The trials we face

 Are you facing any difficulties or trials today?

At Community Lutheran this week, we are concluding our sermon series that we entitled: What God does when your in a Jam... We have taken time over these last few weeks to look at some of the problems people in the Bible faced, but we are also looking at our own lives. How is God working in your life when things seem to fall apart?

There are a ton of things that I find myself worried about. I worry about my kids not finding their shoes in the morning. I wonder who unplugged my cell phone. I get frustrated the kids dumping their food on the floor when I'm trying to get out of the door. These things are pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things, but the little things can overwhelm us if we aren't careful. There are plenty of other difficulties in our world. There are people who are very sick right now. There are others who are grieving or in pain. There are people stuck in cycles addiction or violence. Of course, there are also all of people facing the awful devastation after the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. 

It can be hard to wrap our minds around all the pain in the world. Instead, we wind up becoming lost in the small stuff. This week, the scripture passage that we will look at shares the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had to let go of his personal desires, and he sacrificed his own needs for all of us. It is because of Jesus that we are forgiven for our imperfections. I hope we can all remember that there is more to the world than just the small stuff we face everyday. I hope we can let go of some of the pain that weighs us down, and I pray that we would be able to reach out in love toward our neighbor.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian