Sunday, January 17, 2010

     We began our Sunday morning with a wonderful time of praise and worship.  We then had a very special time of prayer for Haiti as the congregation joined together to pray for the many needs the country faces.  Pastor Roger then shared a message with us titled “Why Does God Allow Suffering?”  The world that we live in seems to be spinning out of control.  God is not the author of evil and suffering.  In Genesis 1:31 we see that after God was finished with creation He saw that it was good.  Everything He made was perfect.  In His wisdom God created us with a free will.  Because of this we are able to experience love, the greatest experience in the entire universe.  Without free will we would have no choice, therefore we could not experience love.  God’s creation has abused that free will and rejected God.  When humanity rebelled the universe began to spin out of control.  

     There are two types of evil that now fill our world.  The first, moral evil, is when people cause pain and suffering because of the choices they make.  Our selfishness and corruption cause much pain in this world.  The second type of evil, natural evil, results in natural disasters.  We see in Genesis 3:17-18 that when man chose to rebel a curse fell upon the earth.  Nature began to revolt when sin entered the world.  In Matthew 24:4 we see that this world is in a cosmic battle between good and evil that will get worse before it gets better.   Our world is full of signs warning us that the rapture is coming quickly.  It will be followed by a time of great judgment upon the earth known as the Tribulation.  At this time God will turn His attention back to Israel and the world will experience judgment like never before.  Israel will turn to God and He will then use them to shine His light to the world.  At the end of the Tribulation Jesus is coming back and He will then make all things right.  Time is short.  We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.  We must know that we are right with God.  Jesus is the Hope of our salvation.