Fiery Trials (8 of 10)
Series: Faith at the Margins
Will McGee
1 Peter 3:18-4:19
INTRODUCTION
Last week, I came home from church with a smile on my face. It was such a fun Sunday.
- I got to watch marathon with my church family. We had a blast.
- My wife helped me teach my message on marriage.
- Got to meet some new people. We sang songs to Jesus.
- Check Twitter after church and saw that Shalane Flanagan won the marathon. First American woman in 40 years.
- It was a such a great day.
- I got home from church. Laid down on the couch. Watched an episode of Shark Tank and took a 2-hour nap.
- Then, I woke up and I checked Twitter again (hoping to see updates about the marathon)... But what I saw broke my heart. I saw that a church in rural Texas.
- A church of about 50 people... Went in to worship the risen Jesus... When in the middle of the service, a deranged man enters with an AR-15, semi-automatic rifle and proceeds to shoot nearly every single person in the sanctuary.
- Church of 50. 27 dead. 20 wounded.
- Over half of the church list... Nearly everyone else in the hospital.
- Then, I thought... What if half of this church was taken from me?
- My closest friends are in this room. My wife/kids. My growth group.
- I sat there stunned. Why the hell does this happen? How can our brothers and sisters in Christ go on after an event like this?
-Why must life on this earth involve so much pain?
What about our own lives? (Just this weekend, our elders prayed for everyone by name). So many of you in this room, myself included, have had to walk through painful trials in this life. How do we go on? Where is Jesus in the midst of it all? In the midst of the trials of life?
- Some of you, maybe you've never really experienced any real tragedies in your life... But just wait... Those days will come... Its inevitable.
- So, how do we prepare now to endure the suffering that will come?
- Because you can't develop a theology of suffer ...
Series: Faith at the Margins
Will McGee
1 Peter 3:18-4:19
INTRODUCTION
Last week, I came home from church with a smile on my face. It was such a fun Sunday.
- I got to watch marathon with my church family. We had a blast.
- My wife helped me teach my message on marriage.
- Got to meet some new people. We sang songs to Jesus.
- Check Twitter after church and saw that Shalane Flanagan won the marathon. First American woman in 40 years.
- It was a such a great day.
- I got home from church. Laid down on the couch. Watched an episode of Shark Tank and took a 2-hour nap.
- Then, I woke up and I checked Twitter again (hoping to see updates about the marathon)... But what I saw broke my heart. I saw that a church in rural Texas.
- A church of about 50 people... Went in to worship the risen Jesus... When in the middle of the service, a deranged man enters with an AR-15, semi-automatic rifle and proceeds to shoot nearly every single person in the sanctuary.
- Church of 50. 27 dead. 20 wounded.
- Over half of the church list... Nearly everyone else in the hospital.
- Then, I thought... What if half of this church was taken from me?
- My closest friends are in this room. My wife/kids. My growth group.
- I sat there stunned. Why the hell does this happen? How can our brothers and sisters in Christ go on after an event like this?
-Why must life on this earth involve so much pain?
What about our own lives? (Just this weekend, our elders prayed for everyone by name). So many of you in this room, myself included, have had to walk through painful trials in this life. How do we go on? Where is Jesus in the midst of it all? In the midst of the trials of life?
- Some of you, maybe you've never really experienced any real tragedies in your life... But just wait... Those days will come... Its inevitable.
- So, how do we prepare now to endure the suffering that will come?
- Because you can't develop a theology of suffer ...
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