Your Answers Are No Longer Helpful

Church on The Rock Homer

Job week 1 of 3 with Luke Epperson.

Key Verse: Job 13:15-16

Here is what Luke shared with us before Sunday:

"Pain hurts. It makes us wince, cringe, cuss, cry, hide, and want to avoid those situations at any cost. But pain can often be managed, and pain is often temporary. Suffering, however, shakes us at a far deeper level. It slams us beyond the limits of who we are and what we love.

Pain hurts us. Suffering changes us.

And there, in the middle of our personal pain, grief, and chaos, God reigns with justice and goodness.

And that brings up all sorts of questions that defy the answers we have loved so dearly.
This Sunday we will begin looking through the book of Job, the story of unthinkable, personal horror for the man recognized by God as the most righteous man alive. Job lives his suffering in front of us, asking questions you’re not supposed to ask, saying the things you’re not supposed to say, and moving through the limits of his identity in a way that led, finally, to peace.

As we explore Job over the coming three weeks, we will look at the Philosophy of Suffering, the Theology of Suffering, and this week, the Humanity of Suffering.

See you soon,
Luke Epperson"

Takeaways:

• Suffering deconstructs us.
• God reconstructs Job with a broader understanding of God and self.