Dear Congregation,
We begin our fourth week in this five-part sermon series with Romans 8: 18. Here Paul writes, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Our present sufferings? We know what this is! Certainly, we do not welcome suffering until we understand that Jesus’ suffering on the cross changed the world forever. His suffering had meaning, incredible meaning. His act of suffering, bleeding, dying and rising again from death to life changes the course of human history forever. Jesus’ suffering leads us to eternal life. As we begin this week on the whispers of yesterday’s sermon still echoing and informing the chambers of our hearts and our minds, begin to ask two interrelated questions you may or may not have asked before: one, where is my suffering leading me, and two, how am I allowing the suffering in my life to benefit my mission here in the world God calls me to love and serve?