A Theology For Suffering

Let's sing "You Are the Life" ♪ You are the life, the song of my life ♪ ♪ You always lead me ♪ ♪ You are the voice inside ♪ ♪ You are my love, no one before you ♪ ♪ All that I am, the points to you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I was made by you ♪ ♪ I was made for you ♪ ♪ I am made for you ♪ ♪ Without for you, yeah ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Let's sing "You Are the Life" ♪ ♪ You are the life, the song of my life ♪ ♪ You always lead me ♪ ♪ You are the voice inside ♪ ♪ You are my love, no one before you ♪ ♪ All that I am ♪ Come on, every voice 'cause I was made ♪ 'Cause I was made by you ♪ ♪ If I was made for you ♪ ♪ If I were my love, no one before you ♪ ♪ Without for you ♪ ♪ Come on, let's sing it again ♪ ♪ Every voice I was made ♪ ♪ 'Cause I was made by you ♪ ♪ I was made for you ♪ ♪ I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know ♪ ♪ Without for you ♪ ♪ You're made for you, yeah ♪ ♪ I say, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪

♪ I say, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ Come on, tell him, I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ I'm made for you ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ Come on, let's sing it again ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, one more time ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, one more time ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ Come on, tell him, I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm made ♪ ♪ 'Cause I was made by you ♪ ♪ And I was made for you ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ 'Cause I was made by you ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, I'm a new creation ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ Sing, "Shill I gotta hold a knee" ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation, one more time ♪ ♪ Come on, family's in shit ♪ I'm a new creation, I'm prepared to chase

Since your love gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on me I'm a new creation Since your love gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on me I'm a new creation, I'm prepared to chase Since your love gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on me Come on let's put our hands together and sing since, since your love gotta hold on me since your, come on that's a testimony this morning I'm a new creation, I've forever changed Since your love gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on me I'm a new creation I gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on me I'm a new creation Since your love gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on Come on one more time, here we go Since your love gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on me I'm a new creation, I'm prepared to chase Since your love gotta hold on me, since your love gotta hold on I'm a new creation I'm a new creation, since I was built by you I'm a new creation, since I was built by you I'm a new creation, since I was built by you I'm a new creation, since I was built by you I'm a new creation, since I was built by you I'm a new creation, since I was built by you I'm a new creation Since I was built by you I'm a new creation I'm a new creation I'm a new creation I'm a new creation

I'm a new creation You're my breath, you're my life You're my every day in you You're my breath, you're my life You're my every day in you You're my breath, you're my life You're my every day in you You're my breath, you're my life You're my every day in you You're my every day in you You're my breath, you're my life You're my every day in you You're my every day in you You're my every day in you (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music)

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(soft music) ♪ Hit it the highest place I reach is out of your feet ♪ ♪ Then I'm done it all ♪ ♪ If the best thing that I've seen is your glory ♪ ♪ Then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ Your love has saved my life ♪ ♪ Forever satisfied God ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ If one word, one word is the only thing you speak ♪ ♪ Then I've heard it all ♪ ♪ If I feel your heart and never see your hand ♪ ♪ I still have it all ♪ ♪ No treasure of this life ♪ ♪ Could ever satisfy God ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ The reach is out of your feet ♪ ♪ Then I've done it all ♪ ♪ If the best thing that I've seen is your glory ♪ ♪ Then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ Your love has saved my life ♪ ♪ Forever satisfied ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ If one word is the only thing you speak ♪ ♪ Then I've heard it all ♪ ♪ If I feel your heart and never see your hand ♪ I still have it all and no treasure of his life could ever satisfy me. You are my everything. You are my everything. Who you are my everything. Oh, what a God, what a God. Yes, you are. Oh, what a God, what a God. Oh, no, I would like you. Oh, what a God. Oh, what a God, what a God. Oh, you are seen in love with God. Oh, what a God, what a God. Oh, what a God, what a God. If the highest place. Oh, and if the highest place are reached is not your feet, then I've done it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life forever satisfy God. You are my everything. If it was what is the only thing you'd see, then I'd hurt it all. If I knew your heart I'd never see your death. I still have it all and no treasure of his life could ever satisfy me.

God is by God. You are my everything. You are my everything. Oh, you are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. Oh, God, you are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my what I got. What I got. What I got. What I got. What I got. What I got. What I got. Oh, God, you are my everything. No, no, no, no, no, no. ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ Tell him this morning ♪ ♪ Say you are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ But then else we'll do good ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ (soft music) ♪ You are my everything ♪ (soft music) (soft music) ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ (soft music)

(soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ I'm leaving nothing back from who you are ♪ ♪ You're hidden treasure veiled by key or lock ♪ ♪ You're a long time worth the worship ♪ ♪ And this only just the storm ♪ ♪ Here it is my every waking day ♪ ♪ In the dark the years of endless place ♪ ♪ For you worthy far beyond all I could say ♪ ♪ There's a long time worth the worship ♪ ♪ And the new ones are the names ♪ ♪ To ready rise like insects ♪ ♪ My whole life the fragrance every ounce ♪ ♪ You're broken at your feet ♪ ♪ And in the breath in a ring of heart cries ♪ ♪ This long scene of you ♪ ♪ My will be king of kings ♪ ♪ To ready rise let your grace rise up ♪ ♪ And there it is you're all a bastard cross ♪ ♪ Giving all you are for all I'm not ♪ ♪ I can't believe that that's the kind of key you are ♪ ♪ How could I not bring a lifetime worth the worship to you God ♪ ♪ To ready rise like insects ♪ ♪ My whole life the fragrance every ounce ♪

♪ You're broken at your feet ♪ ♪ You never breathe, cannot breathe ♪ ♪ My heart cries this long scene of you ♪ ♪ My will be king of kings ♪ ♪ Yeah, I will let you rise like insects ♪ ♪ My whole life the fragrance every ounce ♪ ♪ In every breath, cannot breathe ♪ ♪ My heart cries, this I'm seeing over you ♪ ♪ My worthy King, me oh ♪ Come on. Pour your praise out this morning. ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ There's no one like you Lord ♪ ♪ King of Kings and Lord of Lords ♪ ♪ There's no one like you Lord ♪ ♪ You reign over all the things Lord you reign ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ There's no one like you Lord ♪ ♪ My King of Kings and Lord of Lords ♪ ♪ You reign over all the things Lord you reign ♪ Come on, He's worthy this morning. ♪ All my love, all my love ♪ ♪ All my love, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love ♪ ♪ All my love, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my heart, all my soul ♪ ♪ All my own, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my heart, all my soul ♪ ♪ All my own, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love ♪

♪ All my love, you can have it all ♪ Come on. Sing it out. ♪ All my love, all my love ♪ ♪ All my heart, all my soul ♪ ♪ All my own, come on, every hand raise ♪ ♪ Give me praise to the King of Kings ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love ♪ ♪ All my love, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love ♪ ♪ All my love, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my heart, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ All my heart, all my soul ♪ ♪ All my own, you can have it all ♪ ♪ Yes, whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ My whole life, whoa, oh ♪ ♪ Yes, in every breath ♪ ♪ In offering my heart rise ♪ ♪ In love singing over you ♪ ♪ My worthy King of Kings, yeah ♪ ♪ I will let it rise like incense ♪ ♪ My whole life of playgrounds ♪ ♪ Have y'all out ♪ ♪ You're broken as you please ♪

♪ In every breath ♪ ♪ In offering my heart cry ♪ ♪ In love singing over you ♪ ♪ My worthy King of Kings ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ I praise unto you ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ You're worthy, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ My praise unto you ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ You're worthy, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ My praise unto you, oh ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ You're worthy, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ [Music] You come on, see that? Oh my, oh, oh my love, oh my love Oh my heart, oh my soul Oh my own, you can have it all Oh my soul, oh my own You can have it all Oh my love, oh my love, oh my love You can have it all

Oh my home, oh my soul You can have it all You are worthy of it all For all you are of this Until you are of this You deserve the glory Oh you are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from you are all things Until you are all things You deserve the glory all You are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from you are all things Until you are all things You deserve, come on Let's sing this out to him Oh you are worthy of it all For all you are worthy of it all For all you are all things You deserve, come on Let's sing this out to him Oh you are worthy of it all For all you are all You are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For all you are all things Until you are all things You deserve the glory Come on, one more time

The whole room together You are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from you are all things Until you are all things You deserve the glory, yes Yes, no Use this up and roll You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory You deserve the glory Day and night, night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night, night and day This is your eyes Day and night, night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night, night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night I'm day and night, night and day This is your eyes

I'm day and night, night and day This is your eyes Day and night, night and day This is your eyes Day and night, night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night, night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night, night and day This is your eyes Day and night, night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes

I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes

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I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes

I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes

I'm day and night This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes I'm day and night and day This is your eyes This is your eyes This is your eyes

I'm so my Savior God to be How we are - We'll sing a little more down here in Saint Joshua. ♪ And say, 'cause my soul ♪ ♪ I say, your God's to thee ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ And say, 'cause my soul ♪ ♪ My Savior God's to thee ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ How great thou are ♪ ♪ Oh, the joy set thee for him ♪ ♪ He endured her cross ♪ ♪ Knowing from the beginning ♪ ♪ It will be worth her cost ♪ ♪ Fix your eyes on my soul ♪ ♪ To give it all ♪ ♪ Consider him the offering ♪ ♪ To finish her ♪

♪ I'll lift your head ♪ ♪ And lift your head ♪ ♪ To the Son of Man ♪ ♪ My wearyness is swallowed in ♪ ♪ And I'll lift your head ♪ ♪ And lift your head ♪ ♪ To the Son of Man ♪ ♪ To the Son of Man ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ For the joy set thee for us ♪ ♪ We will lay aside ♪ ♪ Every weight ♪ ♪ Every burden ♪ ♪ To behold our price ♪ ♪ Turn from all other things ♪ ♪ Said our gaze on our keys ♪ ♪ Consider him the offering ♪ ♪ To finish her ♪ ♪ I'll lift your head ♪ ♪ And lift your head ♪ ♪ To the Son of Man ♪ ♪ We read this, He swallowed in the kindness of our covenants ♪ ♪ Consithers, consithers, He is everything ♪ ♪ He is everything ♪ ♪ Oh yes He is, You are everything ♪ We will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us grow weary. We're not made to sprint. It's a pilgrimage. You won't let us lose hearts.

We will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us grow weary. We're not made to sprint. It's a pilgrimage. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us grow weary. We're not made to sprint. It's a pilgrimage. You won't let us lose hearts. We will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us grow weary. We're not made to sprint. It's a pilgrimage. You won't let us lose hearts. We will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us grow weary. We're not made to sprint. It's a pilgrimage. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. We will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts.

Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. Come on, we will run this race, focus on your face. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts.

You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts.

You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts.

You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. You won't let us lose hearts. Y'all, we thank you. The author and the finisher. The beginning and the end. Y'all, you are the start and the finish. You are all of the in-between. Thank you that we can run the race. Focused on your Facebook. That you walk hand-in-hand with us. I ask that you just fill this room, Lord. That you'd fill every heart, every soul. Every longing for you, you would fill it. That your word would change our hearts. Or change our minds. It would change every part of us. Because you are worthy, worthy, worthy to be praised. Hallelujah. Praise God.

High and lifted up. The one who is and is to come. Y'all, we honor you, Lord. and we lay everything at the altar this morning. It's in your holy and precious name, and we pray. And everyone said. - Hey, man, hey, man. Hey, before you take your seats, just stay with me here for just a minute. You know, over the last month, you have heard me talk about, I don't know, a conversation I had with the Lord where I said, after I came back from my sabbatical earlier this year, where, you know, I sort of felt like, all right, God's gonna give me lots of ideas and strategies and revelations and direction for the church, and he didn't do much of that. What he did was he just came and said, "Maddy, it's my church. "It's not yours, and I will build it, how I see fit." You know, that's a reference, I think, it's a conversation Jesus has with Peter in Matthew chapter 16 where Jesus says to Peter, this phrase that is so profound, he says, "I say to you, you are Peter, "and on this rock, I will build my church "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." And, you know, so over the last several months when I went on the sabbatical,

it was like just for me a time of surrender and trust. I came back and I preached a couple of messages on rest and how rest requires what? Somebody say trust. Yeah, rest requires, the podcasts are up on the website, you can listen to them. How rest requires trust. And so more than ever before in my life, we have our monthly meeting with the Council of Elders and I said to them at our last meeting, I said, "I don't think I have ever had more fun "being the pastor of this church, "because it feels like I'm gambling "with someone else's money." You know what I mean? It's like I can't lose. It's God's church, not my church. And so if it grows or shrinks or succeeds or fails, it's in his hands. And so part of what I'm realizing is that if I'm going to faithfully steward this thing that God has given us, if I'm gonna faithfully serve this community God has given us, I've got to trust that he will do with it what he sees fit. And sometimes that is really exciting and fun and sometimes it's a little bit more sad. And on maybe a more sad note, recently, Pastor Zach and I had a conversation and he shared with me that he has felt like

like he has served as much as he's able to here at the church. And we have been, I mean, richly blessed by Pastor Zach over these last seven years. (audience applauds) We're gonna give him more opportunities to, he's gonna share, he'll speak, he can speak for himself. (laughs) But I wanted to just put it on your radar as we're, you know, praying together and talking and dreaming about what it's gonna look like for them. You know, we didn't want it to like come out of left field for you guys if suddenly Pastor Zach is not on the stage, you know, anymore. And so I wanna make sure that over these next weeks as you see him and his family running around that you grab them and love them and make sure that you ask him all sorts of questions about things he doesn't even have answers to yet. And just make sure that you share our love and appreciation with him and with Miss Mandy and their family and just how much we are grateful for him and all that he's done to lead us into the presence of the Lord over these last seven years. Amen. - Amen. - We are really, really grateful. So for Pastor Zach, especially but for all our musicians, you just bless him and thank him. (audience applauds) - Amen. - Amen. - Amen.

Well, all right, you can have a seat now if you would like. (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) - If you guys, have you heard the good news? Jesus is on the throne. (audience applauds) And there is no situation or circumstance that has ever or will ever change that. Jesus sits alone and thrown above every principality and power in the heavenly realms. And at the mention of the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. - Amen. struggles, we bring our disappointments, we bring our shame, maybe the shame of our past and the hope of our future, we bring it all before the Lord. But here is the thing I think that is maybe most compelling or most necessary for us right now to remember that through all of that, all of our unanswered questions, all of our ongoing struggles, all of the uncertainty of the world around us or the future that God has set before us, there is a resounding truth, a truth that transcends all of it and it is that Jesus Christ is the preeminent one. He does, like I said just a moment ago, he is the author and the finisher of our faith that in Jesus Christ we are secure, our hope is secure, our life is secure when our life is built on a foundation of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done in our lives. And my hope is that we can be a people who determine right now in our hearts that we will never forget that or try to graduate beyond that truth, that he is able to hold in his hand the hopes and the dreams of all humanity and if he can do that, he can handle my struggles. Amen.

Guys, we are, we've got a, it's going to be, I think, a necessary and important day today. I'm excited for the conversation that we get to have. But before we jump into the message, we're going to dismiss the kids. Before we dismiss the kids, we are going to give in the offering this morning. It is a gift given to us by God. The Bible tells us it is more blessed to give than to receive. And so we're going to take that blessing this morning and we are going to give to the work of the Lord, amen. And so I'd like you to prepare in your heart to give today as generously and wildly and extravagantly as God has given to you. Would you stand with me and I want you to just prepare? Like as we are preparing to give this morning, my hope is that this wouldn't just be something you do habitually or that you wouldn't, that this wouldn't just be something that you do without, without thinking mindlessly, but that this would be an act of worship to you. This would be for you an act of surrender to say, God, you are infinitely more beautiful and valuable than the money in my bank account or the financial security I pretend like it gives me. God, you are worthy of it all. And so if you are giving in this offering, there's a few ways you can do so. There's the envelope in the seat in front of you. You can scan the QR code with your phone there or of course if you have the mobile app, you can give through that. But would you just write where you're at? Let's just come before the Lord and prayer. Father, we thank you that because you so loved the world that you gave, your only begotten son for us. God, as your love compelled you to give, we ask that our love for you would compel us to give this morning. God, we thank you for the countless ways that you've reached through this church, through this community, into the hearts and lives of real people, the ways that you've brought

healing and hope, the ways that you've brought revival and redemption to so many people here for Father. And so it is for us a tremendous blessing, a tremendous privilege, a tremendous gift to be able to turn and to give to you out of the abundance of your provision to us. Lord, we pray that this offering, I pray for myself and the leaders here at the church, God, that we would steward this, any finances that come in through this offering with fear and trembling in a way that honors and pleases you. And Lord, I pray that as we give in this offering that every one of us, that our hearts would be right before you, that you would be honored and glorified not just by our active giving, but by our attitude about that act. Lord, we bless you today in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Amen. Hey, God loves you so much. You brought you here today for a reason. Let's go. Hey, you can be seated. It's good to see you guys. Thank you so much for being here this morning. I want to kind of tell you where this came from. I don't have a huge amount of time today, so we're going to have to move a little bit fast, but I'll tell you probably about six months ago, I was walking with some people in the church through some unimaginable suffering, the loss of a family member. I kept thinking like I wish there was something I could say to make it better. that I could take the pain away, and there's just not. And I felt in that time, like, keenly aware of the fact that the church tradition in which I was kind of raised up in ministry has what is probably a very inadequate theology for suffering.

And I'll get into it a little bit, but I want you to know, like a part of my story, some of my earliest memories, certainly the most vivid memories of my young childhood were watching my dad slowly pass away from cancer. And I don't know what it was about this one moment, but it was the moment that they lowered his casket into the ground, that it seemed really, like it would really hit me. You know, that for me was the hardest moment. And I remember at the funeral, people coming and saying things like, "Well, you're the man of the house now." I was eight years old, or saying things like, "Hey, God works in mysterious ways." And I'm eight years old thinking, "God killed my dad?" I don't think I like that at all. Like, I don't know how to process this. I'm eight years old, right? And so we struggle a lot, I think, with how to walk with people through suffering. And probably part of the reason we struggle with that so deeply is because we aren't good at walking through suffering ourselves. We don't know what God's word says about suffering. And I think for many of us, prosperity teaching has shaped our view and understanding of suffering to where we just don't really talk about it.

We want to be theologically optimistic and I don't wanna take away from that today, but what about when suffering actually does happen? What about when we pray and fast for someone to be healed and they're not healed and they die? What do we say in that moment? How do we categorize this? I've walked with many people in this room through like miscarriages or the loss of loved ones or the loss of a job or things that can cause tremendous suffering and sorrow to the heart. And we prayed together and believed together that those things wouldn't happen and then they did. And the question I think we ought to wrestle with today is what do we do in those moments? What do we do when the suffering finds us? In his book, Dr. Michael Emlitt, he has a book called "Cross Talk" and in that book, he proposes this idea that there are sort of three identities, three distinct identities that every believer holds at all times, at all seasons. Those three identities are St. Sinner and sufferer. And in his argument, the assertion in this book, I think it's really interesting, is that if you major on just one of those, if you highlight one of those to minister to, your ministry to any person will always be lopsided. You'll miss the mark. And so he would say, Dr. Emlitt would say something like, if you view somebody as only a saint,

what you'll do is you'll flatter them. You'll give them all sorts of compliments and why are you this wonderful person of God and God's got an awesome plan for you. And that stuff is true. At least we would hope that it would be true of us, but that's not all we are, right? And so if you treat someone like all they are as a saint, you run the risk of flattering them into deception. If you treat someone like all they are as a sinner, you run the risk of shaming them into discouragement. This is your fault. If you're going through suffering in life, it's definitely your fault. You didn't pray and fast enough. You didn't have enough faith, right? We've heard some doctrines like this begin to creep up in the world around us. Well, you should have believed harder. You should have fasted longer. You should have prayed more. And we sort of give, we keep blame on people because we see them not primarily as a saint or a sufferer, we see them as a sinner, like if we major on just that one identity. Or if we major on the identity of sufferer, we end up pitting people into powerlessness. And this is, I think, actually really interestingly relevant to our time right now where people, People are eager to identify with suffering.

And I would say you have people, for example, who were never slaves, who are like identifying with their great, great grandparents that might have been slaves, right? Or you have people that are, you know, during the Me Too movement, you had women that were, I think, rightly standing up and saying there is, not only was I mistreated, but there was a system that protected my abuser, and we need to deal with that, and then that's right. And then you had other women that were just sort of describing a bad date and being like, it happened to me too. And it's like, no, like, that's not, that's not a solved what happened to you. Like, people are so eager to be a sufferer that they, because they can find like community and identity and support in that. And so the danger of treating someone like, they're not a saint or a saint or a sinner, they're just a sufferer, is that what you give them is pity. I'll pour you. It's so sad that you were born this color. It's so sad that you were born that gender. It's so sad that your life is the way that it is. And we take from people their agency or their ability to self-determined. And so we have to, if we are going to minister to people well, we have to see them

as all three simultaneously, a saint, a sinner, and a sufferer. Are we tracking? All right. So in practice, I think a large section of modern even, the modern evangelical movement that we call home has developed a theological framework that is so aggressively optimistic that it often wanders into error. Instead of enduring hardship with patience, joy, and hope as the scriptures command, we decree and declare that the hardships will end. And then if they don't, we give up. You know, we have no answers to give our brothers and sisters in Nigeria who are being beheaded and brutalized for their faith in Jesus. We have no answers for the couple in our community who are walking through another miscarriage after years of heartbreak. We will pray with them for a bit. And then if our prayer doesn't work immediately, we give up and we shrug our shoulders and we remove ourself from the sadness because maybe we're embarrassed that our prayers didn't work. Maybe we feel powerless or like what's the point and even continuing to try. We have a sense, and I think rightly so, that suffering is not the portion God has prepared

for his people. And I think that's right. I don't think suffering is the portion God has prepared for his people, but we are oftentimes near-sighted in our approach. That is that we see what's right in front of us. We don't see what God has prepared for us up ahead. We have forgotten that scripture tells us the fullness of glory, which is to be inherited by God's people will be seen in the age to come. Therefore in the moments when our platitudes and pseudo-spiritual strategies don't work, we are left lost. Sometimes we, like I said, we just abandoned people and they're suffering because we can't take the embarrassment of having a prayer, not an answer. Sometimes we respond to suffering with bad theology like God is doing this to teach you something or you just didn't have enough faith, you know? But scripture commands us in Romans chapter 12 to weep with those who weep, to sit with them in the suffering, to make their pain, our pain, and to understand that sorrow is a universal human experience. It's not a condemnation of the person experiencing it. It's not itself, you know, a demonstration of God's judgment or anger or wrath. It is the consequence of the fall of man that all of us are still feeling

as we are living in the age between the fall and the final culmination of all things in the kingdom, the coming kingdom of Christ. So let's start here. Let's ask the question, what is suffering? I think maybe one of the most qualified people I can think of to answer that question is a woman named Elizabeth Elliot. Elizabeth Elliot, she wrote multiple books on how Christians ought to approach suffering. And in fact, Elizabeth Elliot wrote a book titled "Surfering is Never for Nothing." And if you feel like this message is specifically for you, I would recommend Elizabeth Elliot's book, "Surfering is Never for Nothing." I would recommend that to you, get on Amazon today and order it. But Elizabeth Elliot, she... who flew their plane into an unreached tribe in Ecuador and were, were speared to death. And then famously Elizabeth Elliot and the other wives took the children of these men to that same tribe that killed their husbands and their fathers, preached the gospel to them for years, served them for years and saw that tribe get so radically transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ through the obedience of these women and children that now that tribe sends missionaries to other parts of the world. And so it's an amazing story, but Elizabeth Elliot defined suffering like this. She said suffering is having what you don't want or wanting what you don't have. Suffering is having what you don't want or wanting what you don't have. Her contention is that all suffering is the disconnect between your desire and your circumstance. Those two just don't line up. I'm suffering in my marriage. I'm suffering in my financial situation. I'm suffering in my body. There's a medical issue. I'm suffering in my relationships, my career, whatever else. It's that we have a set of desires and we have a set of circumstances and those two things don't always line up. So how can we

deal with suffering as saints? Here's the simple answer. We change our circumstance when we can and we change our desire when we must. If suffering is the disconnect between desire and circumstance and how can we deal with it, we change our circumstance when we can and we change our desire when we must. I'll say it like this. One of the dangers as a pastor of preaching a message like this is that people will hear what I'm saying and they'll internalize it like this. We can't change suffering. So why bother praying for the sick? Why bother looking for a better job? Why bother working hard to earn a promotion? Why bother ever expecting to be anything other than broke down and sick and destitute for the rest of my life because suffering is just a part of the human experience. I don't want to glorify suffering. I'm not here today to just teach us to shrug our shoulders and go, "Ah, well, suffering is just a part of life. We've got to just endure it." Here's the fact is that often God's answer for suffering is to put a saint in its path. I would say the reason that slavery no longer exists in the United States is because men and women of God stood against that vile evil. The reason that we live in such a fair and equitable and safe society is because men and women of God have stood against suffering for generations and generations in this nation. It's not perfect. We haven't arrived, but we are continuing to contend against suffering. When people come to me and they say, "Hey, we're dealing with this sickness. The doctor told me this thing. We will lay hands on them and pray for them and believe that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. The Bible tells us we ought to do that. I still expect that the sick will be healed and the dead will be raised and demons will be cast out in this community by the people of God who are here. And so I'm not at all trying to glorify suffering or hold it up as some sort of badge of spiritual honor. And so we can't just sit back and say, "Well, I guess I'll just change my desire to accommodate my suffering or I'll change my theology to accommodate my suffering." No, no, no. We change our circumstances when we can, but we change our desires when we must. That is, if my circumstance can't change, then my desire must. And I need to understand how to shift or adjust my desire in a way that brings me into union with God. And so I want us today to sort of unpack what suffering is. And so I want to offer you a short biblical theology for suffering. So we'll start in Genesis chapter 3. This is after the fall of man. I think most of you are familiar with the story

that God made a garden called Eden in the east. And he put Adam in the garden out of Adam's rib. He formed a woman. He told them that they could eat from any tree in the garden except for the tree that is in the middle of the garden. That is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eventually a serpent, which is more cunning than any other beast of the field came to Eve and said, "Eve, what about this fruit?" And Eve decided that the fruit It was beautiful and that it was good to make one wise. The Bible says that immediately their eyes were open and they realized that they were naked. They stood exposed and vulnerable, guilty, condemned before God who had warned them that the day they would eat of the fruit of that tree that they would surely die. And so they tried to hide themselves from God as so many of us do. And the Lord in His incredible loving kindness pursued them instead of letting them distance themselves. And so he begins to talk to them about the consequences of their rebellion. After the fall of man, he says to the woman in Genesis 3, 16, he says, "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you." Now this is the first time in all of scripture that suffering or sorrow or pain or hardship are ever considered. And so this is where suffering comes from. Like this is where it starts suffering. It starts with this, like there's, that what women were naturally designed to do is now becoming a sorrowful experience,

an experience of suffering. And I think often we see that there is this sort of natural suffering, that it's not, you know, it's like you got, we were driving home from the Fourth of July party this year and I decided to be extra American and I took the roof and doors off of my Jeep. And it was like, it was great, you know? And then we went out to the Johnson City, Fourth of July, fireworks, extravaganza, and on the way home, we were stuck in a traffic jam and got caught in the most brutal thunderstorm. Like we were lightning was striking to the left or right. It felt like I was driving across the beach at Normandy. Like it was the, you know, the power went out at one point. My kids are all just under a blanket in the back seat and I'm like, this is insane. And so like sometimes you just suffer because of nature. It's just the nature of things, right? Like it's not, nobody's sinned. You're not getting, you know, there's no problem with the relation. It's just, it's just a natural thing. And this is what we see in the life of the woman here in pain you shall bring forth children. And then he says, but not only will your relationship with your own nature cause suffering, but your relationships with others will cause suffering as well, your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.

You're gonna suffer because of the dynamic between you and your husband. There will be times that you have to follow this idiot into some stupid idea that he had. And you're just gonna have to deal with it. Like it's, it's asked my wife, it is suffering. Yeah, and she's familiar with it. And then to Adam, then he turns to Adam, the man. And he says, because you have heated the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree which I commanded you saying, you shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. And then he says, in verse 18, both thorns and thistles shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the herb of the field. So now he's talking to Adam about Adam's work. And he's saying work that used to be easy for you is not gonna be hard, it's gonna feel like work. And this is, you know, men, if you've ever worked hard and we live in America in 2026. So I have to use the word if. Like, if you've ever worked hard, you know, it feels like suffering, it's satisfying. There's something beautiful and redeeming and sanctifying about it. But it is, like hard work is suffering. And so these ideas, they are as old as time. These ideas go back to the very first generation. These ideas go back to the very beginning of the book in Genesis chapter three.

Suffering has been the default setting for life on earth since Genesis chapter three, since the fall of man. And while this may seem hopeless and I don't want to steal your hope or discourage you today, I want to submit to you today that God is actually right now redeeming our human suffering. And he's doing so by using it for our good and for his glory. Nobody suffers for no reason. God is able to use it for our good and for his glory. And in doing so, he steals the glory of God. He steals the boast of the enemy, the serpent who introduced suffering to Eve there in the garden. And so I want to jump from Genesis chapter three forward to Romans chapter eight. And Romans chapter eight, you should memorize it. It's good for your soul. Romans 8. I'll start in verse 16. Romans 8, 16, it says, "The Spirit Himself." This is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. So in the midst of suffering and sorrow, has God abandoned you? I don't know. Romans 8, 16 says that the spirit bears witness in our spirit that we are children of God and there are no bastard children of God. Every one of them is beloved.

Every one of them is seen. Every one of them is cared for. Every one of them is pursued and guarded and kept. Like this is why we call God our Father, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God. And what does that minister to or what does that speak to our suffering? What speaks this, you are never alone in your suffering. You are never alone in your suffering. In fact, the scriptures tell us that God is near to the brokenhearted. So in the times when your dream feels like it's been smashed into a thousand pieces, when your life feels like it has fallen apart, like everything God had been doing in you for, as long as you can remember has gone away, friend, I want you to remember he is with you and he is for you and the spirit and the word aligned here in Romans 16 to declare to us, you are a child of God, no matter what, you may be feeling today. You are a child of God, no matter what kind of suffering or sorrow may be bearing down upon you. You are a child of God, even in our suffering. We are not alone. Look at verse 17. It says, and if children, that is if we are God's children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. That is to say that just as Christ has been given a place

in glory because of his obedience to death on a cross, we have the same inheritance. We have been invited into the glory of God, not by our own merit but by the merit of Jesus and by his redeeming blood shed on the cross. We are not just God's children, we are heirs. That is we are joint heirs with Christ. If, everybody say if, it's the most important word in the English language. I got a tattooed right here on my hand years ago because everything hangs on the word. If children, then heirs, heirs of God join heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him that we also, that we may also be glorified together. If indeed we suffer with him. I've got those three words underlined in my Bible. Suffer with him. You remember what I just said a minute ago? We are children of God. That means that even in our suffering, we are not alone. If indeed we suffer with him, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. And we will also be glorified together if it all hangs on that word. If we suffer with him. What does it mean to suffer with Christ? Here's what I would submit to you today. Recently I was walking, talking with a man who's wife.

He and his wife have been separated for some time and she just told him she's got feelings for someone else and wants to just end the relationship and move on. And he's just saying, Pastor, I need some counsel. I need some help here. What am I supposed to do with this? How can I contextualize this? And I said, you know what? Man, my heart breaks for you. And I'm so sorry that you're walking through this, but I want you to consider this. Nobody knows what this feels like better than Jesus. To love a bride that doesn't love you back. To love a bride that has turned her gaze from you toward another lover. This is the suffering of Christ. See, here's the beautiful thing about the redemption story that the Bible offers us. Beautiful thing about that story is that it gives us a picture of a God who is not detached from or unfamiliar with suffering. He knows the sting of rejection. He knows the pain of betrayal. He knows the sorrow of loss. I just wrote a paper. I just had to write a final paper, a 12-page exegesis of a passage in Matthew chapter 14. And when Peter walks on the water, and Peter walks on the water right after Jesus feeds the 5,000, but Jesus feeds the 5,000 right after he finds out

that his cousin, John the Baptist, had his head cut off. So here's Jesus' day. Jesus finds out his cousin, his lifelong best friend, the forerunner for his ministry, the one who announced, "Behold, the Lamb of God, "who takes away the sin of the world." God, his head removed by Herod. Somebody comes to Jesus and says, "Jesus, I just want you to know "that arrested John a while ago, but today he died." They cut his head off. And Jesus, the Bible says that Jesus went away. He left everyone and went to be by himself to the countryside, and then when people heard that he was out there, 5,000 men brought their families to come and be like, "Jesus, can you do some miracles for us?" Like, here's the thing. We are so in love in America with boundaries. We would never allow that to happen. Don't you guys know, I'm going through a season of mourning. My cousin just had his head cut off. I've got other things on my mind right now. I can't just be expected to drop everything and serve you guys, but what does Jesus do? He drops everything and serves those guys. In the middle of his suffering, in the middle of his sorrow, in the middle of the pain of loss that Jesus was very familiar with, now he's dealing with the pain of obnoxious people who are too needy, who are a little bit inconsiderate

of what he's going through. And he rises to the occasion and he serves these people. He meets their needs and then he sends his disciples away and he sends the people away and then the Bible says he goes up on the mountain by himself to pray. And he's finally spending time alone with the father. He's been trying to do this all day long. And it's in the middle of that night that Jesus walks on the water and Peter comes to meet him. And so we find fellowship with Jesus in our times of suffering. We can say, okay, I know Jesus better because of the betrayal I felt. I know Jesus better because of the loss I've suffered. My sorrow actually can drive me closer to Christ and I can fellowship with him in my suffering. And this is why Romans chapter eight encourages us, encourages us to suffer with him, to know that we actually can connect with Jesus. We can commune with Jesus. We can come to understand Christ better through our suffering. And then Paul continues. And this is one of my favorite verses over these last months. I have quoted it more times than I can count. He says in Romans 8, 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Why can we have hope in times of suffering?

Because we know suffering is temporary, but glory is eternal. We know that suffering is temporary, but glory is eternal. We have become, as I said earlier, too nearsighted, our suffering, it may be a real and present reality, but it is never for the child of God, a permanent state of being. Now you may not see the other side of your suffering. You may not be able to imagine what it looks like to come out of your suffering. But for the child of God, suffering is never a permanent state of being. In fact, the suffering of this age that Paul talks about is not even fit to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. Author Randy Alcorn wrote, and I love this quote. He says, "For Christians, this present life is the closest they will ever come to hell." But for unbelievers, it is the closest they will ever come to heaven. And what a comforting thought for us as the people of God to say, "This is all the hell I'll ever taste." Praise God. I mean, it hurts, right? Like it hurts to lose a loved one. It hurts to walk through betrayal or abandon, and it hurts to feel the sting of human life and the disappointments and the difficulties

that we all face and with which we are all familiar. But what a comforting thought that this is as close to hell as I'll ever get. And if this is as close to hell as I'll ever get, I'm able to say even at its worst, it's not that bad. Even at its worst, it's not that bad. I, my oldest son, Kai, was born two weeks late. He was in no hurry at all to come out. He was perfectly happy and comfortable in there. He was fine. Carver on the other hand my youngest son He was born like a month early. I was in Australia. My wife called me at I don't know four in the morning and and she said Maddie I am bleeding and And I don't know I haven't felt the baby all day I don't know what to do and so I sat down that day and prayed the most honest prayer I think I've ever prayed tears ran down my cheeks. I was real brave for her and I said you gotta get to the hospital It's gonna be okay. God's faithful and then after we hung up I sat down on the edge of the bed and began to cry and I said God help That was the whole prayer God help I don't know what to do and uh and she covered in blood drove herself over to the hospital and uh and there was a whole surgical team like dressed and ready to take Her right at the door that took her in and had an emergency c-section to get him out and he is fine You can see him running around. He's giving a thumbs up from the back right now. He's the man That's my he has to go blow his nose. He's he's the man He's he's healthy and hilarious and and everything is okay And here's the thing we look at situations where we say, you know, how could God like just recently at Milligan University They just lost two of their students in just a devastating Unjust tragedy. They were cyclists and and they were at a practice with their team and a man Distracted drove his car into the entire milligan university cycling team killing two of them and injuring several more and it's it is a

Devastating loss A devastating sorrow and and we we could look at situations like that and say, you know, God these these kids were like 19 years old How could it be okay that their lives were cut so short? How is that all right? And and I would say because eternity is so long That 19 years or 90 years will make no difference in a hundred thousand Here's what I mean my son Kai who was 42 weeks Was born into life and he's healthy and and wonderful and brilliant and handsome ladies and uh And In my son carver had a very traumatic birth and he was born a month early and he We had to watch him when he was in the NICU to make sure he didn't stop breathing They said watch his chest and watch it go up and down and if it stops Here's what to do. Here's how to give CPR to an infant like we were just you know, it's three o'clock in the morning And I'm just zoned in on this kid to make sure he doesn't stop breathing. It was a terrifying time for us We don't ever think about it anymore. We don't carry that trauma with this anymore Here's here's what I Here's how my thinking has shifted over the last years I have begun to look at life on earth like it's the womb of eternity Like we are in the womb of eternity and And some those of you that have had miscarriages your children have gone straight from the womb into eternity And what an amazing thing that they've never experienced the sorrow or suffering of a long brutal often brutal human life, but but but those of us that Those of us that that maybe live for a long time We could look at those that die young and say what what kind of injustice is this? How could God justify that? It's an awful horrible thing and here's the thing in a hundred thousand years I don't think anybody's gonna say well you got to live to be 90 and I died at 23 Will be in eternity together Still in awestruck wonder at the beauty of the one who sits on the throne

Overwhelmed with gratitude to be in his presence and not really worried about how we got there I'm gonna be with young brothers and sisters in Nigeria who were Chopped to pieces when they were 16 years old And I'm gonna say hey, I'm so glad that you made it home and they're gonna say maddie I'm so glad that you made it home. We're gonna be so glad to have each other like this is The way the family of god works. I'm going so slow today. Are you guys are we good? Okay, so we're gonna jump now from Romans to to the book of James Look at James chapter 1 and I want you to see how James the brother of jesus starts his epistle To the church. He writes James 1 starting verse 1 he writes my brethren counted all joy when you fall into various trials What a psychotic thing to say Count it all joy when you fall into various trials what? When you lose your job counted all joy david pastor david you remember when we got several hundred thousand Dollars of music equipment and vans and you know our van and trailer stolen from us And we joyfully rode over to the house of blues in houston texas in rock to show with like Other people's gear we didn't have our own guitar picks or drumsticks like we had to borrow everything for a headlining show at house of blues which is like every band's dream and uh good. We're going to glorify him in the way that we deal with trials. We're going to count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Why? James explains in the next verse, he says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. The testing of your faith will make you a better person. The testing of your faith will make you more like Jesus. But let, he says in verse four, but let patience have its perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. That word for perfect means fully mature, fully developed or whole or complete. Let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete. Can I tell you this? Here's what James is saying in New King James English or let me take it out of New King James English and make it practical for us. What James is saying is this, if you will be patient, God will complete His work in you. If you'll be patient, even in trials, even in suffering, even in hardship, even in suffering, God will finish what He started in your life. You know, I remember a few years ago when Pastor Ian and Miss Christine were getting ready to move those of you that know them. They were just here this year. They were getting ready to move back to Australia after five years with us. And one of their last days in town, we took

them out on Watauga Lake. We rented a boat and we took them out for the day. And we're like having this fun boat day. The kids are tubing. We're just like enjoying the weather. And then we see this storm kind of come over the mountains, you know, and it looks bad. And so we think, all right, we got to get out of here. So I turned the boat and I'm like speeding in the opposite direction. The storm is gaining on us. It was like an action movie, you know, and I get to the edge of the lake. I couldn't go any further at all. And guess what? The storm didn't stop. I was hoping it would like turn weird decreeing and declaring it didn't listen. And in this storm, it just rolled over us. And so you know what we did? We chose joy in the storm. We got rained on. It was uncomfortable. We're all just soaking and freezing. And you know what the storm did? It kept moving. It didn't just stop over us. It moved on eventually. The sun came back out and we had a great rest of the day. And I've taken that ever since that day as a perfect analogy for like how to endure the suffering that I can't change. Do you want to know what you do in those moments? You sit. You sit down and you say, God, I know you love me. I know you are good. And I'm going to let patients have its perfect work in me. And it hurts now. And there's unanswered questions and I will cry the tears that I need to cry. I'm not going to like it. But Lord, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay planted in your word. I'm going to stay planted in your presence. And I trust that you will finish what you started with me if I'll be patient enough to let you. And so that's what we did. We planted ourselves, guys. This is a story though. If any of you have ever come to me and talked about how you struggle with depression, I've probably told you that story. As someone who myself through the years has struggled with clinical depression a long time ago, I took medication for it. When it comes, and it still does at times, you want to know how I deal with it? I wait. Because it's like storm clouds. They come. Can you feel it coming? And then they go. You wake up one day and the sun is shining again. You endure not by warring against your suffering, but by fixing your eyes on Christ, trusting Him in the midst of it and waiting. And this is why James' prescription for suffering is patience. And so John Chrysostom, one of the church fathers says this, and I think this is so profound. He says it rests with us to either to profit or to be injured by afflictions. It depends not upon the nature of the affliction, but upon the disposition of our minds. Here's what he means. It is up to you whether your suffering will serve you or break you. Suffering will come. It's a part of life on earth.

It's a part of the universal human experience. But when suffering comes, it's up to you, the disposition of your mind, how you're convicted, how your attention is oriented, whether that suffering will sharpen you and make you more like Christ, or whether it will be your excuse to abandon God and to walk off of the path He's called you to. How you respond to suffering makes all the difference. Will we allow it to develop us, or will we allow it to destroy? And I'll jump forward just a few chapters into James chapter five. And I want you to see that James' theme is the same from chapter one where he's talking about patience, having its perfect work in you. But he says in James chapter five, verses seven and eight, he says, "Therefore be patient brethren." This is James again, hitting this nail, he says, "Therefore be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord, see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until he receives the early and the latter reign. You also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand." What he's saying is this, suffering is temporary, but glory is eternal. Wish your heart, be patient, even when things haven't worked themselves out yet and trust that the God who brought you this far will not stop until he brings you home. Family, it's not a mystery that there is suffering or hardship in the world. The selfishness, deception and ignorance of man has brought corruption to all creation. So suffering and sorrow, those are the natural state of things. But the greater mystery I think is this, this is maybe the question we ought to be asking. How is it possible that anything other than suffering exists? We've seen human nature. How is it possible that there is any justice or hope in the world or any love or charity? How have kindness and mercy found their way to us here? These things I'm convinced are evidences of God's redeeming work in the earth and they bear witness to those with eyes to see of his ongoing rescue of humanity from the decaying presence of sin.

The fact that there is anything other than suffering is evidence that God is not done with humanity and that he is redeeming us back from the consequences of the fall. In fact, I'll show you the end of the story. Is that all right? It's easy. I was just talking to Ella Haggerty about how she's just absolutely crushing everybody in cross country this year. If you ever want to die, try to keep up with Ella in a race, it's not going to go good for you. But I'll bet she would tell you that when you turn that last corner, no matter how tired you are and you see the finish line, you find some depth inside of yourself to be able to sprint like you hadn't before, that you're running through the whole course and it can be brutal and you can be exhausted. But when you see high Ella, but when you see the finish line, suddenly you find out that you have a little bit more to give. And so it's important for us to see the finish line. So let's look at Revelation chapter 21. It says this, Revelation 21 verses 1 through 4, John writes, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no more sea than I, John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Friends this is the finish line. We know that the suffering of our life on earth is temporary. That we can say like there would be no suffering for us if there wasn't love. We couldn't lose a loved one if we didn't have people to love.

Thank God for that." And the sorrow we feel at the loss of love, it bears witness to the depth of that love and we can thank God for those love relationships that we've been given but we can also rejoice in the knowledge that the suffering of this age is temporary and the age to come is eternal. So how do we endure this age? We do what James prescribed. We choose patience. We outlast suffering with hope. We cry the tears. We mourn the sorrow and loss which are universal to our human experience and we sit in the sadness when the suffering feels heavy. We endure loss and we work against injustice. We live our lives on earth as Randy Alcorn says as close to hell as we will ever be. He prays God and we do so with hope in these two vital truths. Number one, suffering is never for nothing. And number two, suffering is temporary for the sons of God. Glory is eternal. So we're gonna take communion here in just a moment. But before we do, I think there are some of you that maybe your hearts have been burdened with the question of God, where have you been? My miracle didn't come. My prayer wasn't answered. It didn't happen for me the way that it happens for other people. And I don't know the answer to the questions. And God, I'm trying to be faithful, but I still carry the pain of loss or betrayal or sorrow or suffering. And I believe that God wants to meet and comfort you here in this place.

Maybe it's women that are dealing with the unimaginable hardship of a miscarriage. Maybe it's suffering of abuse that you face when you were a child. Maybe it's betrayal or abandonment by loved one. If you are in this place this morning and you've been carrying the weight of suffering and today you're ready to say, God, I need you to heal that part of me and give me hope again. Give me a perspective to where I can feel the pain, but I can still see the hope of eternity and glory and rest with you. If that's you, would you be brave enough to just stand up right where you're at? Come on, see, you're not alone in this, man. This is what it means to be children of God. It means that we're not alone in our suffering. We're not alone in our sorrow and our sadness and our hurt. This is, you should know, just a few months ago I sat down with a friend of mine, an old friend of mine that I admire dearly, Fred Morrison, Pastor David's dad. And I asked him like, how do you keep loving the church when sometimes people in the church are very mean to you? And he said, you just keep going. You take it on the chin and you leave it at the cross and you keep going. And guys, here's the thing about suffering. It is that we have all felt it. We've all walked through it. But those who are gonna be used by God in the most profound ways are those that can stand up

under it and say, yeah, it hurt. And I shed those tears and I lost that sleep. And man, I wrestled with it, but God is still good and he's too worthy of my praise. And I'm gonna follow him tomorrow like I did yesterday. So if you're near one of these people, would you just lay a hand on their shoulder? Let them know that they're not alone in this. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Lord, I thank you that in this place that hope is taking the place of sorrow. I thank you, Lord, that even right now, your Holy Spirit is removing the roots of discouragement that have tried to wrap themselves around the hearts and minds of so many of these people. God, make us a people who are resilient and relentless in our hope in you. God, we thank you that you are able to take human suffering and to make it serve us. God, I thank you that those who are standing that they're stronger today because of what they've walked through, that they're more resilient today, they're more convicted today, they're more clear about their calling today because of what they've walked through. And I thank you, God, that you have not abandoned them in their suffering, that you walked with them and you wept with them through it.

Lord, you are faithful in each one of these lives is a testament to that truth. God, thank you that though we have suffered, we have not been destroyed or abandoned. Thank you for your presence and your love that surrounds us and for your spirit that continually testifies that we are your beloved children. God help us to rest in that fact and to allow patients to have its perfect work in us so that the world will see Jesus when they look at us. And we ask this in his beautiful night. Amen. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO] You