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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661
Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org
OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”
Nobleton Community Church
Date February 8, 2026
Text Romans 8:26-39
Pastor Paul Lehmann
About 250 years ago, a preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The title reflects the attitude many people have about God — that he is angry with us and wants to punish us.
People believed that 3 centuries ago, and they still do today. In fact, there have always been those whose concept of God is that of the ultimate killjoy. One man described it like this: “I grew up believing that God spends his time looking for people who are having fun, and then makes them stop.”
There are a lot of people like that. They believe that God is always looking for a way to get even with them for mistakes they’ve made in the past. They believe that God is against them, not for them.
Where do people get these negative ideas about God? Well, they certainly don’t get them from the Bible. You have twist the Bible and use it out of context to find anything but a loving, kind, good, merciful Father who wants the best for his children.
In fact, if Jesus had preached that famous sermon I just mentioned, he would have called it Sinners in the Arms of Loving God, because the message of the Bible is that God is for us, not against us.
Today, we’ll read a passage of scripture that teaches this principle, and examine four ways that God has revealed that he is “for” us.
First of all…
- He prays for us.
You’ve heard the saying, “Pray hardest when it’s hardest to pray.” The good news is that when it is hardest to pray, God prays for us.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
There have been times in my life when I have been too angry, or too hurt, or too discouraged to pray. I couldn’t find the words to express what my heart was experiencing. When we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit prays for us. He takes our prayers and translates them, so to speak, and presents them to the Father on our behalf.
It’s like watching a foreign film. When the characters speak, their lips move one way but the words don’t correspond — because the dialogue has been dubbed. The actor may have been speaking Japanese, but we hear English.
In the same way, when we pray, the Holy Spirit dubs His voice over ours so that our prayers can be heard at the throne of God. God does this because He knows us, inside and out, through and through.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
- He always gives us the best.
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (NASV)
We often labor under the misconception that bad things can happen to us. We believe that we can be victimized by events in our life.
But this isn’t the case. The Bible makes an incredible promise that God will cause everything that happens to work out for our best.
Do you know what that means? Nothing bad can happen to you. God is in control of every situation, and he’ll make it work out right. One caveat, of course, is that this promise applies to those who are committed to him.
There’s a story in the Bible about a man named Joseph who was his father’s favorite son. He was the youngest of many brothers, and they were jealous of him — so jealous that they decided to kill him. At the last minute, however, they changed their mind. Instead, they sold him into slavery, and told their dad he had been eaten by a wild animal.
Joseph became a slave in the household of a high-ranking Egyptian official, but instead of becoming bitter about the events of his life, he worked hard as a slave.
Eventually, he was given complete administrative responsibility over the Egyptian official’s household. He was a slave, but he lived like a king. His brothers certainly would have been surprised to hear this.
This would have been a good ending, but the story takes a bad turn. The official’s wife made a pass at Joseph and, out of faithfulness to God, Joseph turned her down. She was insulted by his rejection, so she accused Joseph of sexual harassment.
He was promptly tossed in prison, where he stayed for several years. When the king of Egypt heard that Joseph had the ability to interpret dreams, he asked Joseph to interpret a dream for him. Joseph did, warning that Egypt would experience years of prosperity followed by years of drought, and he recommended that the king find a wise man to help the nation prepare for hard times.
The king was so impressed with Joseph that he put Joseph in charge of the drought project. Eventually Joseph was made second in command in the entire nation.
During the years of prosperity, as Egypt prepared for the drought, Joseph became quite well known. He married and had a family, and lived in a palace.
It is the ultimate success story. But remember, it didn’t look that way when Joseph was being sold into slavery, or when he sat alone in an Egyptian prison. However, God was always in control — working out every detail of Joseph’s life for the best.
Here are two good verses to remember:
However, the LORD your God…turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. (Deuteronomy 23:5)
Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing. (Nehemiah 13:2)
- He gives us a clean slate.
30 And having chosen us, he called us to come to Him; and when we came, he declared us “not guilty,” filled us with Christ’s goodness, gave us right standing with Himself, and promised us His glory. (The Living Bible)
Did you ever play with an Etch-a-Sketch? I used to do it with my little brother. Remember how you would draw a picture, and when you made a mistake, you just turned it upside down, shook it hard, and the mistake disappeared? You’ve got to start over again with a clean slate.
That is what God does for us. He gives us a clean slate. The Etch-a-Sketch verse of the Bible is…
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
- He gives us whatever we need
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?
God knows what we need, more than we know ourselves.
We didn’t know that we needed salvation, but God knew, and he sent His Son. We didn’t know that sin would destroy our lives, but God knew, and he made forgiveness available to us.
We didn’t know that peace of mind is more valuable than money in the bank, but God knew, and he gave it to us as a gift.
We didn’t know that we would need spiritual power to make it through life from day to day, but God knew, and he made us more than conquerors.
Whatever we need, God gives to us.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
Paul summed it up this way:
Verse 32: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
A preacher once said that his job is to go around the country telling people that God isn’t mad at them. That’s what Paul is saying in Romans 8. God is not mad at you. He is your advocate, not your adversary. He is on your side. He prays for you. He gives you the best. He gives you a clean slate. He takes care of your needs. He does all of this because he is for you. And he wants you to be for him.