When the disciples were in danger of drowning, when Peter was sinking into the sea, Jesus responded not so much with power as he did with love. There's a lesson to be learned there for us. When we are experiencing problems, God's love is more than enough to teach us true trust in him.

The presence of problems does not mean the absence of God's love. In fact, he promises you that nothing in all creation can ever separate you from his love.

How can God say that he is always working for your good when things happen in your life that feel so bad? Let me answer that question with another question: Have you ever seen the backside of a tapestry, embroidery or rug? It doesn't look so pretty, does it? But when you turn it over, it all makes sense. Every frayed, tattered, ugly thread has a place in the weaver's grand design.

God tells us that he has a design - plans that he has made for you since before you were born. We don't know what that design is now, but someday we will see that what Paul says to the Romans is true: in all things God does work for the good of those who love him.

How can you know what you should pray for? Sometimes the obvious "blessings" turn out to be curses in the end, and the things we fear the most can be best for us. How can you know what to pray for?

You don't have to! Because God sends his Spirit to intercede for you. Listen to this week's sermon based on Romans 8:26,27 to see why you can pray with confidence.

How many times in the last 4 months have you said something along the lines of, "I just want this to be over," or, "I just want life to go back to normal"? We have lots of legitimate reasons to moan and groan, but Paul reminds us that we still have reason for hope by using the groaning of creation as an example.

Listen to this week's sermon to hear why you can have hope in something you can't even see.

There's something distinctively Christian about guilt-induced self-loathing. We have strong consciences but weak self-control. It's a recipe for disaster and despair.

After spilling his guts for a paragraph and a half, Paul only needs 5 words to comfort himself. Listen to this week's sermon to find out what they are.

What would you think if a husband heard his wife's vows on their wedding day and thought, "Wow! She promised to love me no matter what? That's great! That means I can be a complete jerk to her and she has to love me anyway!"

Not great.

So why do we take that attitude toward God? Why do we use his love as a license for sin? And, maybe more importantly, how can we die to sin but live to God in Christ?

All it takes is one. One person can ruin a good thing for everyone.

That's what Adam did by introducing sin and death into this world. We certainly have him to thank for world as we know it. But we are not without our own guilt, and the punishment that we deserve we have earned all on our own.

Thankfully, God has reversed the curse of death for Adam's sin by sacrificing Jesus for our eternal life. Listen to this week's sermon based on Romans 5:12-15 to see the reversal that God has made for you.

At various points in each of our lives, God gives us the opportunity and clarity to look to the past so that we can find hope for the future and purpose for our present. These words from the Apostle Paul give us that perspective of God's personal work of reconciliation through the blood and death of Jesus.

How could a 100-year-old man hope against all odds that he and his 90-year-old wife would have a baby? It wasn't their meticulous health regimen. It wasn't modern medicine or the power of positive thinking. It was the promise that God had made them. And it's the promises of God that still enable us to have hope even in the most hopeless situations.