“Jesus, in the Storms of Life”Luke 8:22-25November 2, 2025 Call it what you want — affliction, calamity, difficulty, disaster, disease, hardship, horror, illness/sickness, pain, persecution, suffering, tragedy, trial, trouble — life is filled with events and circumstances that seem contrary to us. It has always been that way, the Bible is filled with it: Murder […]
Read More Jesus, in the Storms of LifeBurdens. Difficulties. Disaster Illness. Pressures. Problems. Suffering. Tragedies. Trials. Untimely death. We all have experienced situations that we could put in those categories. We have all experienced situations that we could put in those categories too often. At times we have experienced the suddenness of those trials. We receive an unexpected phone call with unwanted […]
Read More Don’t Forget “After These Things…”Be Steadfast in Your SufferingRomans 5:3-5February 18, 2024 Christian university professor Mark Talbot tells his story of suffering in When the Stars Disappear: When I was seventeen, I fell about 50 feet off a Tarzan-like rope swing, breaking my back and becoming partially paralyzed from the waist down. I spent six months in hospitals. Initially, […]
Read More Be Steadfast in Your SufferingSuffering might be the most common experience of the human condition. It is common because every person is a sinner who sins against others (inflicting suffering on them) and who is the recipient of the sins of others (receiving suffering from them). And everyone lives in this fallen world in which things break and fail. […]
Read More We need helpGeorge Whitefield on suffering: Then we glorify God in the fire, when, though we feel pain and anguish, we at the same time can tell the Lord that we deserve this and ten thousand times worse…We glorify God in the fire also when we are really and fully persuaded that God will not put us […]
Read More The fires of trouble and God’s gloryTo live in this world is to suffer. As Job noted, “For man is born for trouble, As sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). You know that. You know the suffering of broken cars, broken bodies, and broken relationships. And you feel the burden of that brokenness; sometimes it is heavy, other times lighter, but it […]
Read More Four truths to remember in trialsAlmost 20 years ago, a dear friend was diagnosed with multiple myeloma after falling and breaking his arm. It was a non-violent fall that happened when he slipped on ice while pumping gas. The doctor was curious why his arm broke in the fall. So he conducted some tests and discovered the cancer. About 2-1/2 […]
Read More Something to read: The Crook in the Lot“Whatever happens to us, let us always assure ourselves that we have good cause to praise our God, and that even if we are poor and miserable in this world, the happiness of heaven is enough to appease us, to sweeten all our afflictions and sorrows, and to give us such content that we may […]
Read More “Whatever happens to us…”I’m thankful today. The weather is crazy. I’ve lost track of how many days it’s been since it’s been above freezing. In Texas. I was born in Winnipeg, MB (that’s Canada, for the unaware). The last year I lived there (1973-74), the first snowfall was the last week in October and the last snowfall was […]
Read More I’m thankful todayWhen You are Hated…, Part 2 Romans 12:17-21 November 15, 2020 We all have expectations for relationships. We have desires for how they will work and what we will receive through those relationships. However, we live in a fallen world, so… Our relationships will never work completely according to our plan Our relationships will never […]
Read More Sermon: When You are Hated, Pt. 2When You are Hated… Romans 12:14-16 November 8, 2020 Like you, I’ve had relationships where I’ve known the other person didn’t like me. Those are hard relationships. You know that and have experienced that. But I don’t know that I’ve had anyone ever really hate me — hate me to the point of working against […]
Read More Sermon: When You are HatedWhen Life is Hard… Romans 12:12-13 November 1, 2020 I am what you might call a “fair-weather exerciser.” I prefer to get my exercise outdoors, but I prefer to get it within certain parameters. I don’t like it (and generally won’t go) when it’s over 80° and I definitely won’t go when it’s below 40° […]
Read More Sermon: When Life is HardGod is faithful. Those three words carry an infinite weight of meaning. To say, “God is faithful” means just that — God is constant; He is always what He is. The meaning is not just that He is faithful to us, but that He is faithful to Himself. He is faithful to always be what […]
Read More The usefulness of God’s faithfulnessThe Compassionate, Competent Savior John 11:17-44 April 5, 2020 Who will care for you when you are suffering? Who will care for you if everyone is suffering? Who will care for you when care and connection and human touch are being restricted by governmental controls? We are not the first people to ask that question. […]
Read More Sermon: The Compassionate, Competent SaviorJesus said that the Old Testament Law can be condensed into two principles: Love God with all your heart Love your neighbor as yourself That’s it. The Old Testament is pointing people to being lovers of God and lovers of others. You might also say it these ways: You cannot love God without loving others. […]
Read More Loving your neighbor during Covid-19
Words of Grace 