Message Notes

Lessons From a Quarantine – Week One

This has been a crazy few months for all us because of Covid-19 and the quarantine. There are so many emotions and fears that leave us with many questions. We’ll tackle some of these concerns by examining: 

1. Some questions about God.
2. The reasons why there is pain and suffering in the world.
3. That God is good; mankind isn’t.

• There are some questions we usually ask about God during a crisis.

Where is God in all of this chaos?

    – This leads to more questions wondering if God can or would fix a disaster.

    – There’s something in us that wants to point a finger at God.

Who is God? That’s the question we should be asking.

Why is there pain and suffering in the world? In the midst of the creation story, God reminds us that we’re dealing with a good God.

     – Genesis 1:1-4

     – Genesis 1:9-10

     – Genesis 1:12

     – Genesis 1:21

     – Genesis 1:24-25

     – Genesis 1:26-27

     – Genesis 1:31

• There are reasons why there is pain and suffering in the world.

Reason #1: Pain and suffering are the result of original sin.

    – Genesis 2:17

    – Genesis 3:16 (God casts judgment on humanity)

    – Genesis 3:17

    – Genesis 3:18-19

Reason #2: Pain and suffering are the result of man’s freedom to choose to be evil.

    – God gives people the freedom to choose to be in a relationship with Him so it can be an authentic relationship. 

• God is good; mankind isn’t.

God made a perfect environment and loved us enough to give us the freedom to mess it up.

God is good, and He’s so good that He judged sin the way sin needed to be judged. Humanity knows what it could be and should be, but we can’t get it to stay that way because of our sin and our knowledge of good and evil.

There is hope, and it is found in Jesus. He came to save us from our sin and to restore our relationship with God. It is a gift, freely given, if we choose to accept it.