Every human life is marked by suffering. For all of us, in our own ways, life is hard. Sometimes life is hard because you make it hard on yourself. Sometimes life is hard because other people make it that way. Sometimes life is hard for no apparent reason at all, at no one’s discernible fault at all; life is just hard. To be sure, not all suffering and hardship are equal. There are some lives that are lived in far greater misery than others, but in the end, a hand of suffering is dealt to everyone, however unfairly.

Over the last two thousand years, the way of Christ has been cast and recast for better and worse as a seat of political power, a center of social life, a school of morality, a guardian of the arts, a vehicle for social change, and a doctrinal litmus test. But from the very beginning, at its most compelling and sustaining, it has always begun as a promise spoken into life’s suffering. It says that our lives are not an accident; in fact, they are not even ultimately our own, but have been claimed for the never-ending, unconditional love of God in Jesus Christ. This promise invites us to respond to suffering in four compelling ways that we will unpack in worship from April 19 to May 24.  Be with us for this sermon series on Christian Character.