A Thorn in the Flesh: Why We Suffer

Friends, all during the Easter season, we read from the Acts of the Apostles, and this Sunday, we hear part of Peter’s oration on Pentecost morning. His bold proclamation is, in a way, the mother of all sermons; it is the essence of authentic Christian preaching. Peter, filled wi ...  Show more

Friends, peace be with you—an echo of the words of the risen Jesus in our Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter, also called Mercy Sunday. Christ gives his disciples the gift of shalom (peace). But there’s an exceptionally important juxtaposition here: He also shows them his wou ...  Show more

If God is sovereign over our suffering, then we can trust him to strengthen us in suffering, sanctify us through suffering, and ultimately save us from suffering. 

In a world corrupted by sin, none of us is immune from suffering. This is true for both unbelievers and believers. Following Christ doesn’t exempt us from life’s trials and even painful tragedies. In this message from David Platt from James 5:7–12, we are exhorted to patience ...

In this episode Eckhart answers questions about suffering as part of the human condition. He says many spiritual traditions focus on awakening as the end of suffering. Paradoxically, Eckhart says we need to go through a certain amount of suffering to realize we don’t want it anym ...  Show more

When we talk about the gifts of the Spirit, more often than not we think of the grandiose or powerful ones, like healing or prophecy, but those are only part of what the Spirit offers. Just as God enters into the beauty, he equally enters into our pain, giving us particular gi ...