INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Mark Smith in an article in Readers Digest said the following: Like many high school seniors, my son was filling out college-scholarship applications. One form asked for extracurricular activities. He answered: “wrestling.” The next question requested positions held. He entered: “pinned, mostly.” --Mark Smith, Readers Digest Jun00 (http://www.irsweb.com/)
• How many of you have felt liked you are continually being “pinned” to the mat and are just waiting to get counted out.
• When things get difficult what do we do?
• How do we hold steady when the storms of life try to tear us to pieces?
• SLIDE #2
• Over the next five weeks we are going to journey through a series entitled, “Equip, Essential Tool For Spiritual Living.”
• One of the tools we need to possess if we are going to grow spiritually is the ability to hold steady when life’s storms come at us. WE need to have the ability to let our faith keep us grounded even in the most difficult of times.
• Today we are going to examine three reasons we can hold steady in life’s storms.
• Please turn to Romans 8.
• SLIDE 3
• Romans 8:28(ESV) 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,£ for those who are called according to his purpose.
• From verse 28 we learn…
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
To hold steady in life’s storm you must understand:
I. Your storms are not bigger than God’s plan for you.
• One of the temptations we face is thinking that our problem is bigger than God’s plan. I mean we see the problem, but we do not always see the plan.
• I find such peace in Romans 8:28. God is making some significant promises to those who are His.
• Let us take a moment to examine the nuts and bolts of what God is saying to us in verse 28.
• SLIDE #5
A. God will not let storms destroy you.
• We are told that we KNOW that God causes all things to work together for good.
• The word “know” means to learn by instruction. How do we know our math facts? By instruction.
• We know that God causes all things to work together for good because we are taught through God’s word this is true.
• The only way we know this fact is through the teaching of the Bible.
• How many times have you seen what seemed like a hopeless situation turn into something good? I have seen some of the most difficult situations in life turn into something good for people.
• In my own life there have been many things that happened that at the time did not seem good, but later I could see they were the best thing that happened.
• We are told that God causes ALL THINGS to work together for good. In the context of the book of Romans, all things includes all the trials and tribulations we deal with in life. It deals with the persecutions we face as a result of our faith.
• We have some examples in the scriptures of this principle.
• How many of you think it would be terrible to be sold into slavery by your own brothers?
• Then how many of you think it would be bad to be thrown into prison for something you were completely innocent of after things seemed to be going well for you?
• This all happened to a man named Joseph in the bible. Later on in his life, Joseph’s brothers thought Joseph was going to get them back when Joseph said the following in Genesis 50:20
• SLIDE #6
• Genesis 50:20(ESV) 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people£ should be kept alive, as they are today.
• When the early church was being persecuted, it seemed like a bad thing, but the good out of it was the fact it made the Christians leave Jerusalem and take the gospel to other parts of the world.
• SLIDE #7
• Acts 8:4(ESV) 4Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
• The disciples were not going to leave the comfort of Jerusalem until bad things forced them out.
• Whatever we are facing in life, God promises that it will work together for good. Who is that promise for? Is it for every person or just a limited few? Look at the rest of verse 28.
• We see there is a condition for this great blessing, it is not for EVERYONE.
• SLIDE #8
B. God will take care of those who are living in His will.
• The passage implies that only those who continually love God are the ones for whom this promise is for.
• From Romans 6:13 we see that if we love God we will present ourselves to Him,
• SLIDE #9
• Romans 6:13(ESV) 13Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
• If we love God we will walk with Him by the leading of the Spirit! WE will be obedient to Him
• SLIDE #10
• John 14:21(ESV) 21Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
• The promise is for those who are called according to God’s purpose. The word “purpose” means to place something before one’s mind, to plan, to resolve.
• This verse implies that a called one is one who has heard the call and has accepted it and obeyed it.
• Let us look at Romans 8:29 now.
• SLIDE #11
• Romans 8:29(ESV) 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
• SLIDE #12
To hold steady in life’s storm you must understand:
II. The storms of life do not change God’s grand intentions for you.
• When we are facing the storms of life we can stay strong when we realize that God has great plans for us, plans that will not be thwarted by the impending storms.
• Let us look at a couple of them found in verse 29.
• SLIDE #13
A. God wants you to be conformed to the image of Jesus.
• The word we translate “conformed” is a word that means a likeness inside and out. A thorough change, not just an outward superficial resemblance.
• One of the purposes for God working in our lives through the difficult times is so that one day we will have the same resurrection body that Jesus has. We will look like Him.
• SLIDE #14
• Romans 12:2 (NLT) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
• SLIDE #15
• 2 Corinthians 3:18(ESV) 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,£ are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
• This is the destiny for those who love God. God does not want us to fail to reach this goal for our lives because it is part of a bigger plan for us.
• Slide #16
B. God wants you to be a part of His large family.
• In verse 29 we are told that God wants Jesus to be the firstborn of many brethren.
• What this means is that God wants a big family. Jesus was resurrected and given a new body and now is seated at the right hand of the Father.
• God wants a VERY large family. He wants many others to follow the path of Jesus.
• Remember, the reason we are given freewill is because God only wants those in His family because they love Him. Giving us freewill is the only way for God to know we love Him.
• I wonder if Bill Gates came out and said he would adopt ANYONE who loved him into his family, how many people would say they loved him. How would he know if people really loved him?
• When you have great wealth that would be one of the perils of wealth, knowing who really loves you for you or who loves what you have.
• One of the ways I know my wife loves me is the fact that she had a choice. If I were to become wealthy somehow, I know she loves me for who I am. Don’t you want people to love you for who you are?
• God is no different. God wants a big family!
• Now I want to briefly look at the process behind God’s plan.
• SLIDE #17
• Romans 8:30(ESV) 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
• SLIDE #18
To hold steady in life’s storm you must understand:
III. The process behind God’s plan for you.
• There are fives things that are part of the process that is behind god’s plan for you. These items should help us to see how much has gone into God’s plan for us, therefore giving us the confidence we need to hold steady.
• SLIDE #19
A. God’s foreknowledge can give us confidence.
• Verse 29 talks about those whom God foreknew. In the context the word “foreknew” means to “approve of beforehand.”
• What this means is that in eternity past, God’s knew He would approve of anyone who accepted His Son. He foreknew that those who accepted Jesus would be accepted by Him. God approves those who are faithful.
• God did not just make His plan up on the fly.
• SLIDE #20
B. Those who accept Jesus are predestined to be conformed to His image.
• Once again, this deals with the fact that God decided beforehand that those who accept Jesus would be conformed to His image, that we would have a resurrection body. God plans were formed in eternity past, so storms will not change it!
• SLIDE #21
C. God calling can give us confidence.
• He says that those whom He predestined, He also called. The ones who are predestined to glory are those who accept the call of the gospel.
• The call is open to EVERYONE! 2 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God desires ALL to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
• Those who reject the call are lost, those who accept are saved.
• SLIDE #22
D. God justifies those who answer the calling.
• The one’s called are justified. Remember that being justified means that we are declared innocent.
• If you are guilty, you cannot go to heaven, we can declare ourselves innocent, God is the only one who can do that, and that is done to those who answer the call of Jesus.
• You are justified by God He will not leave you, stay strong during the storms of life!
• SLIDE #23
E. God glorifies those who are called.
• When it is all said and done, when Jesus returns, we will be glorified with Jesus. We will be a brother or sister of Jesus. Look at verse 29 (many brothers).
• We will receive our inheritance in full from God.
CONCLUSION
• Pain and suffering are a reality of this world, as long as we live this life; it will be a part of life. All that will pass when we go to heaven.
• Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them. --Washington Irving
• We have a great God who will help us rise above the misfortunes in life! Don’t be discouraged; look for the silver lining in the cloud of distress.
• God loves you and when we love Him, He will welcome us into His family!
