AWKN

[00:00:00] Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. If you can't tell, I'm a little nervous and awkward. So buckle up. These next 25 minutes will be really interesting, you know what I'm saying? My name is Emily. If we haven't met. And it is so exciting to see you all here. Like Sarah said, we have been praying for this night, preparing for it, and the fact that you all came fills me with so much joy. I love you guys so much already. [00:00:26] I. [00:00:28] It's my sister. If you can't tell, she's gonna be the last one in. [00:00:32] Thank you. [00:00:34] I get to be an intern here at Christchurch. I'm 20 years old, I go to Grand Canyon University, and if anyone asks, I came up with telling the wedding reception story first. Okay? Jovan took that from me. [00:00:48] So when I was a junior in high school, my sister, my oldest sister, not the loud one, the other one, she got married. And so we had the reception in our backyard. And I remember standing and talking to the other bridesmaids. And at one point the bridesmaid I was talking to, a gentleman, came up and asked to dance with her. And what he didn't know was that she had a boyfriend or maybe even a fiance at this point already. And I was thinking, this is gonna be so awkward, you know, this is gonna be terrible to witness. And to my surprise, she actually said yes. And she just let him know. But just so you know, I'm engaged or have a boyfriend or whatever, she said. And she said, but I'd always dance, you know. And it was just this kind answer. And I thought that was very bold. But if you think that's bold, just wait. So I'm watching them on the dance floor, they're doing this slow dance, but the entire time they're standing, almost like middle school style, you know what I'm saying? Swinging back and forth. And she's just talking and talking and they're having this conversation as if they knew each other. And so when she comes back, I had to know, was that the most awkward thing ever? [00:01:55] And I asked her, why did you say yes? What did you even talk about? And she said, well, I figured it was two min that I had is undivided attention. [00:02:04] So I asked him if he knew. Jesus. [00:02:09] See, that's bold, you know, I thought the first one was bold. That's bold. And I went, okay, yeah. So why did you do that though? Like, that even concept was so unusual to me. I didn't know if it was crazy or genius, you know. And she said, And I'll never forget this if I ever actually. [00:02:29] Side note, got a tattoo I'm scared of. Tattoos, like needles freak me out. You know what I'm saying? But if I ever got a tattoo, this is what it would say. Because that's how important it has been in my faith. I look back on this moment and share it over and over again. Because she looked at me and she said, em, I get to build his kingdom. [00:02:45] This passion I saw in her literally gives me goosebumps. Every time I share this, every time I talk about it, she says, I get to build his kingdom. [00:02:53] And it excited me. I'd never seen someone. See, I've known Jesus my whole life. I'd never seen someone explain it to me in that way before. I'd never seen someone with such a fire to share who Jesus was with a random person at a wedding reception in someone's backyard. You know, very crazy. But she was so passionate, and my soul desired that level of passion. I could see that this was what she knew her purpose was to be doing, building the kingdom of God. [00:03:20] And I wanted that. You know, how come I come to church my whole life and I prayed and I knew who Jesus was and we were good. Like, I loved him, you know, I knew Jesus loved me, but I had never considered that my very purpose was to be building the kingdom of God. [00:03:37] And it set me on this path of absolute transformation. [00:03:42] Seeing the passion of one person changes the people they're around. You know what I'm saying? [00:03:48] She got to be that person for me. And it ignited this fire in me to be that person for other people. [00:03:54] I wanted to have that passion. I wanted to build a kingdom of God. And if we use this language, all that means is bringing heaven to earth. [00:04:01] It means bringing the love of Christ to the people around us because he loved us first. It means forgiving people that feel unforgivable because we've been forgiven. It means showing grace to people that don't deserve it, because that's exactly what the grace of God is. That is bringing the kingdom of God here on earth. That's what we're on mission to do. [00:04:21] We're not here on accident. We're here on purpose. And we're here to have a passion to build his kingdom, to bring the values of the character, the qualities of Jesus Christ to those people in our lives. So our passion just saturates and permeates the people we're around, that it would ignite that fire over and over again. Because that's the Holy Spirit, the Very power of God inside of us. [00:04:43] And so now we're sitting and wondering, well, how do I have that passion? You know, I want that, too. [00:04:49] And it's what Jovan talked about, how he said that we have to have his favor rule over our lives. It's letting his truths be the thing we cling onto. And let us guide every decision we make. [00:05:01] It means knowing who God is and knowing who he says we are. And so tonight, I want to look at just that. [00:05:09] I want to look at who God says we are. [00:05:12] I want to know the God that I follow. You know, sometimes my prayers are just like God. I want to know you more. [00:05:20] And so tonight we're going to look at Romans 8 together. [00:05:23] And before we do that, I want to invite us to just pray together. [00:05:27] Pray to the Lord yourself. I'm going to pray over us. [00:05:32] But my ask is that our hearts would be willing to receive what he has. Whether this is your first time in a church building or this is the millionth time you've grown up in the church, there is something deeper that God is calling you to. [00:05:47] Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for this night. [00:05:52] I'm just filled with awe of who you are. [00:05:57] I pray that the words that I read, they are not my own. They are your words, the very word of God. I just pray, Lord, that you would use your word to speak to us. [00:06:07] Because it's your word. It has power, it has meaning, it has truth. And it goes throughout all time from when it was written to now. Lord, I pray that it would pierce our hearts. Would you soften our hearts, Father, so that we can receive what you have for us? Would you ignite a passion in our heart? [00:06:24] In your name, Jesus, we get to pray. [00:06:28] Amen. [00:06:29] I heard this definition for bold faith, and I really wish I actually could give credit to who it was, but I didn't even keep track. But the bold faith definition that I really liked, it says, it's a passion for Jesus that influences your life. [00:06:45] It's having such a passion, such a love, that it outweighs any of the insecurities, any of the doubts, any of the fears when our passion for Jesus is greater and it influences every aspect of your life. See, God has us here to build his kingdom. It means being influential for his good. [00:07:04] But I can't be influential with his love if I have not yet experienced his love for myself. [00:07:11] I can't give forgiveness to another person out of my own power if I have not experienced the forgiveness of God and He provides me the power. [00:07:21] So we need to be rooted in the character of God and his truths. And that's exactly what Romans 8 was meant to do. [00:07:29] See, the first eight chapters of Romans, it's written by, well, the whole letter of Romans. Let me restart. The whole letter of Romans is written by Paul. And he's writing to the Christians that are in Rome, and he basically gives them this letter and he says, this is what we believe, this is what the gospel means, and this is how you live it out. It's very, very practical. And the part I want us to dive into today is like, what I would consider the spark notes of the first eight chapters. Do you know what I'm saying? [00:07:58] Spark notes, anyone? We feel okay. I used that reference to Sarah not to call you out. And she was like, no idea what spark notes is, but maybe your generation will get it. So I was really hoping. Thank you. Basically, the summary of the first eight chapters. [00:08:13] It's basically Paul saying, hey, if I lost you, bring it back in. Let me tell you the most important things I want you to know. These are the most important truths that we live by. [00:08:23] This is what you build your life on. This is what your heart is rooted in. Because it's more than just knowing the truth. It's experiencing the truth. It's believing it for yourself. It's having confidence in what it is. That's what creates a passion in us. [00:08:36] And this is what he has to say in verse 31. [00:08:41] What then, shall we say in response to these things? He's saying? Okay, everything I just talked about, letting ring it back in. Let me tell you the most important truths. This is what he says. He asks a bunch of rhetorical questions. The first one, if God is for us, who can be against us? [00:08:58] If God is for us, who is against us? [00:09:03] And I said that he tells us these truths, it's because we know that the answer is a resounding nothing. Nobody, nothing is against us. No one is against us. [00:09:13] So the truth here is God is for you. [00:09:18] Have you been living like God is for you? [00:09:22] What does that even mean for our lives? It means that God isn't indifferent about you. [00:09:28] It means he's not just letting you figure it out on your own, hoping you figure it out right? Laughing when you make your mistakes, it means he's intentionally, purposely involved in your life. That's why you're sitting in these seats. That's why you're listening online. That's why you have breath in your lungs and a heartbeat, is because God is intentionally working in your life. God is for You. [00:09:47] Do you believe that? [00:09:49] Have you been living like the God of the universe is for you? When I tell my friends or my family man, I'm so for you, I'm in your corner, it means I'm rooting for you. I want to encourage you. I want the very best for your life. I want to call and I want to be there to pick up the pieces when you fall. [00:10:08] It's the same for God. [00:10:10] A God that is for us is the one who wants the very best for our life, who wants to call the best out of us. Because he designed us. He knows what we're capable of. He knows our potential and he wants it bad for us. [00:10:23] Because God is for you. [00:10:26] And who can stand against no one. Nothing. Nobody. [00:10:32] If God is on our side, what can we not do? You know, if God's hand is in it, what is he not capable of accomplishing? [00:10:41] If God is for you, imagine the things he's calling to do with you to build his kingdom. [00:10:51] The second truth. [00:10:56] He did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. [00:11:00] How will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? [00:11:08] He gave up his Son for us all. [00:11:13] His Son. And he says, he goes on to say that won't he now give us all things? What he's saying here is that Jesus Christ was the most precious gift you will ever receive. [00:11:25] That it was the most precious, expensive, worthy gift. And God gave him up for us. [00:11:32] For the sinners, for the messed up people, for the people that didn't earn it or work for it or sometimes even won it. [00:11:38] He gave it up for us. God gave us everything. [00:11:42] The truth here is that God gave up everything for you, Jesus. He gave up his seat of power in heaven. He gave up the fact that they were all singing, hail King Jesus. And instead he was mocked on the cross. [00:11:56] Hail King of the Jews. And they wrote that as the charge above his name. Because he was taking our place. [00:12:02] He gave up everything for us. [00:12:10] What he's telling us here is that Jesus Christ, he is the most precious gift we will ever see. And that picture of him on the cross is the truest form of love you will ever experience. [00:12:22] Nothing can compare to the cross. [00:12:25] And if no act of love can compare to the cross, that means no act of blessing and favor in your life will ever compare in the eyes of God. He wants to bless his children. [00:12:37] His desire is for our good. If he gave up the most expensive, most precious thing there was, what will he not bless us with? [00:12:46] He gave up everything for us. [00:12:49] If God was for you on the cross, how will he not also be for you in your relationships? [00:12:55] If God was for you on the cross, how will he not also be for you in your family? If God was for you on the cross, how will he not also be for you in your career and your decisions and your financial struggle and your hurt and your questions and doubts and concerns when you feel like you're drowning? God is still for you if he was for you on the cross. [00:13:17] Nothing compares to what Jesus did on the cross. [00:13:20] That is a truth we cling to because it reminds us that he willingly gave up everything for us because he is for us. [00:13:32] And when Jesus died on the cross, it didn't end there. [00:13:36] The thing that sets Christians apart from everyone else isn't the fact that Jesus died on the cross. [00:13:42] That's fact. That's in history, and everyone agrees with that. But it's that third day that sets us apart. [00:13:48] It's the day that he conquered over death. [00:13:51] And he says, I'm not finished yet. [00:13:54] It's the day that he declared victory over lives. [00:13:58] No one can stand against us when we have God because He's already declared victory. We have a victory promised. [00:14:07] Are you living like there's a victory promised? [00:14:10] I think I spend too much of my life feeling like I'm losing at life, like I just keep failing and messing up. And I'm a disappointment. [00:14:20] And I wonder how many of us lose sight of the fact that there is a victory declared over your life. So the anthem of our soul gets to be. He's not finished yet. [00:14:30] The anthem of our soul gets to be that God is for me and there is a victory that awaits me in the end. [00:14:37] God is for me because he died on that cross, defeated the grave, and now he calls me his. [00:14:48] The third truth we see in verses 34. [00:14:55] Who then is the one who condemns no one? [00:14:59] 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. I actually skipped a verse. Sorry, we're going to go back a second. This one's important. Okay. Verse 33. Let's try that again. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns no one? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding. [00:15:33] If we take away the question, the truth here is that God chooses you. [00:15:40] He's chosen you. [00:15:42] He's called you by name. He's picked you for a purpose. He's chosen you. And the reason we know that to be true is because of these two things. God justifies us and Christ intercedes on our behalf. [00:15:54] It's answering two questions. It says, who will bring a charge? And then it asks who will condemn? And the answer is, no one will bring a charge against God on our behalf because God has already justified you. That word. It means he's made you right with Him. [00:16:09] Do you know that? You know where you stand with God. You don't have to guess. You don't have to be worried about how he feels about you. You don't have to get anxious that at the end of your life you will stand in front of him and not know what he's going to say. [00:16:24] Because you know where you stand with God. Because he has justified you. The work he's done has made you right. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to go to enough church services or read your Bible enough. You don't have to share the Gospel with a certain number of people. [00:16:39] It's simply the fact that because he's so for you that he gave up everything for you, that he's made you right with him because he desires a relationship with you. [00:16:50] You know the term like situationship. And you don't really know where you stand with the person. [00:16:54] Some of us even now are looking at our friends like I've been asking you to get out of that. You know what I mean? [00:17:00] It's not like that with God. You're not guessing how he's feeling about you. You're not guessing if he's angry or disappointed with you. You're not guessing if he's just gonna up and leave you one day. He doesn't do that because he's for us. And he did all of the work he needed to do to make you stand right with Him. You stand right with God. [00:17:19] And not only that, it says, who condemns us, who brings us shame? And it says Christ is interceding for us. [00:17:26] That means constantly, consistently, Christ is fighting for you. [00:17:31] He's fighting for your soul. Do you live like there's Jesus Christ in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father, fighting for you? [00:17:41] And I know a lot of us have felt the condemnation, the shame before. [00:17:45] We felt it before, maybe in church, maybe in our family or with our friends, the people we trusted, maybe even in yourself. [00:17:53] You do things and you just convince yourself that you're awful and terrible and you deserve nothing, and there's no one who would love you. But that is not what Paul's telling us here. He says, when you walk with the Lord, there is no shame, there is no guilt, there's no condemnation. It's already been cleared. You stand right with him. [00:18:11] Have you been living like that? I believe that God wants to free us from this feeling of shame. I'm sick of feeling so ashamed, as if God is angry at me, as if God's disappointed, as if he hasn't already called me and chosen me, died on the cross for me, and called me to something more so that I can build his kingdom alongside of Him. [00:18:31] Would we stop living in the shame, in the guilt, and walk with the One who has already made you right, who has chosen you? [00:18:42] Truth number four. [00:18:44] Paul spends the most time. [00:18:47] Section starts in verse 35. [00:18:51] He says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [00:18:58] He says, will trouble or hardship or persecution? Will the things I feel inside or the things I'm going through or the opposition I get for being a believer? Will nakedness or danger or sword or famine, Will any of the circumstances around me convince me that. That God is against me, that God doesn't love me? He goes on to say in verse 37, no, they won't. Because in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [00:19:27] The very word of God calls you a conqueror. Not even that. It says that you are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus because He loves you, that nothing will separate you from his love. And I was actually trying to find a way to, like, wrap up this sermon in a really good, powerful way. And I asked Sarah, like, what do you think I should do? And she said, I think the word of God's gonna do it just nicely. Because this is how Paul ends the section. [00:19:53] For I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, 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. [00:20:14] You are loved by God with an inseparable love. [00:20:20] God loves you with an inseparable love. Nothing will convince him otherwise. [00:20:27] And he lists all of these things. I like Paul. He's a list guy. It makes you really think and question. And what he's saying is, will you let your circumstances tell you that God doesn't love you? He's saying, no, we're not gonna do that. [00:20:38] Because I know that beyond my circumstances, there is a God that loves me. That will bring me home one day. [00:20:45] And he says, and I know that in my failures and my faults and my own sin, it will never be too great for the grace of God. [00:20:55] Your sin will never be greater than God's grace, always more abundant. [00:21:02] You never have to worry that I messed up too many times or I made too many empty promises. [00:21:10] He loves you with an inseparable love. [00:21:13] And you never have to worry that I'm going through a family hardship, or I'm struggling financially, or I don't know what decision to make for my future. [00:21:22] Because you rest in the fact that you are loved with an inseparable love. [00:21:28] This love is, I believe, beautifully pictured by Jesus himself. John records it in his gospel. It's John 10, 28, 29, if you want to write the verse down. But I love this verse because he paints us a picture of what God is like to us. [00:21:45] He says that the Father holds us in his hand and that nothing will take us from. [00:21:53] Sums up all of these truths nicely, you know. It wraps them all up. [00:21:58] The God that is for you, that has given up everything for you, that has made you right with Himself, that is fighting for you and has chosen you and loves you with an inseparable love, holds you in his hand and he won't let anything get to you. He won't let anything steal you from his love. [00:22:17] No amount of mistakes, nothing in your past, nothing that you will do, nothing of anyone else's opinions, none of the lies of the enemy or opinions of yourself will ever keep God from loving you. [00:22:30] The love of God is inseparable from you because he holds you in his hand. [00:22:38] And so with these truths that there is a God of the universe who is for us, who gave up everything for us on the cross and declared victory when he rose again, who promises this victory to us because we stand rightly with him, who is fighting for us in intercession every day, desiring to call the best out of our lives, and who loves us with an inseparable love is holding you. [00:23:06] This image of someone holding you I picture, like, a hug, you know, when I am feeling my worst, When I have that, like, knot in my stomach and I want to crawl in a hole and I want no one to see me. [00:23:20] When I feel like I'm drowning and I'm the most anxious I've ever been, when I feel like I'm losing at life, when I feel like I just keep disappointing and I'm juggling too many things, when I feel quite literally unlovable and someone gives me A hug. It changes everything. [00:23:36] I, like, never want them to let go. [00:23:40] When I feel like I'm drowning and someone wraps their arms around me, it feels like I never want them to let go. [00:23:49] Because I know that they are for me, that they want the best for me, that they're there to pick up the pieces when I fall. That is the God we serve. [00:24:00] He holds your soul. He hugs it for eternity until he can welcome you fully back to himself. [00:24:08] Would we not leave and live as people who believe in these truths? Would we not leave and live as people who are held by God? [00:24:20] We should be the kind of people that the way we live is evidence of the fact that there is a God who loves us. [00:24:32] The God that holds you in his hands is the God who is for you, dying for you, resurrecting for you, making you right with himself and fighting for you, who loves you inseparably. [00:24:46] And that was a good mess up, you know what I'm saying? [00:24:50] He loves you in such a way that nothing will ever steal you from his hands. [00:24:56] Let us be the kind of people that live boldly. Not because we muster it up ourselves, but because we have so much love and awe for a God who loves, loved us first, who in the height of your sin, still chose you and called you, died for you and brought you back to himself. [00:25:13] Would we be the kind of people who live boldly to build the kingdom of God? [00:25:18] Not because we earn it, not because somehow we're good enough, not because we feel equipped and ready to do it, but simply because there is a God who holds us. [00:25:31] Father, I pray that we would believe we're held by you. [00:25:39] I pray that we would rest our souls in the fact that you are so for us, that you've never given up on us and you never will. [00:25:50] That you chase us down, that your love conquers. You've claimed victory over our life because you've called us yours, Lord. Would we live differently because of it? Will we live transformed because of these truths? Would this passion be the very thing that ignites our heart? To love you and love others well? [00:26:10] Send us on mission. We want to go. We want to build your kingdom, Lord, where do you want us? [00:26:17] How are you calling us? To surrender a relationship or say yes to this hard thing, have the hard conversation or forgive the person we don't want to forgive just because we've experienced your love? New Lord, we ask that we would be influenced by your love and then be influential with your love. [00:26:36] Send us, use us. Let us partner with you in building your kingdom. And let us never lose sight of the fact that there is a God who is for us. [00:26:45] That you desire the best for us. [00:26:48] Lord, would we never forget that you love us with an inseparable love, and we are held by you for eternity. [00:26:55] I never want us to lose sight of that. [00:26:58] Lord, we ask, we plead, we pray. Remind us of your love tonight. [00:27:03] Thank you, Jesus, for fighting for us, for calling us, for choosing us and loving us. [00:27:08] Amen.