Sometimes the thing holding us back is fear of failure or struggling with adversity or facing times that are simply hard. If you look at church history you will find that it is when the church faced persecution or adversity or struggled that is when it grew the most. Now I could write a blog article on how the early church flourished during a time of persecution but someone already write that article.
I will leave it to you to look at the stats on persecution in the 2020s but Forbes magazine determined that One In Eight Christians Worldwide Live In Countries Where They May Face Persecution. If you look at the USA where there is minimal persecution for faith you see the decline now look at the countries facing persecution to see the stats on number of Christians there.
More recently we are seeing the tide turning in North America regarding Christian Persecution right now we are not really seeing much persecution but you can see the trend coming. We are seeing adversity and hard times. We are seeing people struggle with job loss, lack of food and housing. We are seeing limitations placed on sharing faith in certain areas or buildings. Some accounts are people creating the hype but other times it is indeed limitation in sharing.
Through these times we need to stand firm in hope. We need to continue to build up in the faith and continue to share our faith and more importantly reach out to others struggling whether they are believers or not and love them, feed them, heal them in Jesus name. On Sept 17 at Life Together the pastors wife Tanya shared Galatians 6:7-9. It talks about reaping what you sow. This refers to all aspects of our walk including our gifts, our finances, our time. We will see this is a common theme in this set of videos as well.
Right now in my life I feel trapped. I feel the adversity and hardship and everywhere I look I see no exit. On Sept 17 at church Pastor John read Jonah 2. This is when he was trapped in the fish in the physical world but in the depths of Hell in the spiritual world. Just when he felt trapped, God provided a way. I feel this will be a common theme as we go through this set of videos. You may be feeling the same way as me and are awaiting God to provide the exit.
1. This video is on 1 Peter which is right after the loss of Paul. The message digs deep into Standing Firm In Hope Even When Things Are Hard The verse that always stood out to me in 1 Peter is "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing." 1 Peter 3:8-9 KJV This verse emphasizes what we learn in Matthew 25 that we need to reach out to others struggling whether they are believers or not and love them, feed them, heal them in Jesus name. In 1 Peter 1 it is clear that test will refine you like gold is refined when heated however he is clear that we are not to use hardships and testing as an excuse to be disobedient we are called to be holy as he is holy. We need to continue to be obedient to him.
2. This video is called Wheels Off and it starts with the story in Exodus 14. If you fast forward to 2:46 in this you will hear a very important line that matches our theme. "It is possible that God has led you and is setting you up for his glory and you think you are trapped and its on purpose and there is no way out." This is where we get in trouble God tells us what to do and we do not do so and we wonder why there is a problem. Does that not feel like Deja vu? That was also part of Jonah 2. Now when you reach the 32 minute mark you get the story in Acts about Paul and the demon possessed girl where the demon is following them around and claiming the truth of who they are. At that point Paul exercises the demon and they are brought to the town square and singled out as troublemakers for their business. Right after that you will hear reference of the coming persecution and how we know its coming. We need to be obedient to God and and stand firm in our beliefs.
3. The next video is How To Lose A Battle. The first cause is not having a strong leader instead the leader panics and makes rash decisions or runs away. The second cause was location. They allowed the enemy to place the battle in a location. The third cause was listening to the wrong voices. Through this sermon we hear the same thing that the leader refused to obey what the lord had said and refused to stand firm in their beliefs. The common denominator was pride instead of being humble and trusting in God. Proverbs 16:18 "pride goes before destruction"
4. In this video is from FLC Columbus on September 17, 2023 and contains much on using our gifts for the good of the kingdom and being obedient to what god has called us to. A key theme is "You reap what you sow". If you fast forward to the 4 minute mark you will hear how we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. The thing that stands out is how others in need are willing to help others with rides home with the groceries. At 6:43 mark it references 1 Peter 4:10 "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." which means each of us should use the gifts we have received to serve others. At 10:30 it talks about how the church is taking care of ALL gods people that they did all they could to make the church accessible to those with various special needs. At 33:40 it talks about how God is awesome telling all the parts of the body to work together and perform their tasks. The prior sermon which you can watch by going back one day in the channel is from 2 Kings 4:1-7 about a poor widow and the olive oil. She freely gave what little she had. She was obedient to the prophet and obeyed what she was instructed. All her debt ended up being paid. This one is on 2 Kings 4:8-18 and about a rich woman. She freely gave what she had and she was blessed with a son so she would be taken care of. We are given an example of not doing this as well.
5. The lesson we learn in the previous video was: "You reap what you sow" regardless of whether it is time, money, our gifts or whatever God has provided to us. Our focus should be on helping others. It reminds me of that hymn "Freely, freely you have received. Freely, freely give" so this will be video 5.
6. God Time. This is specific time daily that you sow into time with God. It doesn't matter how much time you give but is ALL about being intentional and consistent. One way to do this is schedule the time in your calendar as a repeated appointment with God for that set period of time then when someone wants you to do something you explain to them that you have an appointment with God during that time and you can do the other task later. The key point is mentioned at 49:38 "God time is a priority and a necessity"
There will be more added to this playlist over the course of the year. As I add videos they will be referenced in additional blog posts. I look forward to growing together from Only Fans to True Followers of Jesus together.
This post is part of a series that compliments the Only Fans To True Follower Of Jesus YouTube Playlist of the same name. If you have not already we recommend you go to Part 1: From Only Fans To True Follow Of Jesus to experience the first part of the playlist.
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