Finding Joy in Suffering: A Christian Perspective

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### Quotes for Outreach

1. "Like, think about that. Especially, we live in a comfort-oriented society. Probably. The most comfort-oriented society in the history of the world. Like, when comfort then becomes the highest value, suffering then becomes the enemy. Like, suffering becomes something that's evil, and if you suffer or have to deal with discomfort, then it must mean that it can't be from God, because God is good and he doesn't want us to suffer." [02:08] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "The truth is, if you don't face suffering head-on with the joy of Christ, it will depress you. It will crush you. It will crush your spirit and your soul. Like, you can't just sweep it under the rug and pretend that it's not real. That will make you detach from reality, and you'll be one of these, like, rainbow-puking unicorns that doesn't have any connection to what's happening in the real world." [09:30] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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3. "Trust in the Lord, not your circumstance. Trust in the Lord, not your circumstance. Guys, this is how Christ redeems even suffering in your life." [23:33] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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4. "The most effective way to demonstrate that God is the preeminent treasure of one's heart is to relentlessly rejoice in him when all other sources of satisfaction are stripped away." [49:20] (10 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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5. "Like, he's not surprised by the trial. He's completely sovereign, and he'll use it all for good. And if I'm honest, like, in my moments of worry or concern, hear me, like, it's not, it's not that I don't believe that the best is yet to come, right? Like, I believe that. I hope you believe that, too. The best is yet ahead. The best is yet to come. That's awesome. I don't doubt that. It's the in-between parts that get me, right?" [58:38] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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### Quotes for Members

1. "Like, when people willingly endure pain, it's a pretty loud sign that they're either crazy, or there's something that they see that I don't. There's something valuable that I'm missing, and they're catching. Enough for them to endure difficulty with a grin." [02:08] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "The more I read and study the Bible, man, the more I preach through it verse by verse, the more this theme of suffering and joy comes up. I mean, again, our society's so comfort-oriented that we tend to shy away from topics like suffering, right? Like, you're like, oh, all right, come to church. We're going to talk about suffering. Sounds great, right? But God seems to think that it's an important topic because the Bible brings it up over and over and over again." [08:47] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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3. "Like, nothing brings sin into focus like the crucified son of God. But understand this, he's not calling you to suffer for the sake of paying the penalty for your sin. Don't hear this that way. Don't get this wrong. Do not confuse this. Christ paid the price. Your sin paid the price. Your suffering does not cover your sin. Your suffering is not God's punishment on you for your sin in order to make you righteous." [15:40] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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4. "Like, the truth is, is that what they experienced then wasn't even that bad compared to the way even more Christians are persecuted around the world today. Like, hear me, guys. I get it. We live in Virginia Beach. Like, people think that somehow this stuff all stopped after the first few hundred years. But the truth is, is there are actually more Christian martyrs in the past few years than there have been in the past 2,000 years." [38:28] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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5. "Like, he's not surprised by the trial. He's completely sovereign, and he'll use it all for good. And if I'm honest, like, in my moments of worry or concern, hear me, like, it's not, it's not that I don't believe that the best is yet to come, right? Like, I believe that. I hope you believe that, too. The best is yet ahead. The best is yet to come. That's awesome. I don't doubt that. It's the in-between parts that get me, right?" [58:38] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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