Key points
- 1
1Knowing about Jesus and truly knowing Jesus are two entirely different things; transformation only begins when we surrender to His lordship.
“knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus, they're not the same thing”
- 2
2In God's upside-down kingdom, greatness is measured by servanthood—if servanthood is beneath you, leadership is beyond you.
“if servanthood is beneath you, leadership is beyond you”
- 3
3Trials are unavoidable, unpredictable, and uncomfortable, but believers are called to 'consider' them as opportunities for great joy.
- 4
4God uses the testing of our faith to grow endurance—a God-given grit to keep going when it would be easier to quit.
“Though you and I can't control your season, what we can control is our spirit”
Illustration
A series of biblical heroes — Noah, Daniel, and others — cited as examples of faith-tested people who all walked through trials
- 5
5God cares more about who you are becoming than what you are achieving; trials are the primary tool He uses to shape our character.
“God cares more about who you're becoming than what it is you're achieving”
- 6
6We endure by keeping our eyes on Jesus, who Himself endured the cross for the joy set before Him and is our ultimate model of perseverance.
“the greatest lie of the enemy is that there is no purpose to your pain”
- 7
7When you don't know how to take the next step, ask God for wisdom—He gives it generously and without rebuke.
“pain will do one of two things to you. It will make you better or it will make you bitter”
Illustration
The experience of getting a tattoo used as an analogy for willingly enduring pain when its purpose is understood
A story from life
Preacher recounts two Christmas-morning prank exchanges between his younger brothers Gregory and Dennis involving boxes of dog poop, used to illustrate how implausible it would be to believe a sibling was God
Application
Pastor Daniel calls every listener to make two decisive choices. First, move beyond knowing facts about Jesus to genuinely surrendering to His lordship—because only that relationship transforms us. Second, when a hard season hits—and it will—resist the instinct to conclude that God is absent or unkind. Instead, 'consider' it: pause, look for what God is producing, and choose to let the trial make you better rather than bitter. Practically, this means asking God daily for wisdom (James 1:5), keeping your eyes on Jesus as the One who modeled endurance through suffering, and showing up to serve others even—especially—when life is hard. The goal is not comfort; it is becoming the person God is shaping you to be so that one day you can hear, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.'
