History
Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849. Freedom, for her, was not a finish line. She returned south again and again —…
Courage · Identity · Calling
Tubman · Luke 15 · Philippians 2
History
Eighty-six years
Martyrdom of Polycarp (mid-2nd century)
When they told the old bishop to swear by Caesar and revile Christ, Polycarp answered that he had served him eighty-six years and been done no wrong — how could he blaspheme his King? The martyrdom account is early and careful enough to trust in outline. Courage here is not youth. It is a long memory of being kept. Some faithfulness is just refusing to trade a lifetime at the last hour.
How you’d preach it
Use with older saints, and with younger ones who think conviction is a phase. The sentence is simple enough to memorize.
- Courage
- Faith
- Calling
Polycarp · Revelation 2 · Matthew 10
Revelation 2:10; Matthew 10:32–33