Slide 2:
9 “But take heed to yourselves; for they will deliver you up to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them.
10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
12 And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;
13 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Slide 3:
This passage is just another example of how the Gospels tell us about the life we are presently living.
Have you had a child who became an adult and decided they didn’t believe in God?
Have you had a brother or sister who decided religion is just a myth?
Have your parents been poor examples of Christian living and thus you think all Christians are hypocrites? Have friends turned their backs and walked away from you because of your religious views?
Religious issues have divided families and friends over the past, present, and will continue until the second coming (cf. Mk. 13:12; Luke 12:50–53).
In short you and your family have been persecuted by other relatives and friends that want you to follow the way of the world instead of God.
Slide 4:
We don’t have to be fearful about speaking out or defending our faith.
But to believe and endure to the end will take perseverance because our own faith and beliefs will be challenged and opposed by others.
Fair-weather believers will be sifted out of the church and will fly away like chaff in the wind.
The early Church faced persecutions why now would it be any different? Yes, persecutions are difficult to deal with but remember what St. Paul said in his first letter to Timothy 4:16 “Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”