I (Mike Labun) introduce the series, sharing a recent, personal story of suffering along with the suffering of the church in Winnipeg at coincided with the suffering of the church in Abbotsford.

The bible describes suffering as a furnace, crucible, or refiner's fire. Today, we might call these things a forge. In a forge, some metals melt, some evaporate, but the precious metals remain. The forge of suffering is meant to refine us, and to melt away that in us which is impure. But for some, it melts their faith entirely.

CORRECTION: After doing this sermon, I was graciously corrected on my timeline for AVC. For example, Gary Best's resignation was in June 2019, not June 2018.

But that means that David Ruis' message in July 2018 was NOT so much describing the past for AVC, but prophetically predicting AVC's 2018-2019 year. While the shaking had begun for AVC already by July 2018, there's no way he could have known - in the natural - how much more shaking was coming.