Normal, But Not Natural

In one paragraph

Brad opened this message by acknowledging the recent death of his mother, and used that grief as a doorway into a subject the church cannot afford to avoid: why suffering exists, and what Christians believe about it. Drawing from Luke 13 and a wide range of scripture, he laid out the case that suffering is real, that it is not natural even though it is normal, and that God is with us in it. He...

Read together

1. Romans 5 opening encouragement that hope will not lead to disappointment and that God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love
2. Luke 13:1-5 key text for the sermon, read by Philip, about the Galileans killed by Pilate and the eighteen killed by the Tower of Siloam
3. Luke 13:4 identified as the specific key verse, used to frame the discussion of natural evil and the call to repent
4. Matthew 5 cited to show that God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous
5. John 11:35 Jesus wept, used to show that Jesus was not stoic but experienced deep sadness at the death of Lazarus
6. Psalm 42 described as a psalm where the author speaks his grief but recognizes God as his help
7. Job 1:8 quoted to show that Job suffered not because of his sin but because God presented him as blameless and upright
8. Hebrews 4 cited to show that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses, having been tempted in all things yet without sin
9. 1 Peter 2:23 quoted as a memory verse about Christ not retaliating when insulted but entrusting himself to God who judges justly
10. Matthew 28:20 quoted to affirm that Jesus promises to be with us always, even to the end of the age
11. 1 John 4:9-10 cited as the answer to how God can be all good and all powerful while evil exists, with the answer being love
12. Matthew 5-7 referenced as the Sermon on the Mount, suggested as a test of how one measures up against God's standard of righteousness
13. Revelation 19:15 quoted to describe Christ returning as a lion who rules with an iron scepter and treads the winepress of God's wrath
14. John 16 quoted at the close as a benediction: on earth you will have trials and sorrows, but take heart because Jesus has overcome the world

Talk about it

1. Brad described suffering avoidance as one of the defining features of our culture, pointing to things like opioid use, social media, and alcohol as ways people medicate rather than face difficulty. Where do you see that pattern showing up in your own life, and what do you think it costs you?
2. Brad drew a contrast between the stoic approach to suffering, basically never getting your hopes up, and the way Jesus responded to the death of Lazarus by weeping. What do you think it means in practice to grieve deeply while still holding onto hope?
3. Brad said that suffering is normal but not natural, meaning it was never part of God's original design. How does that distinction change the way you think or feel when you or someone close to you is going through something hard?
4. Brad referenced John Piper's idea that at any given time God is doing 10,000 things in your life and you might notice three of them. Can you think of a time, looking back, when you could see something God was doing through a hard season that you could not see while you were in it?
5. Brad closed by sharing that his mom was baptized on the same date two years before she died, and said that God did not owe him that gift. How does the way you think about what God owes you shape how you respond to suffering when it comes?