If it is hard, rejoice.

Michael Green wrote, “Hardship and pressure comes to the believers from at least five major sources:

The circumstances of life,

The secular society in which they have to live,

The failures and weaknesses within the church,

Direct satanic opposition,

And the constant inner battle with the self.”

Which he follows up with a great poignant one liner, “We should expect the same.”

(Thirty Years That Changed the World: The Book Acts for Today, Michael Green)

But I don’t want the same!

Jesus promised us joy, but he never promised us an easy life. Much of North America’s popular preaching is heavy on the joy part, but skimpy on the difficulty of living one’s life for Christ.

The five areas of struggle we see in the early church are the same five areas that permeate every person’s life today. The answer is not to avoid it, hide from it, deny it, but to embrace the challenges we face with the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. That is what the early church did. We have misread “opposition” to mean “not God’s will”, when we should see it as an opportunity for God to do miracles.

This weekend is Thanksgiving. It is a time for us to remember the good blessings that have come our way. For some of us, we only see hardship, denials, sickness, and pain, and find it difficult to give thanks. The early church experienced much joy in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which was immediately followed by persecution, even lashes. Then we see a great number of prominent individuals converting and adding to the church, followed by martyrdom and confiscation of property (Acts 6, 7). We see a great answer to prayer of deliverance followed by prison. And in that case we see bleeding backs, injustice done, and abandoned missionaries in a jail. But we also see them rejoicing, praising God and a miracle coming from heaven. (Acts 16)

Herein lies a lesson for us. Rejoice, the apostle wrote to the Philippians. He says it again. Rejoice. In fact, he says joy and rejoice 16 times in this four chapter book. Make it a practice, not just at thanksgiving. Embrace the hard life with praise, worship, and thanksgiving and watch how God turns opposition into an opportunity.

We will continue the impact series, and I while expand on this theme in honor of Thanksgiving. Invite a friend, enjoy communion with us, and let’s praise him together.

Sunday Celebration

We are meeting personally at the church Sundays at 10:30am. Moving forward and until further notice: We are asking everyone to wear masks practice  physical distancing and hand sanitizing. We are so glad that we are gathering again, your presence is so important. The usual online options (Facebook and KCF.Online.Church) will also be available.

Communion Sunday

This Sunday we will have communion. We look forward to sharing this special time together with you and if you are engaging online with us, be prepared at home with some grape juice and bread.

Pastor Jim Reimer

October 7, 2021