Summer Sermon Series–Sifted

On of the most familiar verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28 — “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.” While that verse is true, the reality is that we often have to face trials, challenges, and disappointments in order to experience the good that God can bring to anything that we face in life.

So on Sunday, June 20, as we take a summer break from The Story, I will begin a seven-week sermon series titled: “Sifted: Pursuing Growth Through Trials, Challenges, and Disappoints.” The focus of the series is to help us face the hard things in life by examining our walk with God through the lives of seven Bible characters who faced their own challenges:

• Simon Peter denied Jesus three times during the night leading to Jesus’ crucifixion, only to be restored by Jesus after the resurrection on the way to becoming the leader of the early church.
• Job lost everything in the prime of life, was blamed for his loss by three friends, before learning the greatness and power of God that is available for every circumstance in life.
• Jacob deceived his family multiple times, and then had some remarkable encounters with God that changed his life.
• Moses was taught — and humbled — by working as a shepherd in the sands of the Sinai, only to become the great leader God used to rescue his people from slavery in Egypt.
• Jonah tried to run from God and spent three days in the belly of a large fish, before God transformed him and used him to bring many in the city of Ninevah to repentance.
• John the Baptist questioned whether Jesus was the one God had sent to deliver his people, but Jesus recognized him as one of the greatest in the Kingdom of God.
• Jesus suffered great temptations in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry and the rejection of God as his crucifixion, only to defeat death forever by rising from the dead.

I trust that, over the course of the summer, these seven individuals will speak to your life and the trials, challenges, and disappoints that you face.