Glory of Christ Fellowship

When we suffer, and especially when we intensely suffer, singing praise to God and giving thanks to God are among the last things we want to do and among the first things we need to do. On the one hand, giving praise and thanks to God magnifies his great name, and on the other hand, it helps us fix our eyes on him rather than on our circumstances and see things from his perspective rather than ours. Since King David suffered so much in his life and also wrote about it, he provides us with a great model of what it looks like to endure the trials of life with the praise of God on our lips. For example, in Psalm 69, David pours out his lament before God, describes the nature of his suffering (69:1-4, 7-12, 19-21), confesses his own sin, and prays that God would keep others from suffering for it (69:5-6). Having put these things on the table, he then prays for deliverance from and justice against his enemies (69:13-18, 22-29), and he pledges to give himself to the praise and thanks of God....

Jonathan Edwards served for twenty-one years (1729-1750) as the preaching Pastor of the Church of Christ in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a position held for about fifty years by his father-in-law and immediate predecessor, Solomon Stoddard. After decades of fruitful ministry, the congregation, along with area leaders, fired Edwards over issues related to the theology and practice of communion. History has shown that Edwards was right on the issues and that the congregation was wrong to fire him, but at the time, this decision plunged his family into a season of suffering. I cannot explain here the details of their predicament or suffering, but I would like to highlight several ways in which God used these things in Edwards’ life. First, God used this time to humble Edwards. As modern people, it’s hard for us to imagine this, but Edwards could not just pick up his family and move from Northampton. Travel was difficult, and moving an entire house-full of possessions was very difficult, an...

While we were away, the Lor d graciously ministered to Kim and me even in the midst of some pretty inte nse circumsta nc es. 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 ...