This morning, we’re continuing our series entitled, “Unexpected” where we are going to recall the truly unexpected ways in which God worked in the past and some of the unexpected places and times where He showed up. 

These reminders of God’s faithfulness and miraculous power and authority will serve to encourage us in our present and give us hope toward our future.

This morning, we’re going to pick up where we left off last week remembering how we are stronger together.  We learned how we are all parts of the body of Christ and how we all need each other to be whole and complete and to reach the full measure of Christ.  Before Paul teaches about this reality, he says:

Romans 12:3

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Proverbs also teaches us that:

Proverbs 11:2 (The Passion Translation)

When you act with presumption,

    convinced that you’re right, (pride in other translations)

    don’t be surprised if you fall flat on your face!

    But humility leads to wisdom.

And also:

Proverbs 16:18 (CSB)

Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

Some people think more highly of themselves than they ought to and are setting themselves up for failure. 

Proverbs 16:18 (The Passion Translation)

Your boast becomes a prophecy of a future failure.

    The higher you lift yourself up in pride,

    the harder you’ll fall in disgrace.

We all know that, “Hold my beer.” guy who always think they can do things that they just can’t.  Although it makes for some good stories, it’s also a really good way to get hurt.

There’s also that arrogant guy who one-ups your every story, has the solution to your every problem, and is the hero in every one of their stories.

The thing about strength is that there’s really no way to know how strong someone or something is until it is tested.  Action speaks louder than words!

Anyone here ever been let down by someone?  You had full trust and confidence in a relationship and found out that it wasn’t as strong as you thought?

Maybe you’ve had a situation like this.  This looks like a nice sturdy chair that could fully support you, but as soon as you put your full weight on it, it collapses underneath you…

That’s why most people prefer products that have been around for a while and were manufactured by reputable companies who have been tested and tried.

We would trust a coffee from Starbucks before one from Buckstars, the taste of Froot Loops before Fruity Hoops, listening on our Airpods before Comfopods, bathing with soap from Olay before Okay.  We trust brands that have been tried and tested before we trust their knockoff counterparts.

However, we still can’t be sure of how strong someone or something is until it is put to the test.

Sure, some people are prideful and think that they are stronger or better than they really are.  Most people, however, don’t realize how strong they truly are!  It’s not until they are put to the test that it is proven to them the strength that they possess.

Although we know this to be true, it almost always is unexpected by us when God puts us to the test.  God takes us through these testing seasons not to break us or to harm us, but to prove to us just how strong we are and to show our genuine faith off to others.

1 Peter 1:6-7

6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Now to pick up where we left off last week:

Matthew 3:16-17

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that mome