A Moment With Pastor Fred

One of the things we all have in common is grief. Either we are grieving right now, or we will be sometime soon. I grew up in a home where death was a normal part of life. My father was a funeral director. I have discovered some people, even Christians, can be superstitious about discussing death. And yet the Bible teaches it is appointed unto us to die. That time was determined before we were even born. God is sovereign over life and death. We must rest in this truth.  

But death is not natural. It was – and is an intrusion into our world. We suffer the loss of loved ones. Grieving hurts.   Loneliness is real. Tragically believers have been told not to mourn. Tears are seen as a weakness or a lack of faith. And so, we paint on plastic smiles as we hear Pollyannish self-help tips. This is unfortunate. God’s advice is different. Nancy Guthrie writes, “Christ infuses the most painful and perplexing aspects of the end of this life with hope and peace.”

Next Sunday in our adult Bible class at 9:30 am, I begin a new series entitled, “Grieving with Hope,” based on 1 Thess 4:13. We need to know (since we will experience it), how to grieve biblically. We need to know how to be proper comforters for those experiencing grief – what not to say, what to say, how to be a help, etc. Most importantly, we need to understand how God is in our grief. Jesus is called the Man of all Sorrows. He knows all about it. As we live in this fallen world, we often experience it falling on us. And when it does, when the world crushes the life out of us, we need this hope of which the Bible offers. I trust to see you next week.