I heard a story the other day. There was a preacher who walked into a barbershop for a trim and, after a few minutes, the conversation turned to occupations. The preacher told him a bit about his responsibilities at the church and as the conversation went along the barber confessed that he did not believe in an all powerful God. He said that God was a good resource when people were not well informed about the ways of the world, science and such and that now a days no one really needed to believe in something they have never seen. Ancient people believed in many gods such as the Greeks and their belief in the gods of Olympus but since there was absolutely no proof of their existence, they did not exist. He ended the debate with this; “if God exists, why are there so many sick people? Why are there abandoned children in the world or so much suffering and pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
The preacher quite enjoyed the debate and, when it was all over, he paid for the trim and left behind a very nice tip. The preacher walked out the door and noticed a homeless man who was in dire need of a haircut so he brought him into the barber. The preacher then said to the barber “there are no such things as barbers otherwise there would be no one unshaved or improperly quaffed”.
"Ah, but barbers do exist! " answered the barber. "What happens, is, people do not come to me."
"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, does exist! What happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
There is strength when we come together in His name and work together to not only alleviate suffering and pain but to also help the world to understand He cares much more than we realize. I believe Paul addresses this in his letter to the Church in Corinth:
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. 2 Cor 1:3-8 MSG
This Sunday, we will look at strength through Christ and discover that God is there with us celebrating in the good times and lifting us up in the bad times. Though many question how a loving God can let bad things happen, we will delve into how He never leaves us alone in the tough times. We would love for you to join us either in person or online Sunday at 10:30 AM MST.
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Our Mission “To live the love of Christ”
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