Mars Hill Fellowship

MESSAGE |

Healing through Adversity

SERIES |

2013 Sermons

SCRIPTURE |

2 Corinthians 1:3-11

SPEAKER |

Pastor Joseph Ardayfio

KEY THEME |

I. The tragic events of the Boston Marathon bombing reminded us that tragedy brings out the best and the worst within us.

1. Tragedy causes us to evaluate our priorities and focus on the things closest to our hearts; It heightens our senses to the frailty of life and exposes our fears, our doubts, our weaknesses, and our strengths.
2. In times of tragedy, we can be left with a number of questions including: Where is God when evil strikes? Why would a loving God allow innocent people to be killed or injured in this tragedy? Could God have prevented all of the mayhem?

II. As the Apostle Paul went through adversity, he encouraged the believers in Corinth with instructions on how to heal through tragedy and adversity.

1. Paul’s circumstances were dire! He recounted that He was “under great pressure, far beyond [his] ability to endure, so that [he] despaired even of life.”. He described the pain as “feeling the sentence of death.” (2 Cor 1:8b-9)
2. We must avoid looking solely to ourselves for healing when we are going through adversity. God is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. He is Jehovah Shammah – our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. (Psalms 46).

III. God’s healing comfort is a past, present and future reality.

IV. The past reality of God’s comfort is demonstrated in God’s securing of our eternal destiny. “He Has Delivered us”

1. Romans 5:8 reminds us that God already commanded his love toward us to save us while we were still sinners. We deserved death, but God has delivered us through Christ.
2. The Boston tragedy helped us to see the reality of evil and the carnage that evil can cause. God’s deliverance from the power of evil and sin was not a trivial one, but it provided us the abundant grace that we needed to be in right relationship with Him.

V. The present reality of God’s comfort is His continual work on behalf of the Saints.

1. Believers are not exempt from adversity. The adversity doesn’t come from God, but He uses it as an opportunity to demonstrate His glory.
2. The Believer’s response to adversity is different from the world because we have a responsibility both to God and our fellow man. We are expected to not fret in the midst of tragedy but to share with others the comfort that we have received from God. Believers must still grieve, but they grieve in full assurance that God is in control of every situation that is before them.

VI. The future reality of God’s comfort is the assurance He will continue to deliver us as we experience tragedy and adversity. “Our hope is in Him”

1. God’s ultimate deliverance is securing our eternal destiny with Him. The Apostle Paul declared, “^{2 Corinthians 1:10} He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹ as you help us by your prayers.”
2. While believers are on this earth, we have to stay vigilant and remind ourselves that “^{Psalms 23:4} Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

VII. He has delivered us, He will deliver us, and our Hope is in Him.