Preaching Goes Viral

Reflections on Preaching Through Exodus in a Pandemic

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Theodicy (M): Misc. beliefs about why God lets a pandemic happen

Theodicy (S): Pandemic as punishment for Sin. Or not!

I preach a lot about suffering in my sermons because, frankly, the Bible talks a lot about suffering and we preach the Bible. An interesting question has risen over the past several months since the pandemic hit – are we being punished? Is American being disciplined? Are individuals who contract Covid-19, suffer, and in some cases die, being punished for their sin? Like above, I believe the answer is no. In short, the Bible says that while God does not cause all suffering, he is sovereign over all suffering. What this means is that God is not personally giving nations or individuals a virus to suffer, or to give people anxiety over the potential a virus, but he is providentially seeking to use all suffering to draw people to Himself. God took no pleasure in the pain and enslavement of his people in Egypt, but he did use that level of suffering to draw them near and hear their cries for rescue.

2022-12-16

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Aaron Syvertsen