September 6, 2026 Dr. Mark Turman - God's Love: What Can We Say

everybody. Happy Labor Day weekend. Thank you for taking some time out of your celebration to come and be a part of worship and to gather and fellowship together. We're just thrilled for these long weekends and special holidays as we come to honor and celebrate work and workers. We want to thank God for that as well. And also want to invite you to prepare your heart for communion. The Bible tells us to do that, that we should not take this this opportunity of worship particularly communion lightly and it is a part of our experience in our offering one of the ways that you can do that here at the chapel uniquely is while we're together while we'RE singing fellowship and while you'RE listening turn your attention to the cross in the window above my head that is a unique expression and symbol of our worship and very much a part of what I want to talk to you about this morning before we get to that let me just say a word part of our offering to God through the chapel is how we support the work of the chapel I wrote to you about that a few weeks ago just want to remind you about we don't take an offering in the midst of our worship gathering but we do need to gather offerings from time to time to support the work of The Chapel you can give three different ways you can an offering-in-the-box as you go out the back you can give online at pklm.org and you can also mail in an offering if you'd like to do that uh you may not know this but the chapel didn't just fall out of the sky and take care of itself it's part of our privilege and joy to get to be a part of that we would ask you to help us with that as god leads you to participate we are in that season of the year not just called called Labor Day, but we are also in that season of the year where something called a fight song becomes important. Now, I don't know if you not only follow Rascal Flatts, I can tell that by the way you sang a moment ago, but you may also be, you know, in favor of a pop artist by the name of Rachel Platten. One of her popular songs is called Fight Song, and we all hope, especially this time of year that our fight songs turn into victory songs, whether that's Texas Fight or the Aggie War Hymn or whatever that stuff is they sing in Oklahoma or out there in Lubbock.

We know that this is the season of a fight song that we hope turns into a victory song. And that's exactly the theme and the feel and the nature of the passage that I want to turn your attention to in romans chapter 8. now i have to tell you i can only preach this passage one way because about 33 years ago judy and i were settling in to a new place of service at the first baptist church of van van is exactly the same distance east of dallas as possum kingdom is west of d Dallas so we had settled in there been there about three months we were just about to to our very first Easter, and we were making our way around, trying to get to know the people, trying to gets to know staff that was serving the church, and were sitting in the student pastor's home. They invited us over for dinner, they had another couple, one of the leaders come, and we're sitting there, we had dinner, we were playing a board game around their table when there was a knock at the door. Our student pastor Mickey went to the door, he opened the door. It was his father-in-law on the other side, the worship leader of the church, a guy by the name of Lee. Lee stepped in, looked at me and said, Mark, Judy, could you step out here on the porch for a minute? It's one of those immediate senses in your heart that something not good has happened. Judy and I stepped onto the porch and I looked into Lee's eyes and he looked into mine and he said your family has been looking for you your dad's had a heart attack at the age of 62 and I caught my breath for a second and then I looked directly into Lee's eyes and I said is he alive and Lee looked down and said no he's not it's like a lightning bolt Judy immediately immediately started crying, and it was like a lightning bolt that changed seemingly everything about our lives at that moment. I grew up that night in a way I had no idea that I needed to grow up, something that happens when you lose your father. In the days that would come, all kinds of chaos and turmoil. Ultimately, my pastor, who was a friend but not the spiritual leader of my parents. He was a friend of theirs, but not their spiritual leader. My pastor ended up doing my dad's funeral. And when he stood up to talk about God's promises, he chose this passage.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

It's almost like a closing argument in a courtroom. Listen to what it says. Romans chapter 8, verse 31. What then can we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 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? Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? it is God who justifies who then is the one who condemns no one Christ Jesus who died more than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake we face death all day long we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for i am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor demons neither the present nor nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And everyone said together, amen for that. The great theologian A.W. Tozer, I've told you this before, once said that what you think when you think about God is the most important thing about you what you think when you think about God is the important thing you so what can we say about him well very clearly he is for us this meal this chapel this cross cross reminds us in the most profound and significant ways. He is for us in every way we could imagine. And just like my pastor in that funeral home in Tyler, Texas described it, I have held on to it and continue to hold on to It every day. This love of God is astounding.

Romans 8:31

it is also surrounding and one last thing it is abounding to us in Christ Jesus so as you prepare your heart to take these simple elements in a few minutes and to remember that not just a man but the man of all men the king of all kings chose to put himself on a cross for your salvation remember he is for you and he proves it every day because his love is astounding this first part of this passage is very much like a courtroom it has the feel of a lawyer bringing a closing argument to try to convince a jury that this is real that this true that this This is the reality that they need to accept and to celebrate and to live in. Everything that he says in this opening verse, verse 31, what can we say in response to these things is not just covering this chapter, which is so profound and great in and of itself. It's actually covering everything that the Apostle Paul was inspired to write from Romans chapter one, verse one to now.

It is the conclusion of the entire argument of the theological section of this letter. And chapter 8 is a summary. Now, while God could have condemned us, he could have ignored us at best. He chose to save us, to reconcile us to himself. That's why if you're looking for a great verse to memorize, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than Romans 8.1.

There is now no condemnation, only salvation, forgiveness, forgiveness, mercy, and grace, as Margaret Ann mentioned in her prayer. Only mercy and grace that reconciles us back into a right relationship with the eternal God who created us. He is for us, not just tolerating us, but has reconciled us to himself. And then along with that comes a whole whole train load of accompanying blessings. You may remember it from the first part of this chapter that along with our reconciliation to God comes a transformation, that our lives don't have to be the same. God gives us a new heart when he saves us. He gives us new mind. He changes our ability to think and fills us with the capacity to think his thoughts after him and to live in those thoughts, to let those thoughts become attitudes, those attitudes to become behaviors so that our life takes on more and more of the holiness of God. God doesn't just give us a new heart and a new mind, a new capacity to think a different way so we can live a different way. He actually infuses us with himself. If you've ever had cancer or known anyone with cancer, you know what infusion therapy is. One of the ladies that was at our former former church in McKinney. She was an oncology nurse. Her job was to work at an infusion center where people would come to her every day. Her Job was to hook them up to medicine that would infuse into their veins and hopefully destroy the cancer. Well, God does that in a much more positive way. He instantaneously infuses us with his spirit to teach us, guide us, remind us of truth and to empower us to think those thoughts and to make those decisions which are most pleasing to him do you realize that no other religion claims such a thing it's talking with jim dennison this week about this very thing about the presence and the power of the holy spirit do you know that muslims they don't believe that muhammad lives in them hindus do not believe that buddha lives in them only christianity is bold enough claiming the words of jesus that the very presence and person of christ of god himself is in your soul in your life available to you at every second of your life to teach you guard you encourage you convict you train you and support you as his child that's why this chapter can claim that you don't have to be dominated by sin anymore more. Temptation will surely continue to come until you're in heaven, but you don't have to give in to it. You have a helper, a teacher, a coach, a guide, and you can draw upon his presence and strength so that your life doesn't become dominated by sin any longer. Because in completing this reconciliation, this chapter says you've been adopted. You've been included in his forever family you are the heirs of God in Christ now you may not feel that way all the time you may not think that way the devil is constantly trying to get you to doubt this reality when he says very strongly in this passage who will bring a charge or who will condemn you he makes it very clear that God is the final authority God is one who is justifying but there There will be times when Satan continues to suggest to you that this is not right. He's going to continue to try to accuse you because that's his nature. There's going be times where others try to bring accusations against you. And probably the strongest voice in all of this is your own.

That you're going to be tempted to doubt this because of the conversation going on in your own heart and soul. but god says i'm the final authority i'm the ultimate judge and if you've given your life to christ in trust and faith i have fully justified you and then he says who will bring a charge and the reason he can say no one is because of what jesus did take a moment to look at this it's in the 34th verse i think he He says very clearly four things about Jesus. He died for you, he rose for you. He is sitting at the right hand of God for you and he is permanently interceding for you as the people he came to save. That's what this meal is all about. As simple as it is, I'm convinced that before I die I'm gonna find a better way than just something that looks like a bread chiclet and a small taste of juice you know in reality this should be like an overflowing table of festival would even go so far as to say even though I don't like it it should have the finest of wine offered because of what it symbolizes that God gave his son he gave his best so that that your sinful life and my sinful life could be forgiven, redeemed, and restored. And it wasn't just that Jesus willingly went to the cross. God affirmed and vindicated everything that happened in Jesus' life by three days later raising him from the dead. Only Christianity can claim this. That God loves us so much he would die on our behalf and that he would not condemn us but rather condemn sin in us so we could be made brand new and alive through the resurrection of Jesus. And if Jesus has, in fact, been resurrected from the dead, everything is different. Everything is possible.

And when it says that he is at the right hand of God, that means he is sitting at God's right hand, the place of honor and favor above everyone else. and the fact that he is sitting isn't is a biblical symbol that the work is done and there's nothing that you and i need to add to it maybe the the part that's hardest for us to understand is when it says that jesus is sitting beside god interceding for us that word means to be praying for this does not mean that god has begrudgingly forgiven us and jesus has to keep begging him for eternity to show us mercy and grace no it it means that any time anyone brings the question of whether or not you are forgiven reconciled and restored stored, God just turns his attention to his son and goes, it's done. It's finished. Jesus' death and resurrection and arrival in heaven after those events is the final verdict, the completed product. There's no begging, no negotiating, no return to this reality. It is permanent.

and the call of scripture and the call of God and the call of our soul is to revisit this over and over and over again we try to give credence to that by having communion every first Sunday because the Bible tells us the most important thing is never get very far away from the reality of what Jesus did in the death and resurrection of Christ so my question this morning to you is do you know this love I believe the sacrificial love of God visible in Jesus is the strongest most powerful reality there is do you know this love have you chosen to believe in what Jesus did when he came and died on that cross rose from that dead front rose from the dead and took his place next to God have you received it intentionally as an act of faith and do you need to be refreshed in it this morning? Do you need to go back to that place where the person of Jesus and the work of Jesus became real to you? For me it was in my own backyard on my own trampoline at the age of 17. Do you know that you know, that you know that there was a moment when you understood the love of God in Christ Jesus for you and you responded to it because it's astounding the second thing is is that it is surrounding that is it is around us all the time regardless of our current situation or circumstance the question that he raises in verse 35 is worth considering can anything or anyone separate us from the love of Christ. He then begins to give us some options and some enemies that try to convince us that this really won't hold, that it really won'T last. That God has said that he loves and guards and guides us, but then there's some evidence that keeps showing up to the contrary. Sometimes it's a wildfire that consumes 20% of the county. Sometimes, it's the cancer that consumes a significant part of your body. But he tells us over and over again that God is for us in the circumstances that we experience now. And while our love may waver toward God, his never wavers toward us, even when we face difficulty and suffering. Paul outlines seven potential kinds of attacks in this passage.

now here's the interesting thing when he wrote these words paul had already confronted six of these seven things that he articulates and by the time he would arrive and and ultimately come to his final days in rome he will have experienced all seven of them listen to what he says that is in front of us sometimes that it sometimes feels like god doesn't love us because we face trouble or hardship or danger those three words are really big all-encompassing words for all kinds of things that you may encounter in life difficulty disease business failure relationships that fall apart kids that go sideways anything and everything that is hard in this life and there is plenty those three are intended to cover the magnitude of of all of those three things, or all of those things. He says that it could be persecution.

About two weeks ago, I sat down with a church planter who is trying to share the gospel in his home country of Nigeria. One of the places that you've seen in the news in the last few months, where Christians particularly are being persecuted in certain parts of that country. It holds true for people in Iran who are trying to know and follow after Christ.

It holds true for people in China in the underground church. It could become a reality for us that simply because we believe that God is for us in the person of Jesus, the way this passage describes, that we actually could be attacked for that belief.

It's been true of Christians throughout time. It might be the situation of famine because of a drought, because of some other natural disaster. we could face food shortage or not having enough covering and enough shelter that all of these things are possible even the sword if certain situations evolve and it sometimes feels like we are a bunch of sheep just being led to our end. Any of you remember the name Ed Meese back in the 80s? Attorney General. I knew our lawyer would know this, right? Way back inthe 80s. Way back in the eighties. I was a college student down the street here in Brownwood and I was beginning to get interested in just politics and government and how those those things work and the very first election I ever got to participate in was the presidential election of Ronald Reagan and in 1985 he had been re-elected and he chose a guy by the name of Ed Meese who is today 94 years old living in Southern California he chose Ed Meese to be his attorney general one time about a year into his term as attorney general he was asked to give a speech in California and he got up and he said you know somebody asked me before I started this speech how is it to be the eternal the Attorney General for the United States he said I remember the words of my mentor he said Edwin do you know what a javelin is he said yes sir I know what Javelin his javelins is a spear they throw them in the Olympics and the world record is just over a 100 yards could you imagine taking a spear and throwing it the length of a football field that's the javelin and they still compete in the olympics with the javen throw he said my mentor said to me when i took this job ed there are going to be days when this job of being attorney general is going to feel like that you are the captain of the olympic javeline team and you won the toss and you elected to receive does your life ever feel like that you ever feel like from almost every direction somebody is trying to throw a spear right through the middle of your chest Paul is not in any way trying to diminish how hard life can be it can be really scary and most of you maybe all of you have spent some really difficult nights the last couple of weeks wondering where this whole thing was going we're going to be repeating what happened 15 years ago or so and thank god that the fire crews did the incredible work that they've done and god did his part as well but sometimes life is really hard and it makes you wonder where god is it makes me wonder if god really is for you and though we can't explain it though we're not capable of understanding all of what he's up to, this passage reminds us, even when it doesn't feel like it, God is near and God is helping. I passed through in the last couple of weeks another reading of the book of Job, the longest, perhaps oldest book in the Bible, and the profound description of innocent suffering.

suffering. And as I was reading through this, just thinking about all the things that was going on in Job's life, all the thing that he cried out to God about, all of the ways his friends sought but failed to be any real comfort to him. For the first time in my life, after having read the story of Job a number of times, I thought to myself, why didn't God simply tell Job what you and I get to read in the first half of the first chapter. That would explain the whole thing. Matter of fact this this question landed on me so much that I got to do a podcast with Jim and Ryan Dennison that'll come out in about 10 days and I asked Jim off the just off the cuff this question why didn't God just let Job and his friends in on what was going on? Because God explains the whole whole thing at the beginning and they could have saved all of their arguing over this and jim said well you realize that if god had done that he would have taken all the teeth out of the challenge if if he had donethat he would've been gaming the system and that's exactly what the devil would've accused him of the only way that it could become a true test of faith for For Job, it was for him to not know all that was happening. It just reminded me of something I've told you before. One great spiritual leader said, God is always doing 10,000 plus things in your life, and he's going to let you see about three of them probably because that's all you and I are ready to understand. And you've just got to love our friend Jim Denison. There's a reason why we don't teach calculus to kindergartners.

we're not ready yet and won't it be so good when we get up to heaven and we realize all the ways that god was weaving it together even when we were scared when we were hurting when we are sad when we're confused his love is astounding and it is surrounding and it is abounding there is no limit to it whatsoever one last reference perhaps to Jim if you listen to him long enough he'll tell you that the nature of faith is is that it's self validating that you can't know that it is actually true until you step fully into it which is exactly true of multiple things in your life you can have all kinds of evidence that the person you want to marry is the person you should marry but there is a sense in which you can't know that you are right until you step into the marriage you can do all kinds of research about a job or an investment and you can say you know what i think this is the right thing the right move for me but you can t fully know until you invest or until you say yes to the job that's what faith is all about faith is built on evidence but it can't become self-validating until you commit and so paul now comes up as his final statement in his argument to say this i am convinced i am certain this is absolutely true because i've not only investigated it i've committed to it and i am convinced that nothing now he names 10 things not seven things neither Neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, neither the things present, future, powers, neither height, depth, nor anything else in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

This week, we will step through a sad moment. It's been 25 years since that terrible day called 9-11. 25 years. it's strange that i would even use the word anniversary because anniversary implies a celebration and this is not a celebration it's a remembrance and as again talking with jim and ryan through this podcast this is part of what we talked about and jim helped us to realize 25 years later we don't really have a much better handle handle on understanding and relating to people who don't share our faith, and particularly to those who are radical extremists and jihadists. 25 years later, we're not really communicating any better. We're not related any better, we don't really have any greater sense of peace than we had 25 years ago when those attacks occurred. Beyond that, there are other incredible incredible challenges to our lives to our security and to our faith many predict that we will see another global pandemic in our lifetime if not in our lifetimes certainly probably in our kids or our grandkids lifetime we're all wondering about what they really say and what they really mean when they say that artificial intelligence is going to change everything if you look at it in a geopolitical sense we know that china and others are playing a long game with an agenda that doesn't really favor us and if you're not careful you can get caught up in all of this and you can think the future is not going to be good but we follow a God who every time he shows his love it just produces more love in his heart for us every time God favors you every time he blesses you every time he does anything to show you love it doesn't diminish his love it only causes more to well up inside of him because he is so powerful so good and so for you that there is nothing that ever can come between you and him i think that's part of the reason why paul at the end of this letter in the 16th chapter writes several things part of it is he says this the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. That's a promise you can hold on to.

So my question to you as we come to communion, do you know this love? Have you chosen by an act of faith to ask Jesus to come into your heart and to receive the gift of his forgiveness that is symbolized in these elements? Do you know that you know that you know that you've accepted this love that God has provided and provides every day in Jesus have you begun to wonder about it to doubt it to question it in some way and today God brought you in this room so that you could be refreshed again in this amazing astounding and abounding love as we pass the elements this morning I want you to ponder that as we remember what what jesus did how he died and rose again and has permanently set himself as the intercession and bridge for us into an eternal right relationship with god service let's pass these elements the good news is we didn't get enough out the other thing is is we get to be like the first church at corinth that just learned to wait on each other until everybody was ready all right steve we good to go? All right, let me ask you to do this. Close your eyes as you hold that little piece of bread in your hand. This little piece ofbread for 2,000 years has been a simple symbol of people remembering and reflecting on the body of Jesus that was first tortured and then pierced on a cross for us as you think about that let me read to you again these incredible words if god is for us who can be against us god who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with jesus graciously generously give us all things this is the body of christ broken for you take and eat all of you now if you would take the cup and again with your eyes closed just think for a minute when was the last time you nicked yourself with a razor cut yourself with a piece of paper it's the last time you saw even a drop of blood coming out of your own hand or leg try to imagine for a moment what Jesus suffered so that you could be with him for eternity who is the one who condemns us no one Christ Jesus died more than that was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us who shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord this is the blood of Christ shed for you take and drink all of you Jesus we come we come to the Father through you in the presence of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and is near us Jesus we have come to celebrate the astounding love that you showed and that you have for us God we may we be renewed in that love Lord may we look for opportunities to share this this message, and this love with those around us who don't know you. And Lord, I would pray this morning if there is someone here who has never made an intentional choice to let Jesus be their forgiver and their savior and their leader, that even in these quiet moments in this beautiful chapel on this wonderful, relaxing weekend, that God, they might make a decision in this moment or even later today, if necessary, necessary that they would bow their heart and bow their head and say, Jesus, forgive me. Jesus, be my savior and my leader. I trust you and I trust your love. That is our hope. That is your prayer. In Jesus' name we pray. And everyone said together, amen.