FFC Rural

It’s not natural to enjoy suffering. We all, as humans, want to be exempt from it. Yet, ironically, no one is.

That’s why endurance is such a key word for the Christian. All of us, at some point, will be called upon to embrace difficulties and trials. Some longer than others, and to a greater degree than others. But endurance will be necessary for every believer, endurance that is vulnerably transparent, humbly honest, and longingly hopeful.

It is to this end that we turn to the Psalms, specifically the Psalms of Lament. These songs of the Hebrews, written in times of deep despair and distress, are human cries to God in the middle of suffering and struggle. Without a doubt each “complainer” is seeking God’s deliverance, whether individually or collectively; but the apparent delay of divine action puts each lamenter into a vice grip of sorts, squeezing them to verbalize their frustration with what they are going through mixed with their faith in who they are mourning to.

In the end, confidence emerges, but it’s not a shallow, blind confidence. It’s a tested confidence; a refined-by-fire faith that knows what it means to truly hope with deep and often sorrowful longings, not simply wish with wide-eyed, fix-it-in-the-moment, Jeanie-in-a-bottle fancies.

We invite you to explore these Psalms with us, relating not only to the human emotion expressed in each, but depending on the divine truth revealed in each. Let’s identify with both the hurt and the hope, learning how to live with lamenting and longing as we wait for the soon return of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Whether it’s the universal church globally or our individual church locally, there are specific things that matter. A lot! Join us the rest of January as we explore four of those important elements from 1 Timothy, seeing how they matter to the BIG C church, as well as to the little c church we know as First Family. Through corporate teaching on the weekend, digital content in your Small Groups, and journals for individual weekly use, this series will utilize multiple avenues and resources to help you truly maximize the matter of church.

God’s call to endure joyfully is based on the truth that we are saved securely. And the sanctification we are promised and pursue will not only occur in spite of persecution, but actually because of it. What a foundation for perseverance—that God is making us holy in the very middle of hostility. This is the message Peter proclaims in his first letter, a message of confidence and hope for God’s chosen people in times of uncertainty and doubt. Join us throughout 2022 as we explore 1 Peter in various ways, growing deeper into the reality of God’s certain work even in our current suffering.

It’s the doctrine underneath every other doctrine, the crucial chain upon which hangs all the beautiful diamonds in the necklace of biblical theology. Yes, union with Christ is the foundation you rarely see underneath the house you love to live in! Listen as we unearth this doctrinal foundation as presented in Ephesians 1-3, shining a light on the incredible truths you are so deeply grateful for and probably never even knew it.

With the indicatives firmly under our feet—what God has done in Christ as laid out in Ephesians 1-3—discover the imperatives that flow from our life in this series of messages from Ephesians 4-6. “Walking with Christ” is a study aimed at helping us flesh out practically what we know is true doctrinally, namely, our union with Christ.