Second chances

Tonight's game between Kentucky and Tennessee was crucial for Georgia to play LSU in the SEC Championship game December 1st. If Tennessee lost, The Bulldogs were in! I don't have to tell you that I was glued to CBS this afternoon to watch. In the 2nd overtime, Kentucky intercepted the ball potentially winning the game if they could make a field goal... It was blocked and almost returned for a Tennessee victory. I turned to Amber and said, "That's it, their gonna loose, you don't get a second chance." In the fourth overtime, the Volunteers tackled Woodson on a two point conversion attempt to win the game, thus making Georgia watch the SEC Championship instead of playing in it. (Oh well, I guess Georgia will just have to sit back like Ohio State and wait to be told what BCS game they will play in.)

Aren't you glad your relationship with God isn't like that! How many 2nd chances have you received from God? I think it was Trey Barker who prayed Tuesday night thanking God for, "A 2nd chances, a 3rd chance, and a 7,000th chance", that He's given us. A few years back, I heard a message that Bill Hybles spoke at Catalyst. He kept referencing Ephesians 2:4...

"But God, being rich in mercy..." (esv)

Ain't He though!!! I know that ain't proper grammar, but it fits! God is soooooooo rich in His mercy towards us. The Psalms echo His loving kindness! Every page of the Bible reflects His mercy! Before Thanksgiving dinner, we went around the room and told of the things we were thankful for, that's what came to my mind, His mercy and second chances. Wow, God must really want to use us! He must really think highly of us! He must really love us!

Yes we screw up. Yes we need to confess. But, God doesn't want us to stay on our face, He wants us to stand on our feet, pressing on for Him. Paul said to forget the past and press towards to future (Phil 3:14). Remember, God is a God who is "rich in mercy", He is a God of second chances... and a 3rd, and a 7,000th! Take a moment to thank Him for that and ask Him how He can use you today.

Why would a merciful God allow suffering?

Have you ever been asked the question, "If God is so loving and merciful, why would he allow suffering in the world?" If you have it can be a tough question to answer. Why do thousands of people suffer from hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunami's? Why do millions of kids suffer from starvation every day? Why are there so many homeless? How could God allow such suffering to happen? If you've ever been asked that question, it can be very hard to answer, especially if the person asking has had a tragedy happen to them. You wanna be sensitive to them. Wednesday night in our "Skeptics" series, we tried to answer this question from a biblical perspective.

In short, all suffering happens because of evil, or sin. There are 2 kinds of evils: moral evil (rape, murder, hate, theft) & natural evil (natural disasters). Anyone can see how suffering from moral evil can be a result of sin... it is sin! But what about natural evil? Are natural disasters caused by sin? Yes, maybe not sin that was committed last week (as some insensitive preachers would say), but sin that was committed in the garden. Think about it, the garden was paradise before the fall of man (Gen 1-3). There was no winter - Adam would have been pretty cold snow skiing naked! The moment Adam sinned, he realized he was naked and got dressed. Years down the road the world was so wicked that God was sorry he created man and decided to destroy him by a flood. Here's where it all comes together... you can't have a worldwide catastrophic event like the flood without it physiologically affecting the earth. When the waters resided, the earths plates shifted, Pangaea was probably separated post flood. How do you think the grand canyon was formed? The flood had a huge affect on the earth. Post flood we have earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis. Seasons came after the flood. Did it ever rain before the flood??? Now there are natural weather cycles, you don't have hurricanes in February or nor'easter snowstorms in July. They all happen on a schedule. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, paradise was closed and death came. Romans 5:12 says that we all have sin because of Adam. In short all suffering happens because of sin. Way to go Adam, thanks a lot! That still doesn't give us a lot of comfort when we are going through suffering. Here are 5 reasons I believe God allows us to go through suffering:

1. Suffering shows us what's inside. Have you ever taken a tea bag and put it in hot water. Sure you have! What happened? What was on the inside came out. When we go through suffering, it reveals what we're made of, it shows us what's inside.


2. Suffering breaks us of our pride. It can be a humbling thing to go through suffering.


3. Suffering can take our eyes off this world and off of ourselves. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in the "things" that we have that they take precedence over our relationship with God. Sometimes he allows suffering to get our attention because we are so distracted by other things.


4. Suffering can make us grateful. Ever been through a car accident? It makes you grateful for your life. When we see others go through suffering such as like in a 3rd world country, it should make us grateful for what we have. We're filthy rich compared to the rest of the world!


5. Suffering can position our lives to glorify God. It gives us a proper perspective of ourselves. John 3:30 pretty much sums it up, "He must INCREASE, we must decrease." How can we glorify God, which is what we were made to do, if we think too highly of ourselves. A little bit of suffering can position us to bring glory to God.

This week was our first recording of the message, you can find it here. Sorry for the bad quality of sound :-) It will get better I promise. Kevin