Transcript WELCOME TO THE MEETING HOUSE!

“Whoever thinks he has the ways of God
conveniently tabulated, analyzed, and
correlated with convenient, glib answers to
ease every question from aching hearts
has not been far in this maze of mystery
we call life and death.”
~ Vance Havner,
reflecting on his wife’s death
Over 250,000 children die every week
from malnutrition and related
preventable diseases.
It would take about $30-40 billion a year
to provide all people in developing
countries with clean water, health care,
and basic education… the amount we
spend on golf each year.
~ U.N. Study
“We have met the enemy, and it is us.”
~ Pogo
“If only there were evil people somewhere
insidiously committing evil deeds, and it
were necessary only to separate them
from the rest of us and destroy them!
But the line dividing good and evil cuts
through the heart of every human being.”
~ Aleksandr Solhenitsyn
“Everything’s supposed to be different than
it is here.”
~ Simon (in Grand Canyon)
“One of the major causes of
devastating grief and confusion among
Christians is that our expectations are
false. We do not give the subject of
evil and suffering the thought it
deserves until we ourselves are
confronted with tragedy.”
~ D. A. Carson
“Pain makes people better or bitter.”
~ Unknown
“We are both complicitous in and molested by
the evil of our race.”
~ Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
“There is a kind of maturity that can only
be obtained through the discipline of
suffering.”
~ D. A. Carson
“God has no stereotyped way of doing
what He does. He delivered Peter from
prison but left John the Baptist in a
dungeon to die. … I accept whatever He
does, however He does it.”
~ Vance Havner
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to
render
The deeds of mercy.
~ William Shakespeare
Alas! And did my Saviour bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
~ Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
~ Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
“Why does the way of the
wicked prosper? Why do all
the faithless live at ease?”
~ Jeremiah 12:1
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at
the painful trial you are suffering, as
though something strange were
happening to you. But rejoice that
you participate in the sufferings of
Christ, so that you may be overjoyed
when his glory is revealed.”
~ 1 Peter 4:12-13 (TNIV)
God is Great
God is Good
(But there is still evil in the world)
God is Great = God is all-Controlling
God is Good = God is all-Sweetness
(But there is still evil in the world)
Therefore, such a God must not exist.
God is Great = God is all-Powerful
God is Good = God is all-Loving
Therefore, evil must come from
another source, and this God calls us
to fight against it.
“We know that we are children of
God, and that the whole world is
under the control of the evil one.”
~ 1 John 5:19 (NIV)
Omnipotence = Omni-control
“Endure hardship with us like a
good soldier of Christ Jesus. No
one serving as a soldier gets
involved in civilian affairs—they
want to please their commanding
officer.”
~ 2 Timothy 2:3-4 (TNIV)
“I want to know Christ and the
power of his resurrection and
the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him
in his death.”
~ Philippians 3:10 (TNIV)
“Even though you intended to do
harm to me, God intended it for
good, in order to preserve a
numerous people, as he is doing
today.”
~ Genesis 50:20 (NRSV)
“God was reconciling the world
to himself in Christ.”
~ 2 Corinthians 5:19 (TNIV)
“Brothers and sisters, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken
hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, I
press on toward the goal to win
the prize for which God has
called me heavenward in Christ
Jesus.”
~ Philippians 3:13-14 (TNIV)
“Love your enemies.”
~ Jesus
"If any brother or sister sins,
rebuke the offender; and if they
repent, forgive him. Even if they
sin against you seven times in a
day, and seven times comes back
to you and says, `I repent,'
forgive them.”
~ Luke 17:3-4 (TNIV)
SIN …
-> REBUKE
-> REPENTANCE
-> FORGIVENESS
-> ACCEPTANCE
“Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay
no attention to the plank in your own
eye? How can you say, `Let me take the
speck out of your eye,' when all the time
there is a plank in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from the other
person’s eye.”
~ Matthew 7:3-5 (TNIV)
“We love because he first loved
us.”
~ 1 John 4:19 (TNIV)
“Therefore, I tell you, her many
sins have been forgiven — as her
great love has shown. But
whoever has been forgiven little
loves little.”
~ Luke 7:47 (TNIV)
“Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus.”
~ Romans 8:1 (TNIV)
“If any of you want to be my
followers, you must forget about
yourself. You must take up your
cross each day and follow me. If
you want to save your life, you
will destroy it. But if you give up
your life for me, you will save it.”
~ Luke 9:23-24 (CEV)