Review / Introduction:
Sit in your PEW
- Persecution
- Endurance
- Witness
Make a MESS
- Make the most of every situation.
- Evil people will hate you.
- Share Christ.
- Stand strong.
FLY little songbird
- Fear no evil.
- Live with persecution.
- Yearn for witnessing opportunities.
Psalm 6:2-3 - Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long?
Psalm 77:7-9 - "Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?"
How Can I Be Content in Hardship?
- Learn to see Hardship as Dependance.
- Learn to see things to be Thankful for.
- Learn to see the Bigger picture.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 - So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - give thanks in all circumstances...
Hebrews 12:2 - looking to Jesus... who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:35-00:40
Open up your Bibles please to the book of Acts and chapter 25.
00:40-00:44
If you don't have a Bible, there are Bibles in the pockets in the seat.
00:45-00:49
And you can keep that if you need a copy of God's word, consider that a gift.
00:51-01:01
While you're turning there, let's get a quick review of where we are in our study in the book of Acts.
01:03-01:14
following the life of the Apostle Paul here in these latter chapters and acts, and following false accusations of bringing Greeks into the temple in Jerusalem.
01:14-01:30
Paul was taken into Roman custody and sent to Caesarea, where he was put on trial before the Roman governor of Judea named Felix, accused of breaking Roman, Jewish, and even God's laws.
01:31-01:40
So Paul makes his defense, he proves his innocence, but Felix keeps Paul in custody for two years, hearing the gospel but wanting a bribe.
01:41-01:44
Okay, Acts 25, you there?
01:46-01:57
It says, "Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province," Festus actually succeeded Felix as the Roman governor of Judea, okay?
01:59-02:01
He was a little better than Felix.
02:01-02:11
you're going to see here in the passage, where we saw last week Felix was like, let's just stall, put them off and delay, that way we don't make the Jews mad, we don't make the Romans mad.
02:11-02:14
Felix was sort of a procrastinator.
02:14-02:17
Festus, he went right after it.
02:18-02:19
Okay, and you're gonna see that here in the passage.
02:21-02:31
Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea, and the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul.
02:32-02:34
Keep in mind, this is like two years later, and they're still fired up.
02:34-02:41
Like Festus rolls into town, they're like, "Hey, we gotta talk to you about Paul." Like seriously guys, you need to let it go already, but they will not.
02:43-02:58
Says, "They urged him, asking as a favor against Paul, that he summon him to Jerusalem because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way." Same thing that we saw previously, right?
02:59-03:05
Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.
03:07-03:11
So said he, "Let the men of authority among you "go down with me.
03:11-03:25
"If there's anything wrong about the man, "let them bring charges against him." So again, not procrastinating, Festus is like, "Look, if you've got a problem with Paul, "I'm going to Caesarea, why don't you come with me "and we'll take care of this, okay?
03:25-03:35
"We'll take care of it." After he stayed among them, not more than eight or 10 days, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he took his seat on the tribunal.
03:36-03:38
That means he got on the judgment seat.
03:39-03:40
And ordered Paul to be brought.
03:40-03:48
When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him bringing many and serious charges against him they could not prove.
03:50-03:59
Paul argued in his defense, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.
04:01-04:18
But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?" Now see, this was Festus' idea of trying to make both sides happy.
04:18-04:20
Like the Jews were mad, but Paul's a Roman citizen.
04:21-04:22
He's like, "Yeah, I got an idea.
04:22-04:24
Why don't we go to Jerusalem?
04:25-04:33
That way we're sort of in their backyard, but I'm gonna be the one presiding over the case and we'll make everybody happy, right?
04:35-04:37
By the way, making everybody happy, does that ever work?
04:38-04:40
Okay, all right, that's been my experience, just checking.
04:42-04:47
But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal "where I ought to be tried.
04:47-04:51
"To the Jews, I have done no wrong, "as you yourselves very well know.
04:51-05:02
If then I'm a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death.
05:03-05:07
But if there's nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them.
05:07-05:10
Paul's like, "Look, I didn't break Roman law. I'm in a Roman court.
05:11-05:14
I didn't break any Roman law. If I did, execute me.
05:14-05:16
I'm not going to fight you. Execute me.
05:16-05:18
If I broke a Roman law, but I didn't.
05:18-05:20
And I didn't break Jewish law either, and you know that.
05:22-05:25
Look at the next phrase. This is a turning point in Acts here.
05:26-05:55
Paul says, "I appeal to Caesar." "Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, 'To Caesar you have appealed ; to Caesar you shall go.'" So with this appeal, what happened was Paul's case was taken out of the governor's hands, Festus' hands, and it was put into the emperor's hands.
05:55-05:57
And the emperor at this time was Nero.
05:57-05:58
You're like, "Wait a second.
06:00-06:03
From what I remember in history, Nero, he was a little cray-cray, wasn't he?
06:03-06:09
Why would Paul appeal to go see Nero?" Well, this was early on in Nero's reign.
06:09-06:17
He wasn't the savage, sadistic madman that he became later in his reign.
06:17-06:18
That was later on.
06:19-06:20
Not as bad in the early days.
06:21-06:23
This was very snake-like for Paul.
06:25-06:27
Let's be honest, this was sort of a gift for Festus, wasn't it?
06:28-06:44
He's like trying to figure out what to do with Paul, trying to figure out what to do with Paul, and Paul's like, "I appeal to Caesar," and he's like, "Go." And the Bible doesn't say this, but I have to wonder if Festus, like, after the fact, went into his chambers or whatever, shut the door and was like, "Yes!" Because Paul is out of his hair.
06:45-06:48
Now he's Caesar's problem, right?
06:49-06:51
Okay, so that's the text.
06:51-06:54
And here's the sermon.
06:57-06:58
I'm gonna be honest with you.
06:58-07:02
I had a very difficult time coming up with an outline for this passage.
07:02-07:02
Why?
07:03-07:05
Not because it's hard content, let's be honest.
07:05-07:07
Like you read that, it's very straightforward, right?
07:07-07:07
What's happening.
07:07-07:20
It's not hard content, but I had a very difficult time coming up with a sermon outline Because I'm just gonna be honest with you, it is the same stuff that we've covered over the last two months, true or false.
07:20-07:22
Did you see going through the passage?
07:22-07:23
It's the same stuff.
07:23-07:25
It's the same stuff over and over and over.
07:26-07:33
And Dan, you can testify to this, giving a message every week, teaching the same timeless truths in new and fresh ways.
07:33-07:37
When you get to this portion of the book of Acts, it's sort of like, didn't I already preach this sermon?
07:38-07:42
And it was hard to come up with an outline, so we're gonna give it a whirl.
07:42-07:43
you're gonna show me grace, right?
07:45-07:47
Okay, so here's your outline.
07:48-07:50
Sit in your pew, it's an acrostic.
07:52-07:58
P is for persecution, E is for endurance, and W is for witnessing.
08:00-08:01
That's not very good, is it?
08:02-08:04
We can be honest, that's not a very good outline, is it?
08:07-08:11
But honestly, I was looking at this passage and those are the three things I see.
08:11-08:13
Persecution, call to endurance.
08:13-08:14
And Paul had to...
08:15-08:18
You guys totally, some of you guys are looking at me like, that outline's no good.
08:21-08:21
All right.
08:23-08:24
All right, I have another one here.
08:25-08:26
How about this one?
08:27-08:27
Make a mess.
08:30-08:32
M, make the most of every situation.
08:32-08:34
E, evil people will hate you.
08:35-08:36
S, share Christ.
08:37-08:38
S, stand strong.
08:40-08:42
Would you like me to preach that outline?
08:44-08:44
Wow, no?
08:48-08:51
All right, let's try this one.
08:52-08:53
Fly little songbird.
08:54-08:55
(congregation laughing)
08:57-08:59
Hey, do you wanna try this?
09:00-09:06
Every week, every week, every week, sitting down on Monday, what am I gonna do with this passage?
09:07-09:08
Do you wanna do it?
09:08-09:09
All right, you're up next week, Tony, okay?
09:10-09:11
I see you smirking back there.
09:11-09:12
You're up next week.
09:13-09:14
Come on, tough guy.
09:16-09:23
Fly little songbird, fear no evil, live with persecution, yearn for witness.
09:23-09:24
Oh, man.
09:26-09:27
That's no good either.
09:30-09:32
Isn't this the same stuff that we've already covered?
09:34-10:06
I'll be honest with you, it's pretty hard to think of a sermon when it's the same stuff over and over over and over and if you think that's frustrating I want you to imagine being Paul at this point if you think it's frustrating to try to come up with a fresh way to roll this out persecution and hatred and false accusations and Imagine Paul at this point, same problems, different day.
10:08-10:17
I just went through this passage, I just made a list of all the things that Paul experienced just in this passage that we've already seen, okay?
10:19-10:28
So number one, Paul's like, "I'm on trial in Caesarea before a Roman governor "with a two-syllable name beginning with F." I mean, that is really specific.
10:30-10:31
He went from Felix to Festus.
10:32-10:34
I mean, the name only slightly changed on that.
10:36-10:38
So at this point, Paul's like, "The Jewish leaders hate me.
10:39-10:43
Yeah, that happened in 2222." Verse three, "They have a plan to murder me.
10:43-10:48
Yeah, that happened in 2315." Verse seven, "The Jews are accusing me.
10:48-10:53
Yeah, that happened in 2405 and other places, but there's no evidence for their accusations.
10:53-11:01
That already happened again and again and again, 2413." So Paul's like, "I'll defend myself again." Chapter 22, verse one.
11:01-11:03
I think this is like the fourth time he's made a defense.
11:06-11:07
How about verse nine?
11:07-11:15
"A Roman official wants to appease the angry Jews instead of executing justice." That's exactly what happened in chapter 24, verse 27.
11:17-11:23
And in verse 10, Paul's like, "I'll defend myself again." Again, 24, 10.
11:24-11:25
Now this wasn't happening.
11:26-11:28
Now we've been studying this over the last several weeks.
11:28-11:31
This wasn't happening over the course of days or weeks.
11:32-11:33
This was years.
11:35-11:36
And nothing's changed.
11:37-11:40
Same trials, a name slightly changed, but that's it.
11:43-11:44
And that's the sermon today.
11:46-11:52
How am I supposed to hold on when a trial doesn't seem to be ending?
11:54-11:57
Is there anybody else that can identify with Paul at this point.
11:58-12:02
That there's an ongoing trial in my life that just doesn't seem to be ending.
12:03-12:04
Anyone? Anyone else?
12:06-12:11
If so, you're in good biblical company because it's a common experience.
12:11-12:16
Psalm 6, "Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing.
12:16-12:18
Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
12:18-12:21
My soul also is greatly troubled.
12:21-12:26
"But you, O Lord, how long?" Psalm 77.
12:28-12:31
"Will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable?
12:32-12:34
Has His steadfast love forever ceased?
12:36-12:39
Are His promises at an end for all time?
12:39-12:42
Has God forgotten to be gracious?" Wow.
12:44-12:52
"Has He in anger shut up His compassion?" How long am I going to have to deal with this?
12:54-12:55
That's always the question, right?
12:56-12:56
How long?
12:57-12:59
How long am I going to have to deal with this?
13:00-13:02
How long? How long?
13:04-13:07
We'll go through the questions. You know who and you know what.
13:07-13:10
And honestly, if you've studied your Bible, you know why.
13:10-13:16
Those questions don't seem to bother us as much as the question, How long? How long am I going to have to go through this?
13:19-13:25
The reason that's such a struggle for us is because of a principle that we're all familiar with, and it's this principle.
13:25-13:30
Jot this down, "Pain prolongs time." Pain prolongs time.
13:33-13:59
Several years ago, I was at the gym exercising, and I was doing these tricep pull-downs on this machine with the cables and all this stuff, I'm doing the, and it was right next to this like vending machine and there was a TV on the vending machine and I don't even know what I was watching on TV, but I was distracted by the flashing lights and I'm doing my tricep pull downs and I'm partway down and the cable snapped.
13:59-14:00
(imitates snapping)
14:00-14:06
And my hands went full force down and there was another bar below for another exercise on the machine, you know what I mean?
14:06-14:11
And I mashed all of my fingers between the bar I was holding and the bar.
14:11-14:12
I see you cringing.
14:12-14:25
Yeah, this finger right here took the brunt of it and it turned, remember Aaron, it turned like a greenish purple color and got real big and I ended up losing the fingernail and that's a whole nother story.
14:25-14:34
But anyways, right after it happened, I was like, oh, I was the only one in the gym at the time.
14:34-14:39
But right after it happened, this friend of mine came in and he walks in, this just happened.
14:39-14:43
And he's like, "Jeff, what's up with your penguins?
14:43-14:49
They just can't seem to be scoring goals." Now in real time, that's how long the conversation lasted.
14:51-14:55
But as I look back on the event, that guy stood there for three hours talking to me about hockey.
14:57-15:08
Because I couldn't like, I didn't want to be like, "You're such a, I just hurt my finger." So he's talking and he's like, "Jeff, what's up with your penguins?" I'm like, "I don't know what's up with them."
15:37-15:38
(mimics heart beating)
15:38-15:40
What's it like with three days with the flu?
15:42-15:42
Right?
15:44-15:48
Some of you are going through trials right now that don't seem to be ending.
15:50-15:52
I'm part of the prayer team. I get to friendship registers.
15:53-15:55
And I know some of you are hurting.
15:56-16:01
Because you've been seeking God in prayer for a long time.
16:03-16:04
For the same thing.
16:07-16:18
Maybe you're asking, "How can I keep the faith when God doesn't seem to be working?" "How can I keep praying when God doesn't seem to be answering?" I mean, seriously.
16:20-16:24
I've been praying about this and praying about this.
16:25-16:26
Why should I keep praying?
16:29-16:32
You know, maybe for some of you, maybe it's a financial situation.
16:32-16:39
Like, you know what, I've been praying about my finances for years, and I just can't dig myself out of the hole.
16:40-16:56
Maybe for some of you, it's a breakdown in some relationship, maybe with a family member or a coworker, or you're like, "I've been praying about this relationship for years." For some of you, it's a health issue.
16:57-17:15
You know, I've had this affliction now for years, and I've gone to the pastor and elders to pray over me, and I've prayed, and I've been praying for so long, and I've been dealing with this hardship for so long.
17:16-17:19
I can't really remember my life before this trial.
17:21-17:26
It dominated all my thoughts and all my energy, and really dominated my life.
17:28-17:41
I remember in my own life when we first discovered the developmental issues with my oldest son Owen. I was completely crushed. I mean I was crushed.
17:44-18:43
Shortly after that I turned it around 180 and I'm like I am going to beat this and I am going to I'm going to read and I'm going to study and I'm going to travel and I'm going to buy whatever we need and I can't even tell you the seasons of fasting and prayer. I've had so many pastor and missionary friends who have prayed with me and prayed over him and I can stand here before you today and tell you 11 years into the battle I haven't won. So if this is the new normal, if I have to accept that this is how it's going to be, if things aren't changing anytime soon, here's the real sermon outline. How can I be content in and hardship.
18:44-18:48
Do you think Paul ever had this thought cross his mind at this point?
18:50-18:52
Same stuff, different day.
18:54-18:56
So here's what we're going after today, okay?
18:56-18:59
How can I be content in hardship?
18:59-19:01
And right now somebody's like, "Content?
19:02-19:03
Are you kidding me?
19:05-19:06
Are you serious right now?
19:06-19:18
You're telling me that I have this issue that's been crushing me and it's been crushing my family and you're telling me that I should be content with that?
19:20-19:23
And I would just ask you, well, what's the alternative?
19:26-19:28
Has bitterness changed your situation at all?
19:30-19:35
Has anger helped your circumstances at all?
19:37-19:42
Has despair and despondency, Have those things put you in a better station in life?
19:45-19:47
If we're honest, I know they have not.
19:49-19:54
So if it doesn't look like the circumstances are going to change, what means is I have to change.
19:56-20:13
Philippians 4, verse 11, Paul says, look at this very closely, "For I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content.
20:15-20:16
Why don't you look at that first phrase?
20:17-20:21
Paul says, "I have learned." You know why he said, "I have learned"?
20:22-20:25
Because it's not natural, right?
20:26-20:28
If it was natural, God's word wouldn't need to address it.
20:29-20:29
Right?
20:30-20:33
But Paul says contentment wasn't something that I just had.
20:33-20:49
I just woke up one morning like, "Well, I'm content with being under arrest for no reason." He said, "I've had to learn how to be content." So we're gonna go to school here.
20:50-20:52
I want you to learn three things today.
20:52-20:54
We could say so much more on the subject.
20:56-20:58
I just want you to get three things down.
20:58-20:58
You ready?
20:58-21:04
Number one, learn to see hardship as dependence.
21:06-21:10
Learn to see hardship as dependence.
21:11-21:17
In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, this is a whole other sermon series down the road, but some of you are familiar with the story.
21:17-21:18
The apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh.
21:18-21:22
We don't know exactly what it was, and there's a million different guesses what it was.
21:22-21:23
It doesn't matter what it was.
21:23-21:26
He had this thing that was constantly afflicting him.
21:26-21:28
Was it a physical thing?
21:28-21:29
Was it a relational thing?
21:29-21:30
Was it a spiritual thing?
21:30-21:31
I have no idea.
21:31-21:32
It doesn't matter.
21:32-21:35
The matter is, he had this thing that he dealt with.
21:37-21:52
And he says, "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations," he says, "a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being conceited." But look at this next phrase.
21:52-22:00
He says, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this." See, this wasn't one and done for Paul.
22:00-23:19
Like, "Well, I prayed about that last week answer so on to the next thing. He said, "I prayed and I prayed and I prayed that God would take this." He says, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me, but He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ then..." See this next phrase? "I am content with..." And this list covers the whole spectrum of everything. Look at this list. Weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities. He's like, "Whatever. Whatever bad stuff happens in my life, I can be content." How? Well look at this last phrase. He says, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." Do you want to know the power of Christ? Do you want to know the power of Christ? I'm assuming that's why you're here today. If you want to know the power of Christ, then you have You have to be weak.
23:21-23:21
You have to be weak.
23:23-23:28
You can't be resting in your own strength and experience the strength of Jesus at the same time.
23:29-23:30
You can't do it.
23:32-23:37
You have to get to the place in your life that you're like, "I bring nothing to the table.
23:38-23:45
It's Jesus or it's nothing." Because here's the bottom line, spoiler alert.
23:46-23:48
we're all going to suffer in this life.
23:50-23:53
We're all going to suffer in some way, shape or form, but here's the choice you have.
23:53-23:57
You can suffer with Christ or you can try to suffer without Christ.
23:58-23:59
And I've done both.
24:00-24:06
And I'm here to tell you, I would never go back to suffering without Christ.
24:09-24:20
Paul learned to see his thorn as something that God was using to keep him humble To keep him resting in Christ's power and not his own.
24:21-24:25
To learn that Jesus' grace is sufficient.
24:27-24:36
So if you want to know the sufficiency of grace, you need to see hardships as dependence.
24:37-24:54
Whatever that thing is, instead of saying, "This is my hardship in life, this is my this is my trial, this is my suffering, whatever, you need to say, this is the thing in my life that has taught me that I need Jesus Christ every moment of every day.
24:54-24:55
That's what this thing is.
24:57-25:02
And when you learn to see it that way, you'll learn contentment.
25:05-25:12
Every day, every day, you should be able to point at that hardship and say, God, this is why I need you.
25:13-25:18
I imagine God's gonna be like, "Well, you need me for a lot of other stuff too." And you're like, "Yeah, you know what, that's true.
25:20-25:22
But this is the thing that's on the forefront of my mind right now, God.
25:22-25:26
This is the thing that's weighing on my heart right now.
25:26-25:38
This is the one that I'm feeling the most, God." You need to see your hardships instead as dependents, the thing that makes you dependent on Christ.
25:42-25:52
As I heard one preacher say, "Jesus Christ is all you need, but you'll never know it until He's all that you got.
25:54-26:04
And then when He's all that you got, you learn He's all that you need." Number one, learn to see hardships as dependents.
26:04-26:09
Number two, learn to see things to be thankful for.
26:12-26:14
Learn to see things to be thankful for.
26:14-26:16
What about Paul in this situation?
26:17-26:19
Right where he is right now in the text, in Acts.
26:21-26:23
Pop quiz, does Paul have things he can be thankful for right now?
26:24-26:25
Absolutely.
26:25-26:26
And I'm sure he was.
26:26-26:27
What are some things?
26:27-26:27
We saw it actually.
26:28-26:31
Go back up to chapter 24 and verse 23.
26:34-26:40
Paul was given liberty, even though he was under house arrest, he was given liberty, his friends could come and go, and all of his needs were met.
26:42-26:49
So right there off the top of my head looking at just one verse, I'm sure those were three things that Paul was daily thankful for.
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"I just, I'm incarcerated, but, but, but 1 Thessalonians 5.18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances." to notice, give thanks in all circumstances. It says in, not for. Note that. In all circumstances, not for all circumstances. In other words, you don't say, "I'm thankful for my cancer." The Bible doesn't call you to that. The Bible doesn't say, "Okay, because I have this physical diagnosis, "I'm thankful for the cancer." But instead you say, "In this circumstance of having cancer, I am finding things to be thankful for." Do you see the difference?
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You're not thankful for the cancer. Though that's the hardship you're enduring, you're finding things in that to be thankful for.
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So go to school, learn to see hardship as dependence. Learn to see things to be thankful for.
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The last lesson for today, how can I be content in hardship?
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Learn to see the bigger picture. When God is at work in you, it's about more than you.
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When God is doing something in your life, it is always about more than you.
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And you're like, "Oh, so that's supposed to motivate me?" It motivated Jesus.
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Like, "Oh, that wasn't fair." Hebrews 12, two says, "Looking to Jesus," look at this, "who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Jesus knew that the suffering He had to go through was to glorify God, but He also knew it was going to purchase salvation for those who would receive Him.
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It was going to purchase salvation for the people that showed that today.
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So Jesus went through the most horrific suffering that a human being can go through, but he was content to go through it because he knew suffering was part of God's bigger picture.
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There's a difference for you and I though.
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I don't always know what the bigger picture is for us.
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I mean, it's easy in regards to the bigger picture for Jesus because God wrote it down in his word, right?
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And we can read his word like, oh, I see what God was doing through Christ in the midst of his suffering, but I don't have that luxury for us.
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We're living through it right now.
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I wish I had one of those magic eight balls or some kind of way you come to my office, you're like, "Well, Pastor Jeff, "why am I going through this trial?" And I'm like, "Well, you see, "it's because God's going to use this "to win your neighbors to Christ." You're like, "Oh, thanks for letting me know about that." I can't, I don't know that there's a purpose, but I don't know what exactly the purpose is rather, but I don't need to know exactly what the purpose is to know that there actually is a purpose, right?
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You can figure out what that sentence meant, you let me know.
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But you get the point.
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You get the point.
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I don't always know what the bigger picture is, but I know that God has one.
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And though it involves suffering, not only will you be blessed on the other side, God is going to use it to impact people in ways that you may never discover until heaven.
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Like, what about Paul?
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What about Paul?
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Do you think there was ever a time during Paul's history of incarcerations, do you think there was ever a time that Paul's like, you know, I'm really getting sick of this and I don't see the point because I'd like to go visit the churches, I'd like to go see people, I'd like to go preach the gospel and I can't do those things.
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I can't go and do them.
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All I can do, all I can do is send them letters.
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Do you think God had a bigger purpose with that?
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Paul writing letters from jail, do you think God had a bigger purpose for that?
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'Cause you realize almost 2000 years later, these letters are bringing people to Christ.
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We're still carrying his letters around and reading them and studying them and God's using them to change lives for eternity.
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So today we are going to go to school. We are going to learn some things.
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If you want to learn, "Ok, maybe I can't change my circumstance, maybe I need to change and what I need is contentment. How am I going to learn contentment?" Learn to rename hardship. Call it dependence.
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This is the thing that makes me dependent on Jesus.
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You need to learn to be thankful in hard circumstances.
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Yeah, things aren't optimal.
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Things will never be optimal.
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But even in the worst of situations, I'm finding things to be thankful for.
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And that's what I'm going to focus upon.
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And I'm going to learn to trust God that there's a bigger picture.
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I don't know what it is right now.
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But He's doing something.
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If you can learn those lessons, you're going to earn a diploma.
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You're going to get a master's degree in being content.
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, this is one of those easier said than done things.
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Because Father, I know looking out, I know there are some people sitting here that have been going through some trials for a long time.
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Whether it's relational or physical or financial or whatever.
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There are people here that have been struggling for a very long time.
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And Father, it's easy to lose heart when we pray, and we don't see You moving.
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We don't see You answering.
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And we start to wonder if You're listening at all.
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God, You may choose to change our entire life circumstance today.
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Father, you may choose to say, "No, my grace is sufficient for you." Whatever the case, Father, I pray for myself.
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And I pray for my brothers and sisters in this room.
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I pray for everyone who's going to be listening to this message.
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That you would teach us to be content.
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Father, teach us what it means to live in the strength of Christ when we are totally weak.
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Teach us.
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Teach us how to find things to be thankful for and let our focus be on that.
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Father, teach us that you're rarely ever doing one thing in one person's life.
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In your providence, you're doing thousands of things in millions of people's lives, even with one seeming event.
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Father, when we leave here today, we might be like Paul, saying the same situation as yesterday, and it's going to look the same tomorrow.
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So God, we need you.
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Whatever happens, Father, we need you to change us.
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I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 25:1-12
If God is sovereignly using a trial in your life, is it OK to pray for the ongoing trial to end?
What advice would you give someone who says, "I have been suffering with this hardship for years. I have been so discouraged because God obviously isn't answering my prayers."?
What is your big take-away from this passage / message?
Breakout Questions:
What hardship have YOU been enduring for a long time? How are you doing with being content in the trial? What do you need to do if you are struggling with being content?