisdom of God on display here. He doesn’t stop at our justification, he adopts us, and our adoption brings us into an intimate relationship with Him, and it changes how we relate to him.”

“This is what Paul is showing us in verse 15. Read it with me. In so many words, Paul is saying don’t be confused about what it is that you’ve received. We didn’t receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Before Christ we lived under the condemnation of our sin and this reality leads to fear. Fear of eternal punishment. But our text reminds us that now as God’s children that’s no longer who you are – we don’t go back to that. At one time you were under the law, you were enslaved to sin and you had every reason to fear God’s judgement.”

“But Paul reminds us that Christ’s work on the cross was a fear-shattering work; it was a condemnation-destroying work. And in his own way Paul is saying stop trying to sneak back into the courtroom. That’s a place of judgement and fear. You are my child and you don’t belong there anymore. Our adoption is proof of what we heard in Romans 8:1.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: But isn’t that easy for us to forget that? We live in fear that God will not accept us or that He doesn’t truly love us because I got angry with my wife again. Or I gave in to sexual temptation, again. I lied, again. Functionally we sneak back into the courtroom don’t’ we? We view our relationship to God as a judge who is watching, just waiting for us to slip up and sin again so he can strike the gavel and condemn us.  To do this is to go back and to live like we are still under the law and set to receive eternal punishment for our sins from God the judge. This only results in fear. Here’s the good news: this is not what we’ve received, church.”

“It's no small thing what Paul says here. He says we’ve received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry Abba, Father. He uses the Aramaic term Abba for father. To use this term to address God would have been uncommon, perhaps even revolutionary. It was a common family term in Judaism that communicated love, endearment and close intimacy. Essentially there was no word that could describe a closer relationship between a father and a son. But in Jewish culture, it was common to use this name to refer to your earthly father, but very few would address God in this way.”

“This is not some stoic description of God. This is a term of deep affection and intimacy that communicates the realities of our new relationship with God. If you're a parent, then you'll probably understand this well. When I get home oftentimes my son Jack will hear the garage door open and as I come through the door, he comes running down the hallway and yells out with joy running in every fiber of his body, “dad” and jumps into my arms.  Or if he's scared or hurt, he cries out in genuine terror, “dad!” because he knows I will comfort him and protect him as his father. These are the deep, raw emotional groanings of a child to their father. That's what Paul is describing here: the deeply felt, affection filled, childlike groan of our hearts.”

“Church, this is what we’ve received. The freedom and boldness to approach God as our Father. Not fearing that He will condemn us for our sin. Not wondering if he even cares or listens. But knowing we have a father that we can cry out to from the depths of our soul who loves us, because, who adopted He adopted you despite the utter ugliness of your sin and your unwillingness to acknowledge him as God. You can cry out to God like a child cries out to his father, knowing you won’t be forsaken.”

“This cry of Abba, Father didn’t begin with us. This was the very cry of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before he would go to cross. And if you’ll remember that night with me for a moment, we find Jesus lying face down on the ground in absolute agony as he confronts the cup of God’s unmitigated wrath meant as punishment for our sins. No one had ever experienced the terror that our Savior experienced in this moment. And in this intimate scene between the God the Father and God the Son we find Jesus praying over and over and over again crying out to His Abba Father, asking him to remove the cup. This was not theatre; this was the deep groaning of a child to His Father. This was real for Jesus. And with blood dripping out his pores from the sheer anguish of what he was experiencing, He cries out to His Father.”

“The very next day Jesus would willingly go to cross and he would drink every last drop from that cup. And if you remember Jesus’s words from the cross as He cries out “Why have you forsaken me?” But this time He doesn’t cry out Abba Father, He cries out “My God, My God” because in that moment Jesus is in the courtroom, standing in our place, facing God the judge for our sins. And the God the Father forsakes God the Son so that you and I could become children who will never be forsaken by their Father. The deep, deep groanings of our Savior to his Abba father, give way to our deep groanings to our father.”

“Don’t miss this church. The great privilege of our adoption is that we now call God by the very same name that Jesus calls Him. We can cry out to God just like our Savior, knowing he was forsaken by the Father so that we would never be forsaken. We’ve been given this privileged access to God through our adoption.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: This transforms everything about the Christian life, doesn’t it? Consider the hope and comfort we have as we walk through this fallen world knowing that we cry out to God as our Father. According to verse 15 one of the greatest privileges of our adoption is that by the Spirit we have access to cry out to God as Father. One of the primary ways we do this was modeled for us by Jesus in the garden: prayer. When we pray, we are crying out. But who we are crying out to makes all the difference. An unbeliever can pray, but they can’t pray to their Father. Consider what this means for us:
We can go to God like a child goes to his father needing counsel, knowing he will give us true wisdom. 
We can cast our anxieties on Him knowing He cares for us. 
We can confess our sin knowing that He will forgive us and loves us unconditionally. 
We can run to him when we are afraid knowing He is our protector.
We can call out to him in our suffering knowing he will comfort us. 
We can pray together in community group knowing that God delights in the prayers of his children (Prov. 15:8)
We can gather on Sunday morning for pre-service prayer and cry out in Thanksgiving together as God’s family

“We can do all of these things and more knowing that God’s ear is bent toward us, like a loving Father who bends to hear the cries of his child. What good, loving father doesn’t listen too or care about the cries of his children?”

"Perhaps you struggle with this. Perhaps you find it difficult to pray. Be reminded of who you are praying too. The very one who made you the object of his eternal love and affection and adopted you as His child.”

“This reality that we have been made children of God is real and it should humble us. This alone is worthy of an eternity of our worship and gratitude. But scripture tells us there’s more. What we see next should blow us away. Full disclosure: What we are about to see is so unimageable, so extraordinary that everything I’m about to say only scratches the surface.”

“When God saved us and sealed us with His Spirit (Who bears witness to this reality), He not only made us children, but heirs. Did you know that you are an heir? It's quite possible to be a child but not an heir. In fact, in the Old Testament being a child in the family didn’t automatically make you an heir. The true heir who would receive the true inheritance was the first-born son. This is why it was such a big deal that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for some vegetable soup. It mattered where you were born in the family order.”

ILLUSTRATION: Royal lineage being fraught with chaos, murder, and deception - “It was one thing to be a royal child, it was a completely different thing to be the royal heir.”

“Paul says when God adopted us as His children, he didn’t just make us His sons and daughters, He made us heirs. Think about that. It’s one thing to be a child in the family of God – which we don’t deserve and is only because of God’s amazing grace. But it’s a completely different thing to be an heir in the family of God – it’s unimaginable.”

“To be an heir means you are someone who is set to receive or inherit something. So, to be an heir is only as good as the inheritance that you're set to receive.”

“…we have been united to Christ in a such a way that we are fellow heirs with Him. That is, co-heirs, equal heirs with Christ. The one whom scripture tells us is the only son of God, the firstborn of all creation – we are fellow heirs with Him. This is one of the many benefits of our union with Christ. And here’s what it means for us: What He inherits, we inherit. What he receives from the Father, we receive from the Father. And what Christ is set to inherit is wealth far beyond our imagination.” 

“When God adopted us as His children, He made us equal, fellow heirs with His firstborn son, now our brother Jesus, who is set to inherit all things. All things. Everything in all of the cosmos. All land, all water, all resources, every star, every planet, every galaxy. Everything seen and unseen. He inherits it all which means we inherit it all! Not just some parts that have been parceled out for the lesser heirs. No, as fellow heirs with Christ we share in His full inheritance of all things. That means you are a wealthy heir. If you can’t wrap your head around that, it’s okay, I can’t either. But I know it’s true because the bible tells us.”

“But here’s what I do know; this is not some inheritance that can be squandered away like the kingdoms of England or the fortunes of this life. No, 1 Peter 1 tells us there is an inheritance waiting for us in heaven that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. Meaning it is an eternal inheritance that will never grow stale, it will never show signs of decay, it will never be squandered away. There has never been an inheritance like this in all of history because there has never been an heir like Christ in all of history, and it is being kept in heaven for you and it is yours because it is Christ’s and God your Father has made you fellow heirs with Him. From children of wrath to heirs of all things – isn’t the Gospel amazing?”

“You and I could spend eternity naming the stars that we’ve inherited but here’s the problem, none of it would satisfy us. All of the things that we are set to inherit as co-heirs with Christ will never satisfy us. Paul knows this, and he reminds us in verse 17 that we are not only fellow heirs with Christ, but heirs of God Himself. This is everything church.”

“What makes our inheritance so unfathomable, so amazing is not all of the things that we are set to receive but that we get to be with our Father in heaven forever.”

“Perhaps you didn’t come today expecting to be told that you are the wealthiest heir in all of human history set to inherit all things. But as mind blowing as that is, the profound reality of our inheritance is not found in what we receive, but who we receive.”

“When the John was given a glimpse into the new heavens and new earth in Revelation 21 it wasn’t all of the “things” we’re set to inherit that captured his attention. It was the presence of God among His people.”

“Church, there is a day coming when this verse won’t simply be read in a church service or that we share to encourage someone at community group but it will be lived and experienced by us in its fullness because a day is coming when God will gather all of His sons and daughters into presence and we will get to enjoy Him forever.”

”As we leave here; whatever burdens you, whatever discontentment is in your life, whatever sin weighs you down, this can be our response today even in the midst of those things: because we have a Father in heaven who saved us, who adopted us as His own, made us co-heirs with Christ and will one day bring us safely home to be with him.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 4:16
Hebrews 1:1-2a
Psalm 73:25-26
Revelation 21:3
 John 1:12

APPLICATION:
 Q - Examine your prayer life this week and ask yourself this question. Do my prayers reflect the privileged access I’ve been given as a child of God?
In Christ we have this freedom to approach God with a boldness and confidence knowing that our Father will never turn us away, never abandon us in our time of need, never retrain his mercy because when He saved us, by grace and through faith, he adopted us as His own.

Maybe it’s hard to see beyond today because today’s just not that great. We’re all tempted to become discontent with this life. But this reality that God has made us children and heirs lifts us above that struggle. It doesn’t take our struggles away, but it reminds us that no matter bad it gets here; no matter how little you have in this life; this unimaginable inheritance awaits you and it can never be taken away. However bad it gets or however good it gets in this life; nothing compares to what awaits us in heaven. Because when God saved you, He sealed you with His Spirit and He is proof that this is your future. If you are suffering, remember that you have a Father in heaven who you can cry out too and He will listen. In your suffering remember you have a brother in Jesus who suffered beyond anything we will experience so that we could become part of the family. He was the ultimate sufferer and He suffered the cross so that sinners like us could share in His inheritance forever.

QUOTES:
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology - “Adoption is an act of God whereby he makes us members of his family.”

Martin Luther - ”’Abba’ is only a little word, and yet contains everything. It is not the mouth but the heart’s affection which speaks like this. Even if I am oppressed with anguish and terror on every side, and seem to be forsaken and utterly cast away from Your presence, yet am I Your child, and You are my Father… This matter is not expressed with words, but with groanings, and these groanings cannot be uttered with any words of eloquence, for no tongue can express them.”

Randy Alcorn - “Heaven would be hell without God.”

Richard Phillips - “What do we have to look forward to as Christians? This is the question that adoption answers. We are heirs of God's glory and all his goods; we will enter into them eternally with Jesus. We will not experience all the blessings of adoption in this life, but we have our Father's promise that we will enter into his glory.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 8 (entire chapter)

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Oh How Good It Is
You Made Us Your Own
We Are Thankful
The Father's Love
We Are Yours Forever

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 8:18-27

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No more condemnation! AMAZING! Now we live according to the Spirit. But what does that look like? Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Romans: The Power of God in the Gospel of Christ
TEXT: Romans 8:1-13
TITLE: Life in the Spirit
PREACHER: Tim Lambros
BIG IDEA: The indwelling of the Holy Spirit brings freedom, transformation & life.

POINTS:
I. True Liberation
II. Spirit Powered Transformation
III. The Spiritual Life

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
”Romans 8:1 is a popular memory verse, a fighter verse for many people. It should be. It’s a powerful truth that we can all surely benefit from.  Notice Paul’s logic in this brief put powerful truth.  THERE IS THERFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION… Therefore is the connecting word to the all the truths previously unpacked. Read Romans 7:6. But pay attention to the word NOW.  If there is NOW no condemnation - that implies previously there was.  This echoes the same way Paul began Romans 5:1.”

“NOW those who have put their trust in the law, put their trust in their good works were formerly condemned.  Those who have received Christ’s righteousness are no longer under the law but under grace – THEREFORE NOW there is no condemnation. Those who have been liberated from the works of the law are now not under the condemnation of the law. The operative word here is now.  As we will see in this passage this is not a gospel benefit that is stored up for us after Christ returns. We benefit now.”

“Who benefits?  Look at the remainder of this verse.  FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS. If you are in Christ Jesus, you are not condemned. You are not under the wrath of God – not on that treadmill trying to earn God’s favor with your works. YOU ARE FREE – YOU HAVE NOW TRUE LIBERATION!”

“But what does it mean to be IN CHRIST JESUS?  This is one of Paul’s favorite terms. This is Paul’s shorthand on those who are united with Christ.  We saw this in Rom. 6.  Those who are in Christ are those who are united to Christ.  Everything thing Christ did while living in a human body is ours.  We are so united with Christ that His righteousness is our righteousness!”

“QUESTION – Tim the no condemnation is great and all but what about that war within us we heard about last week?  Who here couldn’t relate to the battle we have within as you listened to Paul in his confusion and frustrations.  It was barely 24 hours after last week’s sermon and I was in the “oh wretched man reality” because I submitted to sin again.”

“Yelling at the kids - road rage - wandering eyes today - yelling at the kids AGAIN. Judging my spouse AGAIN. Telling that joke AGAIN. Flipped the bird in traffic AGAIN. One too many drinks AGAIN. Lied to co-worker AGAIN. Caved to gluttony AGAIN. Resenting my pastor AGAIN. Placed that bet AGAIN. Church, this is so important.  Look at V. 2.  SEE THE CONTRAST?  Those who are in Christ Jesus have been liberated from the law of sin and death and now live to a new law – the law of the Spirit of life.  How does it all work?”

“In the moment we fail.  For Christians, the law of the Spirit of life brings a liberty in the moment we fail.  Any other religion has one response when you fail.  YOU MUST DO BETTER.  As believers, the moment you fail, you sin, the law of the Spirit of life is there to work in your life.  Did you sin, yes.  Do you need to repent, yes.  Are you condemned, no!”

“PONDER this for a moment.  How many of you have ever shared a tender moment in your CG that sounded something like this “I am filled with condemnation.” Let me be blunt with you. If you are in Christ Jesus you aren’t filled with condemnation, you are filled with PRIDE.”

“Here’s where it’s important in our experience to distinguish between conviction and condemnation.  The law of the Spirit of life will bring you conviction of sin.  Feelings of condemnation are usually your pride disappointed you didn’t “perform” better.  The humble person RUNS to repentance when convicted and clings to the truth from Romans 8:1-2.”

“Notice Paul explains how all this works in V. 3-4. God does this. Not us!  Look at each of these actions God did. 
- He sent His own Son 
- He sent His own Son – He incarnated Himself in human being
- He sent His own Son to be a sin offering
- He sent His own Son as a righteous way to condemn sin in the flesh.”

“Of course, God sent His Son so we could be justified but much more than that – God wants this to be lived out in His people!  Every Christian and every local Church are God’s display that the righteous requirements of the law can be filled in us – imperfectly in this body – but fulfilled by believers who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. This is God’s ultimate reason for liberating all those who belong to Him.”

“Paul opened this chapter with the life transforming contrast between being condemned and being liberated. Truly free. Now Paul will argue an additional contrast about what that liberated life looks like. As we will see in this part of the passage, REAL CHANGE only comes by the Spirit.  Human beings can grow in their skills, their education, progress in their workplace, etc but when it comes to REAL CHANGE that matters – GROWING INTO CHRIST LIKENESS – this can only happen when gospel power brought by the Spirit comes to bear in our lives.”

“THE FLESH – not our human skin, not really our human appetites or instincts but more the sin dominated self or our fallen ego-centric self. INDWELLING SIN -sometimes called remaining sin.  We have been liberated from condemnation but not fully liberated from the presence of sin.  Penalty, power and then presence. SANCTIFICATION – Growing in actual holiness.  We saw in earlier chapters in Romans that God saves us and DECLARES US RIGHTEOUS.  Sanctification is the process where believers who have been “declared righteous” grow in actual righteousness.”

“Scripture does not give a flattering view of us before we come to Christ.  To SET YOUR MIND ON THE FLESH is to live for your desires, your wants, making it all about you. Paul contrasts that with what happens when we come to Christ and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. V. 5 – but those who live according the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. V. 6 -to set your mind on the Spirit is LIFE AND PEACE.”

“One way of life – setting your mind on the flesh – leads to death.  When the Holy Spirit indwells us and we set our mind on the Spirit – LIFE AND PEACE. What does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? Setting your mind on the things of the Spirit simply means giving yourself to all that God has revealed in His Word.  It’s not complicated.  LIFE AND PEACE are walking according to the way God intended it in the garden. Walking according to His Word.”

“It’s simple and it’s not complicated but it’s not easy either.  The Chrisitan life IS NOT a walk in the park.  It’s a war, it’s a battle zone.”

“There is work to be done. YOU PLAY A PART IN YOUR SANCTIFICATION. YOU HAVE WORK TO DO. There are battles to fight.  Indwelling sin lurks and desires to seize the moment when you let your guard down. This what is meant to live by the Spirit - to be indwelt by the Spirit – to set your mind on the things of the Spirit. God has an agenda and the end goal is to continually grow you into holiness and Christ likeness.”

“When you come to Christ God not only justifies you but gives you the Holy Spirit to dwell in you.  To have the Holy Spirit live in you, lead you, guide you. Oh, you don’t do all things right, you still live in this body that hasn’t been redeemed yet.  You will fall, you will sin but the Spirit of God is in you. As we submit to God’s Word, we will make progress.  We will weaken the power and temptation of indwelling sin.”

“When grace shows up it’s in the form of God Himself taking residence in our lives by the Spirit.  No longer do we live for the flesh, set our minds on the things of this world.  Now we live according to the Spirit.  But what does that look like?”

“Look at V. 9 THIS IS A HUGE identity statement – you are in the Spirit.  You are a spiritual person! You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit.  This is the truth about you. Believe it.  Build your life on it!”

“Verse 9 - Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him…the same power that raised Jesus from the dead can liberate you from the law of sin and death.  No longer will you wonder about “if” the Spirit of God dwells in you!”

“The reality is that Christians will die.  We only die once.  Then we are in the presence of the Lord.  We will have a new body fit for the new heavens and the new earth. Not so for those who don’t have Christ.  Those who are not in Christ, those who don’t have the indwelling Spirit will die an earthly death then face the second death. The Bible speaks of the second death as the permanent separation from God in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.”

“The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that liberates God haters into righteous people in His sight is available for us as we live this life in our mortal bodies. Notice how it works for those who are indwelt by the Spirit. READ VS. 11. The same Spirit, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is the power that gives life to our mortal bodies. This is the Spirit indwelt life.”

“We are debtors not to the flesh but to the Spirit. We are debtors to work at putting to death the deeds of the flesh.  That’s every Christians calling.  Holiness.  Sanctification. Growing in actual righteousness not just declared righteousness. How do we do that? ILLUSTRATION: Jerry Bridges’ airplane of dependant discipline.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 5:1
Ephesians 2:1–3
Titus 3:3
Philippians 2:12–13

APPLICATION:
BOOK RECOMMENDATION: “The Discipline of Grace” - Jerry Bridges

1. Examine your sanctification perspective. Is your sanctification perspective more like the guy sitting on the couch eating potato chips thinking “well if God is going to sanctify me I’m just going to hang out till He does the work” Is that you? You have an obligation according to V. 12 If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”

2. Examine your practice of setting your mind on the things of the Spirit. According to this text we have an obligation, a call, a claim on our life.

3. Examine your relationships. God gives us His Word, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the Church.  Relationships, fellowship.  Yet we can easily walk out our Christian life content with surface relationships, prayer requests always about the kids, work, etc and never allow much transparency about what I set my mind on.  Are you content to live this Spirit indwelt life, but no one really knows you well?

QUOTES:
John Stott - “God judges our sins in the sinless humanity of His Son, who bore them in our place.”

ESV Study Bible Notes - “Since the bodies of Christians are not yet redeemed, they still die, even though they are freed from the condemnation of sin. Yet the presence of the Spirit within believers testifies to the new life they enjoy because of the righteousness of Christ that is now theirs.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 6:8-14

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Come Praise And Glorify
Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me
Spirit Of God
And Can It Be
Jesus I My Cross Have Taken
O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 8:1-13

THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:

CLICK BELOW TO PURCHASE OUR BOOK OF THE QUARTER:

“Encouragement: How to See and Celebrate Evidences of Grace” - Jared Mellinger

Today’s passage leads us onto a battlefield. It will feel as if you were there because you are. Here’s the message for us today: The war against sin is real, but your victory in Christ is sure. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Romans: The Power of God in the Gospel of Christ
TEXT: Romans 7:14-25
TITLE: The War Within
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: The war against sin is real, but your victory in Christ is sure.

POINTS:
I. The Presence of Sin is Real
II. The Battle Against Sin is Difficult
III. The Hope to Overcome Sin is Sure

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
”Today’s passage is among the most debated in Romans. Is the person Paul describes a believer or an unbeliever? View #1. Unbeliever Paul describes the misery of an unregenerate person enslaved to sin, under the law, and powerless to obey. Statements such as sold under sin in 14 and captive to the law of sin in 23 sound like total defeat, which is completely contrary to Paul’s message in Romans 6—Christians are no longer slaves to sin. That’s not the whole argument, but it’s the heart of it. View #2 Believer Paul describes the inward battle of a regenerate person who loves God and desires to obey Him, yet there remains an enemy within, called indwelling sin.”

“I’m convinced Paul is describing the experience of a believer for four reasons:  Paul’s Verbs: In 8-10, Paul spoke in the past tense, recalling a time when he believed he was fine. No worries. No guilt. Blissfully indifferent to the demands of God’s law. In today’s passage, all the verbs are in the present tense. Paul’s Heart: Paul says four things that are impossible for an unregenerate person. In 18, he recognizes the depths of his sinfulness. In 22, he delights in God’s law. And in 17, 18, and 20, Paul uses language that distinguishes himself from his flesh, his rebellious, fallen nature. In 24, Paul cries out for freedom. All are impossible apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s Letters: Galatians 5, which clearly describes a believer, uses very similar language (Galatians 5:16-17). Our Experience: It’s subjective, but it’s true. Our human experience bears witness to the truth of God’s Word. As believers, we know exactly what Paul is talking about in this passage because it’s our experience in sanctification, which is the point of Romans 7, sanctification in light of our justification. Our passage today is a very real part of the normal Christian life.”

ILLUSTRATION: Gettysburg Civil War Battlefield

“The moment you believed the gospel, you died to sin through your union with Christ. Yet you still live in a fallen world. Your fallen nature, the flesh, remains with you. We give in. We fall. We stumble. That’s the normal Christian experience. But there’s hope. The war against sin is real, but your victory in Christ is sure.”

“In Romans 6, Paul described sin as a force at work in us that we must not allow to reign in our bodies. Here in 14, Paul gives us a picture of that force. He says the law is spiritual, meaning it addresses the heart, but I am in the flesh. Remnants of the old man, the sinful nature, remain, so a war breaks out between the two.”

“This war makes Paul feel as though he is enslaved to sin again. It doesn’t completely control him, nor does it destroy his desire to do good. But it is powerful. It interrupts his attempts to live for Christ.”

“So it is with the believer. The moment we are saved, our sins are forgiven, and we are made new in Christ. Yet sin is not fully eradicated. It remains with us. Sin is the enemy within, presenting competing desires and putting up roadblocks to following Jesus as it tries to recapture our hearts. The presence of sin is real. And we feel it. We feel it more than ever because we belong to Christ, are filled with the Spirit, and love God.”

ILLUSTRATION: Black spider on a white shirt

“Before you were saved, you didn’t struggle with sin. You didn’t fight against it. It was your master. It owned you. That was it. You didn’t know any different. Now that you are in Christ and filled with the Spirit, you are acutely aware of sin’s presence.”

“Paul brings us right onto the battlefield, where he gives two marks of the believer at war…”

“Confusion—(15) For I do not understand my own actions. Paul is confused. He’s not confused about the mystery of the Trinity, the relationship between God and evil, or the question of free will. He’s confused about his behavior—read 15b-16. I don’t do what I desire to do; instead, I do what I hate. I love God’s ways. I believe God’s law is good, holy, and righteous. Yet, too often, my desire and my actions don’t line up, and I can’t explain it. Paul is perplexed! He’s also frustrated.”

“Frustration—read 18-19. I have the desire, but I feel I lack the ability to do what is right. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. Nothing good dwells in my flesh. You can feel Paul’s frustration. And don’t judge him as indifferent. The genuine confusion and frustration flow from a man who cares deeply about his personal holiness and God’s glory.”

“Can you relate? You love Jesus. You desire to live for him passionately. You hate your sin. You repent quickly when the Spirit convicts you and say never again. You wake up with the best intentions to live for God’s glory. Today will be different. No more yelling at the kids. No more road rage on the way to work. You’re resolved—No wandering eyes today. But by noon, you’re right back at it. Yelling at the kids AGAIN. Judging my spouse AGAIN. Telling that joke AGAIN. Flipped the bird in traffic AGAIN. One too many drinks AGAIN. Lied to co-worker AGAIN. Caved to gluttony AGAIN. Resenting my pastor AGAIN. Placed that bet AGAIN. You know better. You desire better. But you did it AGAIN. You want to do good, but you keep doing things that contradict who you are in Christ. It’s confusing and frustrating. Welcome to the battlefield of the Christian life.”

“The presence of sin is real, and the battle against it is difficult because sin remains powerful. Paul acknowledges sin’s power in 17 and 20 when he says—It is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me.”

“Paul is not trying to evade accountability for his sinful behavior. We choose to sin. Paul’s point is that the power of sin can be overwhelming— 21-23, 25b.”

“By law, Paul doesn’t mean the Mosaic Law; he means a principle. Here’s the principle: Even at my best, my fallen nature is right there with me. When I want to do what is right in God’s eyes—be patient with my wife, take lustful thoughts captive, be honest about what happened—sin is there, trying to assert its dominance over my thoughts and heart. My heart loves God, though my flesh loves sin.”

ILLUSTRATION: Intense game of Tug of War

“The Christian life is not a peaceful field of lilies we run and jump through. It’s a combat zone. It’s warfare. The law of sin wages war against the law of the mind, which is my new inner being that loves God’s desires and ways. The battle against sin is real and difficult. This is why we should never be shocked by someone’s sin.”

ILLUSTRATION: The Self-Righteous Gasp

“Every believer is at war. Different sins. Different weaknesses. Different intensities. If we understand this, we will be more compassionate and less self-righteous toward one another, especially in the midst of the fight.”

“Wretched is the perfect word here. It means miserable and pathetic. Isn’t that how we feel when we give in to sin AGAIN, miserable and pathetic? There’s hope. It isn’t trying harder. It isn’t greater discipline. It isn’t longer devotions. It isn’t taking the law more seriously. Paul doesn’t ask, “What must I do?” He asks—WHO will rescue me? Answer—(25) Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“The solution is Jesus. He will return one day, and when he does, believers will be raised to new life. 1 Corinthians 15 says that in a twinkling of an eye, we will be glorified, made like Jesus. It’s a life where sin will be no more. The battle of sanctification will be over, and the enemy within will be defeated once and for all. Until then, there is great hope. That’s what Romans 8 is about. You are not fighting alone. The Spirit lives in you. He is empowering, sustaining, and sanctifying you. God’s grace is sufficient to carry you through the fight. Jesus’ life and death guarantee the outcome. Victory over sin and death is not merely possible; it’s sure!”

“This should continually draw us to Christ. God sanctifies His people slowly and progressively. That is not a flaw in God’s design; it’s the design. God is greatly glorified by our continuing trust and dependence on Him. The battle within reminds us every day how much we need Him. It is meant to drive us away from ourselves and toward Jesus.”

APPLICATION:
BOOK RECOMMENDATION: “The Enemy Within” by Kris Lundgaard

Q. Where are you pretending you don’t struggle? 

When it comes to our sin, it’s easy to feel ashamed, worry about what others think of us, and, most importantly, believe God is disappointed in us. So we put on a mask and pretend we don’t struggle with sin. We sit in CG quietly so we aren’t exposed. We live on the surface with each other. Nobody really gets in because we’re afraid of what they will discover.   

Romans 7 frees us to be real about our struggles by showing that the Christian life isn’t about pretending you don’t struggle. It’s about knowing that, despite your struggles, Jesus runs toward you, loves you, and renews you. Nothing can thwart his plans for you or separate you from his love, even in the midst of the fight. 

Where do you need to stop pretending everything is good? It’s time to remove the mask. It’s ok. The fight is real. We all experience it. But you can fight. You’re not helpless. You are free from your sin in Christ, and God’s grace is sufficient to get you through.

QUOTES:
Christopher Ash - “God's law has been written on my heart, so that at the very deepest level of my being I really do delight in God's law. But the law of sin is still at work and there is a war being waged within me. I feel like a prisoner who has been set free and has crossed into friendly territory, but the enemy troops keep coming over the border and kidnapping me back into my old prison.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 6:8-14

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
We Give Thanks (Psalm 107)
Sing
We Are Thankful
Amazing Grace
Thy Mercy

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 8:1-13

THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:

CLICK BELOW TO PURCHASE OUR BOOK OF THE QUARTER:

“Encouragement: How to See and Celebrate Evidences of Grace” - Jared Mellinger