![]() To disappoint is to fail to satisfy hopes or expectations. We are human, and therefore ignorant, blind, selfish. How shall we help feeling let down when God does not act according to our hopes? Many men in Scripture were disappointed, and cried out their complaints against God—Job, for one, in almost unbearably vivid language; and the psalmist, who again and again asked, “How long, O Lord” “Hath God forgotten to be gracious?” Elisabeth Eliot died this week. Yet, as those who know her understand, she died to live again in the resurrection of our Lord. If you don't know who she is, I encourage you to root around and learn more about her. There are many books and articles by her and about her that you can access through the internet. 35 years ago, she wrote an extraordinary article in Christianity Today called "No Disappointment in Jesus?" I like this article because it refuses to paste a falsely cheery veneer on life. Life is full of disappointments, and for those who seek to live life informed by faith in Christ, those disappointments often spill over into your faith. Click on the link to read the article. God can handle our disappointment, our frustration, our anger. God is no delicate flower who must be coddled and protected. He is the God who gets his hands dirty. He is the God who purposely left behind all the privileges of royalty (deity!) and abased himself to become human. He is the God who, for the sake of his people, walked intentionally into his own betrayal, torture, and humiliating execution. He has received the brunt of our disappointment -- the worst we can dish out. He took our disappointment and transformed it. He didn't make it go away, but he made it into a way to repair our broken relationship with God. We need not stuff our disappointment down and cover it up. We can offer it up to him. We may be surprised at what the can and will do with it once we give it up.
0 Comments
Sunday morning June 7, we were joined by an old friend of United Baptist. For our annual Children's Sunday celebration, Grady Crews came back specifically to help us sing a song that was once a favorite of "kids of all ages" at UBC. It was great to have Grady here again and it was a lot of fun singing "Bullfrogs and Butterflies." Thanks of Becca Manning for the video. ![]() Even people who don't go to church now have memories of going to Sunday School as children. We can remember stories about Noah and the Ark, Joseph and his brothers, Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, and David and Goliath. They are great stories full of wonder, adventure, and faith. For the first part of our summer, through the middle of August, we will be taking a look at those stories again. This time, however, instead of looking at them as moral lessons, or examples of overcoming adversity, our focus will be on one thing -- the faithfulness of God acting to save his people. We'll be taking inspiration from "The Jesus Storybook Bible." The subtitle of TJSB is "Every story whispers his name." You see, while the Bible is God's written word, Jesus Christ is God's Living Word. The purpose of the Bible is to point us to Jesus, and to show us how God has been working throughout all of history to accomplish his saving purpose. The Bible really isn't about us, it is about Jesus. So join us Sunday mornings, and let's look at what those great stories from the Hebrew Bible can teach us about God's faithfulness and steadfast love for his people. |
United Baptist Church
Check here regularly to find out what's happening around United Baptist, along with occasional gospel focused articles on important topics. Archives
June 2022
Categories
All
|