May 12, 2019
Dave Irwin, Pastor of Ministry
Series: “Ask It” - Part 2 of 6

Message: “The Question of Pain and Suffering”

The perceived problem created by pain and suffering
God is supposedly all-powerful and all-knowing and

.
A God like that would not allow people to

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.
Since we obviously suffer, God must not be all powerful/knowing/
loving OR He must not

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at all.

We have solid, logical reason for believing in the good, powerful, loving God of the Bible despite the reality of pain and suffering that we experience.

Can God exist in light of our suffering?
If God does not exist, we have no

for labeling an experience as suffering.

Can God be all-powerful, all-knowing, and loving in light of our suffering?
God is not the

of our suffering.
In order to create beings that could love and do good, they had to be significantly

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. To be significantly free, these beings must have the ability to choose between moral

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and moral

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.

Since suffering is a reality, who offers the best response?

Buddhism - suffering is the result of

.
Hinduism - suffering is the deserved result of __karma and reincarnation.

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Islam - suffering will teach you to

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.
Secularism - no basis for any response to suffering.
Christianity - God promises to make all things

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again; until then He

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our suffering with us.

MY NEXT STEP TODAY IS TO:
 Stop blaming God for the pain and suffering I’ve experienced.
 Ask God to enter into my pain and suffering with His grace and comfort.
 Use my past experiences of pain and suffering to help those around me who are suffering now