Key Point: The Lord makes persecution serve His purpose to advance the Gospel and bring salvation to His people.

1. God allows persecution to rise against His Church (vv 1-3)

2. God's scattered people carry an entrusted message (vv 4-5)

3. The Gospel advances and brings much joy (vv 6-8)

Key Point: The church is God's evangelism program.

1. The "Who" of Witnessing

2. The "What" of Witnessing

3. The "Why" of Witnessing

4. The "When" of Witnessing

5. The "Where" of Witnessing

6. The "How" of Witnessing

Key Point: God's people are to fulfill their Supreme Lord's commission to make disciples of all people.

1. The Commissionees (vv 16-17)

2. The Great Commissioner (v 18)

3. The Great Commission (vv 19-20a)

4. The Great Promise (v 20b)

Key Point: God's people are to love Him unreservedly, and to love people when it's not convenient.

1. Love the Lord our God (vv 34-38, 41-46)

2. Love our neighbor as ourselves (v 39)

3. Love fulfills the Scriptures (v 40)

Key Point: Jesus has first place in everything in all creation, and especially in the lives of we who are called Christians.

1. Christ is supreme in all things (vv 15-20)

2. Christ is supreme in making us His (vv 21-23)

3. Christ is supreme in our life pursuits (vv 24-29)

Key Point: Because Jesus has made us His own, how we think and how we live should be grounded in Him.

1. Choose Christ Jesus (vv 12-17, 20-4:1)

2. Don’t choose earthly things (vv 17-19)

Key Point: God's promise of a trustworthy, coming King is fulfilled in Jesus.

1. The promises fulfilled in the announcement

2. The people in the announcement

Key Point: God promises ever-increasing joy to His people and He guarantees its experience through Jesus.

1. God promises to remove gloom (vv 1-2)

2. Joy replaces gloom (v 3)

3. Reasons for joy (vv 4-7)

Key Point: When God keeps His promises, He transforms His people both internally and externally.

1. A change in shepherds (vv 1-4)

2. A change in standing (vv 5-6)

3. A change in statements (vv 7-8)

Key Point: God promises that He Himself will deliver His people from their enemies and proves man's limited capacity to do so.

1. God asks men to trust Him, but they refuse (vv 10-13)

2. God makes trustworthy promises (vv 14-16 cf. 8:1-10)

3. God Himself fulfills His promises (v14)

4. God exposes the fallacy of trusting men (vv 17-25)