Suffering

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.

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series, Wisdom for Suffering. The idea of this series is to take four books in the Wisdom Literature of the Bible and approach them with this question, "What does this have to tell me about suffering?" The sermons will look at the book of Job (Aug. 2), the book of Psalms (Aug. 9, 16), the book of Proverbs (Aug. 23), and the book of Ecclesiastes (Aug. 30).

The issue of suffering is a massive and complex one. This is true at a personal level, because my suffering has unique elements to it that…

This is a third post from guest blogger, Josh Blount, our friend from the Appalachians who pastors in Franklin, WV.

Just under three years ago our church lost Scott Monroe, but our collective loss was nothing compared to what the Monroe family experienced themselves. It taught all of us a great deal about the earthly side of death—a side very different from the heavenly side of it that Scott joyfully experienced in a brilliant moment. As a church we are still learning how to come alongside those who have faced trials and tragedies very different from our own, but this is what Christian love and compassion call us to do. In this note from Carla, she shares something of the way the church has entered into her suffering these last several years. We hope it is both encouraging and challenging for you.