The Other Side of Suffering - Aaron Burke

Hello. What's up, Journey Church? What's up, everybody? Welcome to the studio. We are so glad that you guys are here today. Let's go ahead and introduce ourselves. My name is Kyla and I get the honor of serving as one of our online hosts today. Yeah. My name is Jorge and I have the privilege of serving as an online host today as well. And my name is Julia and I get the honor of serving as part of our online team as well. Like Kyla said, we are so excited that we get to be with you today. Let us know who you are. Put it in the chat where you're watching from because it's Sunday, y'all. Yes. That's right. And what a beautiful day that the Lord has made today. How y'all feeling? Amen. I'm feeling good. The coffee is hitting. That extra shot of espresso is like, it's revving the engine. I'm so serious, guys.

Yes, yes. Like, pray for your girl. And there's been so much going on because it is summer at Journey, y'all. Summer at Journey is in full effect. We're already on week three already, which is crazy. In fact, we've had so many powerful words coming last week from our very own pastor, Joey, one of the executive pastors here at Journey. How y'all like that? Which I get from that. I thought it was really good. My biggest takeaway from that one was when he talked about your appointment, when you're appointed to do something and when you're received the word to do it, right? So the timing and the revelation of what you're supposed to do are not exactly or not necessarily the same time. You might be like, oh, you should be, or this is your calling, A, B, C. But you're not ready for it. You have to be in the moment. Because the example he used was his own life. He said that word that he gave last week, he received a year ago and he wasn't ready to give it yet. Then the host who hosted that after talk, when he talked about it, said the same thing about a word that he received. So it's so good that the example that he used was David, how David was told that he was gonna be a king

and then went back to work in a field, then got close to the palace and then went way back away from the palace. That's just how God works sometimes. We think it's a straight line and it's just not. What about you, Kyla? I think it can also, going off what you guys said, it can be easy to get frustrated with God. I mean, how many of us were told that we need a five-year plan? And for me, if that five-year plan isn't followed tentatively and on schedule at all times, I can find myself getting frustrated. I find myself wanting to throw the arrow myself. And I just have to remember, and maybe this will speak to some of you guys, that if I write the story, it is just not gonna be as good unless God writes it. That's right, that's right. There's some teacher of you. Yes, you're a teacher. Yes, yes. That's a very teacher thing to say. Also, if you had a moment in your life where you had a five-year plan, please let us know how it went with you. Yeah, how did God change the plans you made for yourself? Because the word says his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways.

Yeah, that's so good. And let us know also if you checked out the After Talk podcast, right? That's right, it's coming to you every week. I'm telling you guys, it's the highlight of my week. When it drops, I get so excited. And you wanna know how I know when it drops? You got the notification set up. Because I get the notification. The mute's right. Say, After Talk just dropped. I say, oh, yep, click on that. Let's Lord speak to me. I need my Wednesday, pick me up. You know what I'm saying? Order a pizza while you're at it. And you know, you can also engage in this by subscribing to Journey's YouTube channel so you can get live updates on when we drop new content. That way you can stay plugged in, stay involved, stay in the conversation. But what did you guys get from After Talk? And what are you guys most looking forward to about it? There was one thing that Ben and Pastor Joy were talking about. They said that life is lived forward, but understood backward. And it's like that old saying, hindsight is 20-20, that really ministered to me to understand that I may not know what I'm looking at

as I go through it. But when I look back, I know God's hand was on it all. And that's a perfect way to transition to the auditorium right now, too, because it shows us that we need to be in the present because when we look back over our life, we'll realize what God has done. So let's head down to the auditorium with Gianna, and we're gonna get ready for worship. Lean in, it's gonna be great. See y'all later, love ya. Hello, Journey Church Online. Thank you so much, Kyla, Julian, and Jorge for getting us ready this Sunday and what God has for us. If I have another privilege and honor of meeting you, my name is Gianna, and I do get to serve here as the online coordinator and the director of Journey College. And I'm expecting, I'm expecting because it's Sunday, because you're here with us, and because all of our people are tuning in and coming in to our Fern Park location in the auditorium, it's filling up. And I feel like that's what happens in our week is our week keeps filling up, filling up, filling up, filling up with our schedules, with our responsibilities, with our to-do lists. Before we knew it, we were completely filled with distractions and stress, and we're just feeling overwhelmed.

But what I love about Sunday is that Sunday is an opportunity to empty ourselves, to empty our stress, our worries, all the things that are holding us back. It says in Matthew 11, 28, come to me, all who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. I love that Jesus' invitation is simple. He says, come to me. And this Sunday, we get to come to him. And every Sunday, Every time you show up, every time you invite his presence into your life, it is an invitation for him to come to you. And so that's our prayer this morning. Wherever you are, if you can just turn your heads down. God, we come before you, Lord, and we want to come to you, Lord. We wanna come to you and lay down everything that's heavy on our hearts, everything that is weighing us, that is tiring us, that is making us weary, Lord. We wanna empty ourselves so that you can fill us, Lord. You can fill us with a fresh joy, with a fresh peace, with a fresh strength, with a fresh confidence, God, knowing that we can handle it because you've called us, because you've chosen us, because you've equipped us, God. And so we're coming to you hungry, Lord, and desperate to be filled by you.

So Holy Spirit, I pray that you would meet everybody who's watching online right where they are, God, and fill them and have them encounter you like they've never had before. In Jesus' mighty name we pray, amen, amen. Get ready to receive the word because it's coming to you right now. Good morning, Journey Church! We're so glad you're here. We've got a reason to praise them in advance this morning. Let's put those hands together. Hear the sound of all my enemies. These walls are higher than they'd be. Though I don't understand, God, I'll lift my hands. I won't wait till the battle is over. I won't wait till victory is won. You'll never fail when I call on your name. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Now the mountains will be right in front of me. All the walls have fallen and beneath my feet. No, I will not delay. God is on the way. I will not delay. God is on the way. And I won't wait till the battle is over. I won't wait till victory is won. You'll never fail when I call on your name.

I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. I won't wait. Oh, I won't wait. I won't wait. This is my worship in the waiting. This is my breakthrough in the breaking. This is my shout before the shaking. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. This is my faith within the fighting. This is my cry within the crushing. My hallelujah in the hurting. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. I won't wait. I won't wait. And I won't wait till battle is over. I won't wait till victory is won.

You never fail when I call on your name. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. I won't wait till the battle is over. I won't wait till the victory is won. You never fail when I call on your name. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. I'll praise you now. Say praise you now. I will praise you. I will praise you now. God, we love you. Lord, we praise you. We give you all the honor. Come on, could you give God all the honor this morning? Whatever week you had, the blessing and the burden, we give it all back to you, God. Lord, we thank you. Your presence, that changes us. Just one moment in your presence can change us forever. God, we love you, Lord, we thank you. Come on, all over this room, could you lift your hands up? God, we thank you for taking us. Let's sing. We thank you for this. Come on, we sing. ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life you've been right here by my side God ♪

♪ I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you ♪ Come on, we sing. ♪ Holy, holy, there's only one ♪ ♪ I give you glory for all that you've done ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it, you did it ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life you've been right here by my side God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life you've been right here by my side God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you God I'm just grateful for you ♪ Grateful. Come on, if you've been grateful for who he is in your life, what he's done, how he's changed you, how he's moved, could you sing this out with both hands, lift it up. Come on, we sing. ♪ I, I, I, I'm lifting both of my hands ♪ ♪ I, I, I, I, I'm lifting both of my hands ♪ ♪ You give me chance after chance after chance ♪ ♪ I, I, I, I, I'm giving all that I am ♪ ♪ You give me chance after chance after chance ♪ ♪ I, I, I, I, I'm giving all that I am ♪ ♪ You give me chance after chance after chance ♪ ♪ I, I, I, I, I'm giving all that I am ♪ ♪ You give me chance after chance after chance ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind? ♪

♪ I'm just grateful for you, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life you've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind? ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life you've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ Come on, sing this out like this is your story. Come on, I survived. ♪ I survived and I'm here to testify ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ Come on, we sing. ♪ I'm all right if they say I'm out of my mind ♪ I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I'm grateful, God. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. In every season, in every circumstance, I'm grateful. God, we're so grateful. Lord, we give you the praise. We just want your name to be lifted up over every name. Come on, if Jesus changed your life, could you lift his name up above every name, above every season, above every burden, above every trial, every thought, every anxiety, every depression, the name of Jesus. Could you lift it even higher this morning? God, we honor you. You're worthy, God. Come on, let's sing a new song to him. Lost, searching for answers. Tired and weary on the way. In my brokenness you found me. Oh, too far from your amazing grace. I gave my life to Jesus. He gave his life for me.

He washed away my failures and came to set me free. In a moment of surrender, a life can be redeemed. Now I'm a new creation and your spirit lives in me. The cross proves that you love me. Yeah, you've given me everything I'll ever need. Come on, we sing. Now your sacrifice is my story. A bloodshed for all of Calvary. I gave my life to Jesus. He gave his life for me. He washed away my failures and came to set me free. In a moment of surrender, a life can be redeemed. I'm a new creation and your spirit lives in me. Come on, we sing. I can't help but love you. I can't help but give you all of me. I can't help but praise you. I can't help but lift your holy name. I can't explain it. Something broke my chains. Something took my shame. Something healed my pain. I can't explain it. Something freed my soul. Something made me whole. Something changed it all. I can't explain it. Someone broke my chains. Someone took my shame. Someone healed my pain.

I can't explain it. Someone freed my soul. Someone made me whole. Someone changed it all. I gave my life to Jesus. He gave his life for me. He washed away my failures and came to set me free. In a moment of surrender, a life can be redeemed. I'm a new creation and your spirit lives in me. I can't help but love you. I can't help but give you all of me. ♪ I can't help but praise you ♪ ♪ I can't help but lift your holy name up ♪ Come on, we sing this out. ♪ I can't explain it, Jesus broke my chains ♪ ♪ Jesus took my shame, Jesus healed my pain ♪ ♪ I can't explain it, Jesus freed my soul ♪ ♪ Jesus made me whole, Jesus changed it all ♪ ♪ Jesus is in His name, Jesus is in His name ♪ ♪ Jesus is in His name, Jesus is in His name ♪ ♪ Jesus is in His name, Jesus is in His name ♪ ♪ Jesus is in His name, Jesus is in His name ♪ ♪ Jesus is in His name, it's His name ♪ In Philippians chapter two, we see that God exalted Him to the highest place. We see that God gave Him a name above every name and He says that that name is higher than any name and that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus. So I don't know what you came in carrying today. I don't know if you came in carrying grief and anxiety

or if you came in with hope and gratitude or if you came in with questions, but can we just take a moment and remember that there is a name above every name, that the name of Jesus will carry us. This morning, I want us to take a moment, just close your eyes and remember who Jesus is. Take a moment to remember what He's done in your life. Take a moment to remember all the things that He has carried you through, that He has walked you through. And as you sing, don't just sing the words because you know them. Sing them as you lay your heart at His feet, as you surrender to Him. Pray and sing that He is worthy. Remember that He is faithful to do all that you are asking of Him. Sing because He is who He is. ♪ Oh yeah, I can't help but love You ♪ ♪ I can't help but live Your holy name ♪ ♪ I can't help but praise You ♪ ♪ I can't help but live Your holy name ♪ ♪ I gave my life to Jesus, He gave His life for me ♪ ♪ He washed away my failures and He came to set me free ♪ ♪ In the moment I surrender, life can be redeemed ♪ ♪ I'm a new creation and Your Spirit lives in me ♪ ♪ I can't help but love You ♪ ♪ I can't help but give You all of me ♪ ♪ I can't help but praise You ♪

♪ I can't help but praise You ♪ ♪ I can't help but live Your holy name ♪ ♪ I can't help but love You ♪ ♪ I can't help but give You all of me ♪ ♪ I can't help but praise You ♪ ♪ I can't help but give You all of me ♪ ♪ I can't help but praise You ♪ ♪ I can't help but live Your holy name ♪ Father, we praise You and we exalt You, Father. We thank You for who You are. We thank You for what You have done, Father. You get all the glory. And if you feel comfortable, we just want to enter a moment of prayer together. Heavenly Father, we just thank You, God, because at first it was something, but then we realized it was someone, and then we realized it was Your begotten Son, Jesus, who stepped in and saved our souls. Holy Spirit, we just thank You and we pray for unity amongst brothers and sisters in our house and in this world, God. Your word says in Psalm 133, Lord, that where there is unity, God, You command a blessing. So, God, we just pray, Lord, that we come together and invite Your presence in so that we may be united under You and it's in Your mighty name, Jesus, that we pray, amen. Amen. Online family, if you have a praise report,

prayer request, we want to be praying for you. with you, we wanna intercede on your behalf. So if that's you, go ahead and scan the QR code down below or you can go submit it on the Journey Church app. That's good. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to Studio Friends. If we haven't had the privilege of meeting yet, my name is Jorge and I get the honor of serving as online host today. That's right. And my name is Julian. I get the privilege of serving as part of your online team today. Absolutely. My name is Kyla and I also get the honor and the privilege, all the things to be here with these amazing people and be here with you guys. I'm so excited. Absolutely, we're so glad that you could be here with us. Let us know where you're watching from. And there's another special group that we wanna shout out. Let us know. That's those of you watching from correctional facilities across the country via the Tando app. We love you and we are so honored that we are invited into your space where you're watching from. Thank you so much for joining us today. Absolutely.

Another special group of people I wanna shout out is our first time FTG guests. You guys are VIP here, if you can't tell. So if you're a first time guest, go ahead and put FTG in the chat so someone can welcome you to the family. We're so glad that you're here. We're very happy that they are here. And whether it's your first time or your 100th time, if you feel like you need to connect more, Journey Church has something already planned and prepared for you. Our next steps. Step one happens exclusively online. You can do that at your own leisure. That's where you get to know the church, our mission, vision, and how we make ourselves accessible to everyone, or God accessible to everyone, more specifically. And step two now is done both in person and online. And their first online is on the 19th at 1.30. Today. Oh, today. Sorry, today at 1.30 with Jaylene. That's right. She's gonna connect with you, expose you to all the different teams we have here at Journey Church that you can be a part of. Absolutely, there's so much happening. And if you wanna stay up to date

with everything that's happening here at Journey Church, you have to get the Journey Church app. We're always talking about it, but not for no reason, because it's really gonna help you be informed with everything that's happening. Like another exciting event called Singles Night. So if you're in the online family, if y'all have never heard of this, if you're in the Central Florida area, you wanna come and check this out. It helps us as single people understand how to live a purposeful, single life in unity with Jesus and amongst each other. So make sure you come and check that out on the 24th. But you can only sign up for it through the Journey Church app is why I mentioned it. So make sure you do that. We'll have a special guest coming all the way from Miami that night. That's right. And speaking of community and just getting plugged in, one thing we have coming up here at Journey is Serve Week. Serve Week is a great opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus in your local community. And so that's what we're gonna be doing here in Central Florida. But if you're not in Central Florida, that's okay too, because you can go on the Journey Church app and look at all of the different serving opportunities we have.

And if one speaks to you, I wanna encourage you to intercede on behalf of the volunteers and the people that we're gonna be encountering to make Jesus accessible to them. Also, just a simple way you can do it is just writing a Bible verse on some sticky notes and putting it on people's cars. It's not a crime, you know. So I wanna encourage you guys, get involved. We love you. We wanna see you present in your community as well. That's right. Another way that you can do it is a little Jesus figurines that you can put in. I actually personally have two of those, one in my car and one in the office. So that way I'm close and I always see it and I always give some type of gratitude. But speaking of service, no one serves more, in my opinion, than parents, present parents and present guardians. We wanna be able to support you as well. And to do that, we have our back to school bash happening August 1st here at Journey Church where you can get free backpacks, free haircuts, free food and free fun. Yes, I love it. So if you want some free stuff, come and chill with us. Yeah, I love it. That's gonna be taking part

at our Fern Park campus this year, which is really exciting that we're gonna be doing it there. Something else we wanna bring up is that we here at Journey are loyal to the next generation and loyal to the future. And as such, it is important that we leave an inheritance for that next generation. In fact, there's something that we wanna show you regarding our J Kids ministry. I don't know if y'all knew this, but there's over 600 kids that are ministered to every week amongst our three campuses here in Central Florida. So we wanna go ahead and check out this video regarding our Journey Kids ministry. We call it J Kids and how it is blessing the lives of families all across the Central Florida area and made possible through your generosity. Go ahead and check this out on my family. My name is Sin and I've been attending Journey for seven years now. Currently I serve with Journey Youth at the Kissimmee campus. My name's Lucas. My name's Victoria. And I've served in DTC. I serve on Journey Kids as a admin coordinator. And we've been attending Journey for about five years. My name is Fabiola. I am a J Kids parent.

I'm currently their J Kids creative coordinator. I am doing photo videos for our Instagram page. And I have been attending Journey for about six years. Before Kissimmee campus opened up, I actually served with J Kids and I served in the Explorers Room. So the Explorers Rooms is pretty much our kids that are special needs. That was something near and dear to my heart because one of my kiddos has special needs. And so I really wanted to dive in there and meet other. moms and kind of, you know, in a way extend for them to kind of allow their kids to come into and for them to get comfortable. Journey Kids wasn't the place where I was planning on serving. I was a foster parent to teenagers. I'm also a teacher, so I didn't want to do Journey Kids. I wanted to just be with adults. They asked me to serve on an Easter Sunday just one time and I did and I have been at J Kids for about four years. The first time we walked into Journey, we were looking for a safe place for our kids. We were looking for a church that actually ran background checks. I have two kids. My oldest is nine. He's been in several classes in J Kids. My youngest is special needs. He's medically complex. When Christian left the hospital and I was ready to come back, I was serving in the dreamers room, the baby's room, with him by my side. And after many weeks, I had one specific girl who was like, hey, I handle kids with seizures and with special needs. I feel comfortable watching him while you go serve. She assured me that she could handle it and I was able to continue doing what God was calling me to do. And I knew that if he needed anything else that they could not do, they will call me right away. My daughter, Melanie Joy, she is just going to be seven years old this year. She was born at 34 weeks, very, very early, and she just has tons of medical needs. And so it was very, very nerve-wracking at the beginning to imagine just dropping her off. As we got more comfortable and we just started coming to the church, I met so many people who just welcomed her with open arms. They just gave me just the possibility to go and enjoy service, not freaking out or scared that someone was going to give me a

call or that she was going to be experiencing something. They really just walked alongside me through our journey of all of her health scares. And in turn, I wanted to just serve and kind of be in that room to help other parents who maybe felt nervous to drop off their kids as well. Safety was so important and there were so many procedures and so many little details for all of the volunteers to know in order to keep children safe. And when I started serving on admin, I was just so passionate about how safe all the children were that that's what I would tell parents. It felt like somewhere where it wasn't just a daycare, where, you know, they were truly, you know, caring and loving on them and discipling them and mentoring them. My dream for every parent is that they feel confident that their kid is going to be poured into. J-Kids is, they've been almost a safe haven for my kids with everything that we have been through as a family. They experienced Jesus on a whole other level as well. Everything's at their level. And that's the thing that I love about J-Kids is that the curriculum overall is the same between the littles and the older elementary school kids, but it's broken down in a more specific way for their age group. Serving in J-Kids has been an amazing experience. I get to witness the kids actually knowing Jesus, finding Jesus, worshiping Jesus, praying to him, seeing them at an early age understand what Jesus has done for us. To the parents that are skeptical about trying J-Kids out, I would say to just give it a shot. When I think about my daughter just coming into J-Kids, I just think to myself, if I allow her in the room, God is going to be the one to transform her heart. The teachers love loving on these kids. We're here to just make Jesus accessible to every kid in each individual way. It does take a village to raise, you know, a kid. It's hard to do it on your own. And, you know, J-Kids and youth and just the church in general, but that whole village comes together and helps, you know, do something beautiful. J-Kids exists so that every child can experience Jesus. J-Kids exists so that every child can learn about Jesus in a safe environment. J-Kids exists so that every child can accept Jesus in their heart. Journey Kids exists so that every child can have a relationship with Jesus. Three, two. Amen. What a beautiful mission to make Jesus accessible to every child. What an ambitious and bold mission made possible by the provision of God through your generosity, Journey Church. If you want to partner with us through your giving, just scan the QR code below for more information. Any amount, even just prayer at times, truly. Benefits this house and we thank you for it. Yeah, and you know generosity isn't just always a financial

Generosity can be spiritual too. And so something I want to encourage you guys to do is share this message Be bold in your faith. You never know who needs the love of Jesus today You never know whose life can be changed by hearing the Word of God today And so I want to encourage you right now It's as easy as sending a YouTube link and so right now that can just you never know again how it can change somebody's perspective Yeah, it's good. Not only that how you show up. Yeah, exactly. We're supposed to show up as closer. It's like Jesus Yeah, right. We're supposed to be that relational. We're supposed to be that personable. So it's very important for us to do that And how to help us to do that with a smile on your face no matter what you're going through. We all have stuff Yeah, we'll go through ups and downs our actions reach and The best way to serve is by sharing the love Absolutely That is actually such a powerful point of that testimony was that it was the love of all the community that helped those families Feel comfortable speaking of love. We're gonna hear a message from our lead pastors pastor JJ and pastor Liz I'm excited to watch it with you. Let's check it out. Love you We have the honor and the privilege of serving Journey Church as the lead pastors And if you didn't know that that probably means your first-time guest if you're looking for a home church, look no further We think you've walked into it not only because you're surrounded by the presence of God But because you're surrounded by some of the most honest open transparent people amazing in all of Central, Florida People I changed it. It's amazing. Oh Not that it has to have amazing It's all right. It's your version. You don't think they're amazing. That's on you. Okay Did you do we clap for them? No, that's great. I'll do that Journey Church put me right by putting your hands together for all of our first-time. Yes So one of the rhythms that we've built into our lives is taking a sabbatical each summer and it's a dedicated time to slow down Be renewed spiritually invest in our family and create space to hear from God as we look toward the future of our church We're so grateful that our church Understands the value of healthy rhythms just like we encourage others to slow down and make room for God in their lives This season gives us the opportunity to do the same. Yeah, and before we go any further We just wanted to take a quick second to say thank you Thank you for trusting us with this time

Thank you for your prayers and thank you for continuing to show up serve give and make a difference our way It means so much to know that Journey Church isn't built around a couple of pastors It's built around people who love Jesus and are committed to serving others Shout out shout out. Hey, so I don't know if you've noticed or if anyone's told you yet But today is our J kids takeover Oh Can we take a minute to celebrate one of the most important teams in our church our J kids team come on We love you guys. So grateful. Thank you for raising up a generation every single week Incredible leaders create safe fun and faith-filled environments where our kids can learn about Jesus on their level And while most people only see what happens in the service There are so many people serving behind the scenes to make those moments possible From check-in teams to classroom leaders to worship and support dream teamers Every person plays a role in helping kids experience the love of God Yeah And we're so grateful for every person who says yes to investing in the next generation Because every lesson taught every conversation had and every child welcomed is an opportunity to help someone to give a lifelong Relationship with Jesus it really is making Jesus accessible to every generation Yes, thank you. J kids team for serving families and making such a difference in the lives of our children journey church one more time Can we just show some love for all of our J kids leaders and dream teamers? We love you guys Thank you so much for pouring in Up to our kids. It means it means a whole lot. Well, I'm so excited for today's speaker Pastor Aaron Burke is someone Liz and I deeply respect We're grateful to call him a friend of the house and overseer if you've been around journey for any length of time You know pastor Aaron is no stranger to our church every time he's with us. He brings wisdom Encouragement and practical truth that helps people grow in their faith Aaron and his wife Katie will pass Liz's BFS are doing incredible work through radiant church in Tampa 13 different locations throughout the city. We're just thankful for the influence and investment They've had in our church over the years. So journey church across all of our campuses Would you help us by giving a warm? Welcome, we believe in honor put our hands together for a pastor Aaron Burke

Journey church So glad to be with you. Can we take a second and one more time? Can we give Jesus the best praise? Come on, stand to your feet. Let's give him some praise. He deserves it. He's worthy of it Come on somebody and just do me a favor while you're standing Standing at your feet, let me just say this, at both of our campuses, I'm so glad that you're with us today. Those at East Orlando, Kissimmee, those online, all of those who are incarcerated that are watching by the Pando app, we're just so glad that you're with us today. It's a big deal at your church, and I just wanna say this, because I know we do have a lot of guests with us. Maybe you just moved to the Orlando area, trying to find out a church home. I want you to know your church shopping is over. You have found your home. Come on, can we welcome them, isn't it amazing? There's no church, no church like Journey Church. And I'll tell you, I have been able to be part of this experience, this church, for 10 years now, since the beginning, before it ever started. Pastor JJ was given a church planning coach by the network that helped start us, and I was his coach, so I believed in him when nobody else believed in him. And we helped start this thing. Every good idea he got from me,

every bad idea was him doing his own thing. And that's not true, but we love you, Pastor JJ. But I'll tell you, we're about to celebrate 10 years as a church, and I'm telling you, I'm so grateful for what God's doing. Come on, can we celebrate the goodness of God? Thousands of lives changed, and it's just the beginning. So I'm grateful for a couple things. First of all, I'm grateful for the financial stewardship of this church. I'm an overseer. I get to see the behind the scenes, all the finances. Your church handles money well, and I think that's the reason you're so blessed as a church. And I'm also grateful for the health of your senior pastors, Pastors JJ and Liz. Aren't they just an amazing role model? Don't you love how they love the Lord? They love their family. They love each other. And I'm telling you, I'm deeply connected with their family, and they are truly in this for the long haul. I'm so grateful that they take time away every summer and love on their family and just get healthy. I was texting them the other day, and his text was coming through

like he was from a satellite phone. I was like, where are you? And he told me some random remote location that Liz had talked him into camping at. I said, you are a good man of God, because you would have never done that on your own, but you did that because you love your wife. So anyway, one more time, can we honor our pastors? Don't you love them? I love you guys so much. All right. Hey, I just want you to know this. I mean, I've kind of been around here for a while, come in about once a year, and you might be frustrated because it's not JJ. I get it. He's the best of the best, but I believe I have a word for your life. So just close your eyes, hold your hands out to receive today. And not one of you was in this room by accident. God has ordained this for such a time as this. So Lord, we open ourselves up to you. We pray that you would speak to us, change us, and we believe, God, by your power, that we'll leave this room in a few minutes, forever transformed, because you are the God that can transform us in our most difficult seasons.

You're with us, you're for us, and your presence is even here right now. In Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said, amen, amen. Hey, fist bump two or three people, and you can be seated. It really is a joy to be with you at Journey Church today. I wanna bring you a message on the subject of suffering. You know, nobody likes to wake up and think about suffering. Nobody signs up for suffering. If you are someone that loves suffering, you're weird. But I wanna give you a message I simply titled The Other Side of Suffering. I wanna help you and prepare you, because maybe you've been following the Lord for a long time, and it's been tough, and you actually think, man, maybe it's God's punishment, I wanna give you a different perspective today. Maybe you're a new believer. Maybe you simply recently gave your life to the Lord, and now all hell's breaking loose. And when there's moments like that, you think, did I do something wrong? I remember as soon as I got saved, I lost my friends, and my parents went through a very hard time, and financially it was really tough, and I thought, man, what did I sign up for? And I didn't realize that as a Christian, suffering is part of life. It's part of the process,

and I'm gonna give you the other side of suffering, the purpose on the other side of it. I remember a few years back, I ran my first and last marathon, to the glory of God. And I was about 20 miles into the marathon, my legs are in incredible pain, I can barely keep going, and I asked myself a question that I should have asked three months before. Why am I doing this? You ever had that moment, where you're in the middle of pain, and you're going, why am I doing this? And I had to think, what is it that's gonna drive me past the finish line? I thought to myself, there's really no good reason. This isn't for money, I'm not winning anything. they give a medal out to everybody, so there's no real purpose by it. I thought to myself, I could take an Uber right now and get back to my hotel and be just as happy. But I had to think of something that would drive me past the pain, and I had only one thing that came to my mind, which was there would be a great Instagram post at the end of this thing, where I could brag to everybody about completing the marathon. I had to have something to push me past the pain, push me past the suffering to the other side. Nobody, by the sound of my voice,

is exempt from suffering. We deal with little sufferings every day, waiting, getting on I-4, dealing with issues of coworkers. Suffering grows to bigger things, like maybe you're waiting for a spouse, or you're believing for a child, or you're in the middle of a job transition, and it's a suffering season. Our finances are tough. And then there's moments of deep, overwhelming suffering that somebody is dealing with today. Maybe it's the loss of a loved one. Maybe it's a divorce that you've walked through, some trauma, some miscarriage. And I want you to know today that God cares deeply about your suffering. God cares deeply about what you're going through. And as a believer, we have hope that none of our suffering is in vain. I hope to bring you some hope today over the few minutes I have with you, that nothing is wasted with God. While I am a firm believer in the goodness of God, and that God does not cause our suffering, I do believe that God allows our suffering for a divine purpose. And I believe that as we look into God's word today, we're gonna see that God has some of our greatest work that he wants to do internally in our life

is in seasons of deep suffering. You say, well, I believe as you get saved, everything in your life's just gonna work out perfect. Well, you've believed a lie. Every single person is in one of three categories. You're either in the midst of suffering, you just got out of suffering, or you're about to walk into it. You go, well, that doesn't seem very positive. I am positive you're either in the midst of it, you're about to go into it, or you're just coming out of it. But hear me out. While we can't avoid suffering, we can let God do a deep work in us through the process. I wanna show you a cheat code I have found in the word of God in Romans chapter five. Paul is writing to a Christian audience, a group of believers, and in the midst of the book of Romans, which is my favorite book in all of the Bible, he gives a clear outline of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the middle of it, he talks about this very intense subject of suffering. And he says it this way in Romans chapter five. Let's pick up in verse one. He says, therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have gained access by faith

into his grace in which we now stand. Let me just tell you what that means. Paul's saying, let me remind you that you did not come to faith because of your own good works, because you had it all together. I don't know about you, sometimes I've gotta pause and just remind myself, I am saved but because of the grace of God. Not because of what I have done, not because of my good works. Is there anybody grateful that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us? Come on, somebody needs to celebrate yet again that he pulled you out of that pit, that he rescued you from that despair. That's the goodness of our God. And by the way, if you haven't given your life to Christ, you're not too far gone. You have not sinned too much. The grace of God is available for your life today. He can save you and do more in one moment than you can in a lifetime. He's brought you here for this purpose today. So Paul is talking to the church, to the Christian audience and saying, since you've been saved, now we boast in the hope of the glory of God. This is what we bring our confidence in.

And then look at verse three. This is the game changer verse for us as believers. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings. What does this mean to glory? Glory means to boast, to show off. You know when your kid makes the honor roll that one time and you kick that bumper sticker and put it right on the back of your car. He hadn't made an A or B in years, but you still got it on your car. Why? You're glorying in that. You wore your Argentina jersey today. Why? Because you're glorying in the wind. What is it? It's when you celebrate something that's happened in your life. He says you as a believer should glory in your sufferings. Why? Why would we celebrate our sufferings? Because we know. Now here's the reality is we don't know. So we don't glory in our sufferings. You see, we get frustrated in our sufferings. We get depressed in our sufferings. We lose hope in our sufferings. But he says you should glory because you know. Here's what you should know. Your suffering produces, say produces.

Produces means to bring fruit. Means there's something on the other side. And here's what it produces. It produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who's been given to us. Can we just take a second and give God some praise for his word that is still applicable to our lives today? Christians are not exempt from suffering. As we see throughout the scripture, you can be right with God and in a tough season. Job was called righteous and yet he suffered tremendously. Joseph was faithful to God, yet he stood for purity and was thrown into prison. David was anointed by God and yet hunted by Saul. Paul was obedient and taking the gospel around the world, yet he was beaten and imprisoned. Jesus lived a sinless life, yet he suffered the most. What does it show us? It shows us that Christians will go through seasons of suffering, but in the midst of it, we can have peace with God because we know there's another side of our suffering. We know there's something on the other side that the world does not get. Hear me out, suffering is not God's wrath, it's God's defining and refining work in your life. Some of the greatest work of sanctification that God wants to do in your life

happens in seasons of suffering. There are some lessons that God wants to teach you that are only taught in tough, hard seasons. You say, well, I didn't sign up for it. I understand, but you did sign up for sanctification, being made more like Christ. So God will do anything possible to help make that work done in your life. And what I have found in my life is that the greatest sanctification seasons in my life are the seasons that are the hardest. Hear me out, the question isn't if you will suffer, it's what will you allow God to produce through it in your life. And I want God to take this moment today to reveal to all of you what is possible if you will submit your life, even in this tough season, to the work of the Holy Spirit. Watch how he'll do some of the greatest work in you and through you through the hard seasons, the waiting seasons, the difficult seasons. Carl Jung says it this way, the difference between a good life and a bad life is how well you walk through the fire. And I think some of you, you've been walking through the fire, but you haven't been handling it well. Hear me out, Journey Church. God brought you to church today to let you know there's another side of the suffering. There's a greater version of yourself

that looks a little bit more like Jesus. There's a testimony on the other side. There's hope on the other side. And if you'll lean in for just a few minutes, you will see that God has not allowed this in your life in vain, but that suffering is gonna produce something significant in your life. So what are the things that it produces in our life? Let me give you the three that Paul tells us because they're so beautiful. And if we'll lean into it, we'll realize why God has allowed this in our life. Here's the first one. He says he gives us these seasons of suffering and allows it to produce perseverance in your life. Perseverance means this ability to keep going. The definition actually means to remain under pressure, like to not quit when it gets tough. How many know it's easy to start? It's hard to sustain it. You started the diet in January, you're gonna lose 20 pounds. You've got 32 to go. Come on, how many know what it's like? We all have those moments where it's easy to start. But he says what God wants to produce in our life is perseverance, is this grit to keep going even under the pressure. Here's the problem. We quit too early.

And we don't have a lot of grit in the kingdom of God. We come in the church like this and we throw up our hands and we celebrate and we go, God, we give you everything. And then some temptation comes along and all of a sudden we're right back into where we were. Why? Because we haven't learned perseverance. Pushing through. Hey God, I'll give you all the. and did the tithing challenge, God, you're first in my life. And then one unexpected bill comes in the mail, and we go, God, I don't know if I can. We don't know how to persevere. The hard times teach us perseverance. It's like going to the gym. I don't know if you've ever been to the gym, but you go to the gym, some of these guys, they go to the gym, it's bizarre, watch it. They sit on their phone the entire time. I'm shocked when you go to the gym today, how many people are sitting on their phone? They sit on their phone, they look at the machine, they look back on their phone, they look at the people on the treadmill, they look back at their phone, then they go to the smoothie bar, and then they leave. And they've told everybody they went to the gym today. How many know just because you show up doesn't make you fitter?

Just because you came to church doesn't make you stronger? Some of you, you gotta get through some harder seasons, some opposition, and what is it doing? It's creating perseverance in you. It's getting you the ability to lift some heavy weight in the kingdom of God. Hear me out, because you are called to do hard things, great things, I don't know what somebody's told you about your purpose, but you are not called for something small and insignificant. Get your head up today to believe that God's called you for something great. God's called you for something big. So we have to learn how to handle difficult things, not so that we can do easy things later, but so that we can do even more difficult things later, because you're called for greatness, from glory to glory, from greatness to greatness. He's got a call of God on your life, and how do you learn it? You learn that perseverance through some difficult seasons, some resistance. So what, everybody doesn't like you, good. Guess what, they didn't all like Jesus either. You're becoming more and more like Christ. Well, they rejected me. Well, they rejected him too. What is he teaching you in this? He's teaching you to keep going. I'm gonna read my Bible in a year,

and then you get to Leviticus. You know what Leviticus is in the Bible to teach you? Perseverance. I'm not giving up when it's tough. We need to raise a generation of Christians up that don't give up when it's tough. Well, I saw one video on TikTok that really got me questioning everything. Really, everything? This word that's been around for 2,000 years, and you're gonna let one TikTok teenager deter your faith? Get some guts and some perseverance to say, no, I'm holding on to God. Listen. I. I. I. I. I. I don't care how you feel. You didn't feel your way into this thing. Don't feel your way out of this thing. We walk by faith and not by sight. I signed up for a walk of faith. I signed up to believe God. I signed up that his word is true, no matter what the world says. So I'm holding on to it. I've got some perseverance.

I'm trying to teach my kids this because it drives me crazy. When I'm like, hey, go get your shoes. Well, I can't find them. You have kids like this? Like, what, did you look in your room? They open the door, look in the room. No, they're not in there. And then I use this phrase with my kids. I'm like, figure it out. You know what I'm talking about? What am I trying to do? I'm trying to train them. Like, get some perseverance. You gotta figure some stuff out. You're driving me crazy. Like, I wonder in this season right now that if God has allowed, again, I don't believe that God causes, but I do believe that God allows these tough seasons in our life to train us to figure some stuff out, to say we're not quitting when it's tough. And because I've been through it, I've gained some perseverance that, guess what? No matter what the devil throws my way, if I went through that and survived, I can go through this to survive. I've got some perseverance in my life, some grit in my life.

That's why James says, he says, consider it pure joy. Come on, journey church, joy. Think of that verse. Like, when you get a trial in your life, you should go, ha ha ha, what a joy. Now, I'm not normally like that. I get frustrated. But he says, listen, you should know that if God allows that trial in your life, you should consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds. And it happens to all of us in different kinds. Because you know, there's that phrase again, because you know, what do we know? That the testing of your faith does what? It produces, come on, help me at all of our campuses, produces what? Perseverance, meaning grit, meaning the ability to keep going. And then it says this, and let the perseverance finish its work so that you're not lacking anything. You are mature and complete. I don't know about you, but I'm grateful that God found me and God saved me, but I'm also grateful that he's maturing me and complete. and doing a work inside of me, I'm not done yet. And God's allowing this in my life to make me mature and complete, not lacking anything.

So hear me out, church. If you don't allow the suffering in your life right now to break you, God will use it to build you. And I want you to receive that word in your life. And I know this breakup that you're going through is painful, but if you don't allow it to tear you down, I'm telling you, you'll be stronger, you'll learn some perseverance through it. You're going through it right now, but I'm telling you, there's some perseverance as God's creating inside of you. Can you give him a good amen today, church? God's doing it in your life. Here's your second one. He says he's producing perseverance, but he's also producing character. Oh, I love character. And character, here's what it means. It means to test, to examine, to be proven genuine. Let me tell you how you get character. You go through hard seasons. Now I grew up in like crazy, charismatic Pentecostal church. We loved some crazy church. And I remember every time they did an altar call, I'd come down for, I don't want everybody to lay hands on me and pray for me. But I'll tell you this, you don't get character from somebody praying for you. You don't get character because you hear a sermon. You get character because you go through a hard season

and you get better on the other side. You ever, my wife, she went to this home tour the other day with her friends, where they go and like tour these houses. By the way, that's a very expensive event to go to because not just for what they charge to go through the homes, but the ideas she comes back with. I mean, it's very expensive. So she goes to these like 100-year-old homes and you look through them and they're all beautiful and how they were meticulously made and they're all old and they all have, you walk through it and you say the same thing every time. You go, this home has character. It has character. It's not like the cookie cutter homes that are made today. This home has lasted. It's raised generations of people within it. It's survived hurricanes. It's got detail to it. It's got character. You ever see some of those people who go to the beach, go out there to Daytona Beach or something, and you see some of those like beach people that are like old and just like leathery? You know what I'm talking about? Like you're walking around and you're like, put on some sunscreen or a shirt or something. This body's just leathery. And you look at them and you're going,

they've been through some stuff. I don't know what they've been through, but they've seen some stuff. They got some character. They got some character. You know, I think in the body of Christ, many times we celebrate the wrong thing. Like we celebrate when somebody gets married. Now, I'm grateful, grateful that when someone finds their spouse, and if you're looking for someone, by the way, that's why you come to singles night, because that's where you're gonna find them, here at the church. I know some of y'all, I've watched even during worship. The hands are raised and you're looking around for rings. I get it. It's the place to do it here at Journey Church. But it's kind of easy to get married. It takes about $49 at the courthouse to get married. It's hard to stay married. You wanna know what to celebrate? Don't just celebrate the ones that get married. Celebrate the ones that have stayed married. The 30 years, the 40 years, the 50 years. You find someone that's been married 50 years, you should walk up to them and go, oh my gosh. You have character. You have character, why? Because you've been through some stuff and you've stayed with it.

You've let God work out the issues. You've actually gotten better. You've become more and more like Christ through this process, why? Because it takes some time, through some hard seasons to develop character in the body of Christ. I'll say it's the same thing. We love it, baptism here at the church. I love when people come out of the water and we cheer like crazy. But I think it's a shame that we cheer when they come out of the water, but we stop cheering when they get five years in, 10 years in, 20 years in. Where we sit there and say, you know what? I've been faithful to God for 30 years, 40 years. That's what heaven celebrates right there. It's people that say, I've got some character because I've been through some hard stuff and I've let God work it out of my life. Hear me out. Here's the reason that God uses suffering to produce character. Because pressure exposes what comfort hides. You hear me? Your pressure exposes. So that hard season exposes. Like you can say, I trust God until you have a struggle in your finances and then you figure out, do I really trust God?

I'm a patient person until the drive-through gets backed up at Starbucks and then all of a sudden. and these characteristics come out of you and you go, I don't think I was as patient as I thought. I don't think I've got it as well together. I think I'm a great, amazing dad until my kids drive me nuts. And then I respond in ways that I go, I didn't know that was even in there. You ever had this moment where you're driving with somebody or you're hanging out with somebody and something happened. Maybe somebody pulls in front of you on the interstate and slams on their brakes and then out of their mouth, not your mouth, because you're the Christian, but out of their mouth, they say, oh my gosh, or what the, and then a word comes out. And then all of a sudden, they turn to you and they go, I'm so sorry, I don't even know where that came from. I didn't mean to say that. Oh my, and then fill in the blank, whatever that word is for you, fill in the blank. And then all of a sudden they go, I don't know what it came from. I was at the gym the other day and a guy dropped a weight and it hit his toe and he said, oh, and then the word came out. And then he turns to me, because I'm the pastor, I'm the man of God, he goes, oh, I'm sorry, pastor. He calls me reverend, I'm sorry, reverend.

He goes, I don't know where that came from. And then I always respond with the same thing. I know exactly where it came from. It was inside of you the whole time. You just needed discomfort to get it out. Wow. It's like, hey, I'm clean. I'm good, I'm pure. I'm the real deal. Until you get shaken up a little bit. And you realize, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where did that come from? The pressure, the suffering didn't bring it into your life, it revealed what was already in your heart. So why does God allow suffering in our life? Because he's interested at getting this stuff to the surface. Hear me out. Because so many of us have bought into the lie that we think Christianity is about our comfort. And I'll tell you this, I love the church, I love this church so much, but I almost think we've done a disservice to people to making church so comfortable. Your seat's comfortable, the parking somewhat comfortable. Spartan Park, I know. The kids' place, it's amazing. It's unbelievable what they're doing, to serve your children. And we've almost made it too comfortable

to make people think that Christianity is about comfort. When Christianity is not about your comfort, Christianity is about conformity to the image of Christ. So then when we experience discomfort, we think we're out of the will of God, when in the reality, the discomfort is the thing that brings the issues up so that we can become more and more like Christ, because God's interested in our sanctification. He's interested in us being more like Jesus. So if it takes some discomfort, bring it on, God, because that'll bring it to the surface so that we can be who God's called us to be. Because God is more interested in changing your soul than he is changing your situation. And some of you are praying for God to deliver you from the very thing he's trying to use to develop your life. You're like the caterpillar in the cocoon, and you're going, God, get me out, it's uncomfortable. But if you get out of it too early, you won't develop the character that you need to walk into the call of God. Some of you, the worst thing that could happen is that you found your spouse right now, because you got to have a season where you're a little lonely to get some character development so you can actually be the man or woman of God that he's called you to be.

Some of you, the worst thing that could happen is your bank account actually gets full, because then you won't rely on God like you need to, and you learn those in seasons of suffering. So if you're in the season of suffering, hear me out, here's what you do. You pray and you say, God, what is it that you're bringing to the surface? What is it that you're trying to get out of my heart? And watch as God brings it to the surface. He doesn't do it to shame us. He does it to change us, to conform us, to be more and more like Jesus. And if that's the goal, then we can glory in our sufferings. I know it's like a very heavy message, but I think it's important to let you know that in these moments that hard seasons come, that you say, no, I'm getting perseverance, and I'm developing some character. And here's your third one. And then on the other side of my suffering is hope. Look what he says. He says, there's hope. Hope, and our hope will not put us to shame. What is he saying in this passage? He says, when you go through suffering, you're getting perseverance, meaning you're. Getting grit, you're learning how to handle hard things, and you're gonna, the next time the devil throws something at you, you're gonna go,

all right, God helped me in the last one, he'll help me in this one. I've got perseverance. And then he's developing that character. You're getting more and more like Jesus every time you go through a hard season. And then on the other side of it is hope. What is hope? Hope is confident expectation. Every time you go through a hard season as a believer, you get the opportunity to see the fact that God is good, no matter what, no matter what. It's one thing to hear a sermon about the goodness of God, but it's when you go through suffering, you get to experience the goodness of God firsthand. And I, as a believer, have never walked through a season of suffering without experiencing the hope on the other side, that no matter how bad it is, how difficult it is, that God used every bit of it for his glory, whether in this life or the life to come. And I leave every season of suffering with a little bit more hope that God is good, that God is for me, that God is working all things together for the good. I've got history with God, and that brings me hope. God, hope. And hear me out. When it comes to your hope, don't hide it. Some of you, you've gone through horrible seasons,

and you're ashamed of it. You're ashamed of that divorce. You're ashamed of that abortion. You're ashamed of how you lost that job. You're ashamed of that bankruptcy. But let me just tell you, let me just say it this way. Listen, don't waste your pain. Let God turn it into a divine purpose. This is where it turns into hope, because if God brought you through it, and you still got breath in your lungs to testify about it, then guess what? Then God wants to use it for some amazing purpose that'll bring him glory and him honor and him praise. And what I have found is the great ministry on your life, whether it's a group you're called to lead or a team you're called to serve on here at Journey, is usually connected with the greatest pain you've gone through. So don't hide your pain. Embrace it and say, if God brought me through it, he can bring somebody else through it also. God has not let me down. He won't let you down either. Is there anybody that's grateful that we can have hope that our God is good even in the worst seasons of life? We're in a season at our church where some of my closest friends where this message kind of just came out are undergoing some of the greatest pain

I've ever experienced. Some friends of mine had a baby three months ago. The baby's been in NICU 110 days. Just got out, then went back into NICU. It's a turmoil. Sat with him in the hospital, him and his wife, and just as they're crying, I'm crying. I hate seasons of suffering. But I looked at them in their eyes and I said, I know for a fact that you're gonna have hope through this whole thing because God's with you. And I have found that the people, the people that have gone through the greatest pain are usually the ones that God uses for the greatest purposes. And I don't know what it is in your life, but I'm telling you, God's gonna use this for his glory. God's gonna use this season for his glory. The most powerful thing you will ever share with anybody else is your testimony. And it's only created through seasons of suffering. I know you didn't sign up for it. I know you didn't ask for it. But I promise you this, God will use it. Because Romans 5, five is a verse I've held on to in the darkest seasons of my life, in the most difficult seasons where I'm sitting there and I'm preaching a funeral or I'm sitting there and I'm going through trials in my family

or battles and even temptation in my own life. And in those difficult seasons of suffering, I've held on to Romans 5, five. And hope, hope in God does not put us to shame. Everybody's hoping in something. But our hope in God does not put us to shame. For God has poured into our hearts through what? The Holy Spirit, which he has been given to us. What does that show us? That when you are weak, he is made strong. When you are in a difficult season, his spirit gives us supernatural power. Is there anybody grateful that we are not left to our own strength? But God gives us a grace and a power to get through whatever we're going through. Come on, church, aren't you grateful for it? Your feet all across our campuses, not a time, but I want to give you some good news that there's another side of your suffering. I don't know how tough it is right now. Maybe it's an amazing season. I hope you took a lot of notes. We'll use it in the future because we all go through hard times. We all go through difficult seasons, but the other side, anytime something goes wrong, you go, God, I thank you that you're producing perseverance in me, character in me,

and I'm telling you this, you're gonna have hope. You're gonna see the goodness of God. He's been faithful from generation to generation, and he will not fail you yet. Let me just say this, one last verse, and then we're done. It's a verse I quote a lot during my difficult seasons. I found this verse years ago where we were in the middle of a building project that was going terrible. Fire marshal shut us down. It was terrible. I'm in the middle of all of this turmoil in our church, and then one of my closest friends, his wife has twins. One of the twins dies, and I go to preach the funeral for this little baby, I mean, just in a little white box. It's like the worst thing, and I'm just suffering. Their family's suffering. It's a season of suffering. I remember pausing in that moment. We're gonna do what we're gonna do right now, and I prayed in that moment, and the Spirit of God came into the room and empowered me and strengthened me, and he gave me grace. Sometimes he doesn't give me the answer I want, but he always gives me grace, and then this verse came to my mind, and it's been held onto now for year after year. First Peter 5.10.

Journey, I pray this over you, and after you have suffered a little while, some of you feel like, Aaron, it's been a long little while. Let me tell you, in the scope of eternity, it's a little while, and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, meaning all power, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself, meaning Jesus Christ himself, and I speak it over your life, he will restore. He will confirm, he will strengthen, he will establish you. Can we give him some praise that that's the God that we serve, who restores, confirms, strengthens, and establish. So just hold your hands out to receive. Lord, I pray it over your church, for everybody who is in a difficult season, who feels like they can't keep going. Lord, I pray that the God of all grace, right now, will strengthen them. Even receive now, there in East Orlando, those in Kissimmee, the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen you, to sustain you during this season. You cannot get through it on your own, but with God's power, he will confirm and establish, and he's the one that will restore. I speak it over your life, that you will come out the other side of this thing with some perseverance. You will come out of this thing with some character,

and you will come out of this thing with the hope that our God is good, and he's turning all things around for his glory. We thank you, God, that we'll be able to look back and even praise you in glory for the sufferings that we've gone through. In Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said, amen, amen, amen, amen. Hey, just, praise God. Before we go today, just close your eyes real quick. There's nobody moving around, and I wanna give one last opportunity for people who have not given their life to Christ. This is your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. If that's you on the count of three, be bold. This is your moment to say, I'm done doing it my way. I'm giving Jesus my life. There's no other hope as found in anything else than found in Jesus, and he'll change your life right now in this moment. One, when I get to three, you throw that hand up as a sign of surrender, saying, I'm giving Jesus my life. One, two, three. Come on, if that's you, all over the room. Thank you, thank you. Dozens of hands all over here at Fern Park. Thank you there at Kissimmee. Thank you there in East Orlando. Thank you there in the prisons. God sees those hands.

This is your moment. You can put that hand right back down. So proud of you, those online. Let's all pray this prayer out loud together. Say it like this, say, dear Jesus. Come on, loud, loud. Say, dear Jesus, today I give you my life. Forgive my sins. Thank you for dying on the cross. I believe you rose from the grave. Forgive my past. For the rest of my life, I'm gonna follow you. Be my Lord and be my Savior. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Come on, can we give God some praise? Give God praise for what he did. Amen. Love you guys. Amen, amen. What an incredible word from Pastor Aaron. We wanna love on all of you who made that decision to give your life to Jesus. We wanna know that you made the best decision and we don't want you to walk it out alone. And so we would love to walk with you, partner alongside you, and all you have to do is scan the QR code so that we can connect and reach out to you. Well, thanks so much for joining. I wanna kick it off to our studio hosts

so that they can close us out. Have a blessed Sunday, guys. That's good. That's all right. I don't know about you guys. Such a good message. But when I was sitting there, I just felt like I was on a rollercoaster, like tense almost. I'm like, oh, I know he's talking about me. Like, I just know it. Certain sermons that call you out specifically, you're like, is this for me? No, literally. I gotta get out of here. What did you guys get from the message? Well, aside from you're either in the mess, just getting out of the mess, or about to go into a mess, that perseverance builds character, and character builds hope. And boy, I got a lot of character. Yeah. One of the things that he said that really stuck with me is that we are not called to a life of comfort. We're called to a life of conformity to the image of Jesus as he takes us from glory to glory. And I really love that because that really ministered to me. Okay, like I thought, at least in the very beginning,

like, oh, like life with Jesus is gonna be easy. Whoa, that's a hot thing. It was the wrong thought, yeah. And like I said earlier, remember showing up for other people? Yeah. We said always have a smiling face. Everybody's going through stuff. This sermon specifically spoke on that. Yeah. It was like, you have to show up. You're either in the mess, getting out of the mess, going into the mess, but that's not other people's issues. Yeah. And to clarify, it may not be easy, but we will have peace through it all. Yes. That's good, that's good. Peace through it all. I think for me too, just in the season of like, you know, the verse for our church this year revolves around Jesus calling us to follow him. Yeah. I think a great way of following him and being like Jesus is about drinking the same cup of suffering that he did, bearing our cross daily and laying down our life, you know? And so I think that this message is just a reminder of that because I think sometimes, like Julianne said,

like we can get really comfortable in our comfortability. And so it takes that discomfort to stretch us to where we need to be. And I'll add on that, that Jesus says, blessed is he who lays down his life for his brothers, for his friends. Yeah, good. It's good. Let us know what you got online, family. Drop it in the chat. Thank you so much, Pastor Aaron, for coming all the way out here to bring us that word. That's right, that's right. And what do we have going on, Jorge, that we wanna talk about? Next steps, if you have not connected yet and you would like to connect more and learn how you can serve better, serve more of the church, next steps is for you. Next step one is for you. Next step two is how you can get to know how you can serve the community and be a part of the community. Absolutely, and if you're looking for another way to be a part of what's happening right here at Journey Church, you can partner with us through your giving. Go ahead and scan that QR code below for more information. You'll be a blessing and we'll be blessed in the process.

Well, the fun's not over yet. We have the After Talk podcast that's gonna drop later this week. So make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel so that you get notified when it comes out. Pastor Aaron will be here in the studio to give some of those last golden nuggets from the message. So make sure you tune in. And Journey Church family, we love you. We're so glad that you were here with us today. Happy Sunday. We hope you have a really blessed week. Yes, we'll see you on Wednesday, 7 p.m. for prayer service, love y'all. That's right. See you soon. See you soon. See you soon. See you soon.