Sermon Quotes: "A Rare Jewel for a Pandemic"

“I am drawn to people who suffer without murmuring. Especially when they believe in God but never get angry with him or criticize him. It seems to me that not murmuring is one of the rarest traits in the world. And when it is combined with a deep faith in God-who could alter our painful circumstances, but doesn’t-it has a beautiful God-trusting, God-honoring quality that makes it all the more attractive. Paul was like that…Watching Paul maintain his humble, God-dependent, Christ-cherishing contentment through all his sufferings causes me to stand in awe of this man.” John Piper

“To see a man humbled by his prosperity, this is rare indeed.” Jeremiah Burroughs

“His contentment is focused on all that he enjoys of Christ Jesus.” D.A. Carson

“Since God is contented with Himself alone, if you have Him, you may be contented with Him alone, and it may be, that is the reason why your outward comforts are taken from you, that God may be all in all to you. It may be that while you had these things they shared with God in your affection, a great part of the stream of your affection ran that way: God would have the full stream run to him now.” Jeremiah Burroughs

“There are a thousand things I don’t remember about those days in seminary, but that afternoon remains unforgettable. And all he said was, “John, I love Jesus Christ.” His chief legacy in my life was one statement on an afternoon in Pasadena. “I love Jesus Christ.” John Piper

“And as I say it, I want to make clear what I mean:
*I admire Jesus Christ more than any other human or angelic being.
*I enjoy his ways and his words more than I enjoy the ways and words of anyone else.
*I want his approvalmore than I want the approval of anyone else.
*I want to be with himmore than I want to be with anyone else.
*I feel more grateful to him for what he has done for me than I do to anyone else.
*I trust his words more fully than I trust what anyone else says.
*I am more glad in his exaltationthan in the exaltation of anyone else, including me.
Would you pray with me that we would love Jesus Christ more than we have ever have?” John Piper