Coro Baptist Church

In difficult seasons of life, the question we often find ourselves asking and seeking comfort in is... Why? This week, in Job 8, we learn what a bad answer to this question is through the wisdom of Bildad. Bildad has a simple answer... God is just. He punishes sinners and rewards the upright. This is why Job and his family have suffered. And it is how he can be restored. That's all there is to it. Bildad's answer would have been a good one... if he had continued and also explained God to be just, loving, merciful, gracious, forgiving, and faithful. With a wider understanding of who God is, there would have been room for Job to be the Innocent Sufferer we know him to be. Room for Job to be a man God delighted in, and had chosen to reveal his glory to. Sadly, Bildad's understanding of God as 'just' alone is too small. He has no real wisdom or comfort to offer Job in these trying days. May we learn from Bildad's mistakes when considering the "why?" of our suffering in the hands of a BIG God, gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Believers are not bullet-proof – they still bleed! When what feels like undeserved suffering comes our way, it is hard to bear the counsel of those who cannot tolerate our questioning of God's wisdom and ways. Job's disillusioned faith may seem too bleak compared to the one who knows Christ and the glory He has promised. The reality is that any of us can find ourselves in places so dark and desperate that for a season we lose sight of the reality of what we have in Christ.

How does one respond to Job's deep heart cry that we heard last week from Chapter 3? Breaking a weeklong silence, Eliphaz ventures to be the first of Job's three friends to speak. And like so much false teaching, much of what he says is true, but it's not the whole truth. He declares God's sovereignty and justice but not his covenant grace and faithfulness, and he therefore fails to comfort Job. May the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory, restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us in his covenant faithfulness in Jesus Christ.

Come and join us for a deep dive and discussion into the realm of Artificial Intelligence as we explore the opportunities and challenges it brings to the church. Can we, should we, and how might we engage with AI ethically, theologically and practically in life and ministry? James Foley, our guest speaker for this occasion, is the pastor of Salisbury Baptist Church where he loves to teach the Word of God and to equip others in ministry. He describes himself as a 'recovering mathematician' after studying Maths & Computer Science at Adelaide University and working for a maths textbook company for a couple of years. Since then he has studied theology at Moore College in Sydney, and worked in church & university ministry contexts. He is married to Rachelle, and they have three children. He enjoys classical music, games and puzzles, and can run further than he used to but would rather play table-tennis.

Job 3 is one of the darkest chapters in all of scripture. In it we hear the heart cry of a man in deep, deep suffering and, unusually, it ends without even a word of hope. Yet Job is not suffering for any sin or action of his own, indeed he is called 'blameless and upright' by God Himself. As with every chapter in scripture, Job 3 is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. For those weeping now, I hope hearing Job's heart cry will be an unexpected source of comfort. For those not weeping currently, I hope we can learn something of what it might mean to weep with those who weep.

Come and join us for a deep dive and discussion into the realm of Artificial Intelligence as we explore the opportunities and challenges it brings to the church. Can we, should we, and how might we engage with AI ethically, theologically and practically in life and ministry? James Foley, our guest speaker for this occasion, is the pastor of Salisbury Baptist Church where he loves to teach the Word of God and to equip others in ministry. He describes himself as a 'recovering mathematician' after studying Maths & Computer Science at Adelaide University and working for a maths textbook company for a couple of years. Since then he has studied theology at Moore College in Sydney, and worked in church & university ministry contexts. He is married to Rachelle, and they have three children. He enjoys classical music, games and puzzles, and can run further than he used to but would rather play table-tennis.

This week we will be introduced to Job's three loyal friends who come to show their sympathy and to comfort Job. They are stunned when they see their brother. He is unrecognisable to them– such is his anguish and affliction. After weeping and wailing loudly and expressing their own grief they fall into a week-long silence with their friend. Perhaps like us sometimes, they don't know what to say. Or perhaps, just being there with Job is enough to express their love and to comfort him with their quiet company. May the Lord teach us how to 'suffer well' in faith, and to know how to love those around us who are experiencing their own anguish and grief.

We turn this week to Job 2, where Job finds himself on the receiving end of a second round of testing from the hand of Satan. And yet still, astoundingly, Job continues to hold fast his integrity. Such is the work of the Spirit in those who fear God. Even as Job sits in ashes scraping his sores with a piece of broken pottery, the glory of God shines brightly out of this jar of clay.

Does Job fear God for nothing? We started the book of Job being introduced to the man himself. As far as men go, Job is a good man, blameless, upright, fearing the Lord, and turning from sin. Job is blessed by God with wealth, power, and a harmonious family (no small blessing for a family of twelve). But… what if Job had none of these blessings, would he still bless God's name? "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." The passage in Job seeks to stretch our understanding and worship of God into something bigger and fuller. It stretches us to see that God is worthy of our worship simply because he is the sovereign power over all creation. He is the giver and the taker.

We sometime sing "You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, 'Lord Blessed be your name.'" These words come from the lips of Job for whom they are not merely some theological cliché or theoretical belief, nor are they simply the emotive words of a worship song – they are his lived experience. Job's theology, his faith and his very soul are tested to the extreme and still he says, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." In our new 'Lessons From Job' preaching series commencing this Sunday, we will hear some brutally honest questions and statements from Job and his friends regarding God and his justice, especially when it comes to the matters of sin and suffering. This week we will learn that Job is both blameless and blessed, and yet he also knows the great need for sin to be atoned. This is something many in our own affluent (blessed?) society have forgotten. Job is a large book, and not an easy one to get our heads around. To help prepare our hearts and minds for the coming series can I encourage us all, young and old, to check out this short (11 minute) video from The Bible Project before this coming Sunday. It gives an excellent summary of the Book of Job. (Click HERE to watch the video! - or use the link below.) You will find it extremely helpful as we endeavour to learn some 'Lessons From Job'.