This blog gives you a glimpse into the upcoming Sunday Gathering. It's an opportunity to read through the passage we'll be studying together, pray through some of the liturgy we'll be using, and listen to a selection of the songs we’ll be singing.
Suffering, Evil, & Lament
SERMON
This Sunday we will be starting our sermon series on Lament. The presence of evil and suffering in the world is an unavoidable reality, but this series will equip you to deal with them. We'll be exploring some of the Psalms of Lament together and Gary Aston will be kicking us off this week in Psalm 13.
LITURGY
CONFESSION & ASSURANCE
When we look around at the world in which we live, the presence of evil and suffering is sometimes too much for us to bear. When sin entered the world, all of creation was broken, sin shattered the good and perfect creation God had made and we still live in that reality now. God wants us to bring our suffering to Him though, we can make a case before Him, laying our emotion and frustration before Him. Take a moment to do that now, to confess where you see the damaging effects of sin in your own life, lamenting at the suffering and evil we see all around us.
In the Bible God tells us that creation is still groaning and the effects of sin are still a reality for us. But God is still good, Christ has taken our sin upon Himself and dealt with it so that we have a future hope where there will be no more pain or suffering. The hope of the gospel is, not only, that our sin has been dealt with but also that God meets us in our struggles now.
MUSIC
O God (Dustin Kensrue): A song of assurance that God is present with us in our struggles, when we feel alone and far from Him he is with us. A wonderful reminder that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
- 10,000 Reasons: A song of praise affirming glorious truths about the God we gather to worship.