7:00 p.m. Friday--Round table with audience participation (Dr. H. Martin Christian, Mr. David Jones, Rev. Tom Bier, and Rev. Bernard deCosta)
7:00 p.m. Saturday--Pastor Bernard deCosta teaching
11:00 p.m. Sunday morning--Pastor Bernard deCosta teaching
Jesus came to bring life and...
suffered.
Tell people they are going to heaven because of the cross, but don't forget that Jesus said "You're going to be hated and persecuted because of me."
* What kinds of suffering can we reasonably expected?
* Is there a sick kind of Christian martyrdom complex?
* How will our lifestyle, choices, jobs and free time be liberated when we understand Jesus' call to carry our cross daily?
"The Paradox of Christian Suffering Weekend"
May 21-23.
Guest speaker:
Pastor Iran Bernard deCosta, Brasilia, Brazil.
Theologian, Dietrich Bonheffer, killed by the Nazi's in 1945, wrote that "Our God is a suffering God." Obviously, Jesus, God, suffered!
Christian suffering, by contrast, is a specific kind of suffering which, for Bonhoeffer has three main features: first, it is voluntary; second, it is bearing the burdens of others; and, third, it is done for the sake of Christ. This is suffering that one freely and gladly assumes in the loving of one's neighbor or neighborhood. As such, it is nothing other than answering the demands of Christian discipleship. According to Bonhoeffer, this suffering entails the active following of Jesus into a hurting and often hostile world, doing the "extraordinary" not from some heroic impulse but from the prompting of the Spirit of Christ."
Bonhoeffer's favorite passage of Scripture for summing up his concern was Paul's admonition, "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2).