Third Sunday after Pentecost

This is phenomenal work done in the establishment of God's reign on earth, of which you are an integral part, so thank you for that.

This morning's epistle says, we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope.

And hope does not disappoint us because God's love has been poured into our hearts.

So much of what we do as disciples of Jesus Christ is about sharing in the glory of God.

I believe that Jesus exists.

Notice I didn't say existed.

Jesus exists to reveal the glory of God to the world through us.

But how does someone boast in her or his sufferings? Sounds kind of morbid.

I'm grateful that the Apostle Paul, the author, expounded on the idea of what suffering could ultimately accomplish through resilience, where hardship is used to transform and strengthen a person, and in which trials are viewed not as pointless, but as necessary catalysts for growth.

And these ordeals, my friends, we have adopted as Christian principles that we believe are worth practicing, if for nothing more than building individual character, but also for helping to mold, helping to shape us as a community of believers, as beloved disciples of Jesus Christ in the beloved community.