Category Archives: Suffering

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Persevering Through Stress

The other night I was thinking about a couple of situations my family is facing and I couldn’t sleep.  What keeps you up at night?  Have you been there?  There is a common thread running through our western culture.  People are STRESSED OUT all the time.  Whether it’s finances, marriage, family, job, or moving, all of these cause mental, emotional and can even affect our physical health.  The sad thing is, even our children are stressed out!

You will get stressed!  But what should you do?

stress

“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” Matthew 26:28

I lead a church and daily hear of and spend time with people who are at a crossroads in their lives.  Death, marriage, birth, moving, bankruptcy, moral failure, I have seen it all.  We can learn much from Jesus’ moments before he suffers crucifixion, one of the greatest physical and emotional stresses known.  Jesus understands your stress. 

4 Things To Do When You Are Stressed –

#1 Separate Yourself – When stress hits it is often because I don’t see a pathway forward.  As Jesus was preparing to die, he knew he needed to get away.  Sometimes we are forced into solitude and other times we need to have the foresight and discipline to take a sabbatical and get away, FAST.  Jesus needed to feel the support and the love of His Father to have the strength to go forward.

#2 Pray – Maybe this one is common sense, but I am not talking about a casual prayer, I am talking about a desperate prayer.  One that calls out to God for deliverance and a miracle.  Call out to God, even if you don’t feel close to Him, even if you feel like He won’t listen.  If Jesus prayed and sweat drops of blood out of stress, well, maybe that is what it takes.

#3 Rely on Your Friends – When Jesus went to that Garden, He went with his friends, not alone.  He specifically asked them to watch.  Now, they failed him, but they needed to be present with him.  Have you ever thought what you are going through may be to help others gain courage?  The disciples learned a valuable lesson on that night.  I’m sure they never forgot those moments with Jesus.

#4 Follow Through – If you need courage, you need not to look further than Jesus on the cross.  Take the step, have the tough conversation, ask forgiveness, pay down the debt, believe God for your healing.  He is there with you.  Do it!

Jesus ultimately came to bring peace to all of this chaos.  Let this scripture resonate with you today…

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

Josh

This week at 217church week 5 of our Defining Moments series, Joseph: When Perseverance Meets Blessing  Genesis 41:37-57.

Defining-Moments-Week-2

Join us at 217church, a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ.  217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 10:00am and Sharon Elementary school in Robbinsville, NJ at 11:00.  Our new Robbinsville/East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday.  If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, Ewing NJ, Robbinsville NJ, Hightstown NJ, Hamilton NJ, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, we would love to have you join us.  Don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information. or watch a weekend message here

 

 

 

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Total Dependence – From Trials To Triumph

There is a HUGE tree in my back yard that I love because of how tall it stands.  When I look at it I see a beautiful creation of God that has taken decades to build strong.  What makes it so strong?  An extensive root system that is a complex interweaving of the underground part of the tree you never see.  This has always fascinated me about trees.  You can gaze upon how majestic it climbs to the sky, but really what makes it grow is what you never see below the soil.  The same is true for our character and dependence.  Character is NOT about what everyone sees, it is about what is driving you that often no one ever notices.  “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season...” Psalm 1:3

 

“The essence of religion consists in the feeling of an absolute dependence”

Friedrich Schleiermacher

Gospel Dependency

The harder the trial, the more you find out what and who you are depending on.  Not too long ago my root system was challenged. Because I am intuitively a doer I want things to be, well, done. Before I knew it, all the tasks of leading the church, preaching, doing weddings, performing funerals, visiting the sick, making phone calls became a sick progression self dependence.  After a three year season of planting the church, I realized subtly I had become dependent on my behavior and my routines and not the Gospel.  As the days went on and on I became more dependent on the external factors of performance rather than the internal reality of being.  My trial was one of perfectionism and performance based evaluation through the approval of others.  As we live in the power of the Gospel and suffer, we realize His perfect story.  The miracle of His creation, our rejection of Him, our redemption through Him, and now our approval by Him is His perfect plan for restoration. His resurrection changes everything!

 

Knowing – Being – Doing

One day, while going about my business, the weight of the following verse came crashing down on me. It was like the Word of God opened up and my life and future became clear. This was my dependence manifesto that was to mark me:

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10

I had to realize my first role was to be his disciple.  There are three clear things that jumped out at me.  These three things were working together to make me a disciple of Jesus fully dependent on Him.  Struggling through trials requires a dependence on a knowledge of His will for my life.  The trial I am traveling through may or may not have been created by me, but it has been determined for me.  This is usually almost impossible to see when you are progressing through a difficult season and many times you will need someone else to point out the “point of it all.” Knowledge of suffering and Jesus on the cross helps us put in proper perspective our own suffering and trial.

Because of this knowledge we can then surrender our agenda and – just – be. I love how Being works in harmony with knowledge to give wisdom and understanding through a situation.  During my season of reflection I realized that I needed to just be and STOP DOING.  For me, this revelation was like a slap in the face.  Being needs to be daily, weekly and routine.  Most of my being time now is not spent trying to gather knowledge, but rather to gain wisdom and understanding through his friendship. I want to feel God.

Only when we learn to know and be, can doing be the pleasing evidence of a life well lived.  I am sure you have heard of the saying,  “too much of a good thing.” Well, I had too much doing and not enough being. In order to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord bearing good fruit I had to pause and make sure my life was in balance.  To this day it’s not something that comes easy, but dependence is a DISCIPLINE.

 

The Triumph – Total Dependence

Most of us would say we want to have deep dependence on God. But sometimes deep character can be illusive through trial because of our blind spots and our bad experiences.  But even so, here are some ways you can develop deep dependence on God in your life no matter what situation you find yourself in.  And keep in mind, we develop strong character in order to stay focused on the mission God has for us.

  • Stay in the Word – We can too easily forget the foundation of dependency starts with our relationship with Jesus.  We must INTENTIONALLY make time to get away with him.  I was just talking to my friend the other day and he told me he is taking a mini 12 hour retreat Sunday.  Another friend is actually quitting his job for four months to be with God, pray, fast and learn to depend on Him more. Get away from all your distractions and be shaped and steadied by your time with Jesus.  Let him root out destructive habits and incorrect thinking.
  • Be Humble – If you have to take credit for everything good that happens in your work, family, etc. you have a problem.  Pass along the credit and promote others.  Do you always have to be right?  Always have to have the last word?  Always interrupting people to get your point across?  Yep, that’s pride.  And by the way, the moment you think you are humble you are most likely not.  It is when you realize your pride when your character is deepened.
  • Serve Continually – Every chance you possibly get you need to serve.  Considering others’ needs will give you a strong root system that can’t be compromised.  You can’t just serve when it feels good, but when it hurts.
  • Select Friends Carefully – You need friends that will build into your character not tear it down.  I’m not at all for isolating yourself from others who don’t believe the same way as you, but we must be careful who we bring close to us that INFLUENCES our thinking.
  • Hold Your Tongue – Nothing will destroy your influence and character faster than a hasty, harsh word.  The words you use define what you believe and who you depend on.  The next time you want to say something brutal, slow down.  Don’t make excuses for yourself either.  NO ONE gets a free pass by saying, “that’s just the way I am.”  If you want to deepen character it’s time to address the problem, your mouth.  Quick to listen, slow to speak.

 

Questions to Consider

  1. What knowledge to you need from God in order to put in perspective your current trial?
  1. What is God saying to you about your being? Are you comfortable being with him and depending on him for friendship, forgiveness and your future?
  1. What about your doing? What do you need to do NOW, TODAY that God has told you to do, in order to prove your dependence on him and live by faith.

From Trials to Triumph

“Turning Deep Wounds Into Great Impact”

Full Book Releasing January 19th 2015 –

 

Josh is the lead pastor at 217church, a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ.  217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 9:30 & 11am and Starplex Cinemas in East Windsor, NJ at 10:15.  Our new East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday.  If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, Ewing NJ, Robbinsville NJ, Hightstown NJ, Hamilton NJ, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information.

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The Storm Is Coming

What is up with the weather lately? There have been clouds and rain almost every day for at least 2 weeks!

I’ve been hearing from tons of students and friends how disappointed they are with their summer so far due to the weather. No sunshine, too humid, bad beach days, canceled events and so on. The rain. The bad weather. It seems to be putting all good things on hold.

Have you ever felt that way in life? As if you’re going through a prolonged storm and it won’t ever stop raining?

Jesus gives us an example of a man who builds his house on sand and a man who builds it on a rock. He says when the storm comes against the house built on sand, the house ends up being knocked down due to a weak foundation. But, He says the house built on the rock will withstand the storm when it comes.

So normally we would read this and say, “Great! I will make Jesus my foundation then and everything will be just fine.” Except we forget one thing… not even the house built on the rock was exempt from the storm. 

The storm is coming. In this life, it rains. We experience pain, failure, betrayal, sickness, and grief. There are times of joy but their are also times of suffering. The storms will come, the question is how do we endure the storms of life? How do we suffer well? Paul gives us the following words as words of encouragement in the midst of suffering:

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. – Romans 5:3 

In my opinion, in this scripture the key word is simply this: ”knowing.” In the midst of suffering there are a lot of things we don’t know. When we are faced with a million things we don’t know, scripture tells us to cling to the one thing we do know; that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. And because of that we can endure, our character can continue to be produced into His likeness, and we have a hope that never fails.

This scripture gives us a glimpse of light in the midst of the storm. There is so much we can learn in the season of suffering. God is perhaps more at work in our hearts during seasons of suffering than even in seasons of joy.

This weekend we will learn to embrace the season we are in to reap the harvest of where we are going. The storm is coming… lets embrace it!

 

Looking for a church in Mercer County  and the surrounding Hamilton area (Lawrenceville, East Windsor, Pennington, Chesterfield, Bordentown, Heightstown, Trenton, Ewing, Princeton, West Windsor, Langhorne, Newtown, Yardley, Washington Crossing)?  Join us this Sunday at the AMC 24 in Hamilton NJ at 9:30 or 11:00 am.  Learn more about 217church and our vision here! 

 

Pastor Kevin