Heaven In Your Suffering | Pastor Tim Dunn

Happy Sunday, Grace Way, and so good to see you all. Are you all happy to be in the house of the Lord today? That's right. So good to see you all. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. Our days are few, and they rest in your hands. So teach us to make each one count. Come let us worship the God who has carried us this far. Let us worship the Lord together. Eternal God, you showed Moses the land from the mountaintop and laid him to rest with your own hands. Our days are brief, but your love endures. Teach us to love you with all our hearts, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, so that our short lives are spent on what last, in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. 9/30, it's so good to see y'all. It's time to worship Jesus. Whether you're viewing online or in person, welcome to Grace Way. I wish I could tell you, wish I could describe it, but I can contain it, can keep it to myself. There aren't enough colors to paint the whole picture. Not enough words to ever say what I found. It's wonderful and beautiful. Make a glorious and holy be his person. Full and powerful.

Who is talking about? That's my King. We've become the glory. Give him all the honor. He's all together worthy. Who is talking about? That's my King. That's the one before you. And he has to be able to join you. 'Cause all of this is for you. Who are we talking about? That's my King. Come on, 9/30, did you come to worship King Jesus today? That's my King. I'm not letting the rocks ride without joining the chorus. There aren't enough notes to make the harm of me. It's the song of the angels. The angels, the angels, the angels. Earth and heaven, tip on me. He's wonderful and beautiful and glorious. Sing holy be his person. Full and powerful. Who is talking about? That's my King. Come on, we've become the glory. And give him all the honor. He's all together worthy. Who is talking about? That's my King. That's the one before you.

And he has to be able to join you. 'Cause all of this is for you. Who are we talking about? That's my King. Jesus, you're my King. That's my King. That's my God. Come on, I hear you. That's my shepherd, my protector. That's my King. That's my rod. That's my anchor. My defender, that's my King. That's my God. That's my shepherd, my protector. That's my King. That's my rod. That's my anchor. My defender. Who are we talking about? That's my King. Come on, quick, wait. We've become the glory. We give him all the honor. He's all together worthy. Who are we talking about? That's my King. We've become the glory. We give him all the honor. He's all together worthy.

Who are we talking about? That's my King. That's the one before you. And yes, we love to call you. Come on, this is for you. Who are we talking about? That's my King. Who are we talking about? That's my King. Who are we talking about? That's my King. Come on, quick, wait. That's my King. Who are we talking about? That's my King of glory. Come in. That's my King. That's my King of glory. Come in. That's my King. Let the King of glory. Come in. That's my King. Who are we talking about? That's my King. Come on, get the King of King and Lord of your life. Give him a great big shout of praise in this place. (singing in foreign language) (upbeat music) (singing in foreign language)

(singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language)

(singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) Welcome to Grace Way, my name is John Stevens and I'm so glad you're joining us today. Whether this is your first time with us or you've been watching for a while, we're really glad you're here. You are a valued part of the Grace Way family and it's a privilege Throughout the Bible, we see Him using ordinary people with imperfect pasts doing incredible things. Your past doesn't define your future. In Christ, there's always hope. There's always purpose, and there's always the next step. If you have a family or friends who use the Pando app, encourage them to watch Graceway 2. This is a great way to experience the same message together, even when you're in different places. One of the best things we can do is grow in our faith together, encourage one another, and keep the conversation going long after the service ends. If you're currently in a correctional facility in Kansas or Missouri and would like to see Graceway offered where you are, let your chap know. They can learn more about bringing Graceway to your

facility by visiting visitgraceway.org/prison. As we get started, don't just watch the service, jump in, worship, pray, and listen and ask God to speak to you. I believe He has something He wants to say to you today. Come on Graceway, we're going to continue to worship King Jesus, where this song is called Crowns Down. It's where we take our crowns off of our titles, our crown, the crown represents our title, who we are. What we do, we land that as the altar today and we're worshiping one God, a holy God. In droned and glory, my Savior King, your loving kinds has welcomed me. Though I'm unworthy of majesty, you wrap the lonely and royalty. Come on and I will lay my crowns down at your feet. You are holy, holy, and I will give my life as an offering. You are worthy, worthy Lord. Is He worthy, 9.30? He's so worthy, he's so worthy. Thank you, Jesus. Here at your altar, to seek your faith, broken and worn out without restraint, in full of pendant before my king. Here at surrender, my everything. So I will lay my crowns down at your feet. You are holy, holy, and I will give my life as an offering. Why? 'Cause you are worthy, so worthy Lord. I will lay my crowns down at your feet. You are holy, holy, and I will give my life as an offering. You are worthy, so worthy Lord. Come on, holy hands lifted all over the room. You are holy, Jesus. It's a sign of surrender. It's to a holy God, to holy Savior. You're so holy, Jesus. And we worship you. I send you our Lord. Holy, holy, holy is the lamb upon the throne. We join upon the pendant, the everlasting song. Holy, holy, holy is the lamb upon the throne. Come on, we join upon the pendant. And I will lay my clouds down at your feet You are holy to hold, come on, you come! I will give my life as an old after all of me You are worthy to worthy, and I will lay my heart. I will lay my clouds down at your feet You are holy, God of all of me Oh, I will give my life as an old after all of me You are worthy to worthy, and holy, holy, holy, in the Lamb upon the throne We join the God of Heaven in the everlasting soul Come on, we sing Holy, Holy, Holy, in the Lamb upon the throne We join the God of Heaven in the everlasting soul 'Cause you are holy, you are holy, Jesus And we worship you, and we worship you! Come on, great way, let's work to keep Jesus This is your opportunity to give keep Jesus a holy God, a great big shout of prayer ♪ Come on, we sing holy holy holy holy ♪ ♪ We sing holy holy holy holy ♪ ♪ We sing holy holy holy ♪ ♪ Holy holy holy holy ♪

♪ We sing holy holy holy ♪ ♪ We sing holy holy holy holy ♪ ♪ Holy holy holy holy holy ♪ ♪ Holy holy holy holy holy ♪ ♪ Holy holy holy holy holy ♪ ♪ Are you Lord God Almighty ♪ ♪ And worthy is the land ♪ ♪ Worthy is the land ♪ ♪ For you are holy ♪ How would you worship King Jesus knowing that he's standing here in the room? You would say he's holy. ♪ Are you Lord God ♪ Come on, all my heights. ♪ And worthy is the land ♪ ♪ Worthy is the land ♪ ♪ For you are holy ♪ ♪ You're holy ♪ ♪ Are you Lord God Almighty ♪ ♪ And worthy is the land ♪ ♪ Worthy is the land ♪ ♪ I'm the land ♪ (audience cheering) - It's great to get their family, God. We join with countless saints and angels. Thank Lord of the prophet Isaiah as he has transported into the throne room of God and sees God the Father Yahweh on the throne. His train fills the temple. He is surrounded by the angelic hosts

and they're singing exactly what we just sang. And Lord, just to understand that Isaiah Woke up with his face. our Sunday best, looking, trying to look like we're doing something and we are someone. When we get into your presence, Lord, we're undone. Lord, would you let us be a church that's a little more undone? Would you let us be a church where your presence is thick? Would you let us be a church that sees that we're far worse than we thought we were and you're far better than we could ever imagine? Would you help us, Lord, to see this world with all of its lies? Dust to dust, ash to ash. It's all going away, but you and your presence, it remains. What a privilege it is, Lord, for us to sing to you. What a privilege it is for us to give to you. What a privilege it is for us to talk to you. So Lord, now as we open up your word, we ask humbly that you would talk to us. That you would speak to us, minister to us, confront us. And I pray in some holy way that we would wake up on our face and surrender and enworship to whatever you have for us, Lord. Or be present in this church, we need you. Thanks for loving us. Thanks for who you are. Thank you for your promises, Lord. Speak to us now. Bless us now. We pray against the enemy. In the name of Jesus, He's not welcome here. In our homes, our minds, our families, our finances, our workplace, He's not welcome here. The King has come. And this church belongs to Jesus. We thank you for it. We love you. And in Jesus' name, come on, all guys, people said, Amen and amen. Grace way, what's happening? How are you? Are you good? It's good to see you. All right, take some of that goodness, pass some peace, and then grab your seat. All right, family, how are you today? No, no, no, no. You're in church. Come on. Are you happy to be in church today? All right. There we go. Hey, if you are a guest, man, thanks so much for being here. I know you could be a lot of different places. We're honored to have you here. Could you do me a favor if you're a guest right outside those doors and to the left is a space called Guest Central. I'll be in there. A couple of our leaders will be in there. Would you just stop by and say hello? I got some coffee and some cookies in there, right? Like a weirdo, right? Come eat some cookies with me, right? Now come on. I just want to meet you. Caffeine and sugar. That's the bribe I got for you. Chiefs don't play until 330. You got time, all right? Stop by,

say hello. Love to shake your hand here a little bit about you. If you are watching online, God bless you. We got a team in Mexico right now. Give them some love. Come on, team. We love you. We miss you. We're praying for you. Pastor Brandon, Ricardo, the whole crew. Are you praying for him, church? Have you been praying for him? All right. I am too. Do your thing, fam. Bring that future kingdom into the present. We're proud of you. And if you're watching in Kansas City, can I just say again, we got another service. You ought to just come. I know what you're thinking. I'm not ready. I don't have that. Just come on. Just come. All right. We just want to spend some time with you. I want to introduce you to Jesus if you're not in Kansas City, though. God bless you. I hope things are well. And then brothers, men, church at Crossroads and at Ozarks. We love you. So excited for what God is doing. You know, church is kind of a funny thing, especially when you're online. My big old dumb head is seen by lots and lots of people. Can I tell you the real magic, the thing that really makes this church go are literally week in and week out, pray for this church week in and week out, some of them you will never meet but you reap the benefit of their heart, their care, their service for you. We call them our dream team. And if you're on the dream team here, can I just thank you for everything that you're doing? Can I just thank, yeah, come on, give yourself a hand. (audience applauding) It is certainly not lost on me. How many of you give up your time, squeeze, serving this church in between all the things you have gone, man, I'm literally, I'm in your debt. And so once a year, we just throw you a party, all right. It's called the dream team party. Last year, we did a survey and just said, hey, what kind of party would you wanna come to, right? Have you ever gone to a party you're like,

this party's lame, that we didn't want that to happen. And so we took everything that you said you wanted and that's happening this Friday at 6 p.m. Okay, dream team party. Really, really, really excited about it. I'm excited, apparently, my wife and I are, but the rest of you, apparently not. So here's what I need from you, all right. First off, I need you to wake up, all right. And secondly, if you are on the dream team, I need, and you haven't signed up, I need you to sign up 'cause we got some surprises for you, we've got some food for you, and I need to know how many we need to have. So stop at the next steps desk and sign up. Just say, I'm on the dream team, I'm coming Friday, that's all we need. Now, if you're in the room and you're not on the dream team, bummer for you, no party for you, okay. You say, but I want to come, well, you should've listened when I told you to go to a growth track, now look at you, all right. You say, well, what about next year? Well, you got a year to go to a growth track and get on the dream team, and then we'll pray about whether or not you can come. All right, all right. I want to just give you a minute here to kind of get locked in. I, we're in a series right now called Heaven on Earth,

and I sat down a couple of weeks ago to get ready for today, and I really felt like the Lord kind of threw an audible at me, all right. And so whenever God gives you a plan and then changes the plan, have you ever had that happen? I think it's incumbent on us to just kind of pause, and I don't want you to miss what I think God has to say. So I'm gonna give you just a couple minutes just to get yourself locked in, be present, be sensitive to God's spirit, then I'm gonna pray for us, and we're gonna get after it, okay. Heavenly Father, I know, well, first off, thank you for being a God who speaks. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, thank you for Jesus, and Lord, we come into this room to hear from you. And so Lord, I thank you that you speak, I thank you for your word, I thank you for your spirit that teaches and guides and comforts. And Lord, today is an important topic for us, and so I just pray that you'll prepare our hearts, and I pray that you'll speak with clarity. Lord, our attention span is highly diminished, and so if we miss what you said or what you know that we need, would you say it again? And would you not let us get out of here without hearing from you for your glory and our good? In Jesus' name we pray, amen. This idea that I've been trying to get into your head

and into your heart around heaven, not as a place we go, but heaven is the government, the rule and reign of God. I really think it's such a missed understanding theology in the church, and so important. I think if you understood that heaven isn't just a place we go, but you can bring heaven to our city, to your home, to your heart. I think that if you started looking at your stuff, your relationships, and just said to yourself, "Am I bringing heaven or am I bringing hell right now?" It would clarify a lot of things, but I wanna make it more personal for you, and maybe a little bit more visceral. So as a teenager, I grew up in a single parent home, my mom took me to a large Baptist church. Shout out Baptist. Did you hear that? They made a noise in church. Look at you all, next thing you know, you're gonna be saying amen, and then holy, it's slippery slope, it's slippery slope. And because my dad wasn't around, my mom began to pray that God would bring spiritual fathers and brothers into my life. You know, some of the things I say to you, I think that y'all don't realize, I'm just saying to you things that God has given to me. And God in his grace brought a lot of spiritual brothers and a handful of spiritual fathers.

I've said to you before, I don't love church 'cause of this. This is actually a little weird to me. because of the relationships, because of how many blessings God has brought into my life. And I get it, I know that the church is imperfect in an imperfect place, and if it wasn't, it was the day that I walked into it. But God's brought me so many beautiful, wonderful things, and two spiritual fathers that I had, one was a business owner, and the other was the teaching pastor of the church. And the teaching pastor of the church really kind of fathered me, especially in ministry. The first hospital visit I ever did, I was in church, and somebody came up and said, "Hey, pastor's looking for you," and I went, and he said, "Hey, we have a 17-year-old young lady, "her and her boyfriend are pregnant, "she just went to the hospital, "she's gonna give birth to a stillborn baby, "and I want you to go." And I said, "Go where?" And he said to the hospital, "I said alone." And he goes, "Yeah." He goes, "God's called you to be a pastor, "so my first ever hospital visit "and subsequent funeral was that." So, new thing getting on the dream team is hard. He moved to Florida, became a senior pastor. I moved to Indiana and was dating a really cute

Burnett and Indiana. And we started dating, and I called him one Thursday, and I said, "Hey, you know, I've been dating Ash, "and you know Ash, and I'm calling to get your permission "to ask her to marry me." Side note, fellas, make sure you have somebody you're under authority too. And by authority, I mean when they tell you no you obey. That's a different sermon, but I'll come back to it. And so he said, "Man, of course." And I said, "Well, if you give me a permission, "we do our premarital counseling." And he said, "Hey, you know what? "If you give me a permission, we do our premarital counseling. "Of course, we come up and marry us, of course." That was a Thursday night. Friday, he was driving home from the church office, had a massive brain aneurysm. And he was the kind of dude who would still drive himself to the hospital after. So he drove himself to the hospital. On Thursday, he had given us permission. On Friday, he had the aneurysm, and on Sunday, he was dead. And I remember sitting in his funeral, and his son, who was a worship leader, sang a song called "I Can Only Imagine." Have y'all heard this song? And subsequently ruined it for me. So don't hum it, don't sing it, I don't wanna hear it.

All right? It's an interesting thing to think about people that have gone before us and what they are experiencing in heaven. I actually think that it kind of helps me because I think it's important for us. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and I think a lot of times, we don't really think about what he means by that. Like, what is heaven actually like? And so I wanna help you today, and I want you to just close your eyes. If you fall asleep, don't worry about it, there's no guilt. But I just want you to close your eyes, and there's this song that is on, just repeat right now. I just wanna kind of say the lyrics over you, and I just want you to kind of imagine with me, okay? You ready? Do you wake with the light? This is in heaven, or is it always day? Do the angels know your name when you walk their way? Is there music in the air? Do you finally feel free? Do you ever look down and still think about me? Do you have your old smile? Do you laugh like before? Was there somebody waiting

when you stepped through that door? I imagine you peaceful. No fear in your chest. No more pain in your body. Just finally rest. Tell me, how is heaven? Is it everything that they say? Are the streets really golden? Does the hurt all fade away? I hope that you found peace, that the world couldn't give. I'm still learning how to lose you, but you're learning how to live. Whenever we meditate on heaven, it's easy to see, and it's easy to obey, when Jesus says, when you pray, pray this way, your kingdom come. I want to encourage you to actually spend some time and think about what heaven must be like, because I think that it rightly frames our experience. I think that sometimes we subliminally think Paul, who actually had gone to heaven, was transported to the third heaven, says you know it's created this problem for me, to live is Christ, but to die is gain, because if I die, I get to go there and be with Him. And I know that I'm supposed to stay here, but I'm hard pressed between these two. I wonder if you understand heaven enough, if you long to be with Jesus enough,

that you don't sometimes have these times where you just go, you know man, can you just take me home? You know man, could you just bring however it needs to go? I don't really know everything that it's gonna feel like, but I just wanna be with you, Jesus. And Jesus says, when you pray, pray, your kingdom come, and I sort of wish that He had stopped right there, because then it would just be about, but it goes on, He says, your will be done here, as it is there. I wonder if you've ever spent any time with that, what does that even mean? I love the line in there, is there music in the air, like is there worship music playing all the time in heaven, and what kind of worship music, right? I love the idea of, was there somebody waiting when you walked through the door? I love the idea of thinking, and reading, and praying, and meditating about what will it be like when Jesus finally sets it all right, but Jesus says, pray for that, but also pray that today would be like that day. And I wanna say to you that as important as it is for you to pray, as Jesus said, your kingdom come, your will be done, because how many of you know that what's true about heaven, we desperately need to be true about earth? And so God's people are called, and compelled, and commanded to pray, but how many of you also know,

and here's the point I want you to hang on the rim, that believing in, longing for something that is true doesn't make it a reality. Believing in heaven doesn't bring heaven. Wanting heaven doesn't bring heaven. When Jesus said, when you pray, pray this way, there's something implicit in it, and it isn't just have a good doctrine on heaven, it's act like you were there. Practice what it would be like if Jesus ruled and reigned in your life. Church, how would people know what heaven is like and want to be there if you don't show them? And we have reduced heaven to gold streets, pearly gates, mini mansions, chubby babies and harps. Can I tell you, I can punch that into AI? You gotta give me something more. And so we do this series to correct, I think one of the most important theologies in the Bible, heaven is here. Heaven has come. The king has come. Bring the future kingdom of God into the present and believing it ain't gonna get it done. You gotta practice it. Bring God's will, rule, and reign into your realities. Bring it into your homes, bring it into your relationship, bring it into your work, bring it into your finances, bring it into your communities. Let Kansas City be a place that's hard to go to hell.

Why? Because heaven has come and the character and priorities of God's kingdom have been put on display by the people of God. And I think conceptually we get that, but here's the audible. Are you still with me? What about our suffering? I think it makes sense to you to go, heaven in your home, yeah, got it. Heaven in your heart, yeah, yeah, yeah, cool. Heaven in your finances. Yeah, heaven at work. Okay, heaven in your suffering. Am I what? It's a difficult question. And so today's gonna be a little bit different. It has the potential to be a little bit harder to engage with unless you're going through a season of suffering and then this is for you. But can I also say, even if you're not going through a season of suffering, I would hope that you would engage because I know that on this side of eternity, your season of suffering is coming. You say, well, I came to church for some positivity, bro. (audience laughing) I'm positive on this side of eternity, your season of suffering is coming. There's some discussion for your small group.

There's actually a daily devotion and they are, want you to get connected to all that. But I especially put it in because I want you to just kind of be present with me and engage with me. And here's why, because suffering is one of the hardest elements of the human experience. We all know people who have walked away from faith because they couldn't reconcile the existence of suffering in a world that was created by a God who says that he's both good and powerful. We all know people who used to love Jesus and then it happened. And they just couldn't, they couldn't make the legos fit again. They just couldn't put the house back together. We live in a world that yes, displays under common grace the goodness and power and glory of God and displays the brokenness of man and creation. I mean on full display, thank you social media. And on this side of eternity, Jesus said in this world you will have trouble. On this side of eternity before I come back and fully restore there will be injustice, there will be sickness, there will be violence, there will be deceit, there will be abuse, there will be loss, there will be grief, there will be death. It's just baked into the recipe now. And yet God says that he has a use for suffering. He says that he intends to, this is the phrase that he uses, work everything together for our good. And I think subliminally we go, yeah, all the good stuff but that's not what it says, not in the English

and not in the original language by all things. It means all things. Romans 8, 28, we know, right church? We know, sometimes we know that the those who love God all things work together for good and those who are called according to his purpose. And I wanna be honest with you, as a pastor that feels wildly cliche, like fits neatly on a coffee cup. I've actually heard some more progressive theologians openly mock this verse. And let me just help you if you're in that space, you still have to surrender to God's definition of good. It's not whimsical. You still have to submit to what God says is good. And how many of you know, sometimes God takes me through a season of suffering and says, this is for your good. And I say, oh, the heck it is. What are you talking about? This ain't good. When God says, I'm gonna work everything together for your good, we might disagree on what's good. But God says, I've got some use for your suffering and I am convinced by both scripture and my own personal experience and observation that suffering is unavoidable for somebody who says, I want God to use my life. And I don't mean unavoidable because of brokenness. I mean, I think part of your discipleship, leadership development plan is suffering

if you wanna be used by God. Can I prove it to you? We love Joseph. Joseph was the second in command in Egypt. Yeah, after he was sold in slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of rape and spent years forgotten in an Egyptian prison. And the one isn't the exception. It's the delivery mechanism. Moses led God's covenant people out of Egypt. I wanna do what Moses did. Yeah, after he spent 40 years in the wilderness. 40 years, some of you are even 40. David was called to the crown, who I wanna be a man after God's own heart and I wanna have authority and rule and reign like David. Yeah, after he spent 13 years homeless in a cave running for his life. And do you think that any of these stories have the same punchline absent the suffering? They do not. The one delivers the other or as A.W. Atozer says, it is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply. Maybe we misunderstand what suffering is. Maybe we misunderstand how God wants to use it. And if Joseph, Moses and David don't get it for you, can I give you a description on Isaiah 53 of Jesus? Here it is. He was despised and rejected by men.

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and as one who men hid their face, he was despised and we esteemed him not. What kind of God? And if God will allow himself to be named in that regard, he must think about suffering differently than I do. Because if I were God, I would say, Man of Status. Man of Success. Man of do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want, because I'm God. And I'll shut your mouth and get out of my way. Not Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief. What kind of God do we have? What kind of God do we have? Listen, the cross reveals that God does not remain distant from human suffering and that God is capable of using suffering to deliver salvation. You can't look at the cross and not have your theology on suffering be changed. And without the cross, there is no resurrection that declares that suffering and death will have the final word. You don't have Easter without Good Friday. You don't have victory without death. And without the cross and resurrection, there's no promised new creation that establishes God's ultimate intention to not simply help humanity endure salvation, but overcome and eradicate suffering. None of that exists if Jesus is not willing to be a man of sorrows.

So, if God's delivery mechanism for the salvation, as of you, of everything is a cross. Then how do I engage when I go through the command of Jesus to pick up my cross and die to myself daily, which also means sometimes I go through the valley of shadow of death? Can I tell you one of the greatest distinguishes between the church and the world should be the way that we think about, talk about, and look at suffering? Now, we tend to want to know, what's the question we want to know when we suffer? Why? Why? And let me help you that typically it's not a helpful thing because sometimes we say, God, why are you doing that? And God says, trust me. And you say, yeah, but why? And he says, my promise is standing. Go, yeah, but why? And he says, I'll never leave you and forsake you. Yeah, but why? I'm accomplishing a good work that I begin in you. I'll bring it to its full fruition. Yeah, but why? You see, you don't really want to know why. You don't really want to know why. But God in his grace picks up suffering as a topic and says, baby, let me tell you why. Scripture tells us. And I think once you understand why and how God uses suffering,

it can become one of the most radically helpful teachings in Scripture to bring heaven into our suffering when we tend to think as suffering as hell. Yeah. So these categories, I'm going to give you five. Then I'm going to be on my seat. Distinguished between sufferings causes and the purposes that God uses suffering to bring to pass. Do you understand the difference? There's going to be some cause implicit, but what I want you to see is a boatload of Scripture. That's why it's in your notes. You don't have to worry about it. Of God saying, this is why, this is why, this is why, this is why, because if you're going through a season, I know your heart is going, why? Well, here's a couple reasons why. And because if you get in a season where you're suffering and you go, why, here's some why and some ways that you can bring heaven and not hell into your suffering. Same man if you're with me. The first thing that suffering does is it changes us. It forms us. God forms us to look more like Jesus. Romans 8 says, God works everything together for good to those who are according to His purpose. He conforms us into the image of His Son. Now, think about this for a second. We understand I want to look like be like Jesus, but we don't tend to think that one of the descriptors

for Jesus is a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. And so part of the way that God makes us look more like Jesus is He allows us to go through suffering, to sanctify our hearts, to have some experiences that Jesus chose so you can trust Him going through it. But when I trust Jesus through suffering, I get to the other end of the valley and I look a little bit more like the one who carried me. Secondly, suffering provides perseverance. This is part of the change. It sanctifies me and it-- James 1 trials test our faith, and we tend to think when we go through these seasons, I go, and my faith gets tested, and I get freaked out. My faith is being tested. What if, no. God leads us into these things because the testing produces, this is James, steadfastness and spiritual maturity. Roman says, suffering produces endurance and character and hope. In other words, there's certain things you can't be without suffering. There's certain hopes you can't have without suffering. There's certain maturity you'll never get to from a place of comfort. Thirdly, part of your change is that suffering humbles us. 2 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about a thorn in the flesh. We don't know what it is, but we know it's some type of suffering.

He says, I ask God to take it away from me, not once, not twice, but three times. And God said, I ain't taken it away. I'm trying to help you not be arrogant. Suffering has a way of leveling the playing field. When you're suffering, it doesn't matter how rich you are, how powerful you are, how cute you are. You're just like me. And so God brings suffering into our life to grow us, change us, bring some grit, resilience and to lower us. Because from a place of humility, this is 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 8. Affliction teaches me to depend on God rather than myself. Have you ever been to a spot where you're like, I cannot go any lower. I just need someone bigger than this problem to help me. And God goes, tag, put me in. But do you know when things are going great? I'm less prone to call out to God. When I think I'm the stuff and I'm not humble in that arrogance produces a fragility, not a perseverance. And it puts me in a place to look less like Jesus, not more. Jesus ultimately, God ultimately uses suffering to bring us to a place of surrender. 2 Corinthians 12, God's power is displayed not through your strength, not through your education, not through your acumen, through your weakness. And there's nothing that shows you

your own frailty, fragility and weakness like suffering. You know, we tend to think, God, I want you to work in my life. God, I want you to be powerful in my life. God, I want to depend on you. And God says, are you sure? I wanted to do that. I want to do something that far exceeds your expectation, exceeding abundantly above what you could ask or think. I'm trying to make you look like Jesus, but here's the truth. There's something unique about suffering that makes your heart and mind pliable. Suffering softens and tenderizes my heart in a way that success doesn't. Suffering softens and tenderizes and makes my heart moldable in the hands of God that even when that temporary pain is gone, that permanent character remains. I think that suffering is unique in that regard. There's something visceral and violent enough about it that it pushes against who I would otherwise be in a way that me doesn't. And it's crazy because in the church, we got this thing that says if God saves you, you're going to be happy and wealthy and wise, which is equivalent to saying if God saves you, you're going to be arrogant and not dependent and think you're the stuff and fragile. It doesn't make any sense.

Can I tell you, if you give your life to Jesus, what's going to happen in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. Jesus is overcome in the world, but God is going to use suffering and suffering seasons and difficulties and pains on this side of eternity to change you to look more like Jesus. You say, "Well, I don't want to look like Jesus." Well then, baby, you're in the wrong family. Secondly, suffering is used for formation and it's used for correction. God uses suffering to redirect us. God will use circumstances to confront sin and to restore us to obedience. Sometimes God lets you experiences the consequences that you deserve, this is Galatians chapter six. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man so is that, will he also read? Now here's the good news. But sometimes you just keep pouring that seed into the ground of your heart and God says, "All right, let's just let that thing grow." You wouldn't be told no. You wouldn't listen. You kept pushing. You kept pounding. You kept saying only you knew. And so let's just play that thing out. And sometimes you get exactly what you deserve. Sometimes even as a blood-soaked spirit-filled, grace-receiving Christians, sometimes you get the law. You deserve it. You wouldn't have it any other way. And God, Hebrews, chapter 12, loves you too much to not spank your ear end from time to time. He loves you too much to let you play in traffic. He lets you too much to Burger King. Have it your way. And he sometimes Psalms 119 brings affliction that precedes obedience. He sometimes, Luke 15, the prodigal son, brings you to the end of yourself so you'll get up and come back to the Father. Sometimes the worst seasons of your life are the greatest graces of God.

Because God's trying to bring you. Can we bring this season to a close? Can we bring this version of you to a close? Can we bring your arrogance and abstinence and self-righteousness to a close? Or am I going to have to run you over with a truck to make the point? God said to Jonah, Jonah, go to Nineveh. I love Nineveh. And what does Jonah do? I ain't going to Nineveh. Yeah, you are. Watch me. And he goes the other way and watch. God sends a storm and a whale after my guy. God loves Nineveh too much to not send a storm and a whale. And he loves Jonah too much to not send a storm and a whale. Now listen, God's discipline is always intended to restore you. It is never punitive and it is never to condemn you. And we should not look at people who suffer and go, "Oh, they must have done something bad." We shouldn't assume that hardship is that evidence of personal sin, but we should also be cognizant that sometimes I'm going through a hard season because I earned it. And that God is teaching me, correcting me, and redirecting me, and here would be my advice to you. Don't kick against the goats, Acts 26. Let me make it a little bit more clear. Lower your pain tolerance. You really think you're going to out God God? My guy sent a whale to swallow Jonah. You go, "We don't live near the ocean. You're missing the points." Listen, I watched some of you and your neck is too thick and your skull is too broad and you just keep beating your head against the promises and commands of God and assume that it's going to move, it ain't. God is not going to be mocked. And sometimes God brings suffering into our lives because he loves us too much to let us burn the house down. So he'll let us burn the house down to the last brick and then he'll pick up the brick and say, "You want to start over now?" Thirdly, God let's you suffer to change you. God let's you suffer to correct you. God let's you suffer to bring you closer to him. Psalm 34, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Can I tell you the Bible does not say anywhere. God is near to the comfortable affluent and successful. You know, we come into church and we ask God for his nearness and then out of the other side of our mouth say, "And give me more money, more comfort, more influence, more power." And God says, "I don't think you've read your Bible. That's not the delivery mechanism for communion with me." The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. I actually think this is a bit anecdotal, but I can make the case. I actually think that the hardest seasons of your life are the times that the God is nearest to you. I think that if you're in here right now

and you're like, "I am hanged by a threat and God is nowhere to be found," I would say. Because God uses suffering to draw us right up under our arm. He's always with us, you get what I'm saying? But every now and again, he just, come on, put it, get. Philippians three, Paul says, I wanna know Jesus, I wanna know the power of the resurrection. We go, yeah, and the fellowship of his suffering. There are things that you can only know about God in stillness and in suffering. The psalmist cries from the depths. It's the phrase that he is, I'm in the depths and he pleads for mercy and he calls out to God in greater dependency and honesty. Can I tell you some of y'all are two PG in your relationship with God. You aren't honest, you aren't sincere, you aren't authentic, and God's waiting for you to take off your Sunday best and be who you actually are. Bro, where are you? What are you doing? Why would you do this to me? I love you, but I'm about to cuss a little up in this house. Suffering reorders are priorities, Psalm 73. God, you are my ultimate desire, strength, and lasting portion. Can I tell you, you don't question your priorities when it's going well. And then lastly, watch suffering builds trust if you will let it. Y'all read the book of Job.

Job goes through this incredible season of suffering and he makes it longer than I would have. I'm gonna be honest with you by like 30 chapters. But he finally kind of breaks and he starts to question God and he starts to list his questions. And God lets him for a minute. And I don't know which question it was that God was like, oh, no, you didn't. But in chapter 38, he says to Job, gird up your loins like a man. Okay, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Where were you when I named it? Where were you when I told the sea? He could come this far and not a, where were you when he just goes on and on and on. And Job goes, shut your mouth, I'm not done. Where were you? Where were you? Where were you for three chapters? And at the end, Job's like, whoa, I am undone before you. What was God saying, this is above your pay grade. We come to God with our wives and our how dare yous. You don't want God to pick up that phone call. How dare you, God, you know what I've done for you? Oh, you want to play that game? How dare you, God, you don't understand what I'm going through. Oh, let's talk about who understands. Where were you when you were a twinkle in your mama's eye? Trust me, come on, come on, get up in here. Get a little closer, listen a little better.

I don't like to yell. Get still around me. I know you're suffering. There's some things that I'm trying to teach you that you can't otherwise know, son. And I'm near to you, but stop beating your dog on thick neck skull against the head of your own will and desires. It's only going to bring harm to you. And I had to give you a bump and a bruise to make the point. (audience clapping) Fourthly, God uses suffering to grow our ministry, to grow our ministry. God comforts us so that we can comfort others. Second Corinthians chapter one. God brings us into suffering to expand our witness. God brings us into suffering to participate in the suffering of Jesus. God brings us into suffering to expand our redemptive influence. You saw it, Genesis 50. Joseph is who God says that he was going to be. His brothers come and bow down before him. And what does he say? What she all meant for evil? God meant for good. Paul's ministry, he looks at all of his suffering and he goes, oh, God did this to me so I could be a blessing to you. God redeems what we suffer by using our seasons of struggle in life to be an encouragement to others.

Suffering is a tool in the hands of God Can I tell you, I don't want to hear from the power of positive thinking how I should deal with depression. I don't want to hear from somebody who has a Polly Ann award in June Cleaver wedding and marriage how to deal with my wife. I don't want to hear from somebody with a silver spoon dangling out of their lips how to order my budget. I don't want to hear from somebody who has always been a dry tea toadler how to stop dying to have another drink. No, I want you to be able to say to me, "Oh, yeah, I've been there. Here's the row of T-shirts that I wore. Let me tell you what God did." I've been there. Let me tell you what God said. I've been there. Hang on a second. Let me show you this scar. I've been there. Oh, you hit your head against that wall, too? I've been there. Yeah, I thought God was doing that to me. I've been there. Yeah, I said that to God. Oh, you said that to God. Oh, you shouldn't have said that, doggo, that's not. You're suffering. Watch. Watch. Why am I suffering, because I'm trying to make you look more like him? Why am I suffering?

Baby, you know why you're suffering. Because every now and again, I've got to let a little consequence come in. Why am I suffering, because I'm trying to bring you close? Why am I suffering for them? To look like him, and he loves them. So I'm bringing this. You look like him, love what he loves, correct some things, and you bring you closer to him and bless them. And then lastly, suffering brings us hope. Maybe not today, but God uses suffering to reveal his glory and eternal purposes to us. God reveals his power in our weakness and redirects our attention to his kingdom through suffering. You know, John, chapter 9, it's fascinating that Jesus heals a blind man, and his disciples come to him and they go, "What do you do, Jesus?" Come on, tell us. And he goes, "He didn't do anything. He was blind so that I could flex my power in front of everybody." His suffering was an opportunity for God to show his power. Your suffering is an opportunity for God to show, "My grace is sufficient. My power is perfect in your weakness, so I know you feel like you got this much suffering and this much weakness, but you still aren't anywhere near my grace." And can I tell you the only way you understand the grace of God is when you test the theory? This is why I want you to be authentic with your struggles. I don't want you to come in here and act like you have it all together. First off, I hate liars. Secondly, I want you to understand I was this, but God was this. It teaches you humility. It leads you to worship. It sanctifies your heart to go, "Every time I did that, every time I suffered, every time

I rebelled, I could never find the bottom of the barrel of God's grace." Suffering leads us to the power of God's suffering, leads us to the sufficiency of God's grace. Suffering leads us to victory. You say, "What does that mean?" You get to the end of the book of Job, and God blesses Job exponentially more than what he was before he suffered. Some of you are praying for the end of the book and missing the fact that it's the end, not the middle. I know that, especially in America, this doesn't make sense to us, but the Bible is fundamentally clear that victory, grace, and power's primary delivery system is suffering. God, give me power, give me grace, give me victory, nicely, comfortably, and with more money than I'm making right now. It gives us perspective, what does Paul say? Your present suffering is not comparable to the glory that will soon be revealed. Suffering unlike anything else, unlike success, unlike status, unlike your side hustle or your side chick. When I suffer it makes me long to be with Jesus. And if it did nothing else, biblically it would still be worth it. The Bible is very clear that if you're in a suffering season watch, suffering is never the conclusion for a Christian. Elizabeth Elliott said, "One thing I am perfectly sure of, that God's stories never end with ashes." If you're in a suffering season, the Bible would say, "God's trying to give you something. God's trying to make you into something. God's trying to teach you something. God's trying to build something." And the truth of it is, I would say it's easy for me to say, but I've been here so many times, I know it behind a shadow of a doubt, the truth of it is, when you come through this season you will not trade the blessings He gave you in the season to avoid the season. You won't do it.

So I want you to be confident on this side of the season that walking through the valley of the shadow of death, you are never alone. I want you to be confident that God is going to walk you through the valley of the shadow of death, and I want you to be confident that on the other side of that valley is something that you would not trade to stay comfy on that side. I want you to close your eyes for a second, and I want to be crystal clear about this. If you're in the room today, and you know beyond a shadow of it out, I know that heaven is my home, and I know that when I draw my last breath I will wake up in the presence of God. I want you to raise your hand, I want you to keep it up. Come on, be confident in what God has done. Okay, go ahead and put your hands down. What a blessing. Let me ask you another question. How many of you are in the room, and you say, "I don't know that heaven is my home, and I don't know if I died tonight that I would wake up in heaven." Would you be bold enough to raise your hand? No one's looking around with me. And thanks for your honesty. You can go ahead and put your hand down. Can I talk to you a second? Here's the good news that I have for you if you're a Christian. Your pain is never purposeless. Here's the bad news I have for you if you're not a Christian. I don't know why you're suffering. You see, the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian, there are many things, but here's one of the most fundamental. When I suffer, I don't have to like why, but I know there's a why. If you're not a Christian when you suffer, there's no point. Just part of living on this side of eternity, sorry.

You say, "Well, I don't want to have all these hard seasons and hard times in my life be for nothing and mean nothing. What do I need to do? You need to give your life to Jesus." The man of sorrows, the spotless lame of God who takes away the sin of the world, who was tempted at all points just like you, went through difficult seasons, just like you, so that you could know Jesus knows, it's like to suffer, and Jesus knows how do you walk you through it, and Jesus knows how to bring purpose to it, but you have to make him the King. And if you want to do that, I want you to pray this prayer with me, Heavenly Father, I come to you today, and I recognize that I need you. I confess that I'm a sinner and that I can't save myself. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose again so that I could have new life. So today, I surrender my heart and my life to you. Your my sins make me new, teach me to follow you. Whatever I face, I choose to trust you. Thank you for loving me, for saving me, for never leaving me, in Jesus' name. Amen. And with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you prayed that prayer with me, would you raise your hand? I got hands all over the place, keep it up, if you would. Someone from our team is going to come by and they're going to put a Bible in your hands. A couple of things I want to tell you about that, inside is a resource called You Said Yes. It's going to help you understand what being a Christian is. It's bookmarked to the Gospel of John. Thirdly, there's something called a connection card. Would you fill that out? Bring it to me and guess central. If you don't want to come see me, take it to the next step, sesk, or bring it down front to somebody on the prayer team. We're not going to bug you, spam you, sell your stuff, but we do. Just want to follow up with you and more than anything.

We want to welcome you into the family and celebrate that God has saved you today. Church, why don't we do that right now? What a blessing. What a blessing. What a blessing. Church, why don't you stand up, giving boxes in the back, prayer team down front, growth track in the next service time, dream team this Friday at 6 p.m. Let me pray for you. We'll get you out of here, Father. We thank you that you are willing to suffer to save us. And Father, we're willing to trust you with our suffering. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to know how. I pray, Lord, that you would keep us near to your voice, near to your will, near to you. And I pray, Lord, that you will give us all of the things that you say that you can do in working everything together for our good, that you will lead us faithfully and closely and that you will help us, Lord, to not lose heart and not lose hope and not lose trust. Lord, we believe that suffering doesn't have to be hell. It can be heaven because we follow and love in our children of the King of heaven. And so we thank you for that, Lord. Bless us as we go. Make much of Jesus in our hearts. We love you. We thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Sam, I love you. Go Chiefs, beat them Broncos.