✝ Daily Encouragement (1/15/24) "Grieving With Hope"
Published: Mon, 01/15/24
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber.
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Monday, January 15, 2024
As we parked our car to attend church yesterday an Amish family was also heading to church (or so we presume)
along Landis Valley Road. Ester took this photo and it appears no one is in the buggy though we haven't heard whether the Amish have invented the self-driving buggy yet!
"Grieving
With Hope"
Message summary:
"Jesus wept." John Piper observes concerning this verse, "for all its
grammatical simplicity, it’s packed with unfathomable complexity." We can, as followers of Christ and believers in His promises, grieve with hope. We pray God will grant assurance of His love and that each reader will come to know and accept that love.
Listen
to our
message on your aud
io player.
“Jesus wept” (John 11:35). “Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him”
(Acts 8:2). "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
Early each year our church has a very moving PowerPoint presentation where those in the church who died the
previous year are being remembered. Their photos are posted as all ages are represented from the hand prints of a baby (perhaps preborn) to the very elderly. Our church has a large staff and a number of them grew up in the church, including our senior pastor, Pastor Beau.
George May, pastor of counseling and family ministries, introduced our Time of Remembrance and pointed out
that Marian Hess, a 98 year old church member who had passed away this previous year, had also taught him in children's church some 50 years earlier! He reminded the congregation that we still have
hope even in the midst of grief.
That brought to mind our third daily text,
"that you may not grieve as others do who have no
hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
One of the very important duties of those in ministry is coming alongside others during the inevitably hard times in life. It might be a discussion about a troubling family matter, an aging parent, wayward child, a hospital visit, or other difficult subject matters. People often weep when sharing their burdens. Of course we especially consider grief at the time a loved one dies. We have seen "tough" men weeping as they shared a burden they were going through. Weeping is a good thing and we have various Scriptural examples of this, perhaps most famously our two word first daily text, "Jesus wept". Many like to select this Scripture to memorize since it's among the shortest in the Bible, but there is a tremendous supernatural story about to unfold that is packed into those two words. John Piper observes, "for all its grammatical simplicity, it’s packed with unfathomable complexity". A folksy expression of the benefit of weeping is, "When the eyes leak, the head won't swell". Times of weeping are often times of brokenness and a realization of our humility before God. When grief has left you low it causes tears to
flow
When things have not turned out the way that you had planned But God won't forget you His promises are true Tears are a language God understands. The setting is in John 11, the death of our Lord's friend Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary. Luke 11:5 states that, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus". Why did Jesus weep? 1) The immediate context of the verse is that Jesus was deeply moved when he saw Mary and other friends weeping when they reported the death to Him. Weeping can be contagious. I know I sometimes tear up or even weep when I see others weeping. Pastors with a tender heart will periodically weep when a certain point touches them and that can cause weeping in the congregation. It's a quality of genuine emotion that I appreciate in a pastor. We recall visiting a church where the pastor was dealing with a very difficult subject and broke down in tears at the gravity of the matter. 2) Jesus wept because He loved Lazarus and his sisters. That point is specifically made (v.5). He is demonstrating His sorrow and grief, a normal and healthy human emotion. Jesus expressed grief when he received notice that John the Baptist had been slain. "Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself" (Matthew 14:13). The Scripture doesn't provide any more detail, but those words "withdrew" and "secluded place" speak volumes. Bible teacher John MacArthur comments,
"Jesus’ tears were generated both by His love for Lazarus, and by His grief over the deadly and
incessant effects of sin in a fallen world. Verse 35, though it is the shortest verse in the Bible, is rich with meaning. It emphasizes Jesus’ humanity; He was truly “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). But while the Jews were correct in seeing Jesus’ sorrow as evidence that He loved Lazarus, they were wrong to think that His tears reflected the same hopeless despair that they
felt."
We can, as followers of Christ and believers in His promises, grieve with hope. We pray that God will grant assurance of His love and that each will know and accept that love. God sees the tears of a brokenhearted
soul
He sees your tears and hears them when they fall God weeps along with man and takes him by the hand Tears are a language God understands.
Be encouraged
today,
Hebrews
3:13
Stephen & Brooksyne
Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, we thank You for the person of Jesus who showed us how to live a life set apart for You and all the while endured loss, pain, temptation, and other emotions common to mankind. When Jesus wept upon hearing of Lazarus' death He demonstrated to us His humanity in a way that all of us who've suffered loss can relate. He wept with those who wept and rejoiced with those who rejoiced. We too have opportunity to share in
the grief of others as we remind them that they are not alone but have our prayerful and loving support as they endure their loss. Help us to reach out and extend ourselves to those in need. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.Note: Not covered in today's message but weeping can also be a result of deep joy and gratefulness. At times I weep during a moving sermon or song that reminds me of the blessings of God. Note 2: "Jesus wept" is often considered the shortest verse in the Bible. Here's a point of trivia some may find interesting. In the Greek "Jesus wept" translates these Greek words Ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. However in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 the Greek is Πάντοτε χαίρετε, which translates "Rejoice always". Now I am not sure when you read this the Greek character will render correctly but there are actually less Greek characters in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 than John 11:35!
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
"PowerPoint presentation "Remembering Those With the Lord 2023" (1/14/24 service)"
Watch on YouTube
(Includes introduction) Ester counted 67 that were remembered in this special time of
remembrance.
"Tears Are A Language"
Watch on YouTube
Booth Brothers This was a popular song
back in the seventies and has an enduring message.
Last week we saw a special friend in Lebanon, PA. Dennis "Bunny" O'Hare is a
chaplain to the trucking industry. We first met Bunny and his wife, Peg, at a conference in Boston in January 2000 and within several years we had all relocated to Lancaster County for separate ministry opportunities. Bunny is now 82 and still going strong!
Bunny has a vibrant personality and ready witness. His trademark question is, "Do you know what today is?" Which of course elicits a number of responses. Bunny then says, "Today is the day God has given me the opportunity to tell you that Jesus loves you!"
Years ago I shared his testimony in a daily encouragement message, "Four Dimensional Love"
Two nights ago Ester was sitting on the edge of her bed when she turned around and caught this sight. Rosie,
on her own, decided to cozy up with Ester's other stuffed animals to settle down for a time of rest. She eventually fell asleep. Ester also made a video that just may bring a smile.
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
717-823-0592
Daily Encouragement Net
https://www.dailyencouragement.net
Mail service provider is aweber.com
495 Kraybill Church Rd
Mount Joy PA 17552
USA
Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options