July 12, 2026 | Modern Worship | Stained Glass Stories - Wk 6: Romans 8:18–39

The stained glass image starts with broken pieces that look jagged, dirty, sharp, and not very impressive by themselves. The same glass looks different in the hands of an artist when the light shines through it, because “the glass didn’t change. The brokenness didn’t change. The light changes everything.” God takes the broken pieces of a life and lets his light tell a bigger story than the cracks.

Romans chapter eight turns the window around. Paul does not say suffering is fake, small, or easy. Paul says present sufferings are “not worth comparing” with the glory God is going to reveal. Creation groans, believers groan, and even the Spirit groans, but all that groaning points toward redemption and restoration, not abandonment.

The backside of Memaw Carol’s Brazilian embroidery gives the same picture. The back looked like knots, loose threads, and colors going everywhere, but the front became a beautiful flower, cross, or welcome sign. The backside was a strategic mess. God sees the front side of a life while people often judge from the wrong side, staring at loose ends, disappointments, and broken dreams.

Romans 8:28 does not say everything is good. Cancer is not good. Divorce is not good. Abuse is not good. Death is not good. Paul says God works all things together for good, which means God takes what is broken in this world’s hands and puts it in his hands to redeem it. Nothing is wasted in God’s hands, not failures, not tears, not waiting, not the middle-of-the-night moments when tomorrow feels impossible.

Adrian’s story becomes a stained glass story of “but God.” Betrayal, abuse, divorce, and years of feeling unwanted did not get the final word. God restored what looked gone forever, answered a specific prayer, gave a Christ-centered marriage, and even used her witness so an ex-husband and his family came to know Jesus. Her story was no longer mainly about what happened to her, but about what God did through it.

God changes people through seasons, both good and bad, but those changes must be embraced. Patience comes through chances to practice patience. Compassion comes through pain. Endurance comes through difficulty. Forgiveness comes through hard-to-forgive people. God is not trying to recreate the old person, but to make a new creation in Christ.

Romans chapter eight ends with fire. Neither death, life, angels, demons, present, future, height, depth, nor anything else can separate God’s people from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The crack does not get the final word. The Artist does.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Brokenness changes under God’s light The stained glass does not become beautiful because the cracks disappear. The glass becomes beautiful because the artist places it where light can shine through it. God’s work does not require pretending the brokenness never happened, but it does mean brokenness no longer gets to interpret the whole window. [39:43]
• 2. The backside is not the picture The knots, loose threads, and hanging colors can look like proof that nothing meaningful is happening. The front side tells the truth that the backside cannot explain. God sees the completed work while a hurting person may only see the strategic mess of the moment. [44:05]
• 3. God works, not wounds, as good Romans 8:28 does not call evil good or pain holy in itself. God’s goodness is seen in his power to take what this world breaks and weave it into redemption. The wound is not praised, but the Redeemer is trusted with what the wound tried to destroy. [55:05]
• 4. Change must be embraced, not resisted God often changes a person through the very season that feels unwanted, uncomfortable, or unfair. Resistance can leave a soul stuck, staring at the same crack while God is building new structure around it. Spiritual maturity grows when the question shifts from only “why” to “what change is God making through this?” [60:13]
• 5. Pierced hands waste nothing The hands of Jesus were pierced in suffering, so those hands can be trusted with suffering. Tears, waiting, failures, and midnight confusion are not discarded scraps to God. In his hands, even the darkest pieces can become part of a window that lets grace and mercy shine for somebody else.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [39:02] - Stained Glass Stories Recap
• [40:57] - Romans 8 and Present Suffering
• [43:46] - The Backside of the Tapestry
• [46:02] - Paul Writes From Pain
• [47:35] - Embracing God’s Changes
• [50:06] - Adrian’s Stained Glass Story
• [54:39] - Nothing Is Wasted in God’s Hands
• [57:08] - Renewed Inwardly Day by Day
• [58:07] - Repaired Places Grow Stronger
• [59:28] - God Writes a Bigger Story
• [62:58] - Nothing Can Separate
• [64:05] - Windows of Grace and Mercy

1. In Romans 8:18, Paul says present sufferings are “not worth comparing” to future glory. What specific examples of suffering or groaning are mentioned in the surrounding verses (e.g., creation, believers, the Spirit)?
2. The sermon compares life’s struggles to the “backside of a tapestry” with knots and loose threads. What specific imagery does the sermon use to contrast the “front side” of God’s perspective? [44:05]
3. According to the sermon, what does Romans 8:28 not say about suffering (e.g., cancer, divorce)? How does this clarify God’s role in redeeming brokenness? [55:05]
4. Adrian’s story includes a prayer for a husband who “loved Jesus more than anything.” What specific outcome did God bring from her pain? [52:14]

1. Why do you think Paul emphasizes that creation, believers, and the Spirit all “groan” (Romans 8:22-26)? How does this collective groaning point toward hope rather than despair?
2. The sermon says, “God sees the front side of a life while people often judge from the wrong side.” How might this metaphor change how we view our own struggles or others’ hardships? [44:52]
3. Adrian’s ex-husband and his family came to faith years after their divorce. How does this illustrate the idea that “nothing is wasted in God’s hands”? [52:57]
4. The pastor warns against praying for patience without embracing the process. Why might resisting God’s methods for growth leave us “stuck”? [48:31]

1. Reflect on a time when you judged your life by the “backside of the tapestry” (messy threads, confusion). How could Romans 8:28-39 help reframe that season as part of God’s bigger story? [45:28]
2. The sermon asks, “What change is God making through this?” instead of only asking “why?” What current struggle could you approach with this question? What might surrendering to God’s reshaping look like? [01:00:13]
3. Adrian’s story shifted from “what happened to me” to “what God did through it.” What broken piece of your past feels irredeemable? How could trusting God’s “pierced hands” with it bring hope? [55:52]
4. The pastor says, “Patience comes through chances to practice patience.” What everyday frustration (e.g., traffic, waiting) could you intentionally treat as a training ground for Christlike character? [48:58]
5. Romans 8:37 claims believers “overwhelmingly conquer” through Christ. What fear or hardship feels unconquerable to you right now? How might declaring “but God” over it change your perspective? [54:39]
6. The sermon says, “God isn’t trying to recreate the old you.” What part of your identity or habits might you need to release so God can make you “new in Christ”? [01:01:16]