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GOOD SHEPHERDLUTHERAN CHURCHThe round church on the corner ofE. Military & Lincoln Avenues |
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Frequently Asked QuestionsWhy me Lord ?Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from the will of the Father. (Matt. 10:29 NIV) People lying in hospital beds often spend the hours in the frustrating pursuit of wondering why they are there. Why did I catch this disease? Why did I have that accident? Why did I get a stroke or heart attack or cancer? Why Me? It would be nice to know. God has His plans for our lives, like a playwright with his script. It might make lying here easier if we could get a peek at the page where we find out the reason for the hospital scene? But that will have to wait. The reasons will come when God decides that it's time for us to know. However, He makes the wait easier by assuring us that there are reasons, and they are based on His great love for us. A little sparrow doesn't fall to the ground unless God has a reason for it. How much more of a reason must there not be for your hospitalization? After all, God's Son did not die for sparrows, but for you. Be patient, God will let you know one day why you are here. For now, just rest assured, He has a good reason. Prayer: Lord, help me be patient. Help me to trust in Your wisdom and love. In Jesus name and Your will I pray. Amen. Additional readings: Rom. 11:33; Job 2:1-10; John 9:1-7; Rom. 5:1-5 Back to TopWhere can I find peace ?Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For mine eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people... (Luke 2:29) Life has its ways of being cruel to our flesh. It brings illnesses, pains, disappointments and many tears. Even the apostle Paul pleaded for release from "this body of death". All the evil is, of course, the result of sin, our sins and the sins of others. Our world is no longer the perfect paradise God created it to be and our lives, too, bear sin's curse. If only we could find peace and contentment! We can! Peace is our through the child whom aged Simeon held in his arms. Through the wounds of Jesus our souls have been healed and revived for eternal life. This same Jesus also promises to lead us safely through the maze of troubles which life can bring to our home in heaven. Jesus has redeemed us and we join Simeon in finding the strength to live in hope and die in peace. Prayer: Dear Lord, in the midst of my sufferings bring me the peace of forgiveness through Christ. Then I will lay down my weary head and rest securely awaiting my day of unending peace in heaven. Amen. Additional readings: Ps. 23:4-6; Ps. 16; 1 Cor. 15 Back to TopWhy Is Life So Bad If God Is So Good ?Authorities apprehended a man suspected in the serial slaying deaths of 21 children in a metropolitan area. What a horrified nation soon discovered from the subsequent trial and conviction of this man was frightening. This man was a trusted friend of the victims. He was found guilty of crimes scarcely imaginable. Crimes aren't always this vicious, but similar stories are reported in larger newspapers almost every day. It might be of the volunteer Santa beaten and robbed on his way to a Christmas party at a Children's Hospital. Or it could be about social security checks stolen by a lifelong neighbor. But even though crime is commonplace, we never become inured to such depravity. Nor is this state of affairs the invention of our age. It has always been the week and helpless who are most often and most severely abused. That such hideous things are done with seeming impunity, has led many to ask, "Does right prevail? How can we believe that God is really good?" The choice we seem to face is between viewing God as a benign yet powerless observer of life or as an all-powerful being who lacks the essential moral fiber of goodness, because he won't stop the evils perpetrated even against his own followers. Jesus presents us a better alternative. By choice he entered our world of inequities. Here he lived a life of goodness. He made it possible for us to believe in God's power and his goodness, in spite of our world's evils. Christians believe that when Jesus died on a cross he endured God's just and powerful punishment for every wrong ever committed by mankind. In fact, Christians feel that in his Son Jesus, God championed goodness. He made his good reputation our own possession. It's sadly true, some people will continue to push God's goodness away and in time bring a judgment from God upon themselves. But Christians are in no more of a hurry to see that happen than God is. We patiently wait remembering that each of us too would have been swept away had God in His mercy not delayed. Back to Top
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