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Central Assembly
Four Faith Questions - Why Is There Suffering? Dr. Jim Bradford, September 13, 2026
Four Faith Questions - Why Is There Suffering? Dr. Jim Bradford, September 13, 2026
Locations & Times
Central Assembly
1301 N Boonville Ave, Springfield, MO 65802, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
God is good. // Pain is real.
THREE BIBLICAL REASONS FOR SUFFERING:
1. The existence of evil...
1. The existence of evil...
THREE BIBLICAL REASONS FOR SUFFERING:
1. The existence of evil...
2. Human free will
1. The existence of evil...
2. Human free will
Greg Boyd, Letters to a Skeptic
“So why doesn’t God intervene every time someone is going to misuse his freedom and hurt another person? The answer, I believe, is found in the nature of freedom itself. A freedom which was prevented from being exercised whenever it was going to be misused simply wouldn't be freedom ….It’s not freedom for the sake of freedom that God values--it’s love. Freedom is simply the only possible means to this end.”
“So why doesn’t God intervene every time someone is going to misuse his freedom and hurt another person? The answer, I believe, is found in the nature of freedom itself. A freedom which was prevented from being exercised whenever it was going to be misused simply wouldn't be freedom ….It’s not freedom for the sake of freedom that God values--it’s love. Freedom is simply the only possible means to this end.”
THREE BIBLICAL REASONS FOR SUFFERING:
1. The existence of evil...
2. Human free will
3. A broken world
1. The existence of evil...
2. Human free will
3. A broken world
THREE BIBLICAL REASONS FOR SUFFERING:
1. Lament
1. Lament
THREE BIBLICAL REASONS FOR SUFFERING:
1. Lament
2. Hope
1. Lament
2. Hope
THREE BIBLICAL REASONS FOR SUFFERING:
1. Lament
2. Hope
3. Presence
1. Lament
2. Hope
3. Presence
Michael Card, A Sacred Sorrow
“Amidst crushing sorrow and confusion, Jesus endured. He suffered with the disturbing clarity that only the hope of joy can give. There He exhausted Himself against the God Whose Presence was nowhere to be seen… Losing everything, He won for us the assurance of Presence. Jesus’ death and resurrection once and for all should give us hope that we can never be forsaken, forgotten, or overlooked by God. He is Immanuel, the God who is ever with us. The God who is moved by our tears.”
“Amidst crushing sorrow and confusion, Jesus endured. He suffered with the disturbing clarity that only the hope of joy can give. There He exhausted Himself against the God Whose Presence was nowhere to be seen… Losing everything, He won for us the assurance of Presence. Jesus’ death and resurrection once and for all should give us hope that we can never be forsaken, forgotten, or overlooked by God. He is Immanuel, the God who is ever with us. The God who is moved by our tears.”
Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity
“From a Christian perspective, there is not only hope for a better end; there is intimacy now with the One whose resurrected hands still bear the scars of the nails that pinned him to his cross. Suffering is not an embarrassment to the Christian faith. It is the thread with which Christ’s name is stitched into our lives.”
“From a Christian perspective, there is not only hope for a better end; there is intimacy now with the One whose resurrected hands still bear the scars of the nails that pinned him to his cross. Suffering is not an embarrassment to the Christian faith. It is the thread with which Christ’s name is stitched into our lives.”