Romans 8

March 26, 2023 · Ben Hoyer · 32:09

A late-Lent message on Romans 8:1-11, focusing on "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," and on repentance as a joyful opportunity for God's redemption to reach new places.

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So we're almost through the season of Lent right now. We're going to move this. This is going to be distracting to me. Just for the talk. I mean, we're good for you. But they've thought it's for the next lesson. And again. Oh. So next Sunday is Palm Sunday. Which is the Sunday where we celebrate the time for NCB visa.

And then we go in the Holy Week next week, which is where we'll commemorate good Friday together. The crucifixion. And then we'll get to including two Sundays. Celebrate the rest of the rest. We tell the tradition for us that we have a big resurrection meal together. So if you want to plan to speak here with us on Easter Sunday and stay after for the meal together, we'd love that. But hopefully this lesson is for you.

You've been able to find some ways to enter yourself into the practice of repentance. We've been thinking about that going through the text that are assigned for us and celebrating communion every week. During Lent, just to kind of bring us back to the experience of repentance. Our need for resurrection. One of the things that I want to see that's been for me coming up is that repentance is the opportunity.

Of the redemption of God's comings and new places. So when we find new areas of brokenness, new areas of departure from God, when we realize we're not trusting God well with our, I don't know, with our money or our time or our talents or resources. When we find new areas where we have barriers and safe, addictive powers of behavior that are destructive, when we find new places to repent, this is an opportunity for joyfulness.

Repentance is a recognition of our failure, a turning away from the behavior and a turning towards the great system. So there was a text we used that said we rejoice in our suffering. And we realized that we rejoice in suffering not because we're masochists in like pain, but because we realize that on the other side of the suffering is the redemption of God. So I hope this is a sentence. You have found new places, new ways, you realize you need not to failure in order that you might have new places to bring.

Where the sin about grace abounds all the more. And that will come into the piece of scripture that we're going to use this morning. And then we're going to go to the Romans, which we were in two weeks ago. We were in Romans chapter five. This week we're going to be in Romans chapter eight right at the beginning.

And he said two weeks ago, but we can say again that Paul writes this letter to the church in Rome. He's like one of his big goals is to get the Rome in order to treat the message of Jesus to the grown an emperor Paul's really motivated to be also endure. And also order that the Rome would take into the emperor and while it's waiting over in the minor in house arrested sent to Rome, he writes a letter ahead of him into the get the curse to followers of the way that have been gathered together and try to lay out his doctor.

Romans invite some people called Paul's gospel, but it's so dense right? Paul's sometimes weird. It's about brilliant. Paul's such an interesting character anyway. It's like one of the questions I want to ask is how the call of Paul took out. Jesus was here for 33 years. And then after the resurrection, another 40 days right when it appeared to 500 people.

It is directed body so physically on. And in none of those times running the fall of tarseness, but he made a special trip. After the offense, the common get salt. And it's just curious to me why you didn't do it while you're gathering the rest of them. But there's something very special about solve charges, which is why we could do something like write the book of Romans that we spend 1000 years, 2000 years trying to understand.

The best way of this game for you would be to read it like 100 times all the way through. I'll tell you you don't have that time. But it will break it into little sections on the media. So today we're just going to read a little section of Rome's chapter eight. Of all of us, it might actually do it. So that was a bad example. Rome chapter eight. Still lobbying for the lives.

Rome chapter eight. We talked about Rome chapter four that Paul will build lots of things and then stick a bit for it, which is a summation. So it's like working on an argument. And now after the therefore comes the pump line of the argument. So the time we will be able to join the age after chapter eight versus one to 11. They just jump right to the punch line. Rome's chapter eight. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ's office.

That's lovely, right? I wonder if you're how you've been able to connect to that sentence in your relationship with God or with the church or with fellow customers. Well, if you've connected to it really well, frown to me if you have not.

I'm just curious. I'll get a smile. That's good. Of course, if so much believe we know what condemnation means, right? To condemn someone to something is to kind of sentence. It usually has a negative connotation. If you condemn them to misery, condemn them to. If you condemn them to justice, you're pretty sure the justice won't work out in their favor.

Pominations have exactly a negative. It's a sentence of pronouncing of a sentence to turn them over to something. We know what combination means intellectually. And if we've been around the church, we may even connect intellectually to the idea that because of each type of Easter, there is no condemnation. God is not condemning you and neither am I, right? Jesus, famously to the woman when she's caught in the act of adultery and all the church folks bring her up and say,

we know she's a big old sinner. We saw the big old sin with our very own eyes. Do the stand here and tell us that we said condemn them. We sent his sinner to the punishment that he deserves. And Jesus does some wording. It's amazing for me. I put in that email this week. It's amazing for me in that story. They're able to make his point without pointing a finger at a single person. They say all the church folks said, this is the big old sinner.

We know she's a big old sinner. We saw her big old sin with our big old eyes. Just condemn her to the punishment that we know she deserves. And he said, just a minute, let's figure out who does the condemning you. Shall we? And all the church people walk away. And Jesus says, the person who is without sin, the person who is not guilty of this sin, could condemn her. And if you are not guilty of this sin, you may say, if you are guilty of this sin, let's go ahead and

say, Jesus doesn't condemn them. Jesus says, go away. Let's find a different bond here. Okay, they all leave. Jesus says, right? Because Jesus doesn't either walk away. Jesus is the one who has the authority to condemn because he is innocent. Then he gets down and looks at the woman. He says, oh, hey, there's nobody here that condemns you. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

We can in our lives. Holy is not your goal. We are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, it's not your goal. We are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren

We are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again, we are not in the business of King Mary Gayspren. Again

through the experience of God's name. This is another one where I knew it exactly. The spirit of the ray-pipes in the dead is allowing me. But when I believed it, it changed the progression of my reputation for my son. In my family, in my city, in my church.

The same spirit that Rose Crychema dead is alive in you. So that means you can be who God made you be. If they are in you in small little things, call this guy, but as a friend spirit, right now, he's paid this time. He's going to go for the dental cell control. You can do little things. But if that's not all of it, the first one, think back to the first one. The first one worked. They named. They loved and served.

When you put your head in the spirit and go, I am not the total of my son. I'm not the sum total of my worst choices. I am not the find by my basic instincts. I'm defined by who God called me in the future. He is in the spirit of the world. I love the Lord. That was all my heart, soul, mind, strength. And I love my neighbor as myself. The way that I love my neighbor as myself is I do good work in the world because people need it. I imagine new things. I call new things into existence. I am creative.

I love with a selfless love. I move in life with generosity and mercy. I have the capacity to forgive and restore you. You have not come off because you all keep bearing witness to God out in the world. Not in order to become more holy, but because you already are. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You all have the same. Yes, huh? Okay. That's 11 pieces of chapter eight.

Sometimes you let's pray that we can understand and after you have that a little bit. Hey, Lord, thank you for the testimony of Paul. Thank you for making a trip down to get it. Thank you for clearing the way in front of us. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here.

And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here. And I'm going to be here.

And I'm going to be here.