SF 16: Affliction & the Eternal Decree of God

SF 16: Affliction & the Eternal Decree of God

How do we reconcile God’s sovereignty and human will? How do we reconcile those two things when those things are suffering or tragedy? Does that mean God decreed our suffering from eternity past? If God is in the business of decreeing what happens in this life, what choices we make, what suffering we endure, what does that say about human will and human sin? A 500-year-old document offers us help to understand how these things work together. It's called the Westminster Confession of Faith. It might be old, but it’s spiritually profound.  We will consider the confessions' first two points of chapter 3 along with it's scriptural proofs. This is a long one, but I think it will be worth your while.

SF 15: Suffering and the Sovereignty of God with Scott Christensen

How are we to understand the sovereignty of God in the midst of suffering and evil? Pastor and author Scott Christensen is our guest to help us scripturally construct a theology to answer this perplexing question. sparrowfalls.org

SF 14: Hope in a Culture of Suicide with Dr. Matthew Sleeth

Suicide is not a subject people want to talk about, but it’s one of those discussions we need to have, and particularly among God’s people and within the church. Suicide is on the rise, even with the advances in our medical system, and with the diligent efforts being made to screen for those at risk. My guest today is Dr. Matthew Sleeth, who spent many years working as a physician in an ER, and was the head of medical staff at a hospital. He received and treated many patients who attempted suicide, and he himself has lost friends to suicide. He comes at this discussion of suicide as an emergency room doctor and a Christian. Dr. Sleeth is a lonely voice crying out for the church to become a force for hope in a culture reeling with suicide. He travels as a speaker to talk about suicide to medical professionals and to churches, and he has written a marvelous book on preventing suicide called Hope Always. As he says in his book, there is no treatment for suicide, there is only prevention.

SF 13: Even the One Who Could Not Keep Himself Alive | Psalm 22 part 6

What began as an Israelite peace offering to praise God for deliverance from affliction, becomes a worldwide posture of worship to a God who has shown himself completely righteous in all matters of his rule over this earth. And it gives us a most surprising perspective on suffering. Even those who die in their suffering will worship God. It’s the final episode in our short series on Psalm 22. sparrowfalls.org

SF 12: The Peace Offering of the Afflicted | Psalm 22 part 5

One of the most beautiful ways God and his people interact in intimate fellowship is with a meal. The Passover, the Lord’s supper, and the great feast at the end of the age are all wonderful pictures of God’s fellowship with his people. There is one meal that we are not familiar with that is designed to motivate us to worship and to strengthen our melted hearts. That meal is the peace offering, and this is what the psalmist brings to us in the final verses of this psalm.  sparrowfalls.org