JR. Forasteros - November 19, 2017

The Shadow Self

Good Grief

We build our lives around all kinds of things that make us feel secure, in control or valuable. But these things cannot give us the meaning and purpose we crave. In Lamentations 4, we see God strip these things away from the people of Jerusalem that they might return to worshipping God alone. How can we return to God before our own idolatry ruins us?

From Series: "Good Grief"

We avoid pain and grief as much as possible. When faced with someone else's grief, we avoid or offer platitudes. But the book of Lamentations invites us to sit with grief, to enter into the prophetic process of Lament. In this series, we'll explore how to grieve and how to be a friend to the grieving. Ultimately, we'll see how the process of lament invites us to be agents of healing in the larger world.

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More From "Good Grief"

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When I was 17, I stole my own car.

I drove this hilariously awesome 81 Chevy Carpis Classic. Two tone brown. Bench seats in the front and back. It was a beast. Only had about 300 miles on it when I got it because my Mom bought it from a little old lady who had bought it new and only drove it to the grocery store.

I was a junior in high school, and I had gotten grounded for some reason. I don’t remember why now, but I’m 100% sure it was legitimate. The grounding was that I was not allowed to drive my car. Which meant I had to ride the bus to school.

17-year-old me did not find this acceptable. So I waited for my mom to leave for work, and I took my car out anyway. My mom didn’t find out until she got home from work that night and my car was gone.

She was understandably mad.

I say understandably because it’s pretty obvious that I was in the wrong here. My Mom bought me the car. I still lived in her house. And I broke her rules (to do whatever I had done to get grounded).

But you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I didn’t see it that way.

I was enraged. All that grew from a sense of entitlement – it didn’t matter where the car had come from; it was MINE. I deserved it. Why? Irrelevant. I DESERVED it, and I raged when my mom took it away from me as a punishment.

We’re going to talk about entitlement and privilege. We’re going to talk about how often we take God’s good gifts for granted and why that’s the path toward spiritual death.

We’ll see how God intervenes to save us from that pain – even when it feels like punishment.

Join us Sunday as we find hope and healing in the tragedies we suffer.

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