Central Assembly
October 30, 2022 | Dr. Jim Bradford | HARDSHIP AND FAITH - Lament
October 30, 2022 | Dr. Jim Bradford | HARDSHIP AND FAITH - Lament
Locations & Times
Central Assembly
1301 N Boonville Ave, Springfield, MO 65802, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
HOW DO WE GET FROM THERE TO HERE?
> The pathway: LAMENT
> The pathway: LAMENT
Sandra McCracken, Lament is More Than a Country Song
“A number of articles and books have been written in recent years rediscovering the value of lament. Still, we don’t always understand it well. Lament is not a country song or a sentimental mood. And as Johnny Cash’s songs taught me, lament is not always a slow song. Lament is, in its simplest form, pouring out our hearts to God (Ps. 62:8). In doing so, we sensitize and strengthen our hearts.”
“A number of articles and books have been written in recent years rediscovering the value of lament. Still, we don’t always understand it well. Lament is not a country song or a sentimental mood. And as Johnny Cash’s songs taught me, lament is not always a slow song. Lament is, in its simplest form, pouring out our hearts to God (Ps. 62:8). In doing so, we sensitize and strengthen our hearts.”
* Honesty
* Protest
* Grief
* Protest
* Grief
HOW DO WE GET FROM THERE TO HERE?
> Let lament express itself in yearning prayer
> Let lament express itself in yearning prayer
Michael Card, A Sacred Sorrow
“[An] important movement we see in biblical lament is the exhausting of the self against God and the eventual turning back to Him….In faith, driven by guilt, fear, doubt, frustration, or even anger, I cry out to God. I give voice to my hurt, my complaint, all the black bitterness I hold against my enemy…At some unpredictable point in the lament, a turn is made. The self, exhausted of its emotional energy, seems to collapse into the Presence of the One who was there, seen or unseen, all along.”
“Far from denying the existence of God, the lament of faith cries out on the basis of an appeal to the living God’s loving-kindness, in spite of the fact that the present conditions would suggest otherwise.”
“[An] important movement we see in biblical lament is the exhausting of the self against God and the eventual turning back to Him….In faith, driven by guilt, fear, doubt, frustration, or even anger, I cry out to God. I give voice to my hurt, my complaint, all the black bitterness I hold against my enemy…At some unpredictable point in the lament, a turn is made. The self, exhausted of its emotional energy, seems to collapse into the Presence of the One who was there, seen or unseen, all along.”
“Far from denying the existence of God, the lament of faith cries out on the basis of an appeal to the living God’s loving-kindness, in spite of the fact that the present conditions would suggest otherwise.”
HOW DO WE GET FROM THERE TO HERE?
> Let lament resolve itself in praise-filled trust
> Let lament resolve itself in praise-filled trust
Sandra McCracken “Heartbreak may sell country music, but Biblical lament is more than self-expression. God is close to the brokenhearted, and he has nothing to sell. Jesus Christ has accounted for every loss, even those we have yet to experience. And he walks with us in the valley of the shadow. Although we lament, we see now the darkness is passing and the true light is already breaking in.”