All Things, These Things, All These Things

In one paragraph

This sermon from Pastor Ray stayed in Romans 8, working through verses 28 to 39 as part of a series on the most searched Bible verses. He read the passage in context, walked through the chapters of Romans that build toward it, and brought in Psalm 44 to show what it sounds like to hold on to God's promise in the middle of real suffering, including his own. Romans 8:28 is one of the most searched...

Read together

1. Jeremiah 29:11 mentioned as one of the 10 most googled verses, covered in a previous sermon
2. Philippians 4:6 mentioned as covered in the previous week's sermon
3. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, connected as context for this sermon
4. Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation
5. Romans 1:18-3:20 God's indictment of humanity, Gentiles and Jews, leading to the verdict that all are guilty
6. Romans 3:10 there is no one righteous, no not one, no one who seeks after him
7. Romans 3-4 justification by faith spelled out and illustrated with Abraham and David
8. Romans 6 know that you died with Christ, reckon it as true, yield to righteousness
9. Romans 7 conflict with indwelling sin, what we want to do we don't do, miserable man that I am
10. Romans 8:1 there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
11. Romans 8:28 God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose
12. Romans 8:29 he predestined them to be conformed to the image of his son, that he would be firstborn among many brethren
13. Romans 8:30 those he predestined he called, those he called he justified, those he justified he glorified
14. Romans 8:31 what shall we say to these things, if God is for us who can be against us
15. Romans 8:32 he who did not spare his own son will freely give us all things
16. Romans 8:33 who will bring a charge against God's elect, God is the one who justifies
17. Romans 8:34 Christ Jesus is the one who died and was raised, interceding for us at God's right hand
18. Romans 8:35-36 who will separate us from the love of Christ, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword
19. Romans 8:36 for your sake we are killed all day long, counted as sheep for the slaughter, quoted from Psalm 44
20. Romans 8:37 in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us
21. Romans 8:38-39 Paul convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
22. Psalm 44 read in full as the source of the line Paul quotes about being killed all day long and counted as sheep for the slaughter
23. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in all things give thanks, this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

Talk about it

1. Ray said that Romans 8:28 sounds like either the most wonderful news you have ever heard or just a platitude, depending on where you are in life. Which has it felt like to you, and what made the difference?
2. Ray walked through seven and a half chapters of Romans to show that the verse comes at the end of a long argument, not as a standalone promise. How does knowing that buildup change the way you read 'God causes all things to work together for good'?
3. Ray said he is currently grieving and that Romans 8:28 is 'where I am living right now.' Has there been a season in your own life when a particular verse stopped being theology and became something you were actually holding on to? What was that like?
4. Paul quotes one line from Psalm 44 to call his readers back to the whole song, including the raw complaint 'Why do you sleep, Lord?' What do you make of that kind of honest, troubled prayer, and how comfortable are you praying that way yourself?
5. Ray closed with the list of things Paul says cannot separate us from the love of God, death, life, angels, principalities, things present, things to come. Which item on that list hits closest to home for you right now, and why?