{"id":12224,"date":"2022-05-29T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-29T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=12224"},"modified":"2022-05-31T09:48:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T13:48:23","slug":"god-hears-our-cries-of-despair","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/sermons\/god-hears-our-cries-of-despair\/","title":{"rendered":"God Hears Our Cries of Despair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-gdm-google-drive-embedder-viewer\"><iframe width='100%' height='100' frameborder='0' scrolling='yes' src='https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1GSwbqlUe3mSShQ0kvn4uz2xxr99LVhFr\/preview?usp=drivesdk' allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n<h4><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Read<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Psalm 88<\/p>\n<h4><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Consider<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">For many, the word to describe the past two years has been despair.\u00a0 For us, it was the isolation of stay-at-home orders with three young kids along with a leukemia diagnosis for my dad in April 2020.\u00a0 For you it might have been separation from family, loneliness, or even the loss of employment, purpose and hope.\u00a0 Even the recent shootings in Texas &amp; Buffalo alongside the ongoing war in Ukraine add to that feeling of despair.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">I am glad as a church that we get to journey together in this series entitled, \u201cHow are you feeling?\u201d\u00a0 It allows us the opportunity to lament, grieve and turn back to God.\u00a0 This week, we are exploring Psalm 88, which might be the most depressing of the Psalms.\u00a0 The final verse reads, \u201cYou have taken my companion and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Usually Psalms end with a turning back to God but this Psalmist is in a dark place.\u00a0 However, even in the midst of their pain and suffering, the Psalmist is still able to cry out three times to God (v1, 9 &amp; 13) because they truly believe that the Lord can save them.\u00a0 I hope that as we study God\u2019s Word together, He will reveal Himself to us and show us that He hears our cries of despair and can minister to us powerfully through them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Looking forward to worshipping together this Sunday.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"color: #999999;\">Pastor Tim Sreedharan<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Pray<\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Father, we come before you in weakness because you are our strength.\u00a0 We thank you that in the midst of pain and turmoil, you are a God who hears our cries of despair.\u00a0 We come boldly to you in our brokenness because you are the God who cares and can save.\u00a0 We thank you and we worship you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Teach us to be a people who continue to proclaim the hope of the gospel.\u00a0 Help us to be a light in a world filled with despair, pointing people to the cross.\u00a0 Transform our hearts, our city, nation and world so more may know and worship you.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n<h4><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Diving<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Deeper<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">What emotions does this Psalm evoke in you?\u00a0 What experiences or people in your life does it connect with?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">How does the descriptive lament (v.3-5) and accusatory lament (v.6-9a) connect with the way you pray?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Read through the three cries of the Psalmist (v.1, 9 &amp; 13).\u00a0 What are the common themes?\u00a0 What do they teach us about who God is?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">How is v.1 truly Good News?\u00a0 How does it connect with Christ?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">How can we live closer <strong>WITH<\/strong> GOD in our lives?<br \/>How are we being <strong>TRANSFORMED<\/strong> to be more like Christ?<br \/>How is the Holy Spirit empowering us to imitate Christ in what we <strong>DO<\/strong> this week?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Psalm 88<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":12099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[55],"ctc_sermon_series":[524],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[525],"ctc_sermon_tag":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/12224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12224"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/12224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12246,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/12224\/revisions\/12246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=12224"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=12224"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=12224"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=12224"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=12224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}