Many Sufferings, One Summation

Introduction

Trish

Story of Indian missionaries

Suffering in her life

Why would we willingly go through this?

Read Matthew 5:10-13

Suffering, Saltiness, Summation

The Christian life is one of many sufferings (v. 11)

Suffering for the martyr (Jim Eliot)

Suffering for those who labor without much fruit (William Carey—death of family members, losing a nearly done translation in a fire, few hundred converts among millions in India)

Suffering for those who send (PBT grandad)

Suffering for those who stay, give, and genuinely care (Andy’s giving)

Read Acts 9:15-16

You don’t get to know the amount of suffering before you sign up; you get to know the trustworthiness of your Lord.

The Christian life is one of ongoing saltiness. (v. 13)

Trish

If we lose our saltiness we have lost our worth which is our witness in the world.

Living on mission requires focus- How do we know if we are focused? If we’re bearing the fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5

Be the Salt of the Earth- Live with focus on the mission- so that you’re fit for battle and you have a powerful witness.

The Christian life is one of a great summation. (v. 10, 12)

Death of missionary (W Africa wife leaving husband, 2 kids)

Read Revelation 5

When you get to that day, what’s going to matter?

The suffering you may face cannot compare to the joy we will share

Is Jesus worthy of the suffering that may come, with no qualifiers?

Conclusion

Trish — Bus bombing of Pakistani Christians