Suffering

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, and the daily updates informing us of the ever-expanding scope of devastation and suffering it has caused to our state, many of us have a pressing urge to do something. This is a good instinct; it's much like the feeling Jesus had when he looked and saw the crowds and "had compassion for them". It's right for us to suffer with our brothers and sisters who are suffering, and the thousands who don't have the hope of the gospel. Even if you don’t carry the burden of action, the burden to pray is appropriate.

Some of…

As the reality of death lives with us this week and in the season to come, may these words, written by J.C. Ryle and given to me by Cassie Sasser, encourage you:

"In Our Dying Hour"  [1]

The day may come when after a long fight with disease, we shall feel that medicine can do no more, and that nothing remains but to die. Friends will be standing by, unable to help us. Hearing, eyesight, even the power of praying, will be fast failing us. The world and its shadows will be melting beneath our feet. Eternity, with its…

Death. Injustice. Mistreatment. Undeserved job loss. Squandered wealth. Unfulfilling pleasures. Funerals. Meaninglessness. Absurdity. Accomplishments that get forgotten by others. Betrayal. Vanity.

Not the stuff of greeting cards and bedtime stories—but it is the stuff of the book of Ecclesiastes. Sunday we begin a six-week series in this Wisdom book of the Old Testament.

In twelve tight chapters Israel’s King Solomon takes into some of the dark places of life and helps us find understanding. At times we wish his honesty wasn’t quite so...honest. He not only peers into the dark places but he captures the reactions and feelings we have in those…

For this installment we look at Isaiah 40 and the way it presents God as both infinite over us and concerned for us. In hard times we need to be confident of both. 

Yesterday we looked at the sobering topic of spousal abuse or domestic violence. We noted how it can be physical or non-physical and is far more common than we’d expect. It is something that Bible condemns and the very opposite of what it requires of husbands and wives. These two posts are a way for the elders to communicate our desire to see victims supported and abusers brought to repentance. The complexity and nature of these issues mean that we can only scratch the surface. There are some resources below if you want to explore the issues further.

A couple weeks ago we briefly looked at the topic of abuse (oppression) within a marriage. The elders felt it would be helpful to add to this with a couple blog posts that speak to some of the issues surrounding spousal abuse—sometimes called “domestic violence,” though it can be physical or non-physical violence... It’s important that you in SGC know and are confident that the elders are ready and willing to protect the abused and call abusers to full account and repentance—legally and spiritually. Unfortunately, it’s all too common to hear stories of failures and breakdowns in how Christians and…

"I want to tell you what God did for me recently, but first I need to tell you what He did a while ago." A God-glorifying testimony today from this beautiful, courageous young women of the power and grace and love of God!

Christians are not immune from self-hatred. Here is an excerpt from Tony Reinke's introduction to his interview with David Powlison on the topic of self-hatred. As Powlison unpacks this struggle, he shows us how common it is.

To know the glory of God and treasure Him above all things is what we were made for, but from the beginning we fell grievously short, treasuring created things above God. But God sent His son to be born for us; to be tempted, suffer, and die for us, bearing the weight of our sin and the punishment we deserved. And when the day of judment is done, those who are in Christ will live forever where the streets shine with the glory of the Lamb—because that very Lamb, once a babe in Bethlehem, has saved us.

If it’s true that grief leaves you with a limp, then we must have been quite a disabled crew. Each Monday for thirteen weeks, we trudged in from the cold to pray, listen, and process the reality of our unique losses, ranging from the natural (and still devastating) loss of mothers and fathers, to the tragic and sudden loss of young life. But if you had peeked in the window at 401 Upchurch St. those evenings, you wouldn’t have only seen tears.