Weep With Those Who Weep

My heart is heavy for those who are experiencing the great loss of children
in Connecticut.

I found these things encouraging tonight while reflecting and in prayer. Hopefully they will bring some comfort to those in need.
May hearts be directed to Christ in these desperate times.

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The Briefing Special Edition – Connecticut Shooting

Rachel Weeping for Her Children

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I read these words born of a season of grieving the loss of loved ones, in this blog post tonight and they rang so true:

Frederick Buechner calls people of God “connoisseurs of sorrow,” for we are alive through the depth of Christ’s suffering borne out of love for us. Today and for the foreseeable future, we wrap sadness around like a cloak. At the very same time, we are people of hope. Christ came to bring eternal life of abundant delight. To this promise we cling. O death, where is thy sting? Seems like everywhere we look at this moment. But a new tomorrow will dawn in which there is no sorrow or crying. For that day we wait.

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I love the LORD, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!” Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living. I believed when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the LORD. Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones. To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Psalm 116

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What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own,
but belong–
body and soul,
in life and in death–
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.

(The Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 1)

Through His Life and Death

“Christianity not only leads its members to believe people of other faiths have goodness and wisdom to offer,
it also leads them to expect that many will live lives morally superior to their own.
Most people in our culture in our culture believe that, if there is a God, we can relate to him and go to heaven through leading a good life.  Let’s call this the “moral improvement” view.  Christianity teaches the very opposite.
In the Christian understanding, Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation.
Rather, he comes to forgive and save us through his life and death in our place.  God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.” – Tim Keller, The Reason for God, 19