Saturday, July 30, 2016

Worship When You’re Hurting

Pain and suffering have a powerful way of discouraging worship. And yet so many of the Psalms are prayers of worship coming from people who are mired in a pit of troubles. This Sunday we’re going to study Psalm 42, a prayer written by a man who was cornered by problems. He didn’t understand why God was allowing so many horrible things to happen, but in spite of it all, he also knew he didn’t have anywhere else to turn.

If you’re going through a challenging period in your life and you feel it difficult to worship and praise God, join us this weekend for one of our services. You’ll find you’re not alone. Believers throughout the ages have struggled with their feelings about God in the midst of suffering. God doesn’t expect us to enjoy the hard times, but he does invite us to trust him to bring us through.

Are you convinced Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead? That’s the place to begin. If the Son of God would make that kind of sacrifice for us so that we can spend eternity with him, he is not going to needlessly put us through the ringer of life. Worship the Lord in your pain. In his way, he will begin to help you work through it. And you will be showing your love for him in a way you couldn’t apart from the suffering you are enduring.

Worship Services
Saturday night: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning: 10:00 am

Friday, July 22, 2016

When Guilt Won’t Go Away


The word guilt does not bring a pleasant image to mind. Rather, we can almost feel its crushing effect on our lives, weighing us down with feelings of failure, gnawing at us with accusations of moral responsibility for the pain and suffering of others.

Psychologists have written volumes on the impact of guilt on the human psyche. Some have even suggested that the majority of mental health issues find their origin in some form of guilt.

When you first looked at the photo above, how did you react? Did you feel empathy? Did you identify with the agony expressed by the individual?

We’ve all experienced guilt. We’ve seen it destroy peoples’ lives. But what to do about it? How does a human being get rid of guilt when it won’t go away?

A Jewish king who lived about three thousand years ago named David was no stranger to guilt. If you’ve read his story, you know his guilt was not imaginary or invented, it was as real as guilt gets. He tried to hide it. He tried to pretend it didn’t matter. But he was found out. His lies exposed. The naked truth confronted him like the noon day sun and he realized he had nowhere to turn, except to the very One against whom he had sinned so terribly – God.

Join us for one of our weekend services as we study what David learned about getting rid of guilt God’s way. What he writes is good news, news that all of us need to hear.

Worship Services
Saturday night: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning: 10:00 am

Hawaii Lutheran Church (WELS)

My photo
Honolulu, HI
Community Lutheran Church holds protestant chapel services in Honolulu, Hawaii near Pearl Harbor, HI. We are next to the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hickam Air Force Base, and Fort Shafter Hawaii. Look for us directly behind the Salt Lake, Hawaii, Target.