Read Romans 8:28-30
As a believer you have the answers to the big questions. You have the answers that no other world view system has. A young couple have been praying for a child for years and after successfully giving birth to a baby girl, their daughter is tragically taken away in a car accident. You have answers in Christ Jesus. A man loses his job and can’t afford to feed and cloth his family. You have answers in Christ. A nation is ravaged by civil war even though your church has been praying for years. You have the answers in Christ.
Romans 8:28 forms a part of the answers we have in Christ. God promises us that He works all things for the good of those who love Him. This verse is not saying that everything we go through is good in and of itself. Many people suffer many horrible and sad things that cannot and should not be called good. God is
God is so sovereign and so in control of all things that He can and does work all things for your good, your eternal good. It may take a while for grieving parents or an unemployed husband and father to see God’s goodness but that doesn’t negate His goodness.
Romans 8:28-30 goes on to tell us the good things that God is working in and through us. Through our trials and sufferings we are being honed down to be more in the image of Jesus. To be more like Jesus in character, heart and mind is worth all the pain in the world. Romans 5:3-5 already covered this. We rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, namely the character of Christ, and character grows the hope we have in Christ.
Another good follows this. God moulds us to be more like Christ so that we might be the first born of many brothers. In other words, God wants us to bear more fruit! The grieving couple, for example, might one day minister to other grieving couples in a way that you and I never could. They might lead many people into God’s Kingdom! Another good also follows. We know that if we are predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image then we will be called and justified and finally glorified. That means God is fitting us out for heaven and is getting us ready for heaven.
Can you see how you have real answers to the real issues in life Get out there and share the answers with those who are looking!
Prayer:
Having read today’s passage and notes jot down various prayer points in each:
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¨ Pray that the men and women in your church would grow strong in faith, gracious in Christ and exceedingly generous in Christ.
¨ Pray that the young marrieds in your church would be developing godly patterns of relationship, growing in Christ and walking in the ways God has set for marriage.
Having the answers in Christ doesn’t mean we have the right to be a smarty pants know it all.
We are fellow struggles on a journey. Walk with people and you’ll bring more of them to Christ.
1. Take the situation of the grieving parents in today’s notes and, assuming they are Christian, discuss how would you tackle this situation?
2. How would you support the husband/father who lost his job?
3. Sum up Romans 8:28 in your own words.
Intro: Can we praise God in tough times? Can we really turn to God and offer up heartfelt praise and adoration?
Discuss a time in your life that was difficult. Brainstorm things for which you could have praised God for during this time.
Read Romans 5:3-5.
Define each key term in these verses.
Why does God use tough times to grow these in us?
Can you illustrate this in some way?
Pray together that God will use your tough times to produce perseverance, character and hope.
Intro: Can we praise God in tough times? Can we really turn to God and offer up heartfelt praise and adoration?
Discuss a time in your life that was difficult. Brainstorm things for which you could have praised God for during this time.
Read Romans 5:3-5.
Define each key term in these verses.
Why does God use tough times to grow these in us?
Can you illustrate this in some way?
Pray together that God will use your tough times to produce perseverance, character and hope.
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