11/12 Sermon: Questions I'd Ask God, Part 2

Senior pastor Philip Griffin at the Family Church here in Gainesville continued his message series titled Questions I'd Ask God with this week's topic/question: How Could A Good God Allow People to Suffer?  In presenting it he focused on the New Testament story of Lazarus's death and resurrection found in John 11:1-44...here's a link to it in the New International Version translation via Bible Gateway: [link]...

Implied within the question "How could a good God allow people to suffer?" is the accusation that God is responsible for that suffering. As Pastor Philip pointed out, scripture however reveals that sin has brought into the world suffering and death. In this fallen world, people suffer yet they can turn to God, who not only uses their trials to accomplish good, but is also deeply moved by them.  Philip continued by noting that, while God is not the cause of people's suffering, he has entered into it and conquered death by sending into the world his son Jesus, who took on the sins of the world so that those who believe in him will be saved.  In the end, God will make all things new...and as written in Revelation 21:4-5, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes".  God is compassionate, but he is also good and just.  He wants all of us to freely choose to follow him and, through this, he will be glorified...

I think that this idea of people suffering because of the sin in the world can be one of the hardest doctrinal points of this faith to understand.  Little children can suffer more than anyone and yet they have little power or knowledge to understand fully the doctrines of sin and salvation.  I personally grasp that God has allowed us the free will to either accept or reject him, and that he did this in love.  But the kind of suffering that doesn't directly arise as a result of one's own behavior...say a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh, a tsunami in Thailand, a hurricane in Puerto Rico, or an earthquake in Mexico...can be hard to figure out in terms of our own sinful natures...

This sermon can be viewed on the Family Church YouTube video website...here's the link to it: [link].  The Family Church is at 2022 SW 122nd Street on the far western edge of Gainesville.  It holds Sunday morning services at 9:30 and 11 with inspiring, lively music, a relevant message, and opportunities for prayer and fellowship.  Wonder what the question will be next week...