2026-05-17 - Josh Patterson

Amen.

Amen.

Success without struggle.

Success without struggle.

I think there's something in human nature that, uh, that we love success without having it costing us anything.

Uh, I was in the, the Spar in Kilcully the other day, and a wee thing behind, and it said if you won the, the, the Euro lottery, you won 70 million, and I couldn't help myself but think.

I think that night I couldn't really sleep and I was lying in bed thinking, what would I spend 70 million on? The, the car won't change, you're fine.

I didn't buy a ticket.

But we love that idea of, of getting success without it actually costing us anything.

And, uh, wouldn't it be great if we could sit all o- all of our exams, I was just chatting to Vitaly about his exams.

Wouldn't it be great if we could sit exams and we didn't have to study, we just knew we would pass? Wouldn't it be great if we could get any job and we wouldn't have had to study at all or get any qualifications before? Uh, often people say, "Oh, I wish I could play a musical instrument," like we just want it all of a sudden just to be able to gifted, just to be gifted to play a musical instrument.

We could if we, if we work hard at it, but, uh, but we love things where, where we get success and it doesn't cost us anything.

And who doesn't love buy one, get one free? Um, it's, uh, we love getting things without having to work.

We, we love s- uh, success without suffering, victory without pain, winning without cost.

Well, we mentioned a couple of weeks ago when we were looking in Mark chapter eight, especially verse 31, Jesus said to his disciples that he must suffer, he'll be rejected, and he'll be killed, and then he will rise again.

And Peter takes him aside and, and, and says to Jesus, "Hold on a minute.

That's not gonna happen to y- to you.

You're the Messiah.

Uh, I'm not gonna let anyone just come along and end your life.

You don't need to suffer.

You don't need to die.

It's not for you." And Jesus rebukes him and says that that's the same mindset that Satan had because Satan was trying to tempt Jesus not to suffer, not to receive glory, but instead, if he bowed down, if Jesus bowed down to him, then he wouldn't, uh, then he could receive everything he wanted.But in our verses here from, from Mark 9:1 to, uh, 13, Jesus takes Peter and James and John with him up a mountain.

And, and really because Jesus seeks to teach these disciples that He is God.

He- Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration reveals His glory, reveals who He really is, uh, in, in some small way, reveals that He's God.

But as He does, as, as He reveals to His disciples that He is God, the whole idea is that, well, as He's God, you've gotta listen to Him.