Suffering

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.

Phil's sermon on Sunday helped us all to understand our anxious hearts a little better. It was the first of a four-week series on the subject. Listen to the whole thing to get the complete picture, but here is a list of five truths about anxiety that he shared.

Sometimes we strive, however imperfectly, to do the right thing because we are convinced that it is what God would have us do. Then we encounter trials along the way that tempt us to doubt in the darkness what we were convinced was true in the light. 

Ten Big realities about God and about us that we all need to hear every morning.

A meditation on God's unexpected. Remembering Whose grace it is that is sufficient, fighting the inner turmoil and remorse that often exists when one receives salvation but not another, and looking at what God has done.