Skip to main content

Suffering by Faith by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous

While we were away, the Lord graciously ministered to Kim and me even in the midst of some pretty intense circumstances. As I began the process of reentering ministry, I felt compelled to share some things that the Lord has shared with me over the next several weeks, so instead of picking up where we left off in Revelation, we’re going to spend some time talking about “Suffering by Faith.” Below you will find the outline of the series, and I want to encourage you to make note of this, to read each text the week before the message, and to ask the Lord to teach you about each subject. I trust that as you seek him, he’ll speak to your heart through His Word and by His Spirit well before you hear what I have to say. 

While it’s not always easy to see this in the midst of difficulties, seasons of suffering present us with great opportunities. For example, we can grow in faith. We can identify and repent of sinful patterns in our lives. We can praise and pray and call on the name of the Lord, even when we don’t know how things are going to turn out. We can seek the Lord by his Word and learn what it means to walk in his will and ways. We can serve others, even when we feel that we have nothing to give. 

With these kinds of possibilities in mind, I pray that the next few weeks will help us gain a better perspective on seasons of suffering, become much more fruitful in them, and be equipped to minister to others when they suffer. Will you join me in asking the Lord to make this an unusually beneficial time in the Word together? 

August 8 Suffering and Singing (2 Kings 18:1-8)

August 16 Suffering and Sinning (1 Peter 4:1-5)

August 22  Suffering and Submitting (Psalm 119:1-8)

August 29          Suffering and Sorrowing (2 Corinthians 6:1-13)

September 5     Suffering and Sharing (Romans 12:14-16)

September 12          Suffering and Serving (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflective Glory: How the Moon Displays the Mercy of God

By
Our sun is a fitting metaphor for the glory of God. In the context of our solar system, it is massive, bright, beautiful, powerful, self-sufficient, heat-producing, life-giving, and dangerous. It is, by far, the dominant feature of our solar system and without it the system would fling apart and all living things therein would die.  On the other hand, our moon is a fitting metaphor for human beings, especially for those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, compared to the sun, the moon is tiny and dim. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, its mass is 27 million times greater than the mass of the moon, and from our perspective its light shines 450,000 times brighter than that of the moon. The sun is so much greater than the moon that it’s difficult to quantify and express the difference. Likewise, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is so much great than each and all of us that it’s impossible to quantify or express the difference. Indeed, the Lord is very great and greatly...
Post a Comment
Read more

Update on Sarah Fergus

By
Here is an update that we just sent to our church regarding Sarah Fergus who is heading off soon to serve the Lord in Madagascar. If you're interested in helping Sarah, please write me a note and I'll be glad to pass it on to her. One way or the other, please join us in prayer! Dear Glory of Christ Fellowship, Thank you for all your prayers in the last few weeks. I have been very encouraged by many of you on Sunday mornings and after visiting several community groups. This church really is a blessing to me as I am being constantly reminded that I am not alone in this. One huge praise is that in the last week I was pledged about half of what I still needed for monthly support! Reminder of dates: Dec 13th is when I need financial clearance. Jan 8th is my planned departure date. Finance Update: Total amount still needed per month: $279 Breakdown: 6 people at $50 a month 12 people at $25 a month Please continue to keep this in prayer for the next few weeks. I also have a lot to...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Children Say "I'm Bored" By Julie Lowe

By
This Article is written by Julie Lowe and was originally posted on the CCEF blog.  I highlighted the areas of particular interest. I had already prepared a blogpost on dealing with boredom from a Christian worldview and then came across this. There is much overlap between the two, perhaps this one is more concise while my work attempts to explain the connection between the ability to think and the ability to be happy. You can visit the original blogpost in the link provided below.  https://www.ccef.org/resources/blog/children-say-im-bored   We have a common crisis in our home; it is the calamity of boredom. Our children might even consider it a catastrophe. “I’m bored” is repeated so often it would not be an overstatement to say that these words echo continuously throughout our home especially during any break from school. These are children with limited media time but still children with a Wii and Xbox system, a pool outside our door, multiple games, toy...
Post a Comment
Read more