The German army drove deep into Allied territory and threatened to inflict terrible casualties on the Allied divisions. The Allied commander refused to surrender, but could barely hang on. Patton's third Army was south of the fighting in the Ardennes Forest, but was called to supply reinforcements. Driving at top speed, without stopping, through the night, Patton's troops astonished everyone by arriving in time to relieve the beleaguered Allies and reverse the course of the battle. What began as a great German victory ended as the decisive defeat for the Third Reich.
Conflict is an inevitable part of life.
Ever since Cain killed Able, people have been at odds with each other, and often this takes an ugly turn. When kingdoms and nations are involved, the conflict is simply on a larger scale. We have been looking at the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus' vision of his Kingdom and have discussed the character of this Kingdom as revealed in the Beatitudes. Tonight we will look at what happens when Jesus' Kingdom encounters the world around it. They ended by showing what happens when the Kingdom gets back into the world - persecution.