Daily Dose of the Word of God - Beyond Sunday Ep. 67

Jeff Klein, Pastor of Outreach

Transcript

Jeff Klein 0:00 

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. It's Monday, December 9. This is Jeff Klein reminding you to take your following of Jesus Beyond Sunday and into the week.

Jeff Klein  0:11 

The Apostle Paul's passion and enthusiasm for his calling to preach the gospel amazes me, but the struggles he experienced while doing his work amazed me even more. Maybe you've heard about some of them. He was stoned and left for dead, beaten with rods and whips, put in prison and shipwrecked. He was attacked by his own people, spent nights with no sleep and was accused of all kinds of crazy things. How do we ever get the notion that living in God's will and doing his mission is the safest place to be? Really this has crept into our theology as a church. We love safety and security and don't like risks - but following Jesus and obeying him (even if it's risky) takes faith. In fact, it gives us an opportunity to exercise our faith. Paul's life and teaching seem to testify to this. Saying yes to God and His mission means it might get difficult, big time.

Jeff Klein  1:01 

What if getting on the mission of God is hard. Is it worth it? What if it will take great perseverance to lead people to Jesus. Are you willing to stay the course, even if there are no immediate results? Are you willing to continue even if the going gets tough?

Jeff Klein  1:16  

Let's pray. Lord God, give us the Apostle Paul's perseverance and grit in our following of Jesus. Help us Lord Jesus to get onto your mission and to realize that everything won't go smoothly - that we're actually in a battle and we'll need to stay the course, move out in faith and expect you to move and come around our actions. In your name Jesus, we pray amen.