4 weeks through Romans 5 helping students understand why God makes us wait. Whether you’re waiting at the grocery store deli, sitting at the DMV, or in line at an amusement park, waiting is usually precisely zero fun. What’s worse is sitting in the pain of your circumstances while waiting on things that you’re pretty sure only God can control. But over the next four weeks, we’re going to see how a gospel perspective on waiting gives us insight into why God makes us wait, what He’s up to in the midst of it, and why we can have hope even when we don’t get what we want.

Video Messages Included

Week 1 (Romans 5:11-12 NLT)

Intro: Waiting can be difficult and painful, which is why we often have such a hard time with the all-powerful, all-loving God of the universe making us wait.

Truth: But when Paul shares the gospel reality that Adam’s sin brought pain and death to everyone, it helps explain why sitting in the pain of difficult circumstances is something we all experience. As powerful as God is and as much as He loves you, sin is still real and so are its effects! So sometimes, waiting hurts.

The Point: You take a number because Adam took the apple

Week 2 (Romans 5:2-5 NLT)

Intro: When it comes to waiting on God, the question we have to ask is: “Why does God encourage us to rely on Him only to hand us a numbered ticket when we expectantly reach out for help?”

Truth: Paul states that Christ has brought us into a place of undeserved privilege. It certainly doesn’t feel like that when we’re waiting on God for answers. But in very next breath, Paul explains how the difficult circumstances we go through make us stronger and better in Christ. That because of the Holy Spirit’s work in us, difficult circumstances (like sitting in the pain of waiting) can make us better off instead of worse off. God is in the business of making us new, and sometimes that means we don’t get what we want 

The Point: You take a number because Jesus is making you new

Week 3 (Romans 5:6-9 NLT)

Intro: Since most of us innately feel that bad people deserve bad treatment and good people deserve good treatment, it makes sense that many of us assume that God might not be answering our prayers because we’ve been bad lately.

Truth: But Paul highlights for us that Jesus died for us before we could ever earn a favorable ticket number. We have been made right in God’s sight, and that means that no matter what you’re experiencing, God is not punishing you. All who were sinners and are saved are equal. 

The Point: There are no numbers

Week 4 (Romans 5:21 NLT)

Intro: The hardest part about enduring unanswered prayers is feeling like there is no hope for you to truly be happy because God hasn’t given you what you want.

Truth: But “hope” is exactly what Paul addresses when he points us to the reality of eternity. Pain and death might be part of our existence here on earth, but it won’t be that way someday because of what Jesus has done for us! So whenever you don’t get what you want here on earth, remind yourself that you will spend actual eternity with everything you want!

The Point: Eternity is bigger than the number you’re holding