Pain: Weakness Leaving the Body

Pastor Terry White welcomed us warmly and began with announcements that included a reminder that Ash Wednesday is this week. There will be a soup and bread supper at 6:00 and special service at 6:30 p.m. here in the sanctuary.

After reading from Psalm 57 we entered into a time of worship that ended with "My Jesus I Love Thee." Darlene then invited the ushers forward to take the offering and introduced her granddaughter who played a beautiful tune on the clarinet. We shared a time of prayer before Terry White preached the message.

Pain: Weakness Leaving the Body

Today's sermon was a continuation of our study of II Timothy. Today's passage was II Timothy 2:3-13. Pastor White began by showing us a photo of a breakwall that the Army Corps of Engineers built at Canal Park to help keep erosion from occurring.

The breakwall image was then contrasted with a photo of the abandoned building that sits askew in the water 100 yards from the beach, destroyed because its arrogant builders didn't think they needed the breakwall.

There's a sense in which God is our breakwall, helping shield us from the damage the storms of life can bring.

Today's passage begins, "Join with me in suffering." Not usually selected as a life verse. Here's the passage in its entirety.

"Join with me in suffering." This is an aspect of leadership. Then Paul uses three word pictures to illustrate some ideas for Timothy.

In verse four, Paul uses the illustration of a soldier to make a point: that soldiers must keep focused on their objectives, and we need to live the same way, undistracted. Keep your focus on what matters.

In verse five Paul uses the image of an athlete who can only receive a victor's crown by competing by the rules. Terry asked us what the rules of volley ball are and cited a number of them. Rules are part of basketball, tennis, baseball and all other sports. The focus of the game is on competing, not complaining about the rules. Rules are something everyone must abide by.

The rules are part of what make the game. Eliminate the rules and what do you have? Chaos.

Then Paul notes the farmer as a metaphor. The hardworking farmer is entitled to get the first of the crops. Paul encourages Timothy to reflect on these things.

Leadership is not always fair. All leaders are subject to criticism. Paul was in chains because of the Gospel. Sometimes we pay a price to do what is right.

Life isn't always easy. For each of us there are moments of crisis, moments when we need someone else to be the breakwall. Being part of the body of Christ gives opportunity to step back into the safe places where we're receiving the necessary nurturing, shelter from the storms.

The goal is for us to grow up and become that shield for others.

Everything involved balance, however. There are times when becoming a shield goes too far and we become enablers who keep others from being able to mature into fullness. This is where we need to exercise discernment.

Pastor White closed by reading once again from Psalm 57.

Unseen Footprints

During the opening announcements Pastor Shannon asked us all to stand for a moment of silence for Bonnie Finkbeiner who on October 16 continued the next part of her life in the presence of her Savior.

The Scripture readings today were from Jeremiah 31:27-34 and Luke 18:1-8.

The message, Unseen Footprints, was an exposition of Psalm 77.

Where does prayer begin? For the psalmist, it is not cozy comfort or ritual that produces our deepest prayers, rather it is pain.

Though the circumstances that initiated this psalm are not identified here in this passage, there are many sources of pain. In numerous psalms it is national calamity that crushes the spirit of the writer, causing him to cry out to God with groanings too deep for words. Other times it is personal circumstances. It might be the illness, or death, of a child. It might be heartbreak in relationships, or a broken marriage.

Prayer is born in the depths. In the first portion of this psalm, the writer cries out to God. “I stretched out my untiring hands”… as if drowning. “I was too troubled to speak,” he says. Like drowning, one is aware of his or her helplessness. In other places the psalmists compare their circumstances to being confined in a pit. This is the place where pain and prayer come together.

The second section of the psalm reveals the questions that emerge when it seems God is far off. Will the Lord reject us forever? Will He never show favor again? Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger withheld His compassion?”

“Why are such questions in the Bible?” Pastor Shannon asked. In reply he noted that God is not far from us, but rather, He is near. But there is no path to Easter (& the Resurrection) but through Good Friday and the Cross.

The good news is that even when we can’t see Jesus, He can see us.

The psalmist’s anguished questioning is summed up with this specific thought: Has God’s right hand lost its grip?

The third section of Psalm 77 leads to the re-connection: Remember. Remember the good deeds of the Lord. Think about this, meditate on this. Let your thoughts dwell on this. God has been good to you. Remember all He has done. He has been faithful. When we remember, we re-connect.

The concluding portion of the psalm contains a very interesting statement. “His footprints were unseen.”

God may not be visible but he has always been present. He has always been at work.

Like poet Francis Thomas’ “Hound of Heaven,” God will never stop pursuing us when we stray and will never forsake us. Like a good shepherd, God leads us to a land where there is no more sorrow, where we can bask forever in the presence of our loving God.


During the children's challenge, Pastor Shannon used blocks to illustrate the message from Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain."