Your Problem Has A Name | Stephen Chandler | Sermon Notes — Hello Pastor

Sermon Notes

Your Problem Has A Name

Stephen Chandler

Union Church • Mar 17, 2025 • 48 min

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Take this message with you through a journey of Scripture, reflection, and prayer.

Summary

In this message, Pastor Stephen Chandler explores the spiritual fruit of longsuffering, revealing that biblical patience is ultimately about how we handle frustrating and difficult people. True spiritual depth is shown not by avoiding life's irritations, but by allowing the Holy Spirit to produce patience, grace, and love within us. By remembering how much mercy God has shown us and filling our hearts with His Spirit daily, we can extend grace to ourselves and overflow with Christlike patience toward others.

Themes

Longsuffering and PatienceGrace for Frustrating PeopleTrusting God's TimingSpiritual Growth and OverflowGratitude and Self-Grace

Pastor's Points

1.

My patience begins with God.

2.

I must first extend patience to myself.

3.

What is in me overflows.

Key Points

1.
My patience begins with God.
2.
I must first extend patience to myself.
3.
What is in me overflows.
4.
Longsuffering is not merely enduring tough circumstances, but developing patience with difficult people.
5.
How easily we are irritated by others is often a direct reflection of our spiritual depth rather than their behavior.
6.
When God seems slow in fulfilling a promise, His delay is rooted in mercy rather than neglect, often using waiting periods so others can come to repentance.
7.
Extending patience to others requires maintaining a heart of gratitude for how much grace God has shown us in our own transformation.
8.
We cannot control when life or difficult people bump into us, but we can control what we fill our hearts with through the Holy Spirit.
9.

Sermon Moments

“Any old heathen can turn a car on that they know is going to start. It takes a man of God, it takes a woman of God full of faith.”

“Longsuffering was not a word that was indicating how to go through a storm. Longsuffering was a word that indicated how to deal with difficult people.”

“I discovered that the amount that somebody irritates me is more of an indication of my spiritual depth than it is of their annoyance.”

“If there is anything in your life that God has promised you and has not yet fulfilled, it is only because someone else's eternity is in the balance.”

“When I live my life from a place of understanding who I was before I met him and who I am now in him, it's always easy to show grace to somebody else.”

“You can't control who bumps into you. But you can control what you fill the cup with.”

This Week

Practice pausing and taking a deep breath when someone irritates you, remembering how much grace God has extended to you.

Refrain from negative self-talk and extend patience to yourself when you fall short or make a mistake.

Trust God's timing during a season of waiting or delay, recognizing that He may be working for someone else's good through the delay.

Daily declare God's promises over your life when you are tempted to grow impatient with your current circumstances.

Intentionally fill your mind and heart each morning with Scripture, prayer, and worship so peace overflows when unexpected stress arises.

Look at frustrating or difficult people through the eyes of compassion, recognizing that they are simply people in process.

Ask the Holy Spirit daily to produce His fruit of longsuffering in your heart rather than relying on your own willpower to be patient.

Remember This

Your reaction when people or circumstances bump into you reveals what you have filled your heart with, so daily rely on the Holy Spirit to fill you with God's grace, peace, and patience.

A Challenge for You

Remember where God brought you from, surrender your impatience to Him, and allow His love and grace to fill your heart so that His patience overflows to everyone you encounter.

These are personal sermon notes shared to help you remember the message — not a replacement for Scripture, your church, or your pastors.