Final Words About "Joy"

This Sunday I finish a 15 part series of sermons called "Revive Your Church" that really has been a series of messages related to joy.

Psalm 85: 6 "Will You not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you."

The real sign of a revived people and church is joy.

In spite of doing 15 messages, there has been much about joy that I have omitted.  Look at just a few things:

The Bible uses a number of words to express joy.

Hebrew:
- Sinchah (1 Samuel 18:6): means bright and shining, a glad and joyful disposition
- Masos (Acts 3): means to leap or jump, the man healed at the temple jumped with joy
- Rinnah (ranan, Psalm 126:6): conveys the idea of exuberant expressions with a particular reference to shouting over God’s saving work
- Gil (Psalm 13:5): the root means to move around in a circle, joy as God’s ongoing works or attributes, joy can’t stand still

Greek:
- Agalliao: loud, public expressions of joy in worship with focused attention on God’s work in the believer
- Euphraino: emphasizes the community of joy, an atmosphere created when God’s people gather to celebrate and feast, sharing and growing together brings joy
- Charis: the word for grace also means delightful, chara is the primary word used for joy in the New Testament

Then these verses could have formed more messages:

So many passages in Psalms that speaks of joy such as Psalm 35: 27 "Let them shout for joy and be glad...."

Psalm 98: 4 "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises."

Luke 10: 20 "...but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Luke 10: 21 "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit..."

John 16:20 "...but your sorrow will be turned into joy."

Acts 13:52 "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."

Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy..."

I Peter 1:8 "....yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory."

Jude 24 "Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."

The point I've made throughout this series is that joy is not a destination, but a by-product of knowing a person.

This Sunday we celebrate the Lord's Supper in the 10:15 service as we are reminded by Paul in I Corinthians 11:26 "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup. you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."  

There is a future joy awaiting those who joy is in the Lord now.  See you Sunday as we gather for Sunday School at 9 and worship at 10:15.  No Sunday night services nor any Wednesday (1-2-19) services.  Enjoy this time with family. 

ROUTINE BIBLE READING CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE by Trevin Wax

It’s the time of year when many Christians are preparing to start a new Bible reading plan. New Year’s resolutions come and go each year, giving us the opportunity to look back at what we committed to last year, and offering a fresh start for something new. Wanting to read the Bible more is a common Christian desire when looking ahead to the new year.

It’s not surprising Christians feel they should read the Bible more. We believe it is the Word of God. It reveals the story of redemption. It contains wisdom from God that, pressed deep into our hearts, helps us to live in ways that bring glory to Him. We see Jesus in this book, and through these pages, we grow in our knowledge of the One who loved us and gave His life for us.

Unfortunately, many Christians approach next year’s big commitments for Bible reading with a little trepidation, and perhaps even some guilt. This may be the third or fourth year that they’ve said they want to do a Bible reading plan, an ambitious one that takes them through the Bible in a year, or even a plan with lighter expectations. And yet they’ve found they lapse inevitably after a few weeks or months. “This year will be different,” they say, and they get ready to start a new reading plan. They look at the different options out there (some of which I’ve described before), and settle on one that is going to help them through the year.

“Why do so many Christians start with a strong commitment and yet lose their way when reading the Bible?”

Why do so many Christians start with a strong commitment and yet lose their way when reading the Bible? One reason may be that we have too high of an expectation of what we will feel every day when we read. We know this is God’s Word and that He speaks to us through this Book, and yet so many times, when we’re reading the assigned portion of Scripture for the day, it all feels so, well, ordinary. We read a story, note a couple of interesting things, don’t see how it applies to our lives today, and then move on. By the time we near the end of the first books of the Bible, we’ve gone through extensive instructions on how to build the tabernacle, or how the sacrificial system is to be implemented, or a book of Numbers that is aptly titled. We read the daily portion of Scripture, put down our pencil or highlighter and wonder, “Why don’t I feel like my life is changing?”

I sympathize with Christians who feel this way. We’re right to approach the Bible with anticipation, to expect to hear from God in a powerful and personal way. But the way the Bible does its work on our hearts is often not through the lightning bolt, but through the gentle and quiet rhythms of daily submission, of opening up our lives before this open Book and asking God to change us. Change doesn’t always happen overnight. Growth doesn’t happen in an instant. Instead, it happens over time, as we eat and drink and exercise. The same is true of Scripture reading. Not every meal is at a steakhouse. Not every meal is memorable. Can you remember what you had for dinner, say, two weeks ago? Probably not. But that meal sustained you, didn’t it? In the same way, we come to feast on God’s Word, recognizing that it’s the daily rhythm of submitting ourselves to God and bringing our plans and hopes and fears to Him that makes the difference.

There are times when God will speak to us like a thunderbolt from His Word, pressing something deep into our hearts. I read the psalms regularly as an act of prayer and worship, and in recent months, the last verse of Psalm 138 has been my confession of hope in times when I’ve questioned my purpose and have needed wisdom: The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Lord, your faithful love endures forever; do not abandon the work of your hands. I’ve read that psalm many times before, but in recent months, that verse has been like a life preserver thrown to me. I may have missed it if I hadn’t been in the Word daily.

Another thunderbolt for me recently has been the way Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Thessalonians 5. “He died for us, so that… we may live together with Him.” He died for us, not only so that we would live for Him, as servants relate to a Master, but so that we would live with Him. He wanted us with Him. Jesus died so we would be with Him. The glory of that thought – that my Savior loves me and wants me – has nourished me in recent weeks.

I could multiply these examples, but not as much as you might think. I can only think of a handful in the past few months of Bible reading. And that’s my point. It’s not every day that you find something extraordinary that stays with you. But every day, in the ordinary routine of reading your Bible, you’re still eating. You’re coming to the table, asking the Lord to sustain you and nourish you through His Word. You’re coming to the Gospels, looking to see the Savior again and again. This is an ordinary routine, yes, but ordinary routines can change your life.

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Click here to check out some Bible reading plans Trevin recommended in an earlier post.

Merry Christmas

This says it all.  Christ is born.  God became a man.  He knows us because He became one of us.  He became one of us even to the point of death on the cross so we could have life and freedom. 

Merry Christmas from David and Roxanne.

Christmas Eve Service tonight at Rainsville First Baptist Church

I love our Christmas Eve service.  For the past two years, Christmas Eve or Christmas fell on Sunday so our regular worship service was our "special" service.

But this year Christmas Eve is on Monday and we are celebrating tonight at 5:00. 

Let me encourage you to come and bring your family and friends.  The service will last only 30 minutes and will contain traditional Christmas carols, the reading of the Christmas story and my message "Joy to the World."  I can't wait.

See you tonight!!!

Why Do We Say “Noel” at Christmas? by Aaron Earls

Caroline Hernandez photo | Unsplash

By Aaron Earls

Virtually every other language has a word for Christmas. Spanish-speakers celebrate Navidad. The Italians have Natale and the Dutch look forward to Kerstmis.

But why do we English-speakers sing “The First Noel,” the French word for Christmas, and not say “The First Weihnachten,” the German word?

When was the first noel?

Like many other words in European languages, the French word nöel traces back to Latin and the word natalis, which means “birthday” or “relating to birth.” It’s also the root of English words like neonatal and postnatal.

It’s not difficult to see how the Latin word for birth evolved into a French word celebrating the birth of Christ.

In addition to being the word for Christmas in French, nöel also began to be used to refer to Christmas-related songs, similar to “carols” in English.

The earliest known musical use of nöel dates back to the 1400s and a song called “Nova Vobis Gaudia,” according to the Merriam-Webster podcast on the word “noel.”

Nöels were sung for centuries in French and Latin before word came to English at end of the 18th century.

The earliest English citation of “noel” meaning “carols” comes from 1771 in a book by J.F. Bielfeld entitled: The Elements of Universal Erudition: Containing an Analytical Abridgment of the Sciences, Polite Arts, and Belles Lettres. It doesn’t quite roll right off the tongue.

After explaining that noels are “spiritual songs that are designed to celebrate the nativity of the Saviour of the world,” Bielfeld went on to complain about them.

“But it must be confessed, that the very common use that is made of these noels, by children who sing them through the streets, and on the highways, is an abuse; and moreover, that in these hymns there is frequently a mixture of the sacred and trifling, the edifying and profane, in a manner that does but badly sort with the dignity of the subject.”

So our first English mention of a sung noel was not to “certain poor shepherds,” but certain poor street children.

It was not long after Bielfeld’s book that the famous Christmas carol “The First Noel” was written. First published in Carols Ancient and Modern in 1823, the song probably dates back earlier.

It originally had nine stanzas. “Though the angels’ appearance to the shepherds is the subject of the first stanza, most of the carol focuses on the journey of the Magi, giving an overall feeling of Epiphany,” writes C. Michael Hawn, church music professor at Southern Methodist University.

In the carol, the angels say “the first Noel” to shepherds, mirroring the Christmas narrative in Luke 2. The first birth announcement of the newborn Savior was given to a group who embodied what this baby would become—the good shepherd who gives His life for His sheep.

When we sing about that first Noel, we are reminded of our own privilege of continuing to share the good news during this time of the year and beyond.

In the words of The First Noel:

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind hath bought.

AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor)is online editor of Facts & Trends.

Jingle Jam Tonight at 6:00

Jingle Jam is one of my favorite Christmas experiences each year.  This is the third year we have done this and tonight is the night.

This is for everyone - young and old.  

All the fun starts at 6:00pm in the auditorium with skits, crowd games, and the Christmas Story. Afterwards we will head downstairs for a hot chocolate bar, cookie decorating, games, and more! We hope to see you there and be sure to invite someone to come with you!

What God Might Do with Satan’s Arrows THE LEGACY OF JOHN CHAU (1991–2018) by Garrett Kell

On November 17, 2018, John Chau paddled his kayak toward the beaches of North Sentinel Island. Two days prior, he had attempted contact with the secluded community, but was eventually chased away by flying arrows. Chau had spent years planning, praying, and preparing to bring the gospel to the Sentinelese people. He was certain God had called him to go.

Not long after Chau arrived on the island, onlooking fisherman saw a group of the islanders dragging his lifeless body to be buried.

John Piper once wrote of another missionary martyred in a hostile field, “The whole point of [his] life is that there is something worse than death. So, he was willing to risk his own life to rescue others from something far worse. And he could risk his own life because he knew his own risking and dying would work for him ‘an eternal weight of glory.’” John Chau took the same risk and paid the same price, with the same great hope.

The community’s history of violence is well-documented, and we may have some insight into why the people are so hostile to outsiders. In the 1880s, an English Royal Navy officer by the name of Maurice Vidal Portman made stops along the island chain to study the natives. He kidnapped six Sentinelese, an elderly couple and four children, which resulted in the couple quickly becoming sick and dying (“The Last Island of the Savages”). There are also less-substantiated reports of Portman’s treatment that are perverse and grievous. The injustice suffered by the Sentinelese people by outsiders does not excuse their vengeance, but may help us to better understand it.

What Are You Doing, God?

Questions have emerged about John Chau’s zeal, training, prudence, and legacy. But another, even more important question sits under the surface of such a tragedy: What is God doing in all of this?

How is God working to reveal his glory to the Sentinelese people? Could he bring them forgiveness for their murder and freedom from their own pain? How will he bring healing to the heartbreak of the Chau family? Could our God be using injustice, arrows, and a fallen missionary to make his reconciling grace known to the entire world?

God has done it before through a strikingly similar story. On November 20, 1839, missionaries John Williams and James Harris sailed toward the coast of a small island called Erromango in the New Hebrides (modern-day Vanuatu). They had been urged to avoid this island because the natives were rumored to be violent toward outsiders and even, on occasion, to cannibalize them. Williams and Harris, however, had seen God move on other islands, and believed he would continue his great work among these people.

They Prepared the Way

Though they knew the danger, they were unaware that the Erromango community had recently been provoked by an attack at the hands of outsiders. Weeks prior to their arrival, an Australian sandalwood trader had brutally murdered two boys, the sons of a local chief. As a result, the community had resolved to violently oppose any white-skinned outsiders (“Erromango: Cannibals and Missionaries on the Martyr Isle”).

Only minutes after stepping onto the shore, Williams and Harris were attacked with clubs, killed, and eaten by the islanders as part of a sacred ritual. Word quickly spread of their fate, and many accused the missionaries of foolish zeal and of imposing foreign standards upon unwilling communities living in “primitive bliss” (The Greatest Century of Missions, 83).

The mission of the men had ended, but God’s sovereignly guided story had just begun.

Twenty Years Later

Roughly twenty years later, another missionary named John G. Paton set sail with his family to take the gospel to the people of Erromango. Moved with compassion for their souls, Paton was convinced that God was at work, even through the martyrdom of Williams and Harris.

This conviction proved true, as the Lord used Paton’s ministry to help many of the people of Vanuatu embrace the grace, healing, and forgiveness of Jesus. In his autobiography, Paton later wrote of his forerunners’ martyrdom, “Thus were the New Hebrides baptized with the blood of martyrs; and Christ thereby told the whole Christian world that He claimed these islands as His own” (John G. Paton, 75). To this day, faith in Christ is thriving on this island once filled with pain and anger.

Evidence of God’s enduring grace toward them was displayed in a reconciliation ceremony held on November 20, 2009. On the same beach where missionary John Williams was killed, some 170 years later, his great-great-grandson and seventeen other family members stood with the descendants of the islanders who killed him. The islanders gathered to ask forgiveness and celebrate the forgiveness and reconciliation that only Christ can bring. The president of the Republic of Vanuatu said, “Since we are a Christian nation it is very important that we have a reconciliation like this.” The BBC covered this story and produced a three-minute video that is well worth your time.

Forgiveness for All Peoples

As I have considered these events, I can’t help but wonder if God is doing something similar through the events of recent days. We know that God’s aim in history is to magnify his glory through the joy of all peoples in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chau knew it too. Just hours before he died, he wrote in his journal, “I hope this isn’t one of my last notes but if it is ‘to God be the Glory.’” To God be the glory — among all the people groups in all the world. This is why Jesus left heaven’s glory to warn us of the coming judgment and to offer salvation to any who will believe (John 3:16–20).

But mankind, like the Sentinelese and Erromango peoples, did not receive the truth-bringing messenger (John 1:11–14). In fact, we so hated Jesus’s message that we tortured him to death through crucifixion (John 19:1–37). Yet the scandalous message of the Bible is that Jesus intentionally laid down his life for his people and rose from the dead to offer forgiveness and fullness of joy to all who believe in him.

Do It Again, God

We cannot know for sure what God is doing. But might he be stoking the hearts of his church with a fresh fire to reach the unreached peoples of the world? Could God be using the death of John Chau to stir the souls of more missionaries to take the good news of Jesus to the Sentinelese people? Could he be stirring you? Is it possible that God might be working to bring them the message of forgiveness for killing the missionary as well as healing from the injustice done to them generations ago? Could God be plotting a reunion of forgiveness in months, years, even centuries from now that will magnify his mercies before the world? Can you picture that moving ceremony on the shores of North Sentinel Island?

John Piper’s call from five years ago in the wake of another martyred missionary is just as relevant today: “I call thousands of you to take [their] place. Let the replacements flood the world. We do not seek death. We seek the everlasting joy of the world — including our enemies.”

God can spark a movement from a martyrdom. He’s done it before. Let’s pray he’s doing it again.

Garrett Kell (@pastorjgkell) is married to Carrie, and together they have five children. He serves as pastor of Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Mountain Top of God's Love ....Wednesday, December 12, 2018

This fall we have been looking at some of the Psalms on Wednesday nights when we got to Psalm 5 to only read in verse 5 "You hate all evildoers." 

Wait...God hates ... no. That can't be true.  God does not hate anyone, does He?

Then Romans 9: 13 "I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau."  A person named now that God said He hated. 

As we examined this verses in the past few Wednesday nights, we have discovered God's Word is true (guess that) and the "hot water" of God runs deep in the wrath of God toward all who sin.  So how do we reconcile this with the love of God?  Does this cancel out God's love then?

Only with man do we see the impossibility of love/hate running parallel purely in a person's life.  But with God....it is there.

We can't use our imperfect wisdom to judge the perfect wisdom of God.  So, instead of trying to understand or reason it, we just accept it with shoes off as we stand on holy ground to worship a God that is righteous (Romans 9:14).

But tonight....in our 6:10 service...we will now climb the mountaintop opposite the depths of His wrath and hate.  We will examine the love of God from I John 4: 7-10 in a deep theological word called "Propitiation."  You see, we can't understand the purity and power of God's love toward us in that He gave His Son as a propitiation for our sins if we don't first understand that the very person for whom God gave His Son to die is also the one He hates as the wrath of God abides on the sinner already.  WOW - what love.  See you tonight as we go shouting to that mountain top!!

Warning!! Your Christmas Under Attack by Paul David Tripp

You and your family are under attack. You probably won’t feel the siege—it’s subtle, seductive, and attractive—and that’s why this attack is infinitely more dangerous.

What in the world am I talking about?

Look at the calendar. The Advent season commences in just a few days. It should be a glorious time of remembering God’s response to his lost and rebellious image-bearers. That response wasn’t to condemn but to give the ultimate gift of grace: the gift of himself.

But instead of a peaceful season of worship and celebration, Advent has devolved into a spiritual war.

A False Christmas Story

The “Christmas Story” which the surrounding culture celebrates puts us at the center, the place for God and God alone. It looks to creation for fulfillment rather than worship of the Creator. It makes physical pleasure our primary need rather than the rescuing intervention of the Redeemer. It’s dominated by the comforts of the moment rather than eternal priorities.

In every way, the story you will hear over and over again during this season is dangerously wrong when it comes to who we are and what we need. It encourages us to find comfort where comfort can’t be found and to place our hope in things that will never deliver.

To be clear, I have no problem with beautiful decorations, family feasting, or giving gifts. The Christmas season can be a time when families gather again, renew relationships, and express love for one another.

But I’m concerned that we’re listening to a false Christmas story instead of remembering the true Advent narrative—a story that defines our beliefs about who we are, what we need, and what our lives are about.

The True Advent Narrative

Unlike that false Christmas story, the true Advent narrative is humbling and unattractive. It’s a sad story about a world terribly broken by sin, populated by self-centered rebels who are willing participants in their own destruction. It’s about beings created to live for God who in every way live for themselves.

This story is about the dethroning of the Creator and the enthroning of his creation. It’s about conditions so desperate that God did the unthinkable, sending his Son to be the sacrificial Lamb of redemption. And why did Jesus come? Because we were so lost, so enslaved, and so self-deceived that there was simply no other way.

Until we hear and understand the bad news, the good news won’t be attractive to us. The news that Jesus came on a glorious mission of grace to live, die, and rise in our place is only worth celebrating when you understand it’s our only hope.

Fight For Your Heart

The war for Advent isn’t about whether we should sing silly seasonal tunes versus gospel carols, or have worship times versus big family feasts. You can do both. Rather, this war is about what story of identity, need, meaning, and purpose we will believe and give our hearts to pursue.

Life really is a battle of stories, and the battle rages most fiercely when the true story is meant to be told most loudly.

So enjoy the gifts, the decorations, and the delicacies, but start defending your heart and your family by telling the true Advent narrative.

Before you begin to get distracted by all the traditions of holiday fun, take up the battle for your soul.

God bless

Paul David Tripp

How to Recognize Repentance in a Restoration Process By Eric Geiger

When friends or ministry leaders fall, we can find ourselves in the serious conversations of designing a restoration process – a process that places the leader in the care of others with the purpose of restoring the person to some type of leadership.

In recent years, I have been asked frequently about restoring someone to a leadership role. Sadly, the sheer number of leaders disqualifying themselves has continually surfaced the conversation. While I do believe leaders can be restored, there must be repentance before there is restoration. We must be careful we do not rush to restoration without seeing the sweet fruit of repentance.

The Scripture gives us the story of two kings who sinned and who responded very differently to correction. Both Saul and David disobeyed the Lord and were confronted by a prophet. Saul and David’s responses to confrontation revealed their hearts were very different. Only one was really a “man after God’s own heart.” Based on their stories, we learn…

Repentance does not blame others.

In David’s prayer of confession in Psalm 51, noticeably missing is the mention of anyone else. He did not attempt to assign even partial blame to someone else, did not ponder if God was going to hold someone else accountable. He did not offer context about his stage of life or the pressures he faced as king. Saul’s response to confrontation was very different as he shifted responsibility to people around him, implicating the troops and his desire to please the people. Sincere confessions contain no qualifiers. When confession has a qualifier, the confession is disqualified as sincere. To be clear — when fallen leaders point to the pressure they face, the people around them, or their phase of life, they have not yet fully owned their sin.

Repentance does not bargain.

In David’s prayer of confession, he said he would not bring a sacrifice because he knew God really wanted his heart. Saul, on the other hand, desired to make sacrifices to God in attempts to right his wrongs. When repentance is sincere, the person repenting does not feel he or she has any bargaining power at all. Sin is fully owned and there are not attempts to justify with the good that can be brought to the table. When a fallen leader points to what he or she can still bring to the table or attempts to bargain in the discussion around their restoration process, the person has not yet fully felt the weight of the sin.

Repentance is brokenness, with no hint of blaming others or bargaining with God. “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God” (Psalm 51:17).

This applies to me and it applies today. Repenting is not merely for leaders who have fallen. The Christian life is to be one of repentance. We don’t only turn from our sin when we trust Christ and become a Christian, and we don’t only turn after we blow up our lives. As believers, we are to continually turn from sin and turn to Christ. That was the premise of Martin Luther’s first and famous theses: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

How God Changes Our “Why Me?” Questions in Suffering by David Powlison

David Powlison:

So often the initial reaction to painful suffering is

Why me?

Why this?

Why now?

Why?

You’ve now heard God speaking with you. The real God says all these wonderful things, and does everything he says.

He comes for you, in the flesh, in Christ, into suffering, on your behalf.

He does not offer advice and perspective from afar; he steps into your significant suffering.

He will see you through, and work with you the whole way.

He will carry you even in extremis.

This reality changes the questions that rise up from your heart. That inward-turning Why me? quiets down, lifts its eyes, and begins to look around.

You turn outward and a new and wonderful question forms.

Why you?

Why you, Lord of life?

Why would you enter this world of evils?

Why would you go through loss, weakness, hardship, sorrow, and death?

Why would you do this for me, of all people?

But you did.

You did this for the joy set before you.

You did this for love.

You did this showing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

As that deeper question sinks home, you become joyously sane. The universe is no longer supremely about you. Yet you are not irrelevant. God’s story makes you just the right size. Everything counts, but the scale changes to something that makes much more sense. You face hard things. But you have already received something better which can never be taken away. And that better something will continue to work out the whole journey long.

The question generates a heartfelt response.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget any of the good things he does, who pardons all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassions, who satisfies you with good things as your adornment, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Thank you, my Father.

You are able to give true voice to a Thank you amid all that is truly wrong, because all sins and all sufferings have now come under his lovingkindness.

Finally, you are prepared to pose—and to mean—an almost unimaginable question.

Why not me?

Why not this?

Why not now?

If in some way, your faith might serve as a three-watt night light in a very dark world, Why not me?

If your suffering shows forth the Savior of the world, Why not me?

If you have the privilege of filling up the sufferings of Christ?

If he sanctifies to you your deepest distress?

If you fear no evil?

If he bears you in his arms?

If your weakness demonstrates the power of God to save us from all that is wrong?

If your honest struggle shows other strugglers how to land on their feet?

If your life becomes a source of hope for others?

Why not me?

Of course, you don’t want to suffer, but you’ve become willing: “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Like him, your loud cries and tears will in fact be heard by the one who saves from death.

Like him, you will learn obedience through what you suffer.

Like him, you will sympathize with the weaknesses of others.

Like him, you will deal gently with the ignorant and wayward.

Like him, you will display faith to a faithless world, hope to a hopeless world, love to a loveless world, life to a dying world.

If all that God promises only comes true, then Why not me?

—David Powlison, God’s Grace in Your Suffering (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), 115–17.