*I was the speaker at the weekly Campus Crusade for Christ meeting last night and below you will find the transcript of the message I gave.
Keep in mind the audience I am speaking to is college students. We had just got done recognizing those students going on missions trips this summer.*

Enduring Suffering

I just want to say a big ‘thank you’ to all those taking time out of their summer to participate in camps and mission projects. I know what a big step of faith that can be. What you are doing this summer will have an extraordinary impact on eternity.

I know the majority of you here will not be doing much organized evangelism this summer but that doesn’t mean you cannot impact eternity. Most of you are doing one of two things. Chances are you are either going home to work and/or take classes or you are staying here to work and/or take classes. If you are from a small town like me you might be dreading going home because of the lack of people and things to do. I always enjoyed going home for the summer but it was always very difficult to live out my faith without the community of believers I had here at K-State.

I want to encourage all of you not going somewhere where you will be surrounded by Christian fellowship, to get involved with a local church. Help with Vacation Bible School, be a greeter on Sundays, attend Sunday school or help with the youth Sunday school, go to the men’s or women’s times during the week, just make the effort to get involved so you will be encouraged and challenged to live for Jesus.

If none of that is possible because your home church has an average age of about 65 and you find it hard to connect with the folks of your church seek out a believer and have lunch with them once or twice a week so you can encourage each other. If you are having trouble this summer because you feel like people just don’t understand don’t be discouraged.

Jesus said in Mark chapter 6 that, “Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” I am not saying that any of you are prophets but what I am saying is even Jesus had trouble reaching his own community. Don’t expect it to be any easier for you.

Tonight I am going to read a passage from Peter’s first letter to early Christians and trust that God would use me to speak to your hearts as I try to pick out what Peter is saying so we can apply it to our lives. First I am going to pray. If you will bow your heads with me for a moment in prayer…

Peter writes to encourage Christians facing suffering and hard times. He reminds them of all they have to be glad about in Christ and urges them to live lives which reflect God’s own holiness. The passage I am going to read begins in chapter 4 verse 12. read 1 Peter 4:12 – 19

I found some stories that might give you a picture of suffering for Christ. These first two are about overseas events that happened before 9/11.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, a fiery Islamic Cleric in Pakistan had been urging his congregation to kill Christians. On December 25, some Pakistani Christians were attending Christmas services in their small Presbyterian Chapel, when two young men followed the urging of their Islamic leader. They threw hand grenades into the church, killing three young girls, and wounding another 13 children and their parents. Several bystanders saw the faces of the young men who did it, but were not willing to name them, fearing reprisals from the police.

On December 30, a Muslim extremist in Yemen shot and killed 3 American Southern Baptist doctors and seriously wounded another. The gunman entered Jibla Baptist Hospital holding a semi-automatic rifle under his jacket to make it resemble a child. He opened fire, killing the 3 doctors instantly. Two of the doctors had worked there for more than 25 years, providing Yemenis with medical care. The shooter said he had shot them to cleanse his religion and to get closer to Allah.
Just because we live in the United States doesn’t mean we will escape this kind of suffering.

Cassie Bernall, was 17 and a student at Columbine High School. When asked by one of the gunmen who had a gun to her head if she believed in God she replied by saying she believed in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. He pulled the trigger.

Most of us will never experience that kind of persecution or suffering. Praise God for that. Even so, because of our faith in Christ and our desire to please him, you and I as believers must live our lives in such away that allows us to stay strong and be joyful in faith even during suffering. If it is at home, in class, on the beach sharing the four laws, where ever it might be we should take joy, “for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on us” during those times. When you go through times of suffering and/or persecution because of your faith in Christ Peter tells us to do 4 things:

1. Don’t be surprised.
2. Rejoice – praise God.
3. Commit yourself to God.
4. Continue to do good.

Don't Be Surprised

In verse 12 Peter says that suffering should surprise no one. Keep in mind his audience was a group of gentiles and Jews who had accepted Christ and started living as Christians and many of them lost everything they had for professing Christ as Savior. But yet Peter tells them that what is happening is nothing strange and that they should not be surprised.

This summer when you leave K-State there might be times when you think God has let you down and not held up His end of the bargain. I have never read anywhere in this book that says being a Christian will be easy and that He will protect us from bad things upon accepting His Son.

Don’t be surprised this summer if you find it hard to meet with God. Don’t be surprised this summer if you feel lonely and out of touch. Don’t be surprised this summer if you take flack in your hometown or your workplace or your mission field for standing up for what you believe. Don’t be surprised this summer if God challenges you. Don’t be surprised if God lets suffering take place in your life. The question is how are you going to respond? Will you fall back in your walk and push God away? Or will you strive even harder during the tough summer months to grow closer to him?

That is why I encouraged you earlier to find a group of believers to help challenge you. Without that accountability and fellowship of other believers it is very difficult to continue to grow closer to Jesus.

Rejoice and Praise God

That is a tall order! One that is difficult to fulfill. Rejoice and praise God through suffering? Wow! James tells us in his letter to do the same because suffering builds perseverance and perseverance in turn builds character.

The reality is that when we suffer for the Name of Jesus, we have a choice: we can feel sorry for ourselves, thinking that God has let us down, or we can understand that persecution identifies us with Jesus. We are experiencing a little fraction of what He experienced. Because of our suffering, we can understand a bit better what He went through for us when He was here on earth.

Commit Yourself to God

Peter goes on to say in verse 19 that, “those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator.” A few weeks ago our campus director, Brent, talked about what it means to commit yourself to God. I will for just a moment do a quick review. Brent looked at Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good pleasing and perfect will.”

Now, Brent talked about those two verses for like thirty minutes or something like that so it probably wouldn’t be cool if I did too… just a hunch.

Anyway what Paul is saying here is we need to offer our entire life, we need to be living sacrifices to our Father. We need to study His word so our minds can be transformed by the message of it. And as we do this we will be able to test and approve God’s will in our life. Peter is telling us in the midst of suffering we should commit ourselves to our creator. Paul is telling us in Romans doing so takes sacrifice on our part.

When we commit ourselves to God we can have faith that He will not fail us. In the end, when we commit ourselves to Him, He will be glorified. So this summer make a commitment to stay strong in the faith and stay close to Jesus and carry it out and He will be glorified even during the hard times.

Continue To Do Good

At the end of verse 19 Peter tells us to, “continue to do good.” In the face of suffering and persecution we are simply to, continue to do good. The fact is it is actually not so simple sometimes.

There was this guy I knew when I was in High School that I really didn’t get along with. He didn’t like me… I didn’t like him. There were many situations during my tenure at Hoxie High that this guy just really, really got on my nerves for being mean to me and being mean to other people. He was just really mean sometimes; to the point I thought he was an evil person for some of the things he did.

Going back to Romans 12 for just a moment… Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” I memorized this verse early on in my High School career and thought of it often whenever I had conflict with him for something he had done. Basically I was nice to him but it wasn’t easy. Today the Lord has taken hold of him and he is going to school to be a youth pastor. Yes… miracles do happen!

This summer I urge you to continue to do good, through suffering, through fun, through trouble and trails and through the mundane, continue to do good even to those who may be the cause of suffering or persecution in your life.

When spending the summer away from Christian fellowship summers can seem to drag on for ages. No matter where you are going this summer you are going into the mission field. It doesn’t matter if you are going home or staying here … going abroad on a mission trip or going to Vail, Colorado.

No matter where you are going you must ask yourself this question, “What am I willing to give up or what am I willing to suffer so that others may find the freedom that I have in Christ.” Some of you are giving up your entire summers so that others might find freedom. Some of us are called to be senders and stay home. We must be willing to fork up a little of our profit from our jobs to support those who go and do the Lords work. Some of you are going home to spend time with a family that thinks you joined a cult because you are going to this thing called Crusade… you may have to give up your pride and have a piece of humble pie and stand up for Christ so He will be glorified. Some of you are going home to a church where the average age is 65. You may have to give up your time to volunteer at Vacation Bible School or other youth services so that children will be able to see the freedom of Christ lived out in you.

*below is the transcript from a clip I showed from the movie Braveheart*

Wallace: Sons of Scotland! I am William Wallace!
Scotsman: William Wallace is seven feet tall!
Wallace: Yes, I've heard! Kills men by the hundreds! And if he were here, he'd consume the English with balls of fire from his eyes...and bolts of lightning from his arse! (laughter) I AM William Wallace! And I see, a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?
Scotsman: 'Fight? Against that?' 'No, we will run, and we will live.'
Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live. At least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that...for one chance...just ONE CHANCE to come back here to tell our enemy that they may take out lives, but they will never take OUR FREEDOM!!! (Scottish Army gets fired up)

Now I ask you once again … Will you stand up for Christ this summer and take the chance of suffering or will you run and live easy? Would you be willing to give up everything so that you might see others become free? People who persecute can go so far as to take your life as the gunman at Columbine did to Cassie… but they can never take your freedom. So I encourage you to stand up to suffering and take joy in the fact that you are suffering for Him.

- footprints of Chad, 1:34 PM