If God is For us, Who can be Against Us?
August 28, 2005
Pastor Glenn Newton
Clarksville New Hope
Romans 8:31-39
RO 8:31 “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
RO 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Before you leave this place of worship today, I want you to know a couple of things that are True. I want you to know these things, I want you to accept them as truth in your life.
1. God has chosen you for Greatness… Say that with me…. I have been chosen for Greatness.
2. God wants to make you into more than you ever dreamed… say this with me… I can be more than I ever dreamed.
3. When God is on your side, who can defeat you? Say this with me… With God on my side, I cannot be defeated.
One year ago today we had our first “Vision Sunday” and I challenged you with some goals that have been passed out and posted. As I have reviewed our goals, after one year, we are on the way to reaching those goals. We haven’t quite made our goal of running 100 in attendance on a regular basis…..but that day is not far off….You do believe that don’t you? If we will get excited and use this Sunday School “His and Her” contest as a way of inviting new people, don’t be shocked to see a couple of Sundays where we are over 100 in attendance…. I know how competitive you are… you will be dragging people off the street. We are going to do it, because I know your heart, I know your passion for your lost friends and family members… and God is building His church through you and being used by Him to reach out to others… so get ready we will hit that goal.
One of the other goals that we set was to be in a place financially that we weren’t struggling from week to week to meet our bills. Let me tell you where we are with this goal so you will know exactly what is needed. We are averaging _________________ per week in tithe… it’s mine and your tithe that pays the bills….. I can tell you this with confidence… if we all will be obedient in this area of tithing, this goal will be a thing of the past… but it’s going to take all of us making this step of faith.. And obeying God’s Word when it comes to tithing. Many of you have started tithing this past year, and I would dare say that God has taken care of your needs… do I hear an Amen? When you step out on faith and tithe, God will bless you, and He will provide for all your needs, financially and otherwise.. Amen?
In the next few weeks we will be learning more about tithing as we will be going through a series of sermons on stewardship… so I challenge you to not miss, and learn how God wants to bless you as you obey Him in this area of worship.
The truth is as we grow spiritually, tithing becomes as natural an act of worship as singing and Bible study… it becomes a part of what we do as Christians… so this goal will be met as we grow closer to the Lord.
I want you to know that we are on track… God has done some amazing things in our church in the last year… and He isn’t going to run out of miracles… don’t you know that? I can’t wait to see what He will do this coming year…. I can’t wait to see who will get saved…. I can’t wait to see how God will use some of you in ministry… I can’t wait to see some of your long time prayer requests being answered…. Because I know this.. God is faithful.. Amen?
Our Goals are before us and God will build His church through His Faithful Followers… I want to share with you this passage that God put on my heart to share with you… God wants you to know Him in all of His Glory… and God wants you to Know who You Are when You are On His Team.
1. God has chosen you for Greatness… Say that with me…. I have been chosen for Greatness.
Can I ask you a question this morning? If God is for us, who can be against us?
If you’re a Christian this morning, if you have given your heart to Christ through Faith, repented of your sins and are living in obedience to His Word…. You need to understand this truth…. God has chosen you for Greatness…. And there’s nobody, there’s nothing, there is no circumstance, there is no disability, there is no personality problem, there is no financial barrier, there is nothing under the Sun that can keep God from doing exactly what He wants in you for His Glory! (Say it again) You have victory through Jesus Christ, the Risen Savior who lives and Reigns in your heart…. Don’t forget who you are! Don’t let the devil tell you that you’re something that your not! Don’t listen to the lies, don’t listen to the doubts… You listen to the Word of God….. You listen to the Truth…. Tune everything else out…. Listen to what God says…… I have some examples of what He wants you to know… Listen.
JN 15:18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
1CO 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
EPH 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
COL 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
1TH 1:4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
2TH 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
Even if you are having a hard time believing that God has chosen you for Greatness, you need to accept it in your heart and ask God to make it true in your life… Say it with me… “I have been chosen for Greatness”. Now.. Believe it, Live like it… because it’s true, Scripture says so.
2. God wants to make you into more than you ever dreamed… say this with me… I can be more than I ever dreamed.
Do you remember some of the dreams that you had about what you would become when you got older? Most of you probably could guess what me dream was when I was a kid. From the time I was eight or nine years old I dreamed of becoming a NFL football player. I remember in the 6th grade, we had a man start attending our church in Forest Grove, Oregon who was a power lifter, and my brother and I would go over to his home and lift weights on a weekly basis… in 6th grade.. In my mind I was getting ready for the NFL.
In Jr. High, I say this as humbly as I can, I dominated the opposition… in my mind I was on my way to the NFL.
I remember the first day of Summer after my 9th grade year, the High School coach called our house and said, “It’s time to get to work”, so off we went to the High School to lift weights and run, all Summer long. The coach at Olathe North only coached me for one year, but with one sentence he instilled in me the idea that I could make that dream of the NFL come true. One of those Summer work outs, after running a mile with the other players, I was coming off the track and he said, “Glenn, your going to be a Champion if you keep working.” That inspired me.
We moved and in my senior year at Baxter Springs High School, we did something that had never been done before in the School history, we made the playoffs, and more than that we went all the way to the Championship game…. I will say this as humbly as I can… my brother and I, we dominated… Jeff and I were all-conference, Scott Madden and myself were voted to the All State, I was on my way.
The summer following my Senior year is when it hit me… I was waiting for all of these college recruiters to come calling, to send their letters, to offer scholarships. It didn’t happen…. My dream of playing in the NFL died a slow death, the reality was I wasn’t good enough…..Have you ever had any dreams like that…. Dreams that somehow just never panned out… they died a slow painful, death… Reality sinks in, and it hurts for a while.
What I learned is that God is the dream giver. When my dream of the NFL, and my selfish ambitions died, and I gave myself 100% to God…. He planted a new dream in my heart… a dream bigger and better than anything that I could ever accomplish on my own ability… God has given me the privilege of playing on His Team, God has given me the privilege of preaching His Word, and being a Coach to New Hope Church of the Nazarene. Being your pastor is the greatest calling in the world, I wouldn’t give up being your pastor even if the Denver Broncos called me today with a job offer… because what is going on here is so much more important… we are playing the game of our lives, and we are saving people who are lost and on their way to an eternity in hell if someone doesn’t reach out to them…. There is no greater calling than doing God’s work.. Amen?
Every single person in this room has been called to ministry, from the time of your birth God has planned for you to be on His Team, doing His work, using your God given gifts and abilities to reach out to a hurting, dying world…..No matter what kind of dreams have died in your past…. You can be more than you ever dreamed when you team with God… amen? Say it with me…. “I can be more than I ever dreamed”
3. When God is on your side, who can defeat you? Say this with me… With God on my side, I cannot be defeated.
The apostle Paul who was faced with all kinds of trials and tribulations in his life asked this question, it’s a question that needs to burn in our mind and heart…. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul goes on and says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all -- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
Folks, does this not get you fired up? Do you realize what that says? Do you realize who is in your corner? Do you realize who is going to fight your battles for you? Do you realize who is going to give you everything you need to win every battle that you find yourself in? Do you realize that with Almighty God on your side, fighting on your behalf that there is absolutely nothing in this world that can defeat you?
Verse 28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Christians, it’s time for us to move out from this life of fear, this life of being intimidated by this world, it’s time for us to move out from a life of worry about tomorrow… it’s time for us to move out from this life of not trusting God who has all power and authority in this world… It’s time that we start believing what God has told us in His Word…. He is the King, He is on our side, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all… how will he not also graciously give us all things?”
How will we become the church and the people that God has called us to become? We will believe what He says, and we will live our lives with a confidence of who we are and what we are with Christ living through us with His Resurrection power.
“With God on my side, I cannot be defeated.” Will you say that with me.
How will we reach our goals? God.
How will we become financially able to build the building that He wants for us? God
How will we reach 25 new Christians in the next 9 months? God
How will be averaging between 150-175 in the next 2 years…. God.
How will be become the ministers that the Bible says that we are to become as Christians? God
How can we learn how to use our gifts and abilities for the church.. God
How can we be victorious, and more than Conquerors in our life… God
The Answer is God… God ruling and empowering our lives through Christ who has total access to our hearts and minds. Does He rule your heart and mind today? It’s why you were created… will you fulfill God’s purpose in your life? You can make that decision today… and it will change your life for eternity… let the dream giver come into your heart.
