What a great day thank you George and worship team um bring greetings from Pastor Pat and

01:22:23 jeribi made it to Africa and God is moving uh already and um so we’re just excited to to be partnering with what the Lord is doing across the world and um even from Little Old muok Village right that God is sending out his word from this place and doing amazing things so we’re I’m just going to Dive Right In today we have I have a lot of I want to kind of cover today um we are in the overcoming Church message we’ve been in this series for for a while now since uh actually last year I don’t know was October or no September

01:23:07 maybe even we started we started this message about the overcoming church that we are to be Overcomers amen um and the last uh the last several messages that we’ve had in this theme of overcoming church has been coming out of the seven churches of Asia um Pastor Pat preached last week if you remember back a little bit further Pastor David and Pastor Jonathan also talked about repentance and love and Pastor Pat last week about faithfulness and so we’re going to continue in teaching about the themes that we learn

01:23:44 and the things God’s speaking to us in these in the seven churches of Asia the letters to the seven churches of Asia in Revelations chapters 2 and three so this week we are talking about perseverance Christina where are you right on girl this is not my favorite subject but it’s a very important important subject you see perseverance means the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties despite failures despite opposition perseverance is not giving up it’s persistence it’s tenacity it’s the effort required to do

01:24:40 something and to keep doing it to the end even when it’s hard this is a f familiar concept to a lot of us we see it in the sports arena we say you know you got this keep going keep pushing through to hard things it means steadfastness it means endurance the Bible tells us a lot about about this word about this message of persevering of being steadfast of patient endurance there are two Greek words words that are used in the New Testament that are translated as perseverance and enduring one of um I’m going to see if

01:25:34 I’m going to try to pronounce this we’re going to see I I listened to it a bunch of times in online and stuff to see if I could get it right but we’ll see I don’t even know pra prases prases maybe I’ll I’m sure I’ll I’ll hear back later from from our friends prases is translated persist and persevere we see that in Ephesians 6:18 where it says praying all always with prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to the end with all perseverance and supplication for the Saints and the root word of that word is

01:26:17 uh one again we’re going to try to try this praso PR and that is the root wording mean to adhere steadfastly it means to be devoted to continue in something to be constant to persevere Romans 12: 9-12 it says let love be without hypocrisy abhor what is evil cling to what is good be kind affectionate one to another with Brotherly Love In in honor giving preference to one another not lacking in diligence fervent in spirit serving the lord rejoicing in Hope patient in Tribulation continuing steadfastly in

01:27:12 prayer the other word in the in the New Testament that we see a lot uh translated as endure in patience and continuing in steadfast and patient endurance hoop Mo I think that was wrong no hman maybe hman I’m sure I’m butchering all these words I’m sorry Stephano I’m sorry Liz doing my best maybe one day I’ll get better at it but this word is to endure patiently but there is something a little bit different about this word than the previous words because it means cheerful or hopeful endurance you know I think sometimes we

01:28:06 think of the word persevere and we think of the word patient endurance and we think of it as a grind okay I got to get through this thing it’s going to be hard it’s going to be difficult but I’m going to do it and not that that’s wrong entirely because there are difficulties in the things that we Face there are struggles that we are faced every day that are very very difficult but the reality of perseverance and godly endurance is that there is a Hope on the other side of it that we don’t grind just to grind

01:28:55 but there is something on the other side there is a hope built into this word that we must have the end in sight we can do a lot of things when we know where we’re headed the grind is not as difficult when we have the goal in mind I’m going to use my son as an example my son Isaiah he is a brilliant kid very very smart did not care about school high school he was not interested no always got plenty of good grades he had bees although a lot of missing assignments still within those bees and me the the type A like high have to get

01:29:41 the highest grade in the class kind of personality it drove me insane Isaiah you have all these missing assignments like Mom I have a b why would I spend one more second on this class oh drove me crazy and then it is a bee not good enough mom so he goes to college and his his first year of college he’s just he didn’t know he was just going to go play soccer and he wasn’t really planning on doing school but he wanted to go play soccer with Lance and so he moved to San Diego and did his first first year at at

01:30:20 college and um and he was kind of doing the same thing just gate and by towards the second half of the semester last year I uh he was home for a little bit I was like well if you if you would want to do something what is it that you would want to do and he’s like well I mean if I was going to do school I would do engineering I’m like okay seems like a lot um okay so not three weeks later all of a sudden he’s like Mom I think I’m Inna I think I’m going to do engineering I think I’m going to go to school to be

01:30:51 an engineer mind you this this kid who didn’t want to do school thought it was a waste of his time thought it was a waste of his energy didn’t feel like he was gaining much in his education I will say he was a covid a covid high school student so I will give him that that there was a little bit of a difference going on there but all of a sudden this semester yes for real this semester all of a sudden he changed his classes to be going for engineering and this last fall he was in some very very difficult

01:31:24 classes calculus and trigonometry and chemistry and um biology and all these labs and he had a really really heavy load I was like oh man I don’t know how he’s going to do this this kid doesn’t like school right but all of a sudden he took the first class of an intro to engineering at San Diego State and he calls me and he’s like Mom this is what I want to do this is exactly what I want to do and all of us sudden when he had a goal in front of him he’s like this is just how my brain thinks I’m so excited about

01:32:02 this all of a sudden the trigonometry classes and the chemistry classes and the labs and the lectures and all the time was totally manageable because he had a goal and he saw what was at the end of the difficult times he was in that is what perseverance means it means to have the end in sight there must be a hope and assurity in what we are persevering for or to or else we will not do it we are not going to endure hard things for no reason we are not going going to endure things unless we see what is on the

01:32:59 other side we see it in the sports arena oh he’s not in here shoot I wanted to congratulate Roman and his TW twart Elementary School class they just won the county tournament in basketball this weekend come on you guys got to celebrate him when you see it never seen such a smile on that kid’s face it was amazing this is what we do I was talking to Sham this week and like we’ve had like 30 practices like eight games but you endure through the 30 practices because you have a goal to win the tournament you have a goal to

01:33:36 win you want to grow you want to win you know in our lives Christ has already won and if we do not start our journey from that place of victory in him we will never make it through the difficult times and the difficult places we have to see the end we have to know where we’re going Revelations 3:1 says because you have kept my Commandments to persevere I also will keep you in the hour of trial he will keep you James 1 verse 2 says my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials what knowing this that the testing of

01:34:36 your faith produces patience but let patience or perseverance or endurance it’s that word have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing the goal the end in mind time is it okay see the background setting for the idea of perseverance was developed out of the context of this persecution and Temptation and Gerald um boser wrote in the home Bible dictionary that the believer is to f Faithfully endure and remain steadfast in the face of opposition in the face of attack and

01:35:31 discouragement the perseverance of the Saints is one of the greatest theological ideas that needs to be reaffirmed in this era it deals with the faithfulness of Christians in the matter of God’s will you know his ways are not our ways and we don’t always see the whole picture and perseverance is dealing with faithfulness in the matter of God’s will it encompasses the taking seriously of our own human weakness without denying the mysterious nature of God’s patience with his people persevering Christians must take

01:36:22 prayer seriously as a reflection of Life they must recognize the way of love and forgiveness because they understand the weakness of human nature and the Divine help they know they have experienced Grace Beyond human capacity persevering Christians recognize that the warnings of the Bible are meant for them to obey and that Christ gave his life to transform theirs perseverance is a call to faithfulness but it is also the affirmation that somehow in spite our failures God will bring his people through the difficulties and concerns of

01:37:06 life to their promised Destiny in Christ So today we’re going to open our Bibles to Revelation Chapter 2 we’re going to read about the Church of Smyrna the letter to the Church of Smyrna we’re going to start in in verse eight this is going to be our main text for today and we’re going to look at a few points that God’s speaking to us in this says and the angel and to the angel of the Church of Smyrna I want to just remind us this is Jesus speaking it’s red letters in our Bibles okay to the angel of the Church of

01:37:51 Smyrna write the words of the first and the last who died and came to life I know your tribulation and your poverty but you are rich and the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan do not fear what you are about to suffer behold the devil is about to throw some of you in prison that you may be tested and for 10 days you will have tribulation be faithful unto death and I will give you the Crown of Life this is kind of a hard set of scriptures now interestingly it’s one of the only it’s

01:38:44 one of two churches that Jesus is speaking to that he doesn’t bring correction to but he brings encourage enagement to you see Smyrna known today is ismir in Turkey was an important city in the Ancient Ancient Greek times and it became a prominent Center of Trade and culture and during the Roman era it flourished and became a very important city in Asia Minor known for its beauty and wealth and strategic location along the gnca and the Christian in Smyrna faced significant persecution they faced persecution under

01:39:30 the Roman rule the persecution came from many sources including the Roman government the Pagan population and the local Jewish communities you see the Roman authorities required their citizens to offer sacrifices and incense and worship the emperor and they did not do that the Christians would not worship anybody but God and they refused to participate which led to accusations the Jewish Community sometimes viewed Christians as a heretical sect and there were tensions the Jewish um being the Jews being a legally

01:40:13 recognized religion under the Roman law used likely used their status to turn the Roman officials against the Christians which led to further persecution the Christians in Smyrna also faced economic and social pressures and they were ostracized from trade they were ostracized from so Social Circles which led to financial hardship and social isolation so this is the setting in which this word is being spoken to them and the first thing that happens in verse 8 I see in the new living it says and this is the message from the one who

01:40:59 is the first and the last who was dead but is now alive the first thing Jesus spoke to this church was he gave them the end again right he said I am the first and the last I died but am now alive let me remind you of the victory that you have in me so before he even talks to them about their tribulation before he even says anything to them about what they’re going to go through he want he first and foremost reminded them of who he was and the Victory and the overcoming power that they had through

01:41:47 him he reminded the Church of what had already been won that death had already been overcome he reminded them of the power of Our Risen Savior this was the end in which they needed to have in mind to walk through the difficult places so the first thing we find in this set of scriptures is victory victory the next thing is persecution then we see fear and we see faithfulness but the first thing before any of it the hope the hope at the end I got you yeah you’re going to go through this but remember I already overcame the

01:42:40 world I took the keys of death and of hell and of sin and I overcame them this is the place you stand from then he goes on in verse n in the Amplified we see it says I know your Affliction and your distress and pressing trouble I think a lot of us can relate to the pressing the pressing down of things around us you know I was talking with Jonathan last night and like man I read this this set of scriptures and man the persecution that I’m thinking about in my mind pales it to compare to what he’s

01:43:39 talking about here about facing death and these things that are so big but the reality is we still face difficult things that press on us that press around us and we have to have the same Focus that Jesus told the Church of Smyrna he overcame and so can we I know your Affliction and your distress and you’re pressing trouble and your poverty but you are rich and how you were abused and reviled and slandered by those who say they are Jews but are really not but they are the synagogue of Satan it’s difficult when

01:44:43 slander and and abuse happens from those who claim to know God come on blasphemy there is a contemptuous IR contemptuous irreverent deliberate and insolent utterance of defamation and slander this is what tribulation they were facing tribulation means trouble or Affliction that causes pressure the scale is large trouble or Affliction that causes pressure the term can be described as troubles in everyday life General difficulty associated with the troubles in life mark 13 talks about the parable of the sewer

01:45:57 and in verse 20 it says but he who receives the seed on a Stony place this is he who Bears the word hears the word immediately and receives it with joy yet he has no root in himself but endures only for a while for when tribulation or persecution arises from the word immediately he stumbles in the NLT it says the seed that falls on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy but since they don’t have Deep Roots they don’t last and they fall away as soon as they have problems or persecuted

01:46:44 for believing God’s word you see there’s no question that hardships and trouble and a and affliction and pressures are going to happen Jesus said they were going to happen all throughout the Bible it says that we’re going to face things first Peter four uh 4 says don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you’re going through as it were something strange don’t be surprised instead be glad for these trials make you partners with Christ and his suffering so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when

01:47:24 it is revealed in the world I’m not sure how Christianity has gotten to a place that we’re not supposed to have troubles but never in the word of God has it said that nowhere in the Bible does it say that we’re not going to face difficult things nowhere in the Bible does it say that there’s not going to be afflictions and yet we have a culture that says why does God let these things happen and they’re real things they’re difficult things but the reality is we live in a fallen world where sin has had

01:48:15 free reign but God is saying that I am here to take you out of those places and that if you will persevere and if you will endure and if you will know that I have good for you and if you will know that I have overcome the world and if you come and you partner with me you too will overcome the world this is what I have for you you don’t have to worry about it cuz you have the end in mind you have the end in mind you see the question is not if the hardships are going to be there the questions is how

01:48:56 we will handle it Mark 13 tells us that The Stumbling and the falling away is because there is no root there’s nothing to hold on to there’s nothing to believe in because the reality is the trouble’s coming are we rooting ourselves so when it comes we can stand are we rooting oursel in the word are we rooting oursel in prayer are we rooting oursel in fellowship and in relationship this is maturity it’s not being tossed like children to and fro carried about with every wind of Doctrine swayed with every opinion

01:49:51 disappointed with things that don’t go our way disillusioned with the things that we face that are difficult maturity and endurance says I know who I am and I am rooted in the word of God and I am rooted as a son and a daughter of the king and even when things come against me even when persecution comes and slander comes even when hardship and Trials come when tribulation comes I know I know where I stand it doesn’t change a thing because I am his and he is mine churches fail because they don’t

01:50:35 understand the purpose they’re not rooted marriages fail because they don’t know who they are in Christ first so how are we going to handle the hardships can we rejoice in them and understand that God will use these things for our good that’s next level man being willing to endure through it is one thing but we being willing to Rejoice through it Romans 5 verses 3 and four says we can Rejoice that when we run into problems and trials for we know that they help us develop endurance and endurance develops

01:51:32 strength of character and character strengthens our confident hope of Salvation and this hope will not lead to disappointment for we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love when Jesus said for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross can we Rejoice do we understand that trials and persecution and tribulation are not because God doesn’t love you Romans 8:35 says can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love does it mean he no longer loves us

01:52:27 if we have troubles or Calamity or persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger or even threatened with death as the scriptures say for your sake we were killed every day we are being slaughtered like sheep no despite all these things overwhelming Victory Is Ours through Christ who loves us and I am convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love not death nor life neither Angels or demons neither our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from

01:53:07 God’s love no power in the sky above or the earth below indeed nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed through Christ Jesus our lord The Trials Come are we rooted can we rejoice and understand God’s love through it let going back to Revelation verse chapter 2 verse 10 our next instruction is not to fear he sayso not fear what you are about to suffer he says I got you it’s like you’re going to go through things but don’t worry there’s a time

01:54:04 limit on it yeah this is not a forever thing and I think sometimes we need to hear that sometimes we’re going through things and it feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel but God says yes there is an end in sight I got you yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because you are with me this is the challenge we do not need to fear the things that come we do not need to fear the persecution the tribulation the trials because God is Victorious first John 5 says you see

01:55:07 every child of God overcomes the world for our faith is the Victorious power that triumphs over the world our faith is the Victorious power that triumphs over the world and lastly the fourth thing we learn in this set of scriptures we find in verse 11 and it says be faithful be faithful we learned about this last week the faithful means sure true trustworthy believing you see believing is the key here if even if it costs you your life still believe because Christ is the resurrection even when it looks

01:56:02 impossible be sure and unmovable in your faith that the God we serve is in the impossible business the God we serve walked on water healed the sick raised the dead so my impossible situation is possible because that’s what God does this this is how we are strong this is how we become rooted it’s Faith it’s believing it’s faithfulness and seeing back from the beginning where we start that the message is from the one who is the first and the last the who was dead and is alive this is the faith that we have

01:56:43 this is the place that we believe from this is the victory in which we start from Romans 8 says for the I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us it is the glory that will be revealed that we can look to it is the maturing and perfecting that God is doing on the inside of us it is the overcoming that we walk to and from Christ overcame so that we overcome so are we willing to persevere with hope with cheerfulness because of who he

01:57:49 is persevering through difficulties through family situations through faith issues and struggles through financial things through marriage problems the pressures to conform the troubles that show up when we lose sight of Integrity pressure that shows up that we have to have a disciplined life God is doing amazing things and he is asking us to push through difficult things you know what some of it’s not not all always um like oh I’m going through this trial and I got to I got to remember to love my

01:58:28 husband right now although sometimes I do no you know sometimes this perseverance comes through walking out the plan of God because sometimes when we are doing what God has asked us to do we run into issues just like the Church of Smyrna they weren’t doing anything wrong God didn’t even give them any warnings like go change this or change that like all the other churches he spoke to he said that you are going to face face these things but take heart I’ve overcome the world and he’s giving them warnings so

01:59:03 sometimes we’re walking out the plan of God in our lives and we hit roadblocks are we going to persevere even this last weekend in the youth retreat it was a battle it was a battle to get there right Mark it was a battle but God came through we must persevere we must persevere do we believe do we trust do we see the end from the beginning do we see the victory of Christ when we start if we do it doesn’t matter what comes we will be able to persevere to endure amen [Applause] amen amen thank you and hey you guys

02:00:09 will you uh thank jusia and Mark for uh leading the high school this weekend yeah jusia is serving in h Samuel company today Mark’s in The Sound Room somewhere and I’m just really grateful for uh people that are laying down their life so uh with that hey Lisa will you come and close the the service with prayer Lisa has an amazing heart and she showed me a study that she did with the set set of uh chapters but I’m going to ask her to close and uh just remind people uh Celebrate Recovery is is on

02:00:50 hold for a few months and is continuing in that way and uh we have engaged Wednesday nights for anybody that is looking to connect ask questions be with uh us we we’ll be sharing the word and just spending time with each other but always always available Wednesday nights at 7 all right father God thank you and we just so thankful that you brought this word today what a powerful message of per perseverance you’ve seen all of us walk through in faith with you while we persevere through the trials in our

02:01:28 lives Lord we know you are with us in the fire you are that Fourth Man and we thank you Lord that you have redeemed us and you have brought us newness of Life today in all the days when we walked in this last week and as we walk forward into the next one Lord cover our bodies cover our minds cover our souls cover our hearts cover our Spirits with all of you because Lord that’s what we want we want all of you we know that you are with us in every step and we know that you will be with us in every step towards the future you

02:02:05 will help us persevere you will help bring goodness into our minds and you will bring us the peace beyond all understanding we ask you for nothing but just to continue to walk with us every day of Our Lives we thank you in the name of Jesus Christ amen amen Thank you Lisa you guys we have Fellowship across the way for those who can make it it’s