But God

Introduction

Well, good morning. It’s an honor and privilege to be with you guys this morning. I always enjoy getting to come and worship with you guys.

Listen you already know, your theme this year is two really simple words, right?: “But God.” And as I was thinking about what I wanted to share with you this morning, I thought about the story of Joseph.

And I know you guys have been hearing about Joseph a lot this year. And you’ve probably heard plenty of sermons about the pit, and his brothers, and Potiphar, and the prison, and eventually how God raised him up. And all of that’s really good. Joseph’s story, its an incredible picture of God’s providence.

But listen, I wanna take the theme “But God” in a little bit of a different direction this morning. Because most of the time when we talk about “But God,” we're talking about something bad that happened to us.

Something goes wrong, but God’s working. Or someone hurts us, but God has a purpose. We go through something difficult, but God can use it for good.

And listen, all that's absolutely true. But what about when you're the problem? What about when you’re the one who messed up? What about when you knew what was right, and yet you still chose what was wrong? What about when you knew exactly what God wanted you to do, and yet you did the exact opposite?

Because here's something I don't think we always do a very good job of teaching young people: We spend a lot of time telling you not to sin. Right? And we should. We should tell you to pursue holiness. We should tell you to flee temptation. We should tell you to take God's Word seriously. But eventually, you're gonna sin. You’re gonna fail. You're gonna make a decision that you’ll end up regretting. You're gonna look back at something you've done and think to yourself, “Why did I do that? I knew better than that.” And when that happens, what are you gonna do?

Are you gonna hide? Are you gonna pretend it didn't happen? Are you gonna try to clean yourself up before you come back to God? Are you gonna let shame convince you that you're a hypocrite and that God doesn't want you anymore?

Or listen to me, do you know where to run when you fail? Because that's where I think the “But God” of the gospel becomes so incredibly important for us. And that's why I want us to look at Romans 7 and 8 this morning. Because Paul says something that every Christian in this room should be able to understand.

He says, “I don’t understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”

Have you ever been there?

You knew what was right. You wanted to do what was right. And then you still did the very thing you knew you shouldn't do.

Paul doesn't respond by saying, “Well, I guess sin isn't that big of a deal.”

No, He cries out: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

And then comes the “But God.” “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

And then Paul says in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

That's what I want you to think about this morning.

Not just how do I avoid messing up? But what do I do when I do mess up? Because the Christian life isn't a life where you’re never gonna fail. It's a life where, when you do fail, you know where to go.

Listen, that's where we're gonna see the beauty of our “But God.”

I. I Will Sin (Romans 7:15-20)

The first point I want you see here this morning…its that I will sin!…I want you to say that with me, “I WILL SIN!”

II. But God Has Given Me Christ (Romans 7:21-25; 8:1)

III. So I Get Back Up and Walk (Romans 8:4-13)

Closing