Gateway Fellowship

It's been too long since I got to preach! Back at it again, this time we spent some time in Col 1:11, and talked about the difference between endurance, which is our capacity or stamina to keep going, and patience, which is the inner attitude that is willing to pay the pain price and doesn't give way to entitlement, anger, self-pity, and complaints during the trial... As usual, God's interest is on the "inside job," Christ being formed in us and expressed through us, not in making sure life goes our way. God is good, my friends! His way of thinking and living (yoke) is easy and his burden is light (Matt 11)! Those who keep on seeking and trusting in God will renew their strength (Is 40), and the best advice God gave me for how to heal is to forget what's behind and press on toward the goal of knowing Jesus and discovering life in him, precisely through pain, not in spite of it (Phil 3). Bees don't presume to know their larger purpose and impact. All they know is that they like nectar. They don't know, or need