Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Our Faith Defines Our Suffering....

One of my favorite series we've done at Elevation is itunes. During one of the sermons Pastor Steven talked about suffering and I was recently reminded of a powerful statement that still resonates in my spirit is "our faith defines our suffering....suffering does not define our faith." It was an incredible creed of the christian faith. Where's my faith in troubled times? Is God still great in tragedy? Is God still good in the midst of struggle? Is He still loving when your world is falling apart?

Elevation has lost a wonderful part of our family. Danny Kellas, one of our volunteers at Butler and a close personal friend passed away yesterday. I'll share more about Danny later. Below is a photo of my friend when I had the privilege of baptizing him last February....this Friday I'll have the privilege of preaching his memorial service...

Does your faith define your suffering or does your suffering define your faith?



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Danny was on my Greeter Team at Butler. He always called me "Boss", he would say, "where do you need me today boss". He was at the Uptown worship service when my greeters almost got arrested. He always picked at me about that, as a matter of fact, the last email I got from him he said, "don't get arrested, I don't want to have to get you out of jail". He was an AWESOME greeter, with a big smile and a big heart. He will certainly be missed.

Gail

Diane said...

Kelley and I speak of Danny often and are so thankful for his part in our lives and leading us to Elevation! His impact on our lives will never be forgotten! WE miss him!

Diane