Welcome to our service today. It is great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee.

As we make our journey from our homes on earth to our one great home in Heaven, we can endure pain and grief which can come in all sorts of shapes and forms. But if we are in Christ, we have the assurance that none of the struggles along the way are meaningless, that none of the trials are wasted and none of them unseen by God.

Of course it is not just Christians who have such experiences. Those who reject Christ are not immune from suffering either. However the key difference between our suffering and their suffering is that no matter what, we have the assurance that the suffering we experience here is not a foretaste of hell but a refinement for heaven. Christian suffering is always purposeful, always accomplishing something good, for through our suffering God makes us more like Christ. Through it He orients our hearts so they long to be where Christ is. Through it He shapes our character so it will be at home in Heaven. Through it He changes our desires so we lose interest in the pleasures of this earth and instead long for the pleasures above. 

With love & blessings,

Sandra