Sorrow
How does God feel about my feelings? • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 47:53
0 ratings
· 34 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
Intro
If we haven’t met...
Hear, love, and obey...
Connect cards...
Helpful tool for us to get to know you, answer questions, and pray for you.
Introduce Mike
Good morning, Mike!
Mike Paterson - one of the missionaries we support, former elder of Gateway...
Mike is here to continue our sermon series on Emotions…How does God feel about our feelings
Mike is a former elder of the church and a licensed therapist
And so we’re going to have a conversation on sadness but before we get sad, Mike
Tell us about your family and work
Cadence Kids?
Chris recaps sermon series
The goal of this series is to say your inner life matters.
How does God want us to use our feelings to grow our faith?
Intro sermon - what are emotions, God experiences emotions, we see that in Jesus, don’t shoot the messenger
Conversations with Gene on Shame, we don’t have to hide from God!
Dave - when we’re afraid, ask ourselves what’s the threat? And the Bible teaches us it’s normal to be afraid. Jesus was troubled!
Chris asks Mike - When you’re caring for missionaries, how do these topics come up?
Chris says how we’ve talked about two uncomfortable emotions and now we’re going into a third…sadness.
Chris asks Mike: What is sadness?
Chris talks about sadness in Scripture
Scripture is no stranger to sadness and sorrow. Every kind of human grief is experienced in the Bible. Whether it’s caused by difficult circumstances, sickness, parting, personal loss, failure, or sin. The core of the emotion is the heart which becomes heavy and downcast.
Images in Scripture
Jacob when he thinks his son Joseph is dead Gen 42:38
38 But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Rachel weeping for her dead children
Jesus in Gethsemane
Physical responses
Eyes growing weak Ps 6:7
7 My eye has wasted away with grief;
It has become old because of all my adversaries.
Burden in your heart
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Overwhelmed
38 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
Soul weariness
28 My soul weeps because of grief;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
Robs you of rest
3 ‘You said, “Ah, woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.” ’
Physical exhaustion
45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,
Anguish of heart
2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
God experiences sadness
Sorrow over humanity before the flood
6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Sad about Saul being king
11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
Weeps over Moab over he is the one who caused it
32 “More than the weeping for Jazer
I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!
Your tendrils stretched across the sea,
They reached to the sea of Jazer;
Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest
The destroyer has fallen.
Sin causes God grief
40 How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
Jesus as a man of sorrows
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Psalm 42...
Psalm of Lament - nearly 1/3 of all 150 Psalms are Psalms of Lament. There’s literally a book in the Bible called Lamentations. The Bible knows a lot about sadness.
Chris asks Mike - what’s the difference between sadness and depression?
Chris uses the illustration of sadness as a passing cloud and depression as a climate.
Sadness and grief are productive, depression keeps us stuck.
Chris asks Mike - I feel confused by sadness as a Christian because in one sense we’re told to rejoice! Jesus is alive. The kingdom is here. And yet, I’m a human being with things in my life that aren’t as I want them to be. Where in the church do you see us not engaging well with sadness?
Sadness is not a barrier to Jesus, but an opportunity to grow in faith.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
Chris asks Mike - What do I do with my sadness?
What have I lost?
Engage with the sadness…what am I feeling?
Chris asks Mike - how can we pray for you?
Communion
Jesus understands our sorrow and carried it on the cross.
There is no sadness, depression, or sorrow he doesn’t understand and cannot redeem.