Archive for the ‘bible’ Tag
I have decided to conduct an experiment and publish summaries of my Sunday sermons in my blog. Please do comment and let me know if you find it interesting and or helpful and, of course, share with others if you think it will bless them.
This sermon is the sixth in a series on the Holy Spirit entitled “The Familiar Stranger” using Tyler Staton’s book of the same name as a framework.
Suffering is a universal part of being human. Every one of us will face pain in some form, and many struggle to understand how a loving Father fits into a world marked by so much hurt. While entire books explore the theology of suffering, this message focuses on one key question: How does the Holy Spirit work within our suffering to bring redemption?
The apostle Paul’s words in Romans 5:1–5 sound almost shocking — rejoicing in suffering. But Paul isn’t celebrating pain. He’s pointing to the mysterious way God takes the brokenness of a fallen world and uses it to form us into people who can live in His Kingdom even as we long for the fullness that is still to come.
Rather than leaning on platitudes, the message turns to real stories of people who faced deep suffering yet discovered God’s redemptive power through the Holy Spirit:
- Joni Eareckson Tada, paralyzed at 17, wrestled with despair and unanswered prayers for healing. Eventually, she prayed, “If you won’t heal me, teach me how to live.” Out of her suffering grew Joni and Friends, a global ministry advocating for people with disabilities.
- Katherine and Jay Wolfe walked through the trauma of Katherine’s massive stroke at age 26. What could have destroyed their family instead gave birth to Hope Heals—a ministry bringing hope, community, and dignity to the disabled and their caregivers.
- Jesus Himself shows the pattern: led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, facing rejection, and ultimately entering Gethsemane with anguish. He pleaded three times for another way, yet surrendered to the Father’s will. The resurrection is the ultimate picture of redemptive suffering.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t just redeem suffering on a cosmic scale — He does so personally. The message includes stories of deep personal loss: Sarah’s battle with cancer and Maggie’s tragic loss of her son. These devastating experiences, though still painful, have become part of a story of spiritual formation, hope, and shared healing.
A key truth emerges: redemption often happens in community. When suffering forces us to admit we cannot cope alone, we experience the love of others in transformative ways. The Spirit uses people, presence, and compassion to shape us through our pain.
The conclusion is clear and hope-filled: Suffering is still painful. It’s still wrong. But in the Kingdom of God, evil never gets the last word.
When we allow God into our pain, the Holy Spirit brings surprising, sometimes unimaginable redemption.
In God’s hands, suffering always counts.
I realize that it has been some while since I posted a blog, but I have not felt prompted to write, or maybe I have and I have taken no notice! If it is the latter, please forgive me! However, I wanted to write and share with you something that I shared with those who were with us at New Life Christian Fellowship on Sunday morning. We are currently in a series seeking to deepen our understanding and our day-to-day walk with the Holy Spirit. This series has been inspired by a book by Tyler Staton, “ The Familiar Stranger – re-introducing the Holy Spirit to those in search of an experiential spirituality.“ This is a book I strongly recommend as it addresses one of the most debilitating divisions that we experience in our churches today. Somehow, we have been persuaded that we have to choose between the “Holy Spirit Churches” and the Bible Churches. Tyler makes a powerful case for the equal importance of both and the danger of neglecting either in our personal or church lives.
A life deeply rooted in Scripture is absolutely essential for a healthy relationship to God, self, others, and the world at large. Equally essential, though, is a life deeply rooted in the Holy Spirit, who leads by experience and functions in partnership, not competition, with the explanatory Holy Bible.
A member of our church family made a suggestion that it would be helpful for us to set aside a day during the series for prayer and fasting. An opportunity to hear from the Holy Spirit as a community. We looked at the calendar and selected Saturday, November 29th.
On Sunday morning, however, I believe the Holy Spirit impressed on me that I should go further than simply setting aside a day. I should take my pastoral and leadership responsibility in the same way as the Kings of Israel did at times of great importance, and call everyone who calls New Life Christian Fellowship their church to take this day to pray and fast.
If you are part of the New Life Family, I am doing just that! We will begin the day in the sanctuary at 6:00 am with a time of prayer and worship together, which will last as long as we sense it should. The sanctuary will remain open for prayer until 6:00 pm, when we will break our fast together in the Fellowship Hall. There will be an opportunity to share the things we hear from the Spirit during that time. It is my prayer that there will be at least one person in the sanctuary for the whole of the day.
Now I realize that those of you reading this may not be members of our Church family, and so I have no responsibility to “call” you to anything. However, since I was prompted to write this, I want to suggest that you might find some time, maybe on November 29th, to pray and fast that The Holy Spirit might reveal new ways in which you can partner with Him to serve Him and your local communities at this time of so much need and confusion. I am excited for all of us all to hear from the Holy Spirit in fresh ways and so show the world what it means to be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus did!
From the Zebra Bag 