Out of the Darkness
An Alternative Advent Experience – 12/21/2020 - Morningstar UMC
*Christmas can be painful for some people.
“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” - Psalm 137:1 (NIV)
“There on the poplars we hung our harps . . .” - Psalm 137:2 (NIV)
“Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction.” - Psalm 31:9-10 (NIV)
“There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’” - Psalm 137:2-3 (NIV)
“How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” - Psalm 137:4 (NIV)
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? So far from the words of my groaning?” - Psalm 22:1 (NIV)
Wrestling with and responding to the unique grief of the Holidays:
1. JOIN in when and where you are able.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” - II Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
2. Find another REASON to SING.
“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” - Psalm 126:5 (NIV)
3. Resist the PRESSURE to RUN AWAY from your grief.
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” - Romans 12:15 (NIV)
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” - Matthew 5:4 (NIV)
4. Look for GOD coming to us in UNEXPECTED WAYS.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” - Revelation 21:4 (NIV)
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, . . . to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” - Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
- Grief makes you feel as if life is RUSHING YOU BY.
“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” - Psalm 137:1 (NIV)
- Grief makes you feel as if you’ve LOST YOUR JOY.
“There on the poplars we hung our harps . . .” - Psalm 137:2 (NIV)
“Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction.” - Psalm 31:9-10 (NIV)
- OTHERS might have unrealistic EXPECTATIONS of your GRIEF.
“There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’” - Psalm 137:2-3 (NIV)
- Grief may make you feel as if GOD is FAR AWAY.
“How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” - Psalm 137:4 (NIV)
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? So far from the words of my groaning?” - Psalm 22:1 (NIV)
Wrestling with and responding to the unique grief of the Holidays:
1. JOIN in when and where you are able.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” - II Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
2. Find another REASON to SING.
“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” - Psalm 126:5 (NIV)
3. Resist the PRESSURE to RUN AWAY from your grief.
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” - Romans 12:15 (NIV)
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” - Matthew 5:4 (NIV)
4. Look for GOD coming to us in UNEXPECTED WAYS.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” - Revelation 21:4 (NIV)
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, . . . to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” - Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)