By
Rev. Juliet Schimpf
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Broadcast
Notes
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LINK to CFRA broadcast of
Sunday, June 7th, 2015)
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'Wrestling with the Word'
PSALM 119
(Reference: Psalm119 (NIV) - Bible Gateway)
1. SITUATING OUR
SUFFERING
2. SURRENDERING
OUR SUFFERING
3. SHINING
THROUGH OUR SUFFERING
1. SITUATING OUR
SUFFERING
We
as Christians are “between two worlds”—“between two worlds”—“already….not yet”
“In
this world you will have trouble. But
take heart! I have overcome the
world.” (Jesus Christ; John 16:33)
On
the one hand, Christ has ushered in the Kingdom of God; Christ is reconciling
all things to Himself and making all things new
On
the other hand, we still live in a broken world—one full of pain and sorrow:
ROMANS
8: “For we know that the whole creation
has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for
adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
THE
MESSAGE: verse 81: “I’m homesick—longing for your salvation; I’m
waiting for your word of hope.”
2.
SURRENDERING OUR SUFFERING
“You
are blessed when you find yourself at the end of your rope.” (The Beatitudes; The Message Translation)
C.S.
LEWIS: “We can ignore even pleasure. But
pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse
a deaf world.”
Martin
Luther: “[Trials] teach you not only to
know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how
lovely, how mighty, how comforting God’s word is: it is wisdom supreme.”
CS Lewis “If you think of this world as a
place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think
of it as a place for correction and it's not so bad.”
Anne
Lamott: “The opposite of faith is not
doubt; it is certainty.”
3.
SHINING THROUGH OUR SUFFERING
2 CORINTHIANS 4 “7But
we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us. 8We are
hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in
despair; 9persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We
always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus
may also be revealed in our body. 11For we
who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his
life may be revealed in our mortal body.
God
is not as concerned about my comfort as He is about my character.
RICK WARREN:
“Since God intends to make you like Jesus, he will take you through the
same experiences Jesus went through. That includes loneliness, temptation,
stress, criticism, rejection, and many other problems.”
NIV
ROMANS 5:3 Not only so, but we also glory in our
sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love
has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given
to us.
Conclusion
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER: “Only a suffering God can help”—God is not
indifferent to human tragedy and pain—We have a God who
can relate to us!
Let us pray:
Our Heavenly Father, We thank you that you are the God of all comfort, and
my prayer, this hour, is that you would pour out fresh comfort to every
listener today.
Every listener is experiencing suffering in some form, be it persecution,
be it poverty, be it sickness, be it worry, be it fear. And my prayer, Lord, is
that every listener today will situate their suffering in the Word of God; that
they will surrender their suffering to the Word of God, and that they will
shine through their suffering with the help of the Word of God.
Lord, I thank you that we have your glorious promise: namely, that we have
your treasure in our jars of clay, and although we may be pressed, we are not
crushed. Although we are persecuted, we are never abandoned. And, although we
may be struck down, we are not destroyed.
We thank you Lord, that although our mortal bodies are fading day by day,
yet, your resurrection light lives within us.
Help us to shine for your glory. Help the world to see that you are real
and that suffering can be overcome, through the love and grace of your glorious
Son, Jesus Christ.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Rev. Juliet Schimpf
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To listen to the above
broadcast, click on the following link:
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