Good morning. Let's pray before we get started. Father, I thank you for this opportunity you've given me to share from your Word, but I also thank you for the experiences you've given me to share from relationship with you. I ask that if there's anything that I shouldn't say that you would hold my tongue, and that everything I do say would be from you and from your word and would have impact in people's lives. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. This morning, I feel a deep conviction to share with you what God has been putting on my heart regarding suffering and evangelism. Before we do that, I think I need to first justify why we're talking about this at all. First, I don't want to assume that all of you know who I am or much about me. My name is Jameson. My wife's name is Rachel. And we have three children and have been members of WCC our entire marriage. Rachel has been here her whole life. Three years ago, Rachel was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. Since then, we've gone on a journey of healing as God has sustained and blessed us in the midst of this overwhelming physical suffering. 43 rounds of chemo, four surgeries, a week of radiation, and we actually just last week received the test results that confirmed that Rachel is in remission. That makes this an easier message to share, honestly. That's Sawyer up there. The reason we're talking about suffering and evangelism, though, is that God has delivered three distinct punches to my well-deserving gut over the past year that has caused me to reevaluate my actions, my theology, and my heart on the topic. The first punch came about a year ago. We were in California for three months undergoing a treatment called hyperthermia that was only available in Santa Monica. An unexpected thing happened while we were there. Rachel's cousin, Chris, whom we only really knew as an acquaintance, visited us specifically to discuss theological differences surrounding sickness, God's sovereignty, and God's will regarding physical suffering. Chris and I both knew that we were coming from two very different places in our theology. and views of the Christian life, and this trip quickly became a meaningful time of iron sharpening iron as we wrestled with these hard, hard topics. Towards the end of this weekend visit, we were sitting together, wrestling through a number of theological truths. We reached a point in our conversation where we turned to the topic of evangelism. Chris was and is passionate about evangelism and he practices it daily in his normal life. As he shared that evening, I began to critique one of the methods of evangelism he regularly uses. I felt really smart as I made an excellent argument from God's word and laid out clearly why he was obviously not doing what's best. As I'm sharing this fantastic critique, keep in mind this is at 10 p.m. after 14 hours of in-depth, intense conversation. He paused. After a few moments of silence, he asked permission to ask a very pointed question. He said this, Jameson, when was the last time you led someone to a saving faith in Jesus? When was the last time you saw someone saved? I was silent. My face grew hot and it felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Not because the question was difficult, but because I was ashamed of my answer. In the midst of my instant conscience sorrow, I answered something like, it's been a while. He continued. It's one thing to have an intellectual discussion about methods for evangelism, and it's another thing to live it out. Whether it's perfect or not, my methods cause me to act, and yours are causing you to talk. Oof, that was a hard pill to swallow. It was hard because it was such a valid point. I often lean into the intellectual, the deeper truths of scripture that are useful in the path of sanctification and discipleship as a believer. But I rarely did something as simple as share the gospel with a stranger or with a loved one who's lost. It stung even more because I wanted to have an opinion about evangelism, about effective methods, about tools and resources, for sharing my faith, but I had not done anything to earn that opinion. This made me instantly think of a nasty habit I have, and maybe one that you do as well. You probably do if you're honest. So you decide if you're gonna be honest. I have a bad habit of learning about hobbies I never actually start. I'll just give one example. There was a time in my life when I got super into forging knives. Don't ask me why, I just did. I watched hours of videos about how to do it. I read blog posts and even shopped for equipment. I lived vicariously through YouTubers as they took a chunk of steel and made something beautiful and useful with it. I would watch these videos and think things like, you dummy, you can't make Damascus out of spring steel. It'll never forge at the heat you need. Or how could you be so clumsy as to drop the blade on the oil quench? Anybody who watches Forge and Fire knows what I'm talking about. I just knew that if I was doing it, I would do it differently. And don't act like you don't do this sometimes, too. How many people watch MasterChef or the Great British Baking Show? You know you do it. You know you've yelled at the TV that you cannot use spun sugar on a hot, humid day. It's a direct quote from Katie, I think. Here's my point. In all that time, thinking and learning about forging knives. With all my opinions, you know what I never did? Forge anything. I never once took what I was learning, what I was interested in, and apply it in any way that would be considered experience of any kind. You know what that made my opinions? Kind of worthless, unfounded, lacking in experience. What I realized in that moment, being challenged by the man sitting across from me, was that I had done the same thing with something as critical as sharing the gospel. I studied it. I researched. I learned. I just never did. I wanted very badly to voice my opinion on evangelism, but had done nothing to earn the ear of anyone. This was the first of three gut punches that God delivered to break down my intellectual walls that had caused me to not act on my knowledge. Fast forward a few weeks. This was a year ago, a few weeks later. As God often does, he provided the second gut punch in the form of reading in the first chapter of Philippians. If you have your Bibles, turn to Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. We will have the verses up here, but I think it's always better if you have your Bible to follow along. Philippians chapter one, we're gonna start in verse 12. Little bit of context. This is written as Paul is sitting in prison. He is unsure of his future, and he's writing to a recent church plant and wanting to encourage them. He says this in Philippians chapter one, starting in verse 12. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. Verse 14. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. Before I explain what felt like a gut punch in this passage, let's break it down a little bit as we dig into what Paul is saying here. He starts with, in verse 12, I want you to know, brothers. What he's about to say is intended to be an encouragement to the believers in Philippi, to his brothers. He's excited to share this and wants to ensure they understand or know it. He goes on, that what has happened to me Remember, this is his imprisonment he's talking about. Has really served to advance the gospel. That word really is an interesting thing here. What he's saying is, you may think my imprisonment means something different. Or in other words, on the surface, my imprisonment looks like a setback in my ministry, a discouraging outcome of my work, But he's saying, really, at its core, under the surface, counterintuitively, this imprisonment has served to do what? Advance the gospel. Okay, pause there. Think about that for a moment. Paul's ministry was primarily one of travel, moving across the region, planting churches, visiting established churches, evangelizing and encouraging the saints. You know what would most effectively halt this traveling ministry for Paul? Being cuffed to a wall in a dingy prison cell. This imprisonment effectively halted his plans and expectations to visit the churches to encourage them. There was no FaceTime, no ability to go live on YouTube or live stream his sermons. He was halted in his tracks by this unexpected suffering. This is why he's clarifying for the saints at Philippi, really, this suffering is to advance the gospel. That's great that he's saying that, but how could that be true? If we really think about it, how could this imprisonment, which halted his plans to do the work of the ministry as he had been called to it, actually be something advancing the gospel? The answer to this question is a difficult truth on display here in this passage. The gospel is amplified in suffering. It's lesson one this morning in your handouts and up on the screen. The gospel is amplified in suffering. This is where my personal conviction came in as I sat reading this account last year, just a few weeks after being challenged on my lack of evangelism. Was I, sitting at year three in our current season of suffering, following Paul's model of advancing the gospel in our suffering, Had I been placed in prison with a purpose that I was not taking seriously? God immediately brought a flood of memories from our season of suffering to my mind as I wept at both the ways our suffering has been used to impact others, but also the ways that I have not utilized our suffering the way Paul used his. For the rest of this morning, let's look here in Philippians at what I saw a year ago as I was reading as Paul lays out four distinct ways that suffering amplifies the gospel when Christians make use of their suffering. The first way that suffering amplifies the gospel, and this is part one of lesson two in your outline, The gospel is amplified in suffering because our suffering is visible to the lost around us. Our suffering is visible to the lost around us. This is evident in verse 13, where Paul says that his suffering advances the gospel because, verse 13, it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard. What he's saying Sorry. What he's saying. We're just gonna tilt that down a little bit. You still picking me up okay? Okay. Let's try that again. What he's saying, that didn't help. My jawline, there we go. All right, what he's saying is that the staff, oh my gosh, all right, it's fine. The staff at his prison are seeing how Paul is handling this suffering, and they are being affected by it in a way that drives them to the gospel. Now, Paul doesn't tell us what he actually was doing, what he was saying or what was being done to have this effect while he was in prison here, as he's writing. But we do have an account in Acts that shows an example of what Paul does when he's imprisoned. This can give us a good guess at what was going on while he wrote to the Philippians. So hold your place here, because we're going to definitely come back, but turn to Acts chapter 16. The book of Acts, right after the Gospels, chapter 16. Okay, we are, this is context, we are jumping into the middle of a tense situation. A girl who was demon possessed and used as property by men who used her as a profitable fortune teller because of the spirit within her was following, this girl was following Paul around for days, saying the same thing over and over again. She was saying, these men are servants of the most high God who proclaim to you the way of salvation. Over and over and over again she's saying this. Paul's response is almost comical, as it says he became greatly annoyed at this girl after many days, and he cast out the demon that very hour. Let's start reading in Acts chapter 16 in verse 19 as we get a look at the repercussions for Paul's actions. So Acts 16, starting in verse 19. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, these men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or to practice. Verse 22, the crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. When they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Okay, pause there. Just sit for a moment on the gravity of Paul and Silas' suffering to this point. Listen to the action phrases used starting in verse 22. Attacked, tore their garments, beat by the crowd, inflicted with many blows, thrown in prison. Now you might recognize this story already and know where it's going. And I think we often jump into verse 25, which we're about to, because of the header break. But don't miss what great suffering they just endured and are now shackled to the wall of a prison, okay? With that in mind, let's keep reading in verse 25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, do not harm yourself, for we are all still here. And the jailer called for lights and rushed in. And trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Verse 31, and they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. There is a lot that we could unpack here. But to start, see what they were doing in the midst of their suffering. They were singing and praying, loudly enough that the other prisoners were listening to them. They were black and blue, cut and naked and praising God loudly. This next part kind of kills me. There's a miraculous prison break. Their bonds are released. They are free. What do they do? Nothing. They're still sitting there as the guard wakes up to see the doors swinging open. Instead of overpowering the guard or letting him just take his own life and thus providing a free and clear path to the front door, Paul takes that opportunity to preach the gospel. Knowing that this may mean continued imprisonment. This was Paul's heart for ministry. And this was how the gospel was amplified in his suffering. There is much to be learned from this. Much application to bring into our lives that should challenge us. Perhaps most important is this. In our suffering, the gospel is only amplified if we speak it. There's a phrase that I've heard, and many of you I'm sure have as well, that is somewhat of a pet peeve for me. Andrew Criss actually talked about it in a Wednesday Bible study a couple weeks ago. It goes like this. Share the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. Now, there's a lot of truth here. Don't get me wrong, my problem with it is that I have personally used this as an excuse to not speak the gospel, but to rather hide behind the idea that my life shows those around me that there's something different about me and that's good enough. Notice that here in Acts, Paul's life did show that there was something different about him, but it also shows that he was bold to speak the gospel at every opportunity, to boldly sing truth, to pray truth, and ultimately converse with his jailer about the truth of salvation. How unfortunate would it have been if Paul had sat silently in his cell, the doors unlock in the middle of the night, and he quietly sneaks out. returning to his original plan of ministry, thinking to himself, I think I might have planted some seeds back there with those people who saw me. They were probably thinking, I wonder what's different about that Paul guy. All happy with himself, but having missed an opportunity to speak. With all the praise and gratitude in his heart for what God did for him as he slinked silently out of that prison. No, he removed any ambiguity from their minds as he boldly both lived and proclaimed truth. This idea has been particularly convicting for me, as Rachel and I have been in our own season of suffering with Rachel's cancer diagnosis. As I have seen Paul's example of being bold to speak truth in suffering and the effect that act had to amplify the gospel to the lost around him, I've had to ask myself, have I missed opportunities to speak truth to the woman sitting next to us in the chemo room? Are there people in the ER who needed to hear Rachel and I speak the gospel to each other and anyone in hearing distance while she was in unbearable pain? But instead I stayed silent, or I used hushed tones to not make it uncomfortable. Should I be singing hymns of truth and praise for my children to hear as Rachel suffers at home after treatment? The convicting answer to all three is a resounding yes. This is how the gospel is amplified to the lost around us, by both living and speaking it in the midst of our suffering. Okay, made it through. Let's look at the second way the gospel is amplified in suffering. Flip back to Philippians chapter one. Hopefully you kept your finger there. Philippians chapter one, and we're gonna start reading in verse 14. Philippians chapter one, verse 14. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. This brings us to lesson two, part two. The gospel is amplified in suffering because our suffering emboldens believers around us. Emboldens believers around us. Look at what Paul is saying here. These brothers have become confident by or because of Paul's imprisonment. This confidence has made them more bold to speak the word without fear. If this is Paul's suffering for the sake of the gospel, and this is the effect that that has, how can we ensure that our suffering emboldens the believers around us? It's not just that we suffer, it's all about how we suffer. Let me explain what I mean. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul instructs the church in Corinth to be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Paul understood that it is one thing to discuss how to suffer, but that it's something much more powerful and tangible to model it for others. That is what we see here on display in the first chapter of Philippians. Paul has modeled suffering in a way that others, in imitation of him, are bold, fearless, and look more like Christ. Here's what Rachel and I have had to ask ourselves many times throughout the past three years. If someone imitated me in this trial, would they look more like Christ or more like me? This is a great barometer for so many areas of life actually. If your children are here in this room, look at them for a moment. Actually look at your children for a moment. If they imitated you in the face of hardship, frustration, trials, and pain, would they look like Christ? Are you modeling what it means to be a little Christ in their lives? What about your coworkers, your extended family? Could you look at any of them and say, just do what I'm doing and you'll be headed in the right direction? This is what Paul did during his imprisonment, and we see the results described here in verse 14. The gospel was amplified through his suffering by emboldening others around him. All right, let's look a little bit further down to verse 20 for the third way the gospel is amplified in suffering. Verse 20, it is my eager expectation and hope. that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." The gospel is amplified in suffering because suffering reminds us of eternity. It's lesson two, part three. Suffering reminds us of eternity. That is how Paul can say here, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He has been reminded through his suffering of the labor that this life is, in contrast with the relief found in eternity with his Savior. Hold your place here again and turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, we're going to start in verse 16. We're going to see another look into Paul's heart as it relates to eternity. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. Verse 17. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Paul here describes suffering in life as a light momentary affliction. as compared to the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. I'll be honest, that feels offensive, depending particularly on the suffering that we're talking about. Light, momentary affliction. So I have to ask myself, why does he say that? The answer is because suffering makes us, look here in verse 18, look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. I have seen this point modeled for me by Rachel on numerous occasions. One in particular comes to mind, a couple years ago when she still had a colostomy. One day we were talking in our living room. I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. When I turned the water off, I heard Rachel crying out in pain. I ran back to the room to see her on the floor in a cold sweat and she was white as a sheet. An unbearable abdominal pain had come over her in an instant, and she went in and out of consciousness as I tried to keep her awake until the ambulance came. It took three doses of Dilaudid and morphine before the edge of pain had been dulled. It was a pain episode so intense that it triggered Rachel's first ever experience with an anxiety attack on top of this stomach pain. She later described to me that it felt like she was suffocating. The lack of oxygen and waves of pulsing throughout her arms and hands, combined with a throbbing headache, all culminated to be what we now refer to as the hardest, lowest point in our lives so far. This was an episode of acute suffering. And it happened over and over and over again. Every two to three weeks, Rachel descended into these depths of physical suffering, and it went on like this for months. One particularly bad episode, when we sat in the hospital together, the pain was not yet dulled, and Rachel grabbed my arm, and she pulled me in close. With tears in her eyes, She whispered, I'm ready. I'm ready to be done. She wasn't depressed. She didn't want to leave this life in some melancholy or despair. She believed because of the intensity of the pain that she was nearing the end. And she was just tired. And she longed for the rest that eternity with Jesus offered her. I'm very thankful that I've had a front row seat at Rachel's Suffering to see how God uses suffering in someone's life to remind them of eternity. If you've been through a season of physical suffering in particular, you will intuitively know what I mean here. The world and this temporal life is never less tempting than when we are forced to suffer in it. All earthly joys and worldly temptations fade in their attractiveness as you long for the relief of freedom from the pain. Suffering takes our vision off the world and places it firmly on God. Let me put it this way as we wrap up this point. Sailing on a beautiful, calm, sunny day may make you fall in love with the ocean. You have no desire in that moment for the harbor as you sail freely with the wind in your sails. But when you are caught in a raging sea during a hurricane, you all of a sudden yearn for the safety of the harbor at the end of your journey. This is how suffering reminds us of eternity. Alright, let's go back to Philippians chapter 1. This time we're going to look at verse 27 to see the fourth way that the gospel is amplified in suffering. Philippians chapter 1, verse 27. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. The fourth way the gospel is amplified in suffering, because suffering unifies us. Look at the flow of thought in this passage here. Paul starts by admonishing them to live worthy of the gospel, so that they stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, unswayed by their enemies. And then see in verse 20 the why. For it has been granted to you to suffer for his sake. Let me simplify this further. If Paul was speaking to us, he would say, in the suffering you will endure, live worthy of the gospel, which will unify you. Suffering provides us an opportunity to be unified towards a common goal, the gospel. It removes distractions, cares of this world. It focuses us on eternity. And in so doing, it brings unity. And see what that unity does, according to Paul, in verse 28. It is a clear sign to them, the opponents, of both their own destruction and of our salvation from God. Read that again. Philippi's unity in suffering communicated two things to their opponents, to the lost of the world, who were opposed to God, communicated two things. the opponent's impending destruction, and the church's salvation from God. Isn't that a really clear and succinct gospel message? Isn't that what we want to communicate at the core of every conversation? You are lost, I am found, God can find you too. According to Paul, it's our unity that communicates this exact message to the lost around us. Going back a year ago, the first gut punch was the conversation with Chris. The second punch was reading this account here in Philippians. And the third and final punch was delivered a few weeks after that in the form of a book titled Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. It's written by J.I. Packer. He's the well-known author of Knowing God, if you're familiar with that book. I was reading this book as I wanted to understand what unknown biases I may have developed that had caused me to de-emphasize evangelism and the gospel in my own actions and decisions. As I could remember, as I was thinking about this, I could remember times where I would make excuses like, God is sovereign and thus will convert whomever he will. Evangelism just isn't that important. If I don't share, that's fine, because God sovereignly chose for me not to share. This book squarely and definitely put those excuses to rest, as it helps to reconcile a high view of God's sovereignty with the command for each of us to evangelize. I highly recommend it, and it's up here and you can come check it out. Highly recommend it if you struggle to understand this relationship. between evangelism and God's sovereignty. This was where the third and final punch was landed squarely on my very deserving gut. I say final, there might be a fourth coming, I'm open to that. But right now, it was the last one. And this is really the cause of my sharing with you about advancing the gospel this morning. Here's what happened. I was sitting with a few close friends in prayer. All of these things, the conversation with Chris, reading from Philippians and J.I. Packer's book, were mulling around in my brain, and suddenly it felt like the Lord placed a ton of bricks on my chest, and he wasn't going to remove that weight until I repented of a sin that I had not previously been aware of. I wept as He revealed my heart to me that I had spent a large portion of my life not caring for His lost sheep. He revealed that in my inaction and intellectualism it was as if I had been laying scorn and disregard before Christ as if it were a worthy offering at His feet. I spent years avoiding sharing the gospel. avoiding leaving my comfort zone, avoiding being emboldened by the examples of those around me as I hid behind my intellectualism, behind my pride, behind Calvin by no fault of his own, and behind my false, convenient view of God's sovereignty. I had somehow come to believe that evangelism was not an urgent act of life-saving. but rather it was something saved for those who were called to be evangelists. That Christ would gather all to himself that he had called and that there was no expectation for me to evangelize. That is an unbiblical lie from the pit of hell that causes Christians, myself included, to deny their calling and warm a pew for the duration of their lives. This is why it is so important to understand how suffering amplifies the gospel. Because the gospel is an urgent act of life-saving. The same reason we have a defibrillator over here in the hallway on the way to the fellowship hall, or a lifeguard at a public pool, we have the gospel for the dead who are dying around us. Thankfully. This urgent need for gospel sharing is also not to be done in our own strength or effort. God didn't call me to repent from my sin to replace it with my own effort. He called me to submit to his working in my life. He's given Rachel and I an opportunity to suffer, to magnify the gospel, and he's given us all we need to suffer well. This is not about us muscling through our weaknesses or our discomfort. I'm still really bad at sharing my faith with strangers. I still struggle with cowardice with my family or coworkers. But I'm no longer blind to this struggle. And I believe God will be faithful to work with me to grow in this area. Quick side note, this morning is largely covering the why of evangelism and suffering. Just a quick plug, next week I'll be leading Sunday school to focus on brainstorming with you together on the how of evangelism as we work together to grow in our weaknesses. I encourage you to come to Sunday school and be prepared to be equipped, not by me, because I don't really know what I'm doing, but by the word as we wrestle through it together. So it's this Sunday at 9.30. Because it's so important that we move from the why to the how. And if we don't do that, we all walk away from here feeling super motivated and have no idea what to do. Back to our topic at hand. Let me read for you from 2 Corinthians to see how Paul shares God's words to him and his adjusted attitude towards his weaknesses and suffering in light of these words. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, you guys will probably know it very well, verses 9 and 10. But he said to me, so this is Paul speaking, God spoke to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Here's Paul's response to that. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses. so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. What does God say here to Paul? That God's power is made perfect in our weakness. Paul then lists the things that bring about this magnification of God's power in his life in verse 10. Weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. Indeed, when Paul was weak, then he was actually strong. Suffering weakens us. It just does. It's exhausting. It's draining. It takes all the energy we have to just survive sometimes. And I think that's kind of the point. Paul did not sing the praises of God naked and shackled in a prison cell because he was strong. He did it because he was weak. And in that weakness, God's strength was magnified. I have a bit of a fear that you may have listened this morning thinking, this is great and all, just not applicable to me because I don't have cancer. Or I'm just not really suffering right now. So how could I amplify the gospel in that way? I wanna be clear and either admonish or encourage each of you. You can choose how to take it. Bring your eyes up here for a moment. The reason I'm speaking of suffering and its effect on the gospel is this. These past two years for our church have been marked by suffering. And the world is watching us. As we come through conflict and strife and mandates, virtual services, sickness, we have been given great opportunity to show and model how to suffer. Great opportunity to speak into the lives of the lost around us who are also suffering. Opportunity to unify together and to look more like Christ. If you consider yourself an active member of this body, you are partakers in that suffering. Because of this, God is calling us to be active partakers now in amplifying the gospel in the midst of this suffering. To recognize that the world around us is hurting. The lost are isolated, fearful, and anxious. We can be unified by this suffering and work together toward a common goal because of it. Our neighbors don't know where to turn. Our family members are confused, our children are conflicted, and our church body is hurting. We have the opportunity to be a light in this darkness for the lost. and to be a model of Christ to embolden believers around us. The best part is, we don't have to do that in our own strength, but in the strength that the Spirit has implanted within us by His grace. My heart, as we close, is for us to be able to take Paul's words to the Philippians and make them our own. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. So that my blank is for Christ. Paul's blank here was imprisonment. What's your blank? How would you fill that in? So that my cancer is for Christ. My criticism, my sickness, my slander, my heartache, my loss. is for Christ. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your words this morning. I thank you for how they have spoken into my life, and I pray that they have spoken into the lives of everyone here as well. I ask that you would empower us and help us to go beyond just words and move into action as we look for ways to amplify the gospel through the suffering that we are all partakers in. Father, help us to look to you and to eternity as our place of hope. Help us to see that you are our helper who is willing to meet us where we are and guide us through whatever we're going through. And Lord, I pray that you would unify us together through this suffering and that that would be a statement to the world around us that leads them to faith. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.