The Mystery of Suffering Saints – 1 Peter 4:12-19

Gulf Coast Community Church - Sunday Sermons

Speaker: Jerry Cisar

“Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy cows, and cows make milk, and milk makes ice cream, and ice cream makes you happy.” So reads a dishtowel I bought on vacation this past summer. It is rooted in the cliché that “money can’t buy you happiness.” But who said?

We aren’t supposed to question that (and certainly not a preacher); it is an unquestionable assumption: “Money can’t make you happy.” But there are plenty of rich people who would argue otherwise, and plenty of poor people who would like to give it a try.

The other side of the coin of that assumption is: “Jesus makes you happy.” Though rarely spoken, this is also an unquestionable assumption among many Christians. In their evangelism, some suggest that people are unhappy because they have a need which only Jesus can fill.

It’s no wonder then that many are disillusioned when, in their long walk of faith, they often experience unhappiness. We all swim in the waters of “Jesus makes you happy” to one degree or another, and for this reason 1 Peter 4:12-19 may seem foreign to us.

Handout: http://media.gccc.net/2021/10/20211024.pdf