Bigger Than

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today with thankful hearts because You are a faithful God. You have been good to us in ways we see and in ways we may never notice in this lifetime. You have carried us through seasons of joy and seasons of deep anguish. YOU have remained the same when everything around us seemed to change.

Lord, today we lift before You those our neighbors, our family members, our friends. You know every name. We ask that You would be near. Bring healing where healing is Your will. Lord, you hear our prayers, and if it could be granted Lord please provide miraculous healing in those we have brought to you today for your glory and power is shown unmistakably. Give wisdom to those who you act through in places were care is provisioned. Lord and if healing is not your will, Lord please bring spiritual healing and strength. Let your nearness and comfort be wholly apparent to those who are afflicted and their families, friends, neigbors.

We pray for those who are grieving. We know you are near to the brokenhearted, just as You have promised. Surround them with Your presence, remind them that they are not forgotten, and give them the peace that only Christ can give. May they know that even in the valley, they do not walk alone - they walk with Jesus.

We pray for those facing difficult decisions. Be their guide. Open the right doors, close the wrong ones, and give them the courage to trust You when they cannot yet see the path ahead.

We remember those who serve our communities all who labor for the good of others. Protect them, strengthen them, and let their work be a blessing to those they serve.

Lord, we also pray for Your Church. Keep us faithful to Your Word. Guard us from becoming comfortable with a faith that only speaks but never obeys. Fill us with compassion for our neighbors, boldness to share the Gospel, and hearts that reflect the love of Christ.

As we open Your Word today, quiet every distraction. Give us ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to Your Church. Help us to see Jesus more clearly, love Him more deeply, and follow Him more faithfully.

We ask all of these things in the saving name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Romans 8:30–39 NKJV

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Heavenly Father,

Your Word is living, true, and able to accomplish what You send it to do. As we read these verses, open our hearts and our minds. Help us to hear not merely with our ears, but with faith. Teach us more about who You are, who we are in Christ, and the hope that is ours because of Him. May Your Holy Spirit guide us into all truth, and may Your Word take root in our lives and bear fruit for Your glory.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Before we dive into our passage this morning, it is important to kinda get the big picture of where Paul has taken us so far in the book of Romans.

Romans was was written to a group of people who have had a tumultuous experience in Christ’s early church. It was written around 57 AD to a church Paul had never visited. The church in Rome was made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers who were trying to learn how to follow Jesus together. There had been disagreements, hardships, and uncertainty, and Paul writes this letter to explain the Gospel clearly and remind them that their hope is found in Christ alone.

By the time we get to chapter 8, Paul has already built a strong foundation.

He begins by showing that every one of us needs a Savior. Whether you're religious or irreligious, Jew or Gentile, we've all sinned and fall short of God's glory. None of us can earn our way back to God.

Then Paul points us to Jesus. Through His death and resurrection, God has done what we could never do ourselves. We are made right with God by grace through faith.

From there, Paul explains that salvation isn't just about being forgiven one day when we die. It's about being made a completely new person today and everyday. The Holy Spirit now lives in believers, tactfully changing and transforming us from the inside out. We become children of God. We can call Him "Abba, Father." We are no longer slaves to sin.

But Paul is also a bit harsh in his honest. Becoming a Christian doesn't mean life suddenly becomes easy. We know that if we are being transformed into something new, something holy, something truly Christ-like. Life will in fact become more difficult in this world, for this world even hated christ himself. We still suffer. We still grieve. Our bodies still wear out and eventually die. Creation itself is still broken. We all know what it feels like to live in a world that isn't the way God intended.

Yet Paul says our suffering is not the end of the story. Creation is waiting for redemption. We are waiting for resurrection. The Holy Spirit is helping us even when we don't know that we need help. The holy spirit is interceding for us even when we don’t know what to pray.

God is working in every single circumstance. He doesn’t say that everything that happens will be good. But all things will come into goodness by using even the painful things to accomplish His good purpose.

And what is that purpose? Romans 8:29 tells us.

Romans 8:29 NKJV

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

People see the word “predestined” and instantly are confused or fearful. Paul is not saying here that there is some select group of people that will be going to heaven. We often think of that as predestination, but that is not what Paul is saying if your pay attention to the book as a whole. Paul is saying that those who chose Christ, God foreknows through Christ, and those whom he knows, he predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Believers (who ever they may or may not become through free will graciously given to us) are predestined to be transformed.

That brings us to our passage today.

Paul moves from “no condemnation” to “no separation.” He is about to remind us that the God who called us has not forgotten us. The God who justified us will finish what He started. The God who loved us enough to give His own Son is not going to abandon us halfway through the journey.

So as we read these next verses, don't hear them as a list of theological terms. Hear them as one great declaration of confidence:

God knows where He is taking His people.

Christ is praying for His people.

The Holy Spirit is helping His people.

Glory is waiting for His people.

And absolutely nothing can separate God's people from His love in Christ Jesus.

We are standing at the end of Romans chapter 8, and Paul has brought us through a great deal to get here.

He has talked about:

sin

suffering

weakness

and the promise that God is at work even when we cannot see it

Now Paul begins asking questions:

“What shall we say to these things?”

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s people?”

“Who is the one who condemns?”

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

Paul is standing in the middle of every kind of trouble a believer can face, and he starts naming what is still true.

God is for us

God is carrying us toward glory

The love of Christ is holding us

And that is where Paul puts his weight.

3. What Can Hold the Weight of a Life?

You understand this.

You do not lean your full weight against a rotten fence post. You do not trust a bridge just because it looks strong from a distance. You do not walk out on pond ice because someone said it “should be fine.”

You learn what will actually hold weight.

Paul has learned that too.

He has been:

beaten

imprisoned

run out of towns

threatened

betrayed

hungry

shipwrecked

burdened with struggling churches

So when Paul asks what can hold the full weight of a human life, he answers it clearly:

Only the love of God in Jesus Christ.

That love will hold. I will prove it to you this morning.

4. God’s Purpose: Predestined, Called, Justified, Glorified

Paul says:

“Whom he did predestinate, them he also called…”

Remember God’s grace goes before us.

John Wesley called this prevenient grace—that is grace that comes before.

Before we call out to God, God is calling out to us

Before we understand the way, God is convicting us

Before we see clearly what is going on within us spiritually, God has left the light on for you.

We are left to respond by either choosing to accept the truth, or deny it. And God does want every one of us to accept the truth. Consider -

John 3:16 ASV

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. Consider —

1 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. I could go on, but I will leave you with one more...

John 12:32 ESV

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Believers whosoever they may be - are predestined, the destination is predestined, and that is we are predestined for holiness in Christ. And then what - we are called, justified and glorified. What does that mean, well

God calls out to us. We sometimes call this God speaking to us. God speaks in various ways as we remember from the message brought to us a couple of week ago. Does anyone remember a way that God speaks to us and gives us direction? :

the preaching of the gospel

the witness of other believers

the conviction of the Holy Spirit

the Word of God

the inward realization that we need Christ

Okay, so what does it mean to be then justified - To be justified means to be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

This is courtroom language. We stand guilty because of sin, but Christ has borne our sin on the cross. When we trust in Him, God forgives us and places us in right standing with Himself. Its like this.

A teacher tells the class - to pass this course you must get every answer correct. The standard for passing then is that every single answer is answered correctly. The teacher wants each student to pass the course. But guess what, each and every student got at least one answer incorrect. So the teacher sends out their TA their teaching assistant, and asks them to take the test. This is Jesus. The TA answers every single question correctly and out of compassion asks the teacher if the students could take the test again, but with the answers given to them from the TA’s test. And that is exactly what happens to us through Jesus. We are counted as ‘passed’ through the life of Jesus for we trust in his answers and not only does he allow us to be counted as passed even through our sin, he tutors us. He consistently convicts us when we are on the wrong path, and gently redirects us back into holy living through the holy spirit. Therefore

Justification means:

our guilt is forgiven

the charge against us is answered

we are reconciled to God

we are accepted because of Christ

we begin a new relationship with God

We are not justified because we have finally become holy enough. We are justified so that God can begin making us holy.

Justification changes our standing before God. Sanctification is the transformation of our life with God.

And lastly - Glorification - Glorification is the completion of salvation.

It is the day when God’s work in us is fully finished:

sin is completely removed

our bodies are raised and made new

suffering and death are gone

the image of Christ is fully restored in us

we share in the life and glory of the risen Christ

Paul says believers are “glorified” in the past tense, even though this is still future for us. He speaks that way because God’s promise is so certain that Paul can describe the finish as though it has already happened.

Scripture says:

Isaiah 53 — He was wounded for us

1 Peter 2:24 — He bore our sins

2 Corinthians 5:21 “Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.”

When we trust Christ, we stand before God clothed in His righteousness.

8. “What Shall We Say?” — The Assurance of God’s Holding

Paul asks:

“What shall we then say to these things?”

We shall say -

God has not lost hold of us

God has not lost the plan

God has not abandoned the work

God is still holding us

Then he asks:

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Sure—many things are against us:

sickness

fear

grief

temptation

opposition

the enemy

And these can be lived out in many different ways, but none of them have final authority. Remember a storm can damage a field, but it cannot take the land from its owner. Nothing can take a believer out of the hand of God.

Jesus said: “No man is able to pluck them out of my hand.”

You know whenever we forget this truth, and whenever we wonder if God is still there or if He cares at all, Paul takes us back to the cross.

God did not hold back His Son

God entered our suffering through Jesus

God bore our pain through Jesus

Hebrews 4 says Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

10. Personal Testimony: Grief That God Has Held

You know, the other day, I was up until 4am thinking about what tries to separate us from God and how grieving can either make you question God and pull you away, or it can testify to God. I was thinking about my own experience with grief, and I had come to realize that I was living in a way that allowed my grief to harbor. I was not giving it to God, but I was trying to manage it on my own, which just caused me to feel weak spiritually. Where in reality, my grief, the worst that has ever happened to me, has actually been a true testimony of God’s greatness. And so I choose to speak it out loud. I choose to testify to that greatness - as I did a few days ago.

God has given me plenty of room to grieve. He has allowed me to be utterly sad. But every once in a while, He sends someone or something into my life that reminds me that the heartbreak we experience here is only for a time. Grief is real, but God is sovereign over it. Death is real, but God is sovereign over death.

And this story my not be new to those of you who have seen my Facebook page recently, so please bear with me. Not long ago, Claire and I were in the living room dancing to contemporary Christian music much louder than it needed to be. When we finally tired ourselves out, we dropped down onto the couch. We were listening to the song “Where Were You” by Ghost Ship when Claire looked at me and, completely out of nowhere, said, “When I get to heaven, I’m going to say, ‘Hey, sissy.’ Actually, I have two sissies, so I’m going to say it twice.”

I was completely caught off guard.

We do not talk about this with her. We have never sat down and explained all of it to her. I do not know whether something in the song brought it to her mind or why she thought of it in that moment. But she said it with such confidence and such simplicity: “I have two sissies.”

Three and four years ago, we lost two children through miscarriage. We lost one pregnancy at eight weeks and another at eleven and a half weeks.

The first time, we had already bought Claire a “Big Sister” shirt. We had told our families. We were excited. We had bought baby clothes. We had already begun making room in our hearts for this child.

The second time, we tried to be more careful. We waited longer to tell our parents, and we did not tell Claire. We thought that perhaps, if we were quieter about our hope, it might hurt less if something happened. We were almost through the first trimester when we had to say goodbye again.

There is a particular loneliness in miscarriage that people do not always understand. When someone we love dies, we honor that person. We gather together. We pray. We have a funeral. We share memories. We bring food. We sit with the family. We acknowledge that someone existed and that their life mattered.

But a mother may lose her child alone in a bathroom.

Then she leaves that bathroom, and somehow she is expected to go on as though life is normal. People may feel sad for her, but they often do not know what to say. Sometimes they say, “Well, it was early,” as though the number of weeks determines the depth of love a parent feels. As though early grief is smaller grief. or even unwarranted. As though the child mattered less because the world had not yet seen them on an ultrasound scan. And I know I felt guilty for grieving because I knew people out there have had it worse. But grief is not comparable.

Comments like that can make a mother feel guilty for grieving deeply. She may begin to feel that her sorrow is socially unacceptable. Miscarriage makes people uncomfortable, so parents often learn to grieve quietly and alone. Other deaths may be spoken about openly, but miscarriage becomes something whispered about, if it is mentioned at all.

The parents can feel entirely alone.

This is the first time I have spoken this openly about our losses. I am sharing it because have felt led to testify to the goodness of God in the middle of grief.

The world may not fully grieve with me, but God does. The world may not know how to comfort me, and that is okay, God does. The world may not honor the lives of those children, but God does. The world may not have known their names, seen their faces, or held their bodies, but God knows them entirely. They were never just a line on a stick to Him. He reminded me of that when Claire so confidently said she would see her sissys in heaven.

And one day, I believe I will hold all three of my babies in a place far better than this world. One day, I will see that they are safe. One day, I will breathe a sigh of relief that no mother can fully breathe on this side of eternity and say, “the Children” “The children are all right.”

That is what Paul is talking about when he says that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God.

Death may separate us from the people we love for a time. Paul does not deny that. Death creates an empty place at the table. It leaves questions unanswered. It leaves arms aching to hold someone we cannot hold here.

But nothing, not even death, can remove anyone from the reach of God.

Nothing, not one thing, can separate God’s children from His love.

Paul is not telling people that their pain and sorrow isn’t valid. He is telling us that our pain is temporary. And even through it all, God is right there sending us a reminder that He is suffering with us. Paul is saying that none of what tries to separate us can own us we are God’s children always.

The grief may remain with us for years. It may surface during a living room dance session, or during a holiday, or in a quiet room, or through the unexpected words of a child. But even there, God is present. He does not always explain the loss, but He simply sits with us in it. Then, at just the right moment, He gives us a small glimpse beyond it.

That is the assurance of Romans 8. Nothing is wasted. No life is forgotten. No tear is unseen. No grave is beyond the power of Christ. Nothing in life, nothing in death, nothing in the present, nothing in the future, and nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 34 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

13. Nothing Can Separate Us

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

“In all these things we live through here on this side of heaven, we are more than conquerors.”

How so? you ask - well by being carried through it.

14. Final Declaration: Nothing Can Break God’s Hold

I like Paul, am persuaded

Nothing can separate us:

death

life

angels

powers

present

future

height

depth

any created thing

Nothing.

15. Closing Encouragement: God Is Still Holding Us

We are all carrying heavy things in our lives that we don’t want to talk about, and that is okay.

But God sees you. The Shepherd knows His sheep.

"The hard things we go through are real, "but our God is bigger than our hard times.

"Our sin was great, "but the cross is bigger than our sin.

"The accusation is loud, "but God's verdict is bigger than the accusation.

"Grief is heavy, especially when faced alone "but God's promises are bigger than our grief.

"Your past is part of your story, "but it isn't bigger than God's grace.

"Your weakness is real and you may keep finding yourself going back, "but the Holy Spirit is bigger than your weakness.

"Death separates us for a season, "but the love of Christ is bigger than death.

The world may try to define you by your failures, "but Christ is bigger than your failures.

God sees you. The Shepherd knows His sheep. God is still holding us.

And nothing in heaven, earth, or hell can open His hand.

Church, do you believe that?

Can you repeat this with me:

God is for us

Christ is with us

The Spirit is helping us

Glory is coming

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord

Amen.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for reminding us today that You are greater than every burden we carry. When we are weak, be our strength. When we grieve, be our comfort. When we are afraid, be our peace. Keep shaping us into the image of Your Son until the day our faith becomes sight. Help us leave this place trusting You a little more than when we came in.

We ask it all in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Benediction

Go now in the confidence that God is for you, Christ is with you, the Holy Spirit is helping you, and nothing—not life, not death, not today, nor tomorrow—can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Go in His peace. Amen.