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Sermons on Pain


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Preaching on Pain? Browse these sermons to find fresh ideas.

Trusting the Sovereignty of God
Trusting the Sovereignty of God

Introduction

We are in our Advent series called “Christmas with Joseph—when things don’t go as planned.” What we’re trying ...


The nature, the problem, and the hope of Gods sovereignty.


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Praying Through Our Struggles
Praying Through Our Struggles

Introduction

What is the one thing we all have in common? We all struggle, we all know what it’s like to go through hardships. We may struggle with ...


4 questions to ask ourselves to help us navigate our struggles.


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Remember to Hope
Remember to Hope

Introduction

In Spring of 2020, I was traveling on a church van packed full with college students going for a hike on the snow-covered mountains ...


Remember God’s faithfulness in the past so that we may endure seasons of dryness in the present.


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Me and My Big Mouth
Me and My Big Mouth

Introduction

“Pad kid poured curd pulled cod." Researchers from MIT say this is the world's most difficult tongue twister. Have a go. If ...


We have two choices with our words—either bless, or to curse.


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The Glory of the Groan
The Glory of the Groan

Introduction

God started a revival with the preaching of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The people came to hear the preacher in the church instead of the preacher ...


God can bring glory out of our groanings.


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Violation

Introduction

In our series called Restoration Hardware, last week we learned that the Cross of Jesus Christ is the hardware or the instrument that God ...


Beautiful bloodshed


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God Is Still Loving

There are times in our lives when it seems like God is against us. I mean, we know that God is for us, but there are times when it seems like God is treating ...


God's Love is still with us, even in life's darkest seasons.


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The Dark Side of Grace

Introduction

In the structure of John's gospel, John 11 serves as a hinge between two halves. The first 10 chapters are concerned with the ministry of ...


The dark side of God's grace is that a sovereign God who is in control sometimes uses the things he allows as much as he uses the things he directs.


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How Did the World Get So Messed Up?

Introduction

Not everything in the world is good. Not everything in the world is happy. Not everything in the world is beautiful. In fact, real evil does ...



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Loss, Loyalty, & Lament

Introduction

I've never been one to read romance novels, but lately I've been reading one. It's been a good one, too. Believe it or not, it's a book I ...



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God in Our Sorrows
God in Our Sorrows

The Advent is where God meets us in our sorrow.

The word advent means an arriving or an appearing. It's the arrival of something we hoped for, something ...



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A Christian's Happiness
A Christian's Happiness

Introduction

If you're a Christian, you know that Christianity is supposed to be about joy. You probably also know that you're supposed to experience ...


Paul offers three principles for finding joy in suffering.


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Unlistened to Lessons of Life

Introduction

It was in 1965 that I graduated from Moody Bible Institute, and a week later to the day, Charlene and I were married. Then 10 days after that ...



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If God Is Great, Where Is He in World of Suffering?

Introduction

Of all the reasons for rejecting the claims of Christianity, the one most frequently offered comes in the form of a question: "If God is so ...


A cross of loss can be gathered up into God's redemptive plan.


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If God Is Great, Where Is He in a World of Suffering?

Text: Matthew 27:27-46
Topic: Dealing with the reality of suffering

From the editor

Easter really isn't that far away—April 4, 2010—so we'll ...


A cross of loss can be gathered up into God's redemptive plan.


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Let's Get This Straight

Introduction

The first thing I noticed about our story today was the stories on either side of it. When we last saw Jacob, he finally had been reconciled ...


Experiencing God in the midst of great suffering


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The Blessed Limp

Introduction

A blessing is a mysterious thing. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead, Marilynne Robinson's narrator is an elderly pastor named John ...


Learning to accept the blessings of God


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Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God

Introduction

Jacob was facing the biggest crisis of his life. Esau, the twin brother he had conned out of both birthright and blessing, was coming his ...


A look at life's hardest—but most important—battle


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Journey Mercies

Introduction

Unless you go to the theater regularly, you may not be used to thinking of stories in terms of acts. But most of the stories you read, or ...


Seeking God's mercy through prayer in the midst of crisis


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I Pray the Lord My Soul to Keep

From the editor:

Here's another great sermon from one of our featured preachers, Bryan Wilkerson—an in-depth look at the last few lines of the Lord's ...


Whatever may come, we must ask God to lead us in a way that honors him, blesses others, and advances his good purpose for our lives.


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Good Riddance

Introduction

"Isn't there somewhere else you're supposed to be?" Has God ever said that to you? God seems to be saying that a lot around here lately. He ...


Finding our way to God's place of blessing


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The Messy Family of God

Introduction

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." So reads the first line of Leo Tolstoy's famous novel, Anna ...


Learning to choose the right way over the hard way


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The Strange Blessing of God

Introduction

Do you live a blessed life? I did a Google search on the phrase, "I live a blessed life." I stumbled upon one guy who wrote, "I live a blessed ...


Making sure you don't manhandle the blessing of God


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The Stew Is Divine

Introduction

Jacob, at 130 years of age, stood before Pharaoh, the great ruler of Egypt. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. He was ...


Having the faith and foresight to treasure the life God blesses


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Facing North When the Market Goes South

Text: 1 Kings 17:7–16
Topic: Claiming God's promises in the midst of hard times

From the editor:

Though many experts believe we've entered an economic ...


With the right attitude toward money and God, we can face financial uncertainty with confidence.


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Living with Jesus

From the editor:

Just below, you'll find a few introductory remarks from Francis Chan about his sermon. We want to encourage you to go ahead and watch ...


The surpassing greatness of Christ is worth our everything.


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Desperate for God

Introductory remarks from John Ortberg:

I remember reading that when baseball great Ty Cobb was in a slump, he would battle it by resorting to bunting. ...


Once you hit bottom, you'll find that God is there, doing something great.


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Winter

Introduction

Confession: I've lived nearly 50 years and, for most of them, have never heeded the truth of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. For everything there is a ...


The wasteland of spiritual barrenness


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Fall

Introduction

My wife, Cheryl, and I had an opportunity in 2004 to spend a week in New Brunswick. We started in St. John, spent a couple of days in the ...


Reaping a spiritual harvest


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God in Our Sorrow

Text: Isaiah 53; John 11
Topic: How God meets us even in our sorrow

From the editor:

You can be so enraptured by the sights, sounds, and smells of the Christmas ...


God meets us in the whole range of our human experience.


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God Is Big Enough to Comfort My Suffering


There is purpose in our pain.


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Wait for the Morning

Introduction

Right after the Virginia Tech University massacre, the worship leader at a community worship service turned to this text. On behalf of those ...


Sometimes we have to wait for God to lift us out of the depths.


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The Christian's Happiness

Text: Romans 8:28–30
Topic: Our joy can be constant no matter our life circumstances.

From the editor

Romans 8 is such a beloved, oft-quoted section ...


Your bad things turn out for good, your good things can never be lost, and the best things are yet to come.


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The Strangest Gift

Introduction

In her book Tramp for the Lord, Corrie ten Boom tells the story of an old woman she met in Russia in the time of the Communist persecution ...


It is in our weaknesses that Christ is most clearly revealed.


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The Unseen Footprints

From the editor:

Timothy George packs a lot into this sermon. Besides showing us an effective way to preach an individual psalm—paying careful attention ...


Even in the depths where questions loom large, remember that God is at work.


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Loss, Loyalty, and Lament

Text: Ruth 1:1–22
Topic: Learning to make the right choices in difficult times

From the editor:

Perhaps you're looking for a unique way to approach ...


In the midst of our loss, God is still at work, and his ultimate aim is to bless us.


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Why Is the World So Messed Up?

Text: Romans 5:12–17
Topic: How the world is broken and what that means for us

Introduction

Not everything in the world is good. Not everything in the ...


Although the world is broken, God is still in control, and history is moving toward a climax.


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Cross Here

Introduction

One of the great ironies of history is that those who took Jesus to Calvary believed they were forcing him to his dead-end; in reality, Jesus ...


When you can't get there from here


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Cross Bow

Introduction

I recently turned on the news and found myself confronted with another one of those stories that have become so common; my great fear is that ...


When homicide feels justified


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Cross at God

Introduction

For the longest time, I hoped that my brother, Jeffrey, would return to the Christian faith. He once was an active Christian, but something ...


When life hurts and God's gone


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Cross Over

Introduction

It was an ordinary day of commuting Cameron Hollopeter. The 20-year-old film student made his way down the steps into a New York City subway ...


When you come upon people in pain


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Cross Out

Introduction

In August of 2003, the Church of the Holy Cross in New York City was broken into twice. In the first break-in, thieves made away with a metal ...


When we'd like the Cross to be just for Jesus


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A Strange Résumé

Introduction

It's the most dreaded question of the job interview, and when the time comes, you can't seem to push the words out of your mouth. "Tell me," ...


God turns our weakness into incredible strength.


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Take an Inside Look

Introduction

I have had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of people over the past twenty years. I think I've come to one major conclusion about people's ...


If we explore our inner pain and give up self-protection, we can know joy.


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The Man Born Blind

Introduction

A few years ago, I realized I was going blind. Now, long before my sight began to be radically diminished, a medical doctor told me there ...


In suffering, we can see the greatness of God.


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Those Who Rise

Introduction

The story is told of a farmer's donkey who stumbled into an old, dry well. For hours the animal cried piteously as the farmer tried to sort ...


Why suffering is a necessary part of building great families


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Don't Waste Your Cancer

Text: Various
Topic: How to respond to life-threatening circumstances

Editor's note: The richness of John Piper's theological reflection as it relates to ...


John Piper provides 10 ways to avoid wasting a circumstance or situation that threatens your life.


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Why Is There So Much Suffering and Evil in the World?

Introduction

Here are two photos, both showing scenes from two earthquakes of similar magnitude that happened within just days of each other just last ...


Three answers to the problem of evil


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Getting In the Last Word

Introduction:

When we began this series, I mentioned that First Peter deals with some topics that Americans don't always immediately relate to. Peter ...


If you are willing to endure suffering, you can fulfill God's calling on your life.


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Hope For Those Who Hurt

Bum Phillips, former coach of the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) once made the comment, "There are two types of coaches in the NFL: them ...


In times of hurt, turn to God and allow him to turn things around.


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