Camp Meeting 2022 (Pt. 2)

ENDURANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER

RECAP

Last night, we learned that suffering is a reality of life, but not the master of our life. And we can PRESS ON because we are God’s children.

MAIN POINT: He who loves me is greater than what I go through.

Read Romans 5:1-4a.

Intro — Endurnace

Swimming? Biking? Running?

I do triathlons! I’m one of the crazy people that enjoys endurnace sprots!

Zone 2 Training

You can run faster by running slower.

I had to learn about me to become a stronger/faster version of me.

If I trust in this process, I will run faster, recover quicker, and avoid injury.

The Bible talks a lot about endurance. About pressing on. Today, we are going to learn...

Body

4 Lessons from Jesus on Endurance

Lesson #1: Endurance is less about fighting, and more about trusting.

Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4)

After enduring trials, Jesus became a deeper version of Himself.

Jesus didn’t fight for the sake of fighting. His way of “fighting” was trusting!

For us…

We don’t endure just for the sake of enduring. We don’t have to be strong for the sake of saying that you are strong. We are called to simply trust.

We endure by trusting in who God says we are. We are His children. We are His beloved.

Lesson #2: Endurance gives us opportunity to fully live.

Luke 21:19 ESV

By your endurance you will gain your lives.

In this chapter, Jesus is talking to His disciples about the various trials they will face. He talks of famines, wars, and earthquakes. Additionally, He also speaks different ways others might persecute them for being His followers.

But I can’t help but think how odd this statement is…By your endurance you will gain your lives?

Truthfully, it’s hard to wrap our minds around this, but there’s one thing that this text shows me:

My endurance is not wasted. Staying true to God and to who I am is not for nothing.

Jesus says, by your endurance, you will gain your lives. So keep pressing on!

Lesson #3: Endurance is strengthened by purpose.

Hebrews 12:1–3 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, 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. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

This text is so beautiful! Jesus Himself had to endure. He had to endure the cross. But what kept Him strong and helped Him endure? You! You are His purpose!

You are at the center of God’s purposes. You are the reason why Jesus was able to endure.

So what that means for us is this: That my endurance is strengthened by a clear purpose.

Lesson #4: Endurance makes me a deeper version of myself.

Romans 5:4 — “Endurance produces character”.

Again, enduring makes you a deeper version of yourself.

Think about it! If every time you experienced a hardship in your life, you decided to pray and give God control, what would happen? You would have a deeper sense of trust in God and also in who you are as His child!

You know the common phrase: “Repetition deepens impression”?

If we repeatedly trust that we are God’s children, we will become deeper and fuller versions of ourselves.

Recently, I started to go to therapy, and my therapist was teaching me that I can basically unlearn all of my distorted automatic thoughts--”You aren’t good enough” “You will never be enough”, etc. And I can trust that I am God’s child! This is my journey, and I am getting further every day!

Closing

Jesus has given us the opportunity to fully trust in who we are, so that we can endure trials.

More than anything, God is here telling you that YOUR ENDURANCE IS NOT WASTED. Keep going. Keep pressing on. You are finding yourself. And God is holding your hand every step of the way.

He who loves me is greater than what I go through.

Endurance produces character.

Character produces hope.