Hidden Stress or Hidden Holiness Pt. 1

Pastor Jeff Vines continues his "Hidden Holiness" series by tackling the challenging teaching of Matthew 6, where Jesus tells followers not to worry about food, clothing or provision. He wrestles honestly with how this command fits with real-life suffering, poverty and hardship, noting that trusting Jesus doesn't exempt believers from pain, using Paul's catalogue of sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11 as evidence.

He explores Jesus' warning against serving "Mammon," the god of money, drawing on examples from Teresa of Avila, John Wesley, persecuted Chinese house churches, and missionary Adoniram Judson's immense suffering in Burma to show that hardship doesn't equal lack of faith or God's disfavour. Vines critiques prosperity gospel teaching that ties suffering to sin, instead pointing to Paul's perspective in 2 Corinthians 4—that outward hardship coexists with inward renewal, and that light, momentary troubles are producing eternal glory for those who fix their eyes on what is unseen.

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