"Our Humanity and the Gift of Suffering"

These are my notes for this morning's sermon at Apex.

There was a baptism which is always an emotional moment for me plus we sang a Phil Wickham song "Safe" which made me choke up.

The series "Human" is continuing with the following scripture

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Sanctification = growth in Christ
Bible,Prayer,Community,Obedience and Suffering

Suffering..it's the box we'd like to leave on the shelf but you can't shortcut around it

Paul talks about his thorn.

What is the thorn?
Nobody really knows. It could be physical...it could be psychological

We all have thorns

Thorns are painful
Thorns are chronic
Thorns expose our weakness

The thorn is allowed by God but the instrument of the thorn is Satan.
God uses Satan as the messenger.
The thorn makes you vulnerable
words are the messenger of Satan..Satan speaks lies...it's his native tongue

When you look at your life through your thorn , what conclusions do you come up with?
1 Bitter
2 Damaged
3 Unforgiven
4 Angry
5 Abandoned
6 Depressed
7 Weak
8 Hopeless

When you look at your life through God you are:

1 Blessed
2 His child
3 Chosen
4 Holy
5 Blameless
6 Loved
7 Predestined
8 Adopted
9 In Christ
10 Enjoyed
11 Freely loved
12 Redeemed
13 Forgiven
14 Loaded with grace

Which side are you living on?

Paul prays for his thorn to be removed 3 times but he understands the gift of the thorn

Our suffering is an act of God's grace

"God sees we need sickness for the goodness of our souls more than healing for the healing of our bodies"

What is the purpose of the thorn?

Thorns help us...

1 Stay humble
2 Treasure grace
3 Operate in Christ's power
4 Learn contentment