JR. Forasteros - June 17, 2018
The Stranger God
Why do strangers make us so uncomfortable? Abraham's strange encounter with God in Genesis 18 offers a picture of hospitality that's radical and challengings: our hospitality is an act of worship. God often comes to us as a stranger because we have something to learn from these strangers. How can we learn to worship through our welcome?
From Series: "The Way, Way Back"
What's Summer without a road trip? We're travelling back to the stories of the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. They lived on the road, and in their travels, they encountered God in strange and unexpected ways. What do we learn about God on the road that we can't learn when we stay in our comfort zones? How might God be calling us to go somewhere new, following after our creator?
More Messages From JR. Forasteros...
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What does it feel like when God is angry at you?
Off the cuff, you might wonder if hitting more red lights than usual is a sign of God’s wrath. But more seriously, when we hit hard times, it’s easy to feel like we made someone up there mad. When we get sick, or when we have one of those weeks, months or years when it’s one thing after another, we want to blame bad karma or say the universe is against us or question what we’ve done to make God mad at us.
It doesn’t help that, whenever tragedy strikes, there are plenty of pundits who want to make sure we know God’s to blame.
Every natural disaster, every national tragedy, you can find at least a few crazy Christians trying to explain how and why we’ve angered God so God threw a hurricane or tornado or airplane at us.
And in times of personal tragedy, that happens too. Well-meaning people put a gentle hand on our shoulder and ask if we are right with the Lord, implying that we’re probably not, and that’s why this is happening to us.
Is that what it looks like when God gets angry?
Well… no. Like all the best lies, this one has a grain of truth in it
But the idea that God is essentially Thor, throwing lightning bolts at those who cross him is just plain wrong. Understanding God like that makes us afraid, and it actually keeps us from responding correctly to God’s anger.
Let’s talk about what it looks like when God gets angry, and how we can respond to that anger. Because God’s anger – like every other aspect of God – arises from God’s love, a perfect love that casts out fear. And ultimately, God’s anger is about life and hope.
