May 21, 2023

Hope in the Face of Grief

Hope in the Face of Grief

Sermon notes

Hope is for people in pain and one of the greatest pains we experience as humans is grief!

How to go through your grief

1. Choose to go through your grief instead of avoiding your grief.

Two unhealthy reactions to loss:
– Repression is when I unconsciously block painful thoughts out of my mind.
– Suppression is when I do it consciously.

If I don’t let grief out in healthy ways, I’m going to act it out in unhealthy ways.

When I swallow my grief, my body rejects it.

2. Understand God grieves with you!

3. Grieve in community with others.

4. Grief has its own timetable and doesn’t have an expiration date.

You don’t get over grief; you get through it.

Lament means to express sorrow, grief, complaints, questions and frustrations to God.

Psalm 13:1-6

It’s an act of worship when you complain to God. It’s an act of rebellions when you complain about God. Rick Warren

C – Complain to God not about God
A – Appeal to God’s nature
R – Remind God of His promises
E – Express trust in God

Psalm 42:5