In America, we rarely hear the message that as Christians we should expect to suffer for our faith. If Christ was perfected by his obedience and sufferings, why should we expect to be spared suffering ourselves?

Missions and evangelism are not things that we add to our otherwise Christian lives. No, outreach grows naturally out of our being children of the King. We are to be prepared to engage with the world as the Lord leads us.

The Bible teaches that Christ was perfected through suffering. Christ’s obedience to God in this way has made possible our salvation even though we have disobeyed.

Jesus asked Peter a question that we all must answer: “Who do you say that I am?”

Jesus suffered and was tempted in every way, and he understands our struggles. Because of Christ we can be confident that God knows us from the inside out. For this reason we can approach God as one who understands and will be gracious. Judgment does not produce transformation in a person’s life. Instead, God extends grace and forgiveness for our sin. Then God personally shows us the way to go.

The Bible has a lot to say about how the heart and mind of a believer can be transformed! Greg examined what this might mean as we think about our spiritual and emotional health.

God intended us to rest periodically from our work. When we fail to do that, we lose perspective and forget who we are in Christ. When we lose perspective on what God is calling us to do, it makes sense to take time and rest in the Lord. Often God uses that opportunity to refresh the vision that God has for our lives. Greg discussed the command to rest as presented in the Letter to the Hebrews.

The Bible warns us against having our hearts hardened toward God. This warning goes out not only to non-believers but to Christians as well!

Many Christians are not aware that Jesus was actually unable to do miracles in his hometown. Mark chapter 6 alerts us to an important connection between faith and transformation. We have all heard it said that “faith without works is dead.” But perhaps it is still not clear how our faith and our actions are to be related to one another. Faith is not simply a belief of the mind, it is a passion of the heart that drives us forward in obedience.

Sometimes people who have been saved by grace seem to want to go back to living as though they were still under the power of the Law. This is what produces “legalistic Christians.”