κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

[Introduction] If you have ever felt like YOUR world is falling apart, you know that honest lament, the passionate expression of deep sorrow or regret, is often the only prayer we have left.  We live in a world where we desperately try to build stable lives, but then it all crumbles around us ... torn down by sin, iniquity, and transgression. This leads to lament. We look at the brokenness of our bodies, our relationships, and our world, and we lament the crushing weight of it all. In our darkest moments, we might even feel that God has forgotten us ... that God has abandoned us ... that God doesn’t care about us ... or worse, that God is against us (Lam 5:20). 4. That was the reality for the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations. The Weeping Prophet, as he is known, had warned the people for forty years that they would lament the Day of the Lord. But they didn’t listen. They ignored God’s Word of judgment, condemnation, and curses. They ignored their own sin.  Sometime...

Thus, I will have hope (v. 24). 5. Life never goes exactly how we want it. No matter how hard we try, no matter how well we plan, something invariably goes wrong ... something ends up missing or falling short. Too often our desires outrun our ambitions or destroy our plans. In turn, we then end up lamenting our lot in life. Maybe you don’t do it aloud with others. Many of us lament silently. But the truth is, we are pros at it ... lamenting about how good it used to be ... lamenting about what we don’t have any more ... about all that we lost. Before I go any further, let me make clear that I don’t have a particular grievance or complaint at this moment. I don’t have any one thing in mind: I’m simply stating a general fact about human nature.  The problem is sin. We sin because we are sinners. And the consequence of our sin is more apparent to us than the cause. As you all know so well, sin causes pain ... and ultimately, death and destruction. When you see death and destruction, ...