Sermon Central
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The Cross At The Garbage Dump
Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 7, 2009 (message contributor)
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1. Playing It Safe: Job's Friend Zophar
Contributed on Feb 7, 2009
For Lent and Annunciation: Zophar’s counsel is to "play it safe" by sticking to ideas rather than engaging persons. He thinks that security is the goal. God in Christ takes the risk of loving us and living with us.
Every human heart is so made that it can be hurt. Of that I have no doubt. Every human heart is subject to hurt, to pain, to shock. Every one of us is subject to feelings that we do not enjoy -- disappointment, anger, despair, guilt, anxiety -- a whole range of painful feelings. And we either deal ...read more
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2. Letting The Pro Do It: Job's Friend God
Contributed on Mar 17, 2009
We want to manage our own spiritual lives, but the truth is we do not understand,nor do we know enough. Trust God, who has vindicated our hope in Christ the sufferer now victorious.
There is a certain kind of person who seldom trusts anybody but himself to get things right. Some of us want to have our hands in every stewpot, we want to be up to our ears in every enterprise, we want to do it ourselves, or else we are afraid it won’t be done right. Do you remember that a few ...read more
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3. It's All So Simple
Contributed on Jun 19, 2009
To the issue of why bad things happen to good people, Eliphaz’s answer is spiritually lazy and assumes that we can earn God’s favor. Job’s response is to have faith in a God who will ultimately accept responsibility for sin.
You and I are about to enter the realm of mystery together. I know of nothing which challenges the mind and the imagination quite so much as the mystery of human suffering. Why men and women should have to suffer physically or emotionally – that has never been answered completely. In recent ...read more
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4. That Old-Time Religion: Job's Friend Bildad
Contributed on Nov 4, 2009
When we are in distress, we do not want doctrine. We want a fresh encounter with God, we want listening friends, and most of all, we want, and have, a Redeemer.
Years ago the church of which I was then a member had an evening ice-cream social and service out on the church grounds one summer Sunday. It was a gently warm night, and as the sun went down and a little chill crept into the air, as the stars began to come out and faces began to disappear into the ...read more