Peace that Holds

Announcements & Joys

Call to Worship

Leader: We love the Lord, for He hears our cries and answers our prayers.

People: We will call on Him as long as we live.

Leader: Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”

People: We come to be sent out in His name, bringing hope and healing.

Leader: Come, let us worship the Lord of the harvest.

All: Alleluia! We lift our voices to God’s glory!

Opening Praise Songs or Hymns | Standing on the Promises | MH 374

Opening Prayer

God of unfailing promise and compassion, we confess that we have doubted Your faithfulness and fail to answer Your call. Forgive us, and renew us with Your Holy Spirit, that we may labor joyfully in Your harvest. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Passing of the Peace

Children’s Moment | “The Good Shepherd” | Matthew 9:35-38

Good morning!

Have you ever seen a picture of a shepherd with sheep?

What would happen if a sheep got lost and wandered away from the flock?

It might get scared. It might not know where to go.

That’s why sheep need a shepherd.

In today’s Bible story, Jesus looked at the people and said they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Many people were hurting and needed help.

When Jesus saw them, He loved them and cared for them.

And the good news is that Jesus is our Shepherd too!

He loves us, guides us, and takes care of us.

And He wants us to show His love to others by being kind and helping people when we can.

Let’s pray.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for being our Good Shepherd. Help us follow You and show Your love to others this week. Amen.

Gospel Scripture Reading Matthew 9:35–38

Matthew 9:35–38 NIV

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Sharing of Concerns

Pastoral Prayer with the Lord’s Prayer

Gracious and loving God,

We thank You for the peace we have through Jesus Christ our Lord. In a world that often feels uncertain and troubled, we are grateful that You remain faithful and unchanging.

Today we bring before You the joys and concerns that have been shared, along with those burdens and celebrations that remain quietly in our hearts. We thank You for every blessing You have given and ask that You continue to guide us in gratitude and faithfulness.

For those who are hurting, bring comfort. For those who are sick, bring healing. For those who are grieving, bring peace. For those facing uncertainty, bring wisdom and strength. For those who feel alone, remind them of Your presence.

Lord, teach us to trust You in every season. When life is difficult, help us persevere. When we are weary, renew our strength. When we are anxious, remind us that our hope is found in You.

Pour Your Holy Spirit upon us, shaping us into people who reflect Your love and compassion to the world around us. May we see others as Jesus saw them and serve them as Christ has served us.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Presentation of Tithes & Offerings & Hymn | This Is the Day | MH 657

Offertory Music& Doxology

Prayer Over the Offering

Epistle Scripture Reading | Romans 5:1-8

Romans 5:1–8 NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our strength and our redeemer; and Get me behind the cross so that your glory and not mine might shine through; and in spite of the stammering of my speech and the inconsistencies of my character, may your Word be proclaimed and heard here today.

Sermon | Peace that Holds

Introduction

This morning we begin a new journey through Romans 5–8 called “No Condemnation”

Over the next seven weeks, we’ll follow Paul’s progression from peace with God to life in the Spirit, from the struggle with sin to the assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Saved. Changed. Struggling. Freed. Assured.

But before Paul talks about freedom, victory, or assurance, he starts with something foundational:

Peace.

Not peace in the world.

Not peace in our schedules.

Not peace in our circumstances.

Peace with God.

Listen again to how Paul begins:

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

That single verse contains enough good news to change a life.

And it connects beautifully with what we heard in Matthew’s Gospel.

Jesus looked out upon the crowds and saw people who were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

He saw their struggles.

He saw their confusion.

He saw their need.

Romans 5 tells us what Jesus did about that need.

1. Peace Through Justification

Romans 5:1-2

Paul begins with a courtroom word:

Justified.

It’s one of those church words we hear often but don’t always stop to think about.

Justification means that through faith in Jesus Christ, God declares us righteous.

Not because we earned it.

Not because we deserve it.

Not because we finally got our lives together.

But because Jesus took our sin upon Himself and gave us His righteousness.

The result?

“We have peace with God.”

Notice Paul doesn’t say we might have peace.

He doesn’t say we’re working toward peace.

He says we have peace.

The war is over.

The debt has been paid.

The relationship has been restored.

Many Christians live as though they’re still trying to earn God’s approval.

Every mistake leaves them wondering if God is disappointed.

Every failure makes them feel like they’ve gone back to square one.

But Paul reminds us that our standing before God is not built on our performance.

It is built on Christ’s performance.

You don’t fight for God’s acceptance.

You fight from God’s acceptance.

Earlier we heard Matthew tell us that Jesus looked upon the crowds and saw people who were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Notice what Jesus didn’t see.

He didn’t see problems to be avoided.

He didn’t see burdens to be ignored.

He saw people to be loved.

He saw sheep that needed a shepherd.

Romans 5 tells us what that compassion ultimately looks like.

The Shepherd doesn’t merely feel sorry for the sheep.

The Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

The compassion Jesus showed in Matthew 9 becomes the justification Paul describes in Romans 5.

The same Savior who looked upon the crowds with compassion is the Savior who made peace between us and God.

Imagine standing in a courtroom with overwhelming evidence against you.

You know you’re guilty.

The verdict is certain.

Then the Judge steps down from His bench, pays your penalty Himself, and declares you free.

You leave that courtroom knowing the case is closed.

That is what Christ has done for us.

Because of Him, we have peace with God.

And through Him, Paul says, we have gained access into this grace in which we now stand.

We don’t occasionally visit God’s grace.

We stand in it.

We live in it.

We rest in it.

That is the foundation of the Christian life.

2. Purpose in Perseverance

Romans 5:3-5

Then Paul says something surprising.

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings…”

Most of us understand rejoicing in blessings.

We understand rejoicing in answered prayers.

We understand rejoicing in victories.

But rejoicing in suffering?

What does Paul mean?

He is not saying suffering is enjoyable.

He is not pretending pain isn’t real.

He is not minimizing grief, sickness, disappointment, or loss.

Instead, Paul is saying that God is so powerful that even suffering can become a tool in His hands.

Listen to the progression:

Suffering produces perseverance.

Perseverance produces character.

Character produces hope.

God takes what is painful and uses it for something purposeful.

A farmer doesn’t celebrate the plow because it tears up the field.

He celebrates because he knows what’s coming afterward.

The field is being prepared for a harvest.

Sometimes God plows before He plants.

Many of us would never choose the hardships we’ve faced.

But if we’re honest, some of our greatest spiritual growth came during difficult seasons.

The moments that taught us to pray.

The moments that taught us to trust.

The moments that reminded us that God was enough.

Paul says those moments are not wasted.

God is at work even there.

And because God is at work, our hope grows stronger.

Not weaker.

Stronger.

The Gospel reading gives us another insight here.

Jesus looked out and said:

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

Before He called workers into the harvest, He saw hurting people.

One reason suffering produces character is because it teaches us to see people the way Jesus sees them.

People who have walked through grief often become better comforters.

People who have battled illness often become more compassionate toward those who are hurting.

People who have experienced God’s grace often become eager to share that grace.

Perhaps one reason God shapes our character is so we can become workers in His harvest.

God doesn’t merely save us.

He grows us.

He forms us.

He prepares us for ministry.

Then Paul gives us one of the most beautiful promises in Romans:

“Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

The same Holy Spirit we’ll talk about throughout this series is already at work, reminding us that we belong to God.

Our suffering is not meaningless.

Our trials are not abandoned places.

God is still working.

God is still present.

God is still faithful.

3. Proof of God’s Love

Romans 5:6-8

At this point Paul answers a question many believers ask.

“How do I know God really loves me?”

His answer is simple:

Look at the cross.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

Notice what Paul does not say.

He doesn’t say Christ died for us after we cleaned ourselves up.

He doesn’t say Christ died for us after we became religious.

He doesn’t say Christ died for us after we proved ourselves worthy.

He says:

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

John Wesley wrote about this verse:

“God recommendeth His love toward us… while we were sinners—so far from being good, that we were not even just.”

Wesley points out something easy to miss.

God wasn’t responding to our goodness.

He wasn’t rewarding our righteousness.

He wasn’t looking down from Heaven and saying, “There’s a pretty good person. I think I’ll save them.”

No.

God was introducing us to His love while we were still far from Him.

While we were alienated.

While we were rebellious.

While we were sinners.

The cross is God’s declaration:

“This is how much I love you.”

Not after we became holy.

Not after we cleaned ourselves up.

Not after we finally got our act together.

While we were still sinners.

The cross is God’s permanent demonstration of His love.

God didn’t merely say He loved us.

He proved it.

This week reminded me of that truth in a very personal way.

Many of you know I spent some time in the hospital this week.

Some medications teamed up against me and caused my sodium levels to drop much lower than they should have.

That meant tests.

Questions.

Concern.

And a week that didn’t go quite the way I had planned.

And if we’re not careful, moments like that can make us start asking questions.

“Lord, where are You?”

“Lord, do You still care?”

“Lord, why is this happening?”

But Paul reminds us that God’s love is not measured by our circumstances.

If it were, every difficult diagnosis, every hospital stay, every disappointment, and every hard season would leave us wondering whether God had abandoned us.

Instead, God’s love was settled at the cross.

My health changed this week.

Some of your circumstances have changed this year.

But the cross hasn’t changed.

Jesus still died for sinners.

Jesus still rose from the grave.

Jesus still loves His people.

And because of that, I can sit in a hospital room and still know God is good.

Not because I feel good.

Not because life is easy.

But because Calvary already answered the question of God’s love.

Feelings change.

Health changes.

Finances change.

Families change.

Circumstances change.

But the cross never changes.

Whenever we doubt God’s love, we look back to Calvary.

The proof is already there.

Conclusion

The crowds in Matthew were harassed and helpless.

The sinners in Romans were powerless and ungodly.

And yet Jesus moved toward them both.

That’s the kind of Savior we have.

As we begin this journey through Romans 5–8, Paul wants us to understand something before anything else.

Before he talks about freedom.

Before he talks about victory.

Before he talks about life in the Spirit.

He wants us to know where we stand.

We have peace with God.

We have purpose in our struggles.

And we have proof of God’s love.

God loved us before we loved Him.

Christ died for us before we cleaned ourselves up.

And because of Jesus Christ, we can have a peace that holds.

Not because life is perfect.

Not because suffering disappears.

Not because every prayer is answered the way we expect.

But because the God who justified us, walks with us, and proved His love at the cross, is still faithful today.

And that’s where the journey begins.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus,

We thank You for seeing us when we were lost, helpless, and far from You.

Thank You for the peace we have through Your saving work on the cross. Thank You that we do not stand before You condemned, but justified by grace through faith.

When suffering comes, help us to trust that You are still at work. Build within us perseverance, character, and hope. Shape us into the people You have called us to be, and send us into Your harvest with hearts full of compassion for others.

And when doubts arise, remind us again of Calvary. Remind us that Your love was proven once and for all when You died for us while we were still sinners.

Help us leave this place resting in Your peace, trusting in Your promises, and confident in Your unfailing love.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we pray.

Amen.

Sending Hymn | Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing | MH 400

Benediction