• Topic > When Life Hurts

    Seeing God

    Author and pastor Erwin Lutzer recounts a story about television show host Art Linkletter and a little boy who was drawing a picture of God. Amused, Linkletter said, “You can’t do that because nobody knows what God looks like.”

    “They will when I get through!” the boy declared.

    We may wonder, “What is God like?” “Is He good?” “Is He kind?” “Does He care?” The simple answer to those questions is Jesus’ response to Philip’s request: “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has…

    Jesus suffered so that we might know joy!

    God intimately knows our pain! And in Jesus, He bore our suffering so we can experience joy! Join us today on Discover the Word, for the enlightening conclusion of this week’s discussion titled, “Tearful Expressions.” Listen to Discover the Word.

    Carried Through

    I recently stumbled across some of my journals from college and couldn’t resist taking time to reread them. Reading the entries, I realized I didn’t feel about myself then the same as I do today. My struggles with loneliness and doubts about my faith felt overwhelming at the time, but looking back now I can clearly see how God has carried me to a better place. Seeing how God gently brought me through those days reminded me that what feels overwhelming today will one day be part of a greater story of His healing love.

    Psalm 30 is a celebration psalm…

    Discover God’s deeply held longing for you

    How does our view of God change when we study the “Tearful Expressions” of Jesus? Join us today on Discover the Word, to discover how the most sorrowful moment of Jesus’s life reflects God’s deeply held longing for you. Listen to Discover the Word today!

    The Ministry of Mourning

    In 2002, a few months after my sister Martha and her husband, Jim, died in an accident, a friend invited me to a “Growing Through Grief” workshop at our church. I reluctantly agreed to attend the first session but had no intention of going back. To my surprise, I discovered a caring community of people trying to come to grips with a significant loss in their lives by seeking the help of God and others. It drew me back week after week as I worked toward acceptance and peace through the process of sharing our grief together.

    Like the sudden loss…

    Choices that can have lasting eternal consequences

    We live our lives one moment at a time! But our decisions today can directly impact our lives tomorrow. Today on Discover the Word, the team examines how the rash choices we make in frustration can have lasting eternal consequences. Be sure to listen today on Discover the Word!

    Give It to God

    As a teenager, when I became overwhelmed by enormous challenges or high-stakes decisions, my mother taught me the merits of putting pen to paper to gain perspective. When I was uncertain whether to take specific classes or which job to pursue, or how to cope with the frightening realities of adulthood, I learned her habit of writing out the basic facts and the possible courses of action with their likely outcomes. After pouring my heart onto the page, I was able to step back from the problem and view it more objectively than my emotions allowed.

    Just as recording my thoughts…

    Discover the righteous anger that caused Jesus to weep

    Today on Discover the Word, we will discuss another “Tearful Expression” seen in the Gospels. It’s a thought-provoking discussion about the righteous anger that caused Jesus to weep. Join the team to encounter the God who can understand your tears,  because He’s experienced them Himself. Listen today to Discover the Word!

    Be encouraged by the tears shed by Jesus himself

    Is crying a sign of weakness? Today on Discover the Word, we kick off a brand-new week of discussions in the series titled, “Tearful Expressions” with a look at tears shed by Jesus Himself. Be encouraged by the hope we find in Scripture, and listen to Discover the Word today!

    Discover how grief can transform and change us

    Today on Discover the Word, when the team concludes the first week of their series titled, “Tearful Expressions,” they’ll be in John chapter 20 to learn from Jesus Himself about the how grief transforms and changes us, but how Jesus is revealing Himself to us in our grief. Listen to Discover the Word today.

    Discover how Jesus works through our emotions and tears

    Isn’t it great to know that Jesus isn’t scared of our tears! In fact, He has a purpose for them. And today on Discover the Word, we’ll explore Luke 23 to see the big picture of how Jesus works through our emotions and our tears. Another example of a “Tearful Expression” when you listen to […]

    How does Jesus restore us?

    What do we do when someone is crying and it’s our fault? What do we do when we’ve made choices we regret? Today on Discover the Word, the team digs into the life of Peter to see how Jesus restores him even after he denies Christ. Let the discussion encourage your heart as they look […]

    The compassion of Christ, another tearful expression

    Have you ever cried for joy; shed tears of happiness? Maybe it was at a wedding or the birth of a child. Well today on Discover the Word,  we welcome you to take your seat at the table with us and join the discussion about the compassion of Christ and another example of a “Tearful Expression” […]

    Tearful expressions

    Today on Discover the Word, the group introduces a brand-new three-week series titled, “Tearful Expressions.” Many people think tears are a sign of weakness, but the group will discover that God welcomes this heartfelt expression. Be encouraged by Jesus’s response to the tears of a woman in Luke 7  when you tune into Discover the […]

    Our Guilt Is Gone

    As a young girl, I invited a friend to browse with me through a gift shop near my home. She shocked me, though, by shoving a handful of colorful crayon-shaped barrettes into my pocket and yanking me out the door of the shop without paying for them. Guilt gnawed at me for a week before I approached my mom—my confession pouring out as quickly as my tears.

    Grieved over my bad choice of not resisting my friend, I returned the stolen items, apologized, and vowed never to steal again. The owner told me never to come back. But because my mom…