Given By Rev. Madison Shockley September 1, 2019
Sometimes, life is difficult and we lose hope. We narrow our focus to ourselves. We just want to survive. The early church went through some very hard times. The Roman Empire was brutal. Christians were persecuted. Why would the most powerful empire be so afraid of the early Christian movement? Christians were not armed and preached only peace and love. Romans feared that if the movement grew, it would be the undoing of the empire. The message was that everyone belonged and were equal. The world belonged to God, not Caesar. Everything of God belonged to everyone. The world belonged to the people, not the rich and powerful. How did the early church survive? What can we learn from them? Tip 1 is it is always the right time to love. This can be hard at times. Tip 2 is reinforcements are better than doing something alone. Treat others well. You never know when you might meet an angel. Tip 3 is to not forget those who suffer for freedom. Tip 4 is to remember those being tortured. Show your compassion. Tip 5 is saving your love for people, not things. The last tip is that fear ends when faith begins. Live in faith and we will be fine.
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