Satan thinks he wins if he can get us to suffer. He thinks if he throws obstacles in our way he can slow the progress of the gospel. He thinks that cancer, financial difficulties, and other kinds of opposition will discourage us and make us want to get out of the game.
The truth is that nothing will impede the advance of the gospel, and God is big enough to use our struggles here on earth for his victories.
Jesus said, he will build his church and it will push back the gates of hell. (Matthew 16:18) He said his Good News is unstoppable.
We are all in process, and God’s Spirit is taking us from where we are to where he wants us to be. And it’s going to take a lifetime. In the meantime, what he wants is for you to enter into a relationship with him. He wants you to enjoy him. He wants you to spend time with him and give him permission to make some changes in your character that may hurt a little. The pain of those changes is so worth it if the Gospel is advanced. He wants us to partner with him in projects that might be hard, and have some accompanying pain as we bring Jesus’ love to Campbell River and around the world.
** Note--the first paragraph of the sermon audio was cut off. We apologize. This is what Pastor Jeff said:
Jon Krakauer wrote a book called, Into Thin Air1 about the failed Mount Everest summit attempt in 1991, of which he was a part. Several people lost their lives on this climb. I read the book quite a few years ago, and the entire time I was reading it I kept asking myself one question: Why? Why would they put themselves through all this pain just to climb a mountain?
