What if life's hardest moments are the places where God makes you more like him?

In Peter's first letter to early believers, he says that's exactly what can happen.

Because Jesus endured the ultimate suffering on our behalf, we now have the power and the hope

to face anything life throws at us.

In today's message, Tim Keller takes a closer look at how God shapes us through troubles

so that we can reflect his glory.

Many of you know that we had been traveling through a book of the Bible, the book of Ephesians,

and starting tonight and going through the rest of the year, we're going to look at a new book

by even a new author, except his name starts with a P.

We're going to look at the first epistle of Peter.

And we're going to start slow.

And some of you say, oh my gosh, another 10-year series on a book of the Bible.

But we must start slow.

Peter was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. and he wrote this letter, and even, just to show what a great pastor, Peter was, in the very address, he puts the entire message of the Bible and the

gospel.

See, you know, if I was this kind of pastor, when I sent you a memo, you know, I say to, you know, Jack and Jim and Jerry and Susan from Tim regarding something like that, usually date, that's all I have. Take a look at Peter. Here's a pastor. In the heading of the memo, two, he puts the whole gospel, the whole message of the Bible.

And Peter is writing to a group of people who are going through tremendous suffering and are about to go through more.

In chapter 1, verse 6, it says, which we're not going to get to tonight in this you greatly rejoice

though now for a little while you are suffering grief in all kinds of trials in chapter 413

he talks about the fact that don't be surprised by the trials that you are in now present tense

which means though we don't exactly know what the nature of the

trials were, Peter is speaking to people who are suffering tremendously. Some of their family members

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