Pastor Scott's Message

If you’ve been here on a Sunday after Easter, then you know we are studying the Exodus. Exodus is the story of the Hebrews 400 years after Joseph and Genesis. God’s people are enslaved by Pharaoh. They cry out to the Lord and he hears them. He knows their suffering and frees them through Moses and the plagues.
        
Exodus addresses the big question: How do we make sense out of suffering? Author Peter Kreeft says that the Bible makes four claims concerning suffering: 1. God exists 2. God is all powerful 3. God is all good and 4. Evil exists. Many people have a hard time reconciling these four claims. In fact they will find ways to deny all four. People deny God exists or they make him into a fairy tale god who exists only in stories. Others deny God’s power. The ancients did this through the many gods of paganism. There was no all powerful God, just mighty demigods who mess up. Today, society denies God’s omnipotence through making him a naturalistic god who is bound by science. Another tactic it to deny God’s goodness. They make God into a devil who delights in suffering. The final and most absurd strategy is to deny the reality of evil. It’s all an illusion.

The second book of the Bible makes it clear that God is merciful and mighty. He knows our suffering and is dealing with it. He shows himself to Moses through a burning bush and to his people through smoke and fire. He exists. God shows his power through ten plagues that even the skeptic Pharaoh has to recognize. He is omnipotent. God does all of this so that he can free his people. He is good. Slavery and genocide are real and it takes a real God to overcome them. Moses’ God further revealed himself through his son Jesus Christ. Through the son, you and I have a real God who knows our suffering and is working to turn it into something better. Share your pain with God, the church, and your family. You are not alone.