Suffering for Righteousness Sake

Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

My name is Matthew Gapone, and I'm the pastor here,

and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here,

and we're glad that you're here

not because we are trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community,

and as we follow Jesus together,

we become convinced that there's no one so good

that they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad that they can't have it,

and that's why we come back.

We come back week after week to look at God's word

because we believe that he has something to say to everyone.

If you've been with us,

you know we're in the book of 1 Peter,

and as I've been telling you, 1 Peter is a letter,

and it's a letter written by a man named Peter,

and he writes this letter to Christians

in the first century A.D.,

and these Christians are living

in what is now modern-day Turkey,

then would have been referred to as Asia Minor.

He writes to them around the 60s A.D.,

and he writes to them to both encourage them

and instruct them.

These Christians are going through a time

where they are experiencing opposition

from the world because of their faith in Christ,

and they're, of course,

because of that feeling out of place in the world.

So Peter writes, as I've been telling you,

to instruct them and to encourage them.

He writes to encourage them that Jesus is worth it.

He's worth living for and loving for,

and he's also worth suffering and dying for.

By the way, we're getting to the part of the book

where we're going to talk more and more

about the fact that Jesus is worth suffering for.

And he also writes to instruct them

how to live as Christians in that kind of world.

If you were with us last week,

you remember that we talked about

what it means to be close to God,

and we asked this question of

how do we not just bring honor to God,

but be close to him.

We're in this longer section of Peter

where we've had two principles, essentially,

that were introduced in chapter two.

The principles were, one, speak well about God,

proclaim his excellencies, our words,

and then also our actions.

We're acting in such a way

that other people would see how good God is,

both words and actions.

And I told you at one point about a quote

from a man named John Stott,

who said that our words without our actions

lack credibility,

and our actions without our words lack intelligibility.

And that's the principle that we've had

all through chapter two of 1 Peter.

And now we're moving beyond

just the question of how we're close to God,

but also a transition here in our book.

We're gonna be looking more and more

at the issue of suffering.

There's a real quick outline of 1 Peter,

and it goes like this.

1 Peter 1 and 2, we talk about God's salvation.

That's a lot of the encouragement

that Peter's giving to his audience.

1 Peter 2 and 3,

there was a lot of talk of submission,

submission to the government.

Submission to Authorities.

And now we're heading into the final section,

three through five,

which is gonna be about suffering.

And so I'll warn you just a little bit

that these sections are gonna be slightly heavier

than ones that have come before

because of the topic matter.

We talk about suffering as a Christian.

It's not a light thing to discuss.

We're gonna ask this question

as we come to this passage.

We're in 1 Peter 3,

starting at verse 13,

and it's this.

What do we do when we're afraid?

What do we do when we're afraid?

And not just fear in general,

but specifically fear of what we have to lose

for following Jesus.

What do we do when we're afraid?

We're gonna lose something

because we follow Jesus.

It's that question that Peter has in mind,

and so we're gonna turn now.

You can read with me along in your worship guide.

Our passage is near the end.

You can open it on your phone or your Bible,

but we are in chapter three,

starting at verse 13.

And remember as we come to this,

that this is God's word.

And God tells us that his word

is more precious than gold,

even the finest gold.

And it's sweeter than honey,

even honey that comes straight from a honeycomb.

And that's why we read it together now.

Now, who is there to harm you

if you are zealous for what is good?

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake,

you will be blessed.

Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.

But in your hearts,

honor Christ the Lord as holy,

always being prepared to make a defense to anyone

who asks you for a reason

for the hope that is in you.

Yet do it with gentleness and respect,

having a good conscience,

so that when you are slandered,

those who revile your good behavior in Christ

may be put to shame.

Verse 17.

For it is better to suffer for doing good,

if that should be God's will,

than for doing evil.

I invite you to pray with me

as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven,

we come as we often do,

simply asking for your help.

We know living in this world as Christians

is something of great joy,

and also something that brings great hardship.

And so we confess that we need you to help us with that.

And so we simply ask that you would send your help

by your spirit,

and you'd speak to us through your word.

That you would open our eyes and unstop our ears

and clear our minds,

and that you'd soften our hearts.

That we'd be able to see and hear

and know and understand and believe

everything that you've written in your word.

And we ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Peter begins here in verse 13

with a rhetorical question.

Of course, if you're an English major,

you know the rhetorical question

is something that they're not actually

looking for an answer for.

They're simply asking it to make a point.

And the question is this,

who is there to harm you

if you are zealous for what is good?

The answer, of course, is what?

No one.

No one should be interested in harming you

if you're zealous for what is good.

Now we could preach an entire sermon

about the importance of being zealous

for what is good.

Peter asks us this to make a point.

In general, most of what he's been instructing them

in chapters two and three

is to be zealous for what is good.

Part of the reason for that

is to protect them from unnecessary suffering.

But after making that point,

he has a sub-point.

In general, as a principle in this world,

if you do good, you will probably suffer less.

However, there are some times

when that's not true.

And it's that sometimes

that Peter is going to instruct these folks about.

And you'll recall when we talked about suffering,

earlier in 1 Peter,

I told you that there are three categories for suffering.

And these are very important for Christians

to keep clear in their minds.

Now I'm going to give them numbers.

Whatever order you give to them

is not necessarily important.

But suffering, number one,

suffering because you're stupid

or what the Bible would call foolishness.

If you end up getting a DUI

and you end up in jail

and that costs you $10,000,

that is a form of suffering.

And it's a form of suffering

because of foolishness.

Type of suffering, number two,

you could suffer

because the general presence of sin in the world.

So type one, your personal sin.

Type two, the general presence of sin in the world.

You come down with an illness.

It's from no fault of your own,

but you live in a broken world.

That is a kind of suffering.

You're not personally responsible for that illness,

but it's suffering that comes

from living in a broken world

that's filled with sin.

Suffering, type three,

what I've called before,

suffering for the name of Jesus Christ,

where in this passage is suffering

for righteousness' sake

is the third and final type of suffering.

And that's the kind of suffering

that Peter is writing about.

He's not writing about type one suffering.

Clearly, he's trying to have them avoid that, right?

If you're zealous for what's good,

you'll avoid type one suffering.

You will not have to experience

the consequences of foolishness.

But instead, he's hitting suffering type three.

There are times when,

even if you do good,

you're going to suffer.

So we're doing a little math here today.

Three kinds of suffering,

and there's going to be two kinds of doing good.

There's doing good

that leads the world to praise you,

and there's doing good

that leads the world to persecute you.

There's doing good

that leads the world to praise you,

and doing good

that leads the world to persecute you.

We see this in verses 13 and 17.

Excuse me, verse 14 and 17.

Verse 14, he acknowledges

there's an exception to the rule.

Generally, if you're zealous for what's good,

you'll avoid suffering,

except there might be a time

you suffer for righteousness' sake.

And then in verse 17,

it is better to suffer for doing good.

Okay, there's a type of doing good

that leads to suffering

than for doing evil.

Three types of suffering.

Two types of doing good.

Doing good that will lead to others' praise, right?

If we as a church decided

we were going to be very specific in our mission,

and we, after a time of prayer and discernment,

decided that God was calling us

to start a soup kitchen

in southwest Colorado Springs,

we would almost certainly face

no opposition from the world.

We would be zealous for what is good,

and people would potentially praise us for that, right?

There's types of doing good

that God calls us to

as it's going to lead other people

to applaud us.

However, there's also good

that the world condemns.

There's good things that Christians do

that God has called us to

that will lead to suffering

for righteousness' sake.

Perhaps,

and these are less serious and more serious,

on the less serious side,

perhaps there's family members

who don't follow after Jesus Christ,

and they don't understand

some of your parenting choices.

And so they criticize you.

And they don't just criticize you,

they criticize you openly

to other members of the family.

That is a type of suffering

for righteousness' sake.

Maybe you're excluded socially

because you have to excuse yourself

from certain events.

You can't participate fully

because there are things

that are happening at those events

that you can't be a part of.

And this is true for some people.

Maybe you're single,

and as someone who is single,

you've decided you're going to live

with sexual integrity.

You're going to remain celibate

until you're married.

And in certain parts of this culture,

you'll be mocked for that.

People will tell you

that you are an idiot.

Maybe you're a prude.

Maybe you're stuck up.

That is a type of suffering

for righteousness' sake.

Maybe you're mocked

by someone else for that.

All Christians experience

some level of suffering

for righteousness.

And then there's more serious.

You could lose your job.

You could lose educational opportunities.

That's less true in this country,

but remember we talked about examples

last week under communism.

This was very common.

Christians would lose their jobs.

They'd be prevented

from educational opportunities.

Sometimes they wouldn't lose their jobs,

but they'd have their pay frozen.

That was common under communism.

You'd be working the same job

as someone else,

but you were a Christian.

Magically, your paycheck

was much smaller.

This is one of the ways

that the Communist Party

would coerce Christians

to try to have loyalty

to the party,

is using their paycheck

as bargaining chips.

Maybe you lose your business.

This is something that people

are facing in the U.S. right now,

because you refuse to participate

in certain things

that go against your conscience.

And then finally,

worst of all,

perhaps you go to prison

or the most extreme,

you face death.

There is real suffering

for the name of Jesus Christ.

There is real suffering

for righteousness' sake.

And at risk of stating the obvious,

if you choose to be a Christian

and follow Jesus Christ,

you will suffer for that decision

at some level.

God has a wonderful plan

for your life,

and it involves suffering

for the name of His Son.

That is part of God's wonderful plan.

And so that continues

to take us back to our question,

how do we respond

when we face suffering

for righteousness?

What do we do

when we're afraid?

And that's what Peter addresses here

in verse 14.

First of all,

he tells them,

if they suffer,

they'll be blessed.

And then he tells them,

have no fear of them,

nor be troubled.

Of course,

he's acknowledging

what would be normal, right?

Facing these things,

of course,

of course it would make you afraid.

Peter understands that.

God knows that.

God's not unaware.

He knows that we are just dust.

And so that's the natural response

as we face these things.

It's a natural response of fear.

And so he gives us

not just a command

to do away with fear.

Simply a command

would be moralism, right?

Just do this.

But we have to have something

that's able to expel that fear,

something that's even greater.

And so he gives them the solution.

Instead of fearing

or being troubled,

choose the opposite.

In your hearts,

honor Christ the Lord

as holy.

Don't fear man.

Fear God.

Now, he doesn't use the phrase here,

fear God,

but if you were paying attention

earlier in the service,

you know we read

from Isaiah chapter 8.

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

This passage quotes

that section

from Isaiah chapter 8.

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

In Isaiah chapter 8,

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

God is telling Isaiah,

don't be afraid.

Don't fear man.

Instead, fear me.

And this is in a very serious situation

because Isaiah is facing

hostile forces

that are coming in

to Israel.

It would be very tempting

for him to remain silent

and give in to that fear.

And God tells him,

in that situation,

don't be afraid

of men.

Instead, fear me.

The same thing

is true here.

Replace the fear of men

with a fear of God.

Be more afraid

of God's judgment

than man's judgment.

Be more eager

for God's approval

than for man's approval.

Replace one with the other.

It's not just

that you do away with fear,

but you have a new kind of fear.

You have a replacement.

You have something better

to honor Christ the Lord

as holy.

It's not just remembering

the fear of God,

but also remembering his power.

That's a lot of what we're going

to talk about next week.

Peter follows up this section

with another section

talking about how powerful

Jesus is.

Caesar is not the ultimate Lord.

Jesus is.

And so remember,

not just our fear of God,

but the authority

and the power of God

is greater than the authority

and power of men.

God's judgment

is greater than man's judgment.

God's power

and God's authority

is greater than man's power

and man's authority.

Give you a little preview

for next week.

At the very end

of next week's passage,

Peter tells them

in verse 22

that Jesus has gone

into heaven

and is at the right hand

of God

with angels,

authorities,

and powers

having been subjected

to him.

In other words,

Jesus' death

and resurrection

is certainly for our sins

and it demonstrates

God's power in that.

It also demonstrates

God's power in the world

over death and evil.

And so these people

afraid of what's around them

can look

both to the fear of God

and to God's power

as their hope.

Instead of being troubled

or afraid

in their hearts,

they honor Christ the Lord

as holy.

Last fall,

when we were going

through 1 Peter

in an earlier section,

I mentioned the book

Evangelism as Exiles

by a man named Elliot Clark

and in that book

he tells the story.

He was a missionary

in Central Asia.

So this is recent.

That book came out last year.

This is a story

from probably the last decade.

And he attended this church

and there was a pastor there

and the man's name

was Yusuf.

And Yusuf at one point

showed him a Bible

that he had

that had a bullet hole in it

just to demonstrate

kind of the suffering

that he was going through.

At one point,

people came to Yusuf's house

and they roughed him up

a little bit

because he was a pastor.

And finally,

Easter Sunday came

and this man was preparing

his preaching

and as he was preaching

on Easter Sunday,

there were some visitors

who came in.

Now, as Clark describes

in his book,

visitors

in that context

means something different

than visitors means for us.

In the American church,

we think visitors are wonderful.

We're glad they're here.

We welcome you.

In other parts of the world,

there's a lot of questions.

Who are these visitors?

Are they here

as government informants?

Are they terrorists?

Are they seeking

to do us harm?

And so he describes

that in this church,

there is a palpable sense

of fear and dread.

The kind of fear

that Peter is telling

these people about.

And the pastor doesn't notice

anything about these visitors

until he gets up to preach

and they watch him.

As he gets up,

he recognizes the visitors

in the room

and they can suddenly see

that he is filled

with fear as well.

He waits for an uncomfortably

long amount of time

and then begins his sermon.

And as he begins his sermon,

he chooses not the fear of man,

but the fear of God.

This man is trembling

in his voice

and as he trembles

in his voice,

he's very clear

about the reality

of the gospel,

that God's come

to save us from our sins,

that judgment is a real thing

and that he calls everyone

to repentance

and faith and belief.

Elliot says this,

Yusuf, that's the pastor,

had taken the inventory

of the fear in the room

and he decided

to stock the shelves

with an even greater fear,

the coming judgment of God.

His spirit-filled boldness

was amazing.

It's natural and normal

for us to be afraid.

But God gives his people

an even greater power

and an even greater fear.

Elliot goes on

to share this,

Yes, Christians in America

are increasingly isolated

and denigrated.

Yes, our cultural

and social capital

is vanishing before our eyes.

Yes, in the span

of one short week,

the Supreme Court

could easily rewrite

our futures

and remove many freedoms.

Yes, public school curricula

are being weaponized

to indoctrinate children

in secular dogma

and a new sexual ethic.

It doesn't even take

much imagination

to envision

how well-intentioned laws

could one day be used

to justify

the imprisonment

of Christians.

And it doesn't end there.

On a personal level,

we have plenty more room

for fear.

By standing up for Christ,

we run the risk

of forfeiting promotions

or positions,

of missing out

on a tenure

or a contract.

We might even

lose our families.

But this shouldn't

surprise us.

Jesus said

he didn't come

to bring peace.

But a sword.

We have much to lose.

Yet none of that

justifies Christians

being terrified.

We must not,

according to Peter,

tremble in fear

at the thought

of surrendering

a job or business

at a failed

school board initiative

or a particular

Supreme Court decision.

Because if we do,

we're preaching

the completely wrong

gospel to the world.

We're telling them

our greatest fear

is the loss

of money

and power

and influence.

the loss

of our beloved

comfort.

But as long

as that is the case,

we show that

our fear

and our gospel

is no different

from theirs.

Peter encourages

these people

as they are tempted

to fear.

Not to fear man,

but to fear God.

because he is the one

who is powerful.

And he is the one

that has

all authority

under his feet.

Peter then shares

with us

in a sense

a test

of our fear.

If you want there

to be points

in this sermon,

point one would be fear.

Point two would be

something like sharing.

Now verse 15

here has been

often isolated

by itself as a verse,

but it would be foolish

to take it out

of the context here.

Peter tells people

to have a reason

for their faith,

a defense for their faith

in the context

of talking about fear

of suffering

for Jesus Christ.

Verse 14

or verse 15,

it says,

always be prepared

to anyone

who asks you

for a reason

for the hope

that is within you.

In other words,

the temptation

to fear

and the temptation

to be silent

are combined.

How do we know

that we're not afraid?

How do we know

that we have taken

God's command seriously?

Well, we have it

with the example

from Yusuf,

we're not afraid

to speak.

And so there's

two things going on.

On the one hand,

there's this connection

between a lack of fear

and a willingness

to speak about

and for Jesus Christ.

And there's also

a reason that they need

to speak about Jesus Christ.

They're actually

not taking the initiative

in this verse.

They're always being prepared

to make a defense

for this hope,

not in general,

but specifically

to anyone

who asks you

for a reason for it.

In other words,

if you're living

in a 1 Peter 2

and 3 sort of way,

it should cause you

to look different

from the world.

And that difference

from the world

inevitably will cause

other people

to ask you

why that difference exists.

Not just that you're

living in a different way,

but also this lack of fear.

As you live in the world

living differently

and it's clear

that you're not afraid

of the threats

that other people

are afraid of,

when it's clear

that you can't be

intimidated

by the loss

of employment

in the way

that someone else

might be,

there is something

different that may

cause other people

to ask you

for the reason

of the hope

that's within you.

In other words,

be prepared

to explain to people

why it is

that you're different

and be prepared

to explain

that it's because

of your hope.

It's a hope

that as we discussed

before in 1 Peter 1-2,

God is coming back

to make everything

right in this world.

He is the most

powerful one.

And so if

we want to know

whether we reverence

God as holy,

we know

if we're willing

to speak about him

when it's risky.

That's the test.

That's our test

of whether we have

truly been able

to replace

the fear of man

with the fear of God.

A lack of fear

means a willingness

to speak about God.

And then he goes

on to tell us

if people are going

to be offended,

verse 16,

the only thing

that should be

offensive to them

is the content

of your message.

If you tell them

that our sins

are so great

that they require

God's judgment

and our only hope

is to accept

the sacrifice

of his son,

that alone

will be offensive.

There should be

nothing else

that's offensive

to them.

Not our tone,

not our manner.

And this good conscience

here,

part of what it's

getting at

is that

our lifestyle

should also

back up

what we say.

They shouldn't

be able to say,

well,

these Christians

say they have hope,

but clearly

they act differently.

Instead,

there's an integrity,

there's a continuity

between our lives

and what we say.

And so really,

Peter's just taking

the principles

from earlier

in the letter

and he's applying

them to a new situation.

We're living at peace

with those around us

as much as possible.

We're showing grace

and kindness

to others

as much as possible

and that extends

to our witness.

Of course,

we saw that

in the story

about Pastor Yusuf

that he talked

even when he was afraid.

We also see it

in the story

of Corrie Ten Boom.

If you're familiar

with her story,

she lived during

the 20th century

and she was someone

who risked her life

in Holland

to protect Jews

from the Holocaust.

Eventually,

she was caught for that

and she herself

was sent to

the very same

camps in Germany

that she was trying

to rescue people from.

And in her book,

The Hiding Place,

she tells the story

of her interactions

with one of the guards,

a man named

Lieutenant Roms.

And as she interacts

with this man,

his job is to interrogate her.

And so he interrogates her

as much as he can.

She's already prepared

for this for years,

so she's able to evade

a lot of his tactics.

But near the end,

she begins to speak to him

about the ways

that she has worked

with people

who face handicaps.

And this man,

having been indoctrinated

in Nazi doctrine,

immediately tells her,

well, that's kind of

a worthless thing

for you to do, right?

It would be much better

for you to convert

one person

who has no handicaps

than thousands

of people who do.

Coming at her

with the Nazi worldview,

right?

That there are some people

who are worth

more than others.

And so Corrie Ten Boom

begins to share,

and she's in this camp,

right?

She could face

incredible suffering for it.

She begins to share

her belief

in something different.

She says,

the truth, sir,

is that God's viewpoint

is something different

from ours.

So different

that we could not

even guess it

unless he had given us

a book

which tells us

such things.

She's telling us

to a Nazi guard

in a prison camp,

in an determined camp.

In the Bible,

I learned that God

values us not for our strength

or our brains,

but simply because

he has made us.

Who knows?

In his eyes,

someone who faces handicaps

may be worth more

than a watchmaker.

That was her profession.

Or a lieutenant.

That was his profession.

After taking this risk,

not knowing what's going to happen,

he ends up coming back to her,

and he comes up

and asks her

for the hope

that's within her.

The next day,

he says,

I could not sleep last night

thinking about that book

where you have read

such different ideas.

What else does it say in there?

Corey tells him,

it says that a light

has come into this world

so that we need

no longer walk in the dark.

Is there darkness

in your life,

lieutenant?

There is great darkness,

he said at last.

I cannot bear

the work I do here.

She goes on to share

the gospel with him,

and it's unclear

what happens.

We don't know

if Lieutenant Rahm's

ever had faith in Christ,

but it's clear

that he was someone

who was asking her

about the hope

that was within her.

In fact,

so explicitly so

that he had one major objection

to Christianity,

which is that he could not

understand how the people

in this camp,

like Corey,

still had faith in God

even though they were suffering.

Corey was not characterized

by fear,

and that was something

that caused someone else

to ask her questions

about her faith.

Even in a risky situation,

it would have been easier

for her not to share

about the book,

but instead,

what was most important

to her was that this man

would know

about the truth

of the gospel

and that as he lived

in his darkness,

there was the opportunity

for light.

I also share that story

with you

because

Corrie ten Boom

was a very simple woman.

She's described by some

as childlike.

It's tempting

to take verses

like 1 Peter 3.15

and believe

that there is

some heavy weight

on us

that we must

be people

who know

multiple

and various

complicated

philosophical defenses

of the Christian faith,

and that is a good thing,

right?

We need people

who know those things.

We also need

normal,

everyday Christians

who are willing

to share

the basic truth

about their faith

in Jesus.

The requirement

here in 1 Peter 3

is not

that we be

the smartest person

in the room.

The requirement

is that we fear

God more than man.

The requirement

is not

that we be

the smartest person

in the room.

It is that we fear

God more than man,

and because of that,

we are willing

to share the basics

of our hope

in Christ.

There is nothing

complicated

that Corrie Ten Boom

shared with this man.

She shared with him

the basics

that God values

all people equally,

challenging his worldview.

And then she shared

the basics

that this is a world

of darkness,

but God sent his son

into the world

to give us light.

And so Corrie

was able to share

the reason

for the hope

that was within her.

She wasn't

a seminary professor.

She wasn't

studying flashcards.

She was just

someone who

followed after Jesus

and was willing

to be bold enough

to share it

with someone else.

And so for us,

the hope is that

as we live our lives,

people would come

and also ask us

for the hope

that is within us.

As we see,

people see that

our family is a mess

and we are struggling,

and they ask us

how we keep going,

we can share with them

our hope in Jesus.

When our family

is going really well

and they notice

something is different

about our children,

we can share with them

that our hope

is in Jesus.

When you have

an incredible work ethic

and they ask you

about that,

you can share with them

that your hope

is in Jesus.

You can give them

a reason for the hope

that is within you.

You could pull

a Corrie ten Boom.

They could share

a situation with you

and you could give them

some biblical teaching.

Maybe they'd share with you

that they're struggling

with unemployment.

You could share with them

that makes sense.

I can understand

how that would be

so challenging for you.

And part of the reason

I know that that's challenging

is because God made

the heavens and the earth.

And when he made

the heavens and the earth,

he also instituted work.

And you as a human being

made in his image

were made to work.

Sharing our hope

is not something

that's complicated.

It's just something

that's hard.

It's not something

that's complicated.

It's just something

that is hard.

And yet we have

the hope

that God gives us.

What empowers us

to live in this way

is the hope

that we give

is the hope

that we're holding.

We're telling people

about a hope

that we have.

That's the hope

that empowers us

and it's the hope

that Jesus is enough.

That he's worth

living and loving for.

He's worth suffering

and dying for

because he suffered

for us.

Tells us in the end

of this passage

that it's better

to suffer for doing good

than for doing evil.

And who suffered

more than Jesus?

And who did more good

than Jesus?

He is our hope

and he's the reason

we share our hope

because he's the one

who suffered

and died for our sins

for anyone

and everyone

who's willing to repent

and have faith in him.

And so what do we do

when we're afraid?

What do we do

when we have a lot

to lose

for following

after Jesus?

First,

we let the fear

of God

replace the fear

of man.

And second,

we hold out

the hope

that allows us

to do it

to anyone

who asks.

And we have

that hope

because of Jesus

and what he has done

for us.

And so we can continue

living and loving

for Jesus

and suffering

and dying

for him as well

because he

is worth it.

Please pray with me.

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you

that you sustain us

in our suffering.

And we thank you

that you've given us

a greater fear

and a greater hope.

We ask that you

would work that

deep into our hearts

that we would

be able to persevere

not out of a sense

of duty

or moralism,

but we persevere

because we know

the truth about you

and your love for us.

And we ask that you

give us boldness

to share the truth

about you

because we love you

and we fear you

more than anything else.

And we ask all these things

not because we have

earned them

or deserve them,

but because Jesus

has earned them for us

and so we ask them

in his name.

Amen.

I invite you to stand.