1. SEO-Optimized YouTube Description

How do you keep going when life gets hard, faith is tested, and following Jesus comes with real opposition? In this message from Big Valley Grace Community Church, Pastor Joel teaches from Acts 14:19–23 and shows how Jesus gives His people the peace they need to persevere through persecution, hardship, grief, suffering, and every difficult season.

Paul is stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead—yet he gets back up, returns to the city, and continues the mission God gave him. His response is not a picture of human toughness. It is a picture of the power of Jesus working through a surrendered life.

This message explores how to find peace in difficult seasons, how Christians can persevere through spiritual opposition, what biblical peace really means, and how the Holy Spirit strengthens believers when life feels overwhelming. Jesus never promised a trouble-free life, but He did promise His presence and His peace.

If you are walking through hardship, persecution, loss, anxiety, or uncertainty, this message offers Christian encouragement rooted in Scripture: no matter how tough, His peace is enough.

#PeaceInJesus #PerseveringFaith #Acts14 #ChristianEncouragement #FaithThroughTrials

2. Key Verses

Acts 14:19–23 — Core Passage

Paul is stoned and left for dead, but after the disciples gather around him, he gets up and continues the mission. Paul and Barnabas return to strengthen believers, encouraging them to remain faithful through hardship and reminding them that entering the kingdom of God will involve tribulation. They establish leaders in the churches and entrust them to the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:12–13

“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” — NIV

Paul’s words to Timothy reinforce the reality that following Jesus does not eliminate hardship or opposition.

John 15:20

“Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” — NIV

Jesus teaches that the response people have toward His followers will ultimately reflect their response toward Him.

John 16:33 — Core Passage

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” — NIV

Jesus does not deny the reality of trouble. He promises that His followers can experience peace in Him because He has already overcome the world.

Luke 22:28–30

Jesus tells His disciples that because they have remained with Him through His trials, they will share in His kingdom and have a place at His table. The passage points believers toward the eternal destination that makes perseverance worthwhile.

Galatians 5:22–23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” — NIV

The presence of the Holy Spirit produces peace within the believer even when external circumstances are difficult.

John 14:26–27

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” — NIV

Jesus makes His peace available through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.

3. Small Group Guide

Session Overview

Following Jesus does not mean avoiding difficulty. Acts 14 shows Paul experiencing extreme persecution while continuing to faithfully pursue God’s mission. The central promise of this message is that Jesus gives us peace powerful enough to help us persevere through whatever we face.

Icebreaker

When life gets stressful or difficult, what is usually the first thing you reach for to help yourself keep going?

Discussion Questions

What stood out most to you about Paul’s response after being stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead?

Jesus repeatedly tells His followers to expect hardship while also promising them peace. What does that reveal about the kind of life Jesus is inviting us to live?

The message contrasts biblical peace with simply having comfortable circumstances or prosperity. How would you describe the difference between having a peaceful situation and having the peace of Jesus?

Pastor Joel describes Jesus’ peace as enough to carry us through persecution and therefore enough for whatever lesser difficulty we may face. Where are you currently tempted to believe that your situation is bigger than the peace Jesus can provide?

Paul and Barnabas returned to the places where they had experienced opposition and continued strengthening other believers. Where might God be asking you to return, re-engage, forgive, serve, or keep moving forward instead of allowing a painful experience to define your future?

The message says, “No matter how tough, His peace is enough.” What would receiving and living from the peace of Jesus look like practically in your life this week?

Weekly Application Challenge

Identify one area of difficulty you are currently facing. Every day this week, spend five focused minutes praying over that situation and asking Jesus specifically for His peace.

Read John 16:33 each day and remind yourself that your circumstances do not have to become peaceful before you can experience the peace of Christ.

At the end of the week, ask: “Did I respond to difficulty from fear and self-reliance, or did I increasingly learn to receive the peace Jesus was offering me?”

Clean Transcript

Well, we’re going through the book of Acts. If you have a Bible, you can turn to Acts chapter 14. We spent a couple months this summer looking at chapters 1 through 10.

Then we spent six weeks looking at chapter 2 specifically regarding the future for our church, the vision for our church over the next five years. Now, over these two months, October and November, we’ve been looking at about chapters 10 through 15.

When we get to the end of 15, we’re going to release you on your own in the book of Acts for you to continue.

But today, we’re going to be in Acts 14:19–23.

If you don’t have a Bible, we want to give you a Bible today. We have a room right over here, our prayer room. If you need prayer after the gathering, come to the prayer room. Our team will be ready to pray with you.

But we also have Bibles, and we want to make sure that everyone has a copy of God’s Word. It will be at no cost to you. It’ll be our gift to you. We want to make sure everyone has a Bible.

In Acts chapter 14, verses 19–23:

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city.

On the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

When they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Let’s pray together.

Father God, Lord, we thank You that we have Your Word.

Lord, we have You. We have Your Word. We have Your Spirit. We’ve got everything we need.

Lord, help us to obey You.

God, as Your Word is going to be instructive to our lives, God, help us to obey You. Help us to be more obedient to You because we have gathered to worship You today.

God, would You be working in each of us, helping us to take a next step towards You and what You have for us in our life?

We need Your help, God. We need Your help. And so, I’m asking for it. Will You please help us?

I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.

And all God’s family said, amen.

Now, this text has context before it. If you missed last week, then I would encourage you to go and watch the message from last weekend.

Pastor Scott Elliott did a great job teaching through the passage that comes right before this, and that’ll be really helpful.

So when we go through this text, you might have a bunch of questions about, “What is this? What is that?”

Just go left in your Bible. All right? Just backtrack a little bit and read there.

Really, more than a chapter is dealing with what’s leading up to what we’re going to read right here. But also, last week’s message will be helpful for you. It’s available for free on our website if you want to watch it.

But this text, what it’s describing is a tension moment where things are building to a moment of incredible tension.

There are these Jews who are really upset, and they’re coming from these different towns. They’re following the apostles and they’re coming after Paul.

It says that they stoned him.

They took up rocks and threw them at him for the purpose of killing him.

They think they killed him.

They drag what they think is his dead body outside a town, and they leave him there.

The disciples come around him, and he’s not dead. He rises up and he comes back into the city.

Then he keeps serving.

It is an incredible account.

Now, right from the beginning here as we get into this, there’s a danger that we have.

The danger that we have is that we can look at this and go, “Well, this is just too extreme for me to be able to relate to it. This is too far away in history. It’s too different than what I’ve experienced.”

We could immediately shut off and stop listening to what God has for us to learn in this passage because we see that it’s too distant from our personal experience.

That would be a mistake because we’d miss what God has for us.

I have never been stoned and dragged out of the city and left for dead.

I’ve never had people pick up rocks and throw them at my body for the purpose of killing me.

I’ve never had that experience.

You may have never been stoned.

Well, some of you have been stoned, but that’s different.

You know who you are, and I know who you are, but that’s not what I’m talking about right now. I’m not talking about that.

You may never have had somebody pick up rocks and throw them at you for the purpose of killing you.

But I know this.

I know that I have had varying levels of difficulty.

I’ve experienced varying levels of difficulty in my life.

I’ve experienced varying levels of difficulty in my mind, the things I think about.

I’ve experienced varying levels of difficulty in my body, the pain that I’ve experienced in my body when my body’s not doing what it’s supposed to be doing.

I’ve experienced various levels of difficulty in my relationships when relationships don’t go well and, frankly, it’s just super dysfunctional.

I’ve experienced varying levels of difficulty in grief and in loss and in the feeling that there is something that should be present that is now missing, and I feel incomplete.

Some of the levels of difficulty that I’ve experienced, I actually caused them.

They’re from the inside of me.

I created the situation that caused me to have the difficulty.

Some of the difficulty that I’ve experienced came externally. Something outside of me or someone outside of me did something that led to me experiencing great difficulty.

One thing I know for sure according to what the Bible teaches is that sin leads to death.

Because of the sin I chose, it put me on a path towards death.

So, I may not have experienced somebody picking up rocks and throwing them at me for the purpose of killing me, but I know that I’ve experienced varying levels of difficulty.

There’s a kid who grew up in this town—the town that Paul was stoned in, dragged outside the city, and left for dead.

A kid grew up in that town.

That kid’s name is Timothy.

That kid grew up and met Paul, who was stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead in his hometown.

Paul and Timothy are now in relationship, and Timothy ends up being somebody that God uses in a huge way.

In fact, in your Bible, there are two books named after him: First and Second Timothy.

This is what Paul writes to Timothy.

He says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

In other words, he writes to him and says, “Hey, kid, don’t forget what happened to me in your hometown.

“You really want to follow Jesus? Don’t forget what happened to me in your hometown.

“They picked up rocks and they threw those rocks at me, and they dragged me out of the city and they left me for dead.

“That was in your hometown, kid.

“Don’t you forget it.

“You want to follow after Jesus like I’m following after Jesus? You desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus?

“Hey, kid, it’s going to be hard.

“There are evil people. There are impostors.

“You think it’s bad now? It’s going to get even worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

So, kid, don’t forget about what happened in the town you grew up in.

Don’t forget about your hometown.

Don’t forget what happened to me.

You want to follow after Jesus like I’m following after Jesus?

You can expect persecution.

Now, I’m guessing that we as a community who are desiring to follow Jesus Christ can relate together to various levels of difficulty that we’ve experienced, various pain that we’ve experienced, various hardships that we’ve experienced, various trouble, tribulation, persecution—whatever the levels of difficulty are.

I’m guessing as a community together we can relate to going through hard stuff.

Together as a community, we can relate to living in a culture that is rapidly decaying right now.

Our culture, at a very fast pace, is moving away from God.

It is moving away from His truth very quickly.

We can relate to that together.

I find it interesting that there’s a promise in the Bible about persecution.

So apparently, not all the promises in the Bible are about us being happy.

“Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.”

“All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Now, fortunately, we’ve got more of the Bible, and there is great news.

I’m going to share with you the great news, and then we’re going to walk through how to understand that great news so that we can apply it to our lives for when things get tough.

And they’re going to.

This is the great news:

Jesus gives peace to persevere through persecution.

Jesus gives peace to persevere through persecution.

On the list of tribulations, the list of trouble, if persecution is, let’s say, somewhere near the top on the difficulty scale—which I think it probably is—if persecution is near the top of the list of trouble, the list of tribulations, and the peace that Jesus gives is enough to help us persevere through persecution, well, what does that mean?

It means that anything we face—you swap that word persecution out with anything we face—and guess what?

The peace of Jesus is enough to get us through it.

The peace of Jesus is enough.

No matter how tough, His peace is enough.

Jesus gives peace to persevere through persecution.

So in our text, in verse 19:

“But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium.”

Let me tell you, these Jews were ticked.

Let me tell you how I know they were ticked.

They left their jobs. They stopped getting paid. They went on a very long journey to follow Paul to this location.

When they get there, they’re persuading the crowd.

So they’re having their secret riot meetings. They’re having their in-the-dark conversations. They’re talking trash behind people’s backs.

Sounds like a great group of people, right?

They’re stirring everybody up.

For what purpose?

They stoned Paul.

They picked up rocks to throw them at a human being’s body for the purpose of killing them.

There is a lust that is so fueled by hate that it is called bloodlust, and it is satisfied watching someone die.

How sick is that?

That’s what this is describing.

People who are so motivated by evil that their evil is satisfied to kill someone.

That’s super messed up.

It’s super dark.

Then they drag him out of the city because they think they did it.

They think they did a good job, and they think they killed him.

So they drag him out of the city and just leave him there.

They think he’s dead.

They just leave him, and they think they solved their problem.

This is about real people in a real location.

This is not a fairy tale.

This is not an imaginary story.

Certainly wouldn’t make a good bedtime story.

This is not fake.

This is real history.

Real people.

In the text prior that Scott taught on last week, it describes this crowd.

This crowd in the text prior thinks Paul and Barnabas are some kind of gods, and they want to worship them as gods.

Now, in this text, the same crowd, the same group of people who wanted to worship them as gods, now wants to kill them.

They went from idolizing to wanting to annihilate them.

What does that tell you about the crowd?

Man, the crowd is so easily moved.

One day the crowd wants to worship him.

The next day the crowd wants to kill him.

One day the crowd wants to idolize him.

The next day they want to annihilate him.

Look, if you see everybody doing something, you might want to check to see if you should do it.

Probably a pretty good indicator.

If everyone’s doing it, it’s probably not for you.

Be very careful about having the crowd lead you.

Now, you may look at this and go, “That is so distant. That is so historically distant from me, and this is so distant from what I experience as a person. I don’t know if I can relate.”

I just want to challenge you.

Be very careful about thinking a text like this is distant.

It may be closer to your doorstep than you realize.

It may be closer than you realize.

Number one: We can expect persecution for Jesus.

We can expect persecution for Jesus.

If the Bible says that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God, if the Bible says all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, then we can expect persecution for Jesus.

In the United States of America, we can have a real false sense of security, big time, and think, “Well, because we’re in the United States of America, we’re not going to experience this. This is going to be things that people experience outside of the United States of America.”

But I just want to challenge us on that.

That’s a real false sense of security because what the Bible teaches is that we can expect persecution for Jesus.

I wonder how many people picked up on what our missionaries shared this last month.

We had seven missionaries here from all over the world.

One was from Mission India.

I wonder how many people picked up on the prayer request from Mission India.

It was: “Please pray for the hundreds of pastors who are currently imprisoned in India.”

Please pray for the hundreds of pastors who are currently imprisoned in India.

We’ve got to be super careful by going, “Oh, that’s so distant.”

No.

These are people we are supporting as a church.

These are people who are in partnership with us in the ministry.

As a local body, we are financially supporting Mission India, and there are hundreds of pastors who are imprisoned for their faith.

This is what Jesus said, John 15:20:

“Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”

What is this describing?

This is describing the Jesus test.

What is the Jesus test?

If they honor Jesus, they will honor the follower of Jesus.

If they dishonor Jesus, they will dishonor the follower of Jesus.

Whatever a person does with Jesus, the person will do the same thing to the follower of Jesus.

It’s the Jesus test.

What does that teach us?

It’s not actually about us.

This is not actually about us.

It is actually about Jesus and what someone does with Jesus.

Now, you may be going, “Man, I thought I came to church to be encouraged. This is super depressing because they put Him on a cross.

“That’s what they did with Jesus. They put Him on a cross and they killed Him.”

Well, we’ve got to keep reading in our text in Acts chapter 14, verse 20.

Paul’s outside the city. They left him for dead.

It says, “When the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and entered the city. And on the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.”

So they find him outside the city.

The disciples gather around him.

Everyone thinks he’s dead.

He’s not dead.

He’s not dead.

Not only is he not dead, but two wild things happen.

One: He rose up.

Not only is he not dead, but he rose up.

How is that possible?

Stones were taken and thrown at his human body for the purpose of killing him.

They thought they got the job done.

They thought he was dead.

He’s not dead.

And he rose up.

That is wild.

He rose up.

The fact he could even stand is wild.

That is wild.

The second thing that is just amazing: He went back into the city.

Where would you go?

Where would you go if this happened to you?

Where would you go?

He goes back into the city where it happened.

I go, “Wow, this is totally different. This is so different than what we experience and understand in how we operate.”

He rose up and he entered the city.

Then the next day, “Hey, we’ve got more work to do. Let’s go, Barnabas. We’ve got another town we need to go to. We’ve got to keep moving.”

This is such a picture of how Jesus changes people and empowers people to do things that they never thought were possible.

There is no way that this is describing how great of a guy Paul is.

That is impossible.

This is describing the power of Jesus Christ in a person.

He was stoned and left for dead, and he rises up and returns to the city.

Number two: We can expect peace from Jesus.

We can expect peace from Jesus.

Paul is not able to do this on his own.

He is able to do this because Jesus is empowering him and giving him peace to operate even when it’s total chaos all around him, to where they picked up stones and threw them at him to kill him.

Well, we can expect peace from Jesus.

Now, in the United States of America, here’s the thing.

We have a real false sense of peacetime.

Let me explain to you why I’m saying this.

We have a false sense of peace in the United States of America.

There is a biblical standard for peace.

It is very high.

The biblical standard for peace is very high.

In the United States of America, you know what we’ve done?

We’ve lowered it down to what is called prosperity, and we’ve called it peace.

We’ve taken the biblical standard for peace. We’ve lowered it down to prosperity, and we go, “That’s peace.”

So as long as there’s gas in the tank, there’s money in the account, and there’s food on the shelves, we’re at peace.

That is not the biblical definition of peace.

The biblical definition of peace is wholeness because we were designed by God and we are operating to serve God in the way that we were designed.

We were created to serve the Lord.

Biblical peace is what we experience when we do what we were designed to do—to serve the Lord who made us and designed us to serve Him.

That is peace and wholeness and completeness.

This is what Jesus said, John 16:33:

“I’ve said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart. I’ve overcome the world.”

This is the fourth text we’ve looked at that says there’s going to be trouble.

Pretty clear teaching in the Bible.

Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

All who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted.

If they persecuted Me, they’ll also persecute you.

In this world, you will have tribulation.

I mean, just super clear teaching in the Bible.

Hey, it’s going to be hard.

This is going to be difficult.

There’s going to be trouble.

But what is Jesus saying?

He’s saying, “You can expect peace from Me.”

“That in Me you may have peace.”

“I’ve said these things to you that in Me you may have peace.”

Yes, you are going to face difficulty.

It is a part of what we will all experience.

But take heart.

I’ve overcome it.

The various levels of difficulty you experience, I have overcome the difficulty.

The pain that you have experienced, I have overcome the pain.

The tribulation that you are experiencing, I have overcome the tribulation.

The persecution, I’ve overcome it.

The grief, the loss, the suffering, I have overcome it.

I’m telling you these things that in Me you may have peace.

“In the world, you will have tribulation, but take heart. I’ve overcome the world.”

We can expect peace from Jesus.

Let me explain it this way.

Apart from Jesus, separated from Jesus, we are like a partially functioning human being.

You know what we call a partially functioning human being?

Dysfunctional.

To be apart from Jesus is to operate dysfunctionally because we were designed to be in relationship with God.

When we come to Jesus, we begin to experience what it means to be complete, what it means to be whole, what it means to live in the way that we were designed and made to live, which is to be in relationship with God and to be serving Him.

With Jesus, we’re complete.

Even in the difficulty.

Even in the trouble.

Even in the persecution.

Even in brokenness.

We find that we’re complete and whole in the peace that Jesus gives.

“That in Me you may have peace.”

It goes on in our text, Acts 14:21.

When they had preached the gospel to that city—they were in Derbe—they preached the gospel to that city and made many more disciples.

So these guys aren’t quitting.

They’re not sitting on the sidelines.

They’re not pouting.

They’re getting at it.

They’re about the business.

God’s business.

They returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch.

They went back to the location.

They went back to the scene of the crime, and they went back to the cities that the people came from.

This is such a clear picture of how the power of Jesus Christ empowers us to do things that we don’t think are possible.

How many times have you said, or heard somebody say, “Oh, I could never talk to that person again.”

“Oh, I could never go back to that location again.”

“Oh, I could never even enter that city again.”

Or, “I could never go back there again. It is impossible for me to ever be in that situation again.”

Whatever that situation is, we talk like that.

We communicate like that.

They went back to the place that he got stoned and left for dead, and they went to the cities that they came from.

This is such a clear picture that God enables us to do things we think are totally impossible, and He can do for us things that we cannot do for ourselves.

God is so much more powerful than we even understand.

He can enable us to do things that we think are impossible, that we would never be able to do.

This text is proof of it because they go right back to those cities, right back to where it was hard, right back to where it was horrible.

They’re getting to work, strengthening the souls of the disciples.

Verse 22, encouraging them to continue in the faith, saying that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

In other words, when they get to Lystra, they’re like, “Hey, this is the city I got stoned in. It’s going to be hard.”

When they went to Antioch, “Hey, people from your city threw rocks at me.”

When they went to Iconium, “Hey, people from your city traveled really, really far. They were really ticked at me. They came after me.”

It’s going to be hard.

Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

But they’re focused on entering the kingdom of God.

We must enter the kingdom of God.

When they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

They have a goal.

They have a goal that is worth achieving.

You know, when our goals are weak, so are we.

Because when our goals are weak, we think that we’re going to be able to do them.

We rely on ourselves, and we’re weak.

But when our goals are like the size of God, and our vision is like God’s vision, and our dreams are God-sized dreams, you know what we do?

We go, “Well, we know that we can’t do that. He’s going to have to do it, and we’re going to have to rely on Him to do it.”

Guess what?

When we rely on God, we’ve got all the strength we need.

We’ve got all the strength that we need because we know it’s not our own strength.

We’re going to rely on the strength of God.

They had in front of them a goal, and their goal is: We must enter the kingdom of God.

And they persevere.

That’s number three.

We can expect perseverance in Jesus.

We can expect persecution for Jesus.

We can expect peace from Jesus.

But we can also expect perseverance in Jesus.

In the United States of America, we have a false sense of fuel.

Like, what fuels us?

Let me give you an example.

What was the first thing you thought of this morning when you got up?

“Oh, if I could only get a cup of—man, I’ll be ready to go.”

That’s what I thought.

So I had one nice hot cup of coffee.

I used to drink it black. Now I put a little half-and-half because I got old.

Then after my first cup of coffee, I was like, “That was so good. I’m going to have a second.”

And I had a second cup of coffee.

After two cups of coffee and a bunch of Jesus, I’m like, “Let’s go. Let’s do this.”

Then what happens in the middle of the day?

Wait, before we get to the middle of the day, some of you are spending like 14 bucks on whatever you’re drinking in the morning.

What is in that thing?

Why is it 14 bucks?

That’s crazy.

It’s like a jar of 14 bucks.

That’s wild.

Then you get to the middle of the day, and you’re like, “You know what? A little iced tea would help me.”

My adult kids, they drink these energy drinks.

I’m like, “Are you sure you want to put that in your body? Because I think it’ll clean my driveway.

“Are you sure you want to put that in your body? Because I think it’ll take those oil stains off right there.”

It’s amazing how all the advertisements, everything around us, is all geared towards: Consume this, drink this, take this, and you’ll be bigger, stronger, faster, more desirable.

Let me tell you something.

There is nothing I can take to make me more desirable.

It’s not going to happen.

It’s all a lie.

That’s all the advertisements around us.

Total false sense of fuel.

Maybe we’ll come to realize we’ve tried everything to keep us going except the One who made us.

Do you think maybe the God who designed us understands how we could get rest?

Do you think the God who designed us might understand what we need to consume?

Do you think the God who designed us might understand how much capacity we have for work and when it’s time to take a break?

Do you think the God who designed us might have the instruction manual for how we work, how we operate?

It’s crazy.

In our culture, we have so bought into, “We’ve got to go buy false fuel,” and we’re trying everything but the One who made us.

These guys had a goal.

The goal was the kingdom.

The King and the kingdom.

Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.

They were fueled passionately because they were going after their Creator, and they knew the vision for their life.

They knew the direction for their life, and they were giving everything they had to go after Him.

That’s what Jesus can do in our lives.

We can expect perseverance in Jesus.

Now, this is what Jesus said, Luke 22:28–30:

“You are those who have stayed with Me in My trials.”

He’s speaking to His disciples.

“You are those who have stayed with Me in My trials. And I assign to you, as My Father assigned to Me, a kingdom.”

He’s like, “Hey, you guys have stuck with Me this whole time. My Father’s given Me a kingdom. I’m giving it to you as well.

“That you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Jesus is saying, “You know where you belong?

“You belong at My table.

“You belong in My kingdom.

“You know where you belong?

“You belong across from Me sharing a meal.

“You know where you belong?

“You belong with the seat that has your name on it at My table, where a meal has been prepared and it’s beautiful and it is waiting for you to enjoy it.

“You belong at a meal with the Messiah in His majestic mansion.

“That’s where you belong.

“At My table in My kingdom.”

Do you think of yourself that way?

Do you think of yourself as a person that Jesus wants to sit at the meal with?

Do you think of yourself as a person who’s been invited to sit at the table with Jesus Christ?

Do you see yourself as valuable enough to receive the invitation?

You’re included, and you belong here, and you’re welcome in this place.

At My table in My kingdom.

You were designed for divine dwellings.

That is what you were made for.

You were designed for divine dwellings.

He’s saying, “You know what your rightful place is?

“It’s with Me at My table in My kingdom.”

We can expect perseverance in Jesus to understand we’re heading towards a goal.

Yeah, there’s trouble.

Yeah, there’s persecution.

There’s hardship.

But we’re focused on where we’re heading because we must enter the kingdom of God, because we were made to be at My table in My kingdom with Jesus.

Now, there are seven points under that in the notes.

I break down the passage of how we have perseverance in Jesus to accomplish ministry.

I would encourage you to take those and go have a conversation with your small group about it.

When you sit at a meal with somebody, look at those seven things and have a conversation.

I just take the passage, break it down, and you can take that on your own and with others.

You can see this is how Jesus gives peace so that we can persevere.

Here are examples of how we can persevere right from this passage.

But I want to come back to the main point.

Jesus gives peace to persevere through persecution.

I want to talk about you.

You have experienced various levels of difficulty.

You have experienced hardship.

You’ve experienced trouble.

You’ve experienced persecution.

You’ve experienced trial.

You’ve experienced tribulation.

You’ve experienced loss.

You’ve experienced grief.

You’ve experienced suffering.

God has seen it all.

He knows what you have experienced.

He loves you.

And He has a gift He wants to give you.

It is His peace.

Everything you have gone through and everything you have experienced, God knows, He sees it, and He understands.

He has a gift He wants to give you, and it is peace.

Jesus gives peace to persevere through persecution or whatever it is that you are facing.

This is what Galatians 5:22–23 says:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Jesus is saying, “This is what’s going to come out of your life when the Spirit of God is in you.”

Jesus gives peace to persevere through persecution or whatever it is we face.

No matter.

Look, you’re not alone.

You are not alone.

You may feel alone, but you are not alone.

We are here together.

We are a community that is following Jesus, and we can link arms and encourage one another to move forward.

You are not alone.

You weren’t made to do this alone.

You don’t have to do this alone.

You’re not alone.

We’re here together and doing this together.

We’re a community that’s following Jesus together.

No matter how tough, His peace is enough.

And we can persevere together.

This is what Jesus said in John 14:26:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and He will bring to your remembrance all that I’ve said to you.”

Verse 27:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your hearts not be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

God is wanting you to receive the peace that you need.

He has made it available in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and He wants you to experience the peace that He has for you.

He’s saying, “I’m giving it to you.”

But we’ve got to receive that.

That’s what I’m going to pray for us right now.

I’m going to pray for us that we would receive the peace that is promised by Jesus Christ from Him, in the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life, that we might be able to operate in peace.

Because here’s what I know.

Whatever you’ve faced, whatever you’re facing, or whatever you’re about to face, you’re going to need peace.

And so am I.

Father God, Lord, thank You for Your Word, and thank You for how it teaches us that we can experience a relationship with You that will impact us in real-life situations.

God, whatever it is that’s been in our past, whatever is in our present, or whatever is coming ahead, God, we need Your peace.

Lord, would You help us to receive the peace that You want to give through Jesus Christ, through the Spirit, that we might welcome the peace in our life?

So no matter what we face, we’ll be able to persevere because of the peace of Jesus Christ.

God, I’m asking for help for all of us.

Would You help us?

I pray this in Jesus’ name.

And all God’s family said, amen.