Suffering is a necessary part of life in this fallen world. People are often lumped into two groups when it comes to trials: those that fight, and those that run away at the first sight of adversity. As Pastor Danny will challenge us in today’s message, we can’t always run and hide when we confront hardship. It’s part of our race as Christ-followers. Those moments of difficulty offer us the opportunity to grow in our faith as we encounter our own weakness and realize that we can’t do this alone.

Peter failed big time. He thought he was stronger than he really was, and he found himself on the bottom end of failure, knowing that he had broken his promise to Jesus. As Pastor Danny will encourage us in today’s message, when we fall, it doesn’t mean we have to stay down. Jesus knew Peter would fail, but He didn’t love him any less. He knew that Peter couldn’t do it on his own, and that’s what He wanted him to learn. We can’t do this alone either, but Jesus is ready and waiting to carry us through.

Many people spend all their time and energy on trying to be successful in this life. Whether that’s by working long hours to accrue as much material wealth as possible, or perhaps on the other end of the spectrum, shirking responsibilities in order to experience everything this world has to offer before they leave it. Many of us fall somewhere in between. As Pastor Danny will explain in today’s message, the life of a believer needs to be focused on living for the eternal things of God.

What price have you had to pay for the Gospel? Many of us would be hard pressed to name any real negative impact our faith has had on our quality of life. That is a blessing we can be thankful for, but as Pastor Danny will remind us in today’s message, we need to be willing to give it all for Christ. He gave everything for us to become part of His family, and if we are truly following Him wholeheartedly, we can expect to face persecution at some point. Will we stand firm in our faith or crumble in fear?

Sadly, much of the Church has lost focus on its first love and turned its attention to buildings, programming and disagreements over doctrine. It’s a sad state that we’re in. As Pastor Danny will challenge us in today’s message, we need to return to our first love. Jesus Christ died so we could be free from the oppression and division produced by sin. Yet, we’ve allowed that very divisiveness to enter into our spiritual family and split us up, drawing our focus away from our Savior.