“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you…If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:18-20).

This is a hard teaching. No one wants to be hated. No one wants to suffer persecution.

We want to be liked. We want to be relevant. We don’t want to be seen as weird.

The thing about this Jesus thing is that if the world was okay, if the world was fine on its own there is no need for a Savior, there is no need for the cross, there is no need for redemption…there is no need for Jesus.

It is because the world is messed up, lost, hurting that God sent Jesus to the world to save the world. After the resurrection, Jesus gave to the messed up, lost, hurting world the church, the body of Christ, so that God can save the world through her.

When the church becomes an ally of a world that is dying, a world that is messed up, a world that is lost, the church gives up her main purpose – to tell the world about the hope of the world, Jesus Christ.

When the church proclaims the truth of Jesus Christ, the church ought not be surprised by the reaction of a world that despises the truth that we are all sinners in need of the Savior. The more we are like Christ, the more the world will treat the church like the world treated Christ.

Church. Stay the course. Proclaim Jesus. There is salvation in no one else. No one comes to the Father except through Christ and Christ alone.

Stay the course. Proclaim Jesus.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean one ceases to be human, a creature, a finite being.

Duh! Right? Who doesn’t know that?

It sounds so obvious. But the way many Christians deal with suffering, disease, death, failure makes one think. It’s almost as if some Christians believe that suffering, disease, death, failure are un-Christian. We pray it away. We claim for ourselves promises of well-being. We cherish and pursue success, health, and wealth.

Because we are human, because we are creatures, because we are finite:

• We will suffer
• We will battle disease
• We will die
• We will fail

Being a Christian doesn’t change what we deal with. Being a Christian changes how we deal with it.

Because we are not alone, because suffering, disease, death, and failure never get the last word, because our past does not define us, we “rejoice in hope, are patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer.”

Friends, when we replace “Why is this happening to me?” with “What is God trying to teach me?” it changes everything!

God is at work. God is good. God wants what is best for us. God knows what is best for us.

Trust God. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer.

What is God trying to teach you today?

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

You are either a bridge or a barrier to people coming to Christ.

“Let your light shine before others…”

• Let – we can live a way that lets others see light and we can live in a way that hides the light
• Let your light shine
  • Light is not something we possess. Light is something we can only reflect. Just as the moon does not generate its own light, we cannot generate light on our own. The moon shines only by reflecting the light of the sun
  • In the same way, we can only reflect the light of Christ
• Let your light shine before others
  • The key is to be in the presence of Christ. When we are near Christ, we reflect Christ’s light

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify the Father in heaven.”

• That they may see your good deeds
  • We reflect Christ’s light when we live like Christ. When we reflect Christ’s love and grace, we reflect Christ’s light
  • Christ’s light is demonstrable through our good deeds
  • Treat everyone with the love and grace of Christ

When the people around us experience Christ’s love and grace through how we treat and honor them, they come to experience and know God.

We are either a bridge or a barrier to people coming to Christ.

Shine Christ’s light. Reflect God’s love and grace to the people around you. There is someone who needs Christ’s light today. Be that person. “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify the Father in heaven.”