This message was given on June 19th, 2016 at New City Church in Calgary by Pastor John Ferguson. For more info, please visit: www.newcitychurch.ca

1. “Weep With Those Who Weep”
~ Romans 12:9-21 ~

2. Oxford Dictionaries
Word of the Year
for 2015 is…

3. Oxford Dictionaries
Word of the Year
for 2015 is…

4. Oxford Dictionaries
Word of the Year
for 2015 is…
…was chosen as the ‘word’ that best reflected
the ethos, mood, and preoccupations of 2015

6. “Weep With Those Who Weep”
~ Romans 12:9-21 ~

7. 1 I appeal to your therefore, brothers,
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21
by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship.

8. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21
be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing, you may discern
what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.

9. 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil;
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21
hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one
another with brotherly affection. Outdo
one another in showing honour. 11 Do
not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,
serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope,

10. …be patient in tribulation, be constant in
prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of
the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless
and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with
those who rejoice, and weep with those
who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21

11. …another. Do not be haughty, but associ-
ate with the lowly. Never be conceited.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give
thought to do what is honourable in the
sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it
depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves,
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21

12. …but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is
written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”
says the Lord. 20 To the contrary, “if your
enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty,
give him something to drink; for by so
doing you will heap burning coals on his
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21

13. Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
Unison: Thanks be to God!
“…head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21

14. “…weep with those who weep.”
Weep

15. “…no human being can
tame the tongue. It is a
restless evil, full of
deadly poison. With it we
bless our Lord and
Father, and with it we
curse people who are
made in the likeness of
God…. These things
ought not be so.”
James 3:8

16. In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replica-
tion, some people are going to get hurt, other people are
going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason
in it, or any justice. The universe that we observe has
precisely the properties we should
expect if there is, at bottom,
no design, no purpose, no evil
and no good, nothing but blind,
pitiless indifference… DNA neither
knows nor cares. DNA just is.
And we dance to its music.
~ Richard Dawkins, East of Eden

17. Is there a God? No. What is
the purpose of the universe?
There is none. What is the
meaning of life? Ditto. Why
am I here? Just dumb luck.
What is the difference
between right and wrong,
good and bad? There is no
moral difference between
them. Why should I be
moral? Because it makes
you feel better.

18. Is abortion, euthanasia,
suicide, paying taxes, foreign
aid, or anything else you
don’t like forbidden,
permissible, or sometimes
obligatory? Anything goes.
Does history have any
meaning or purpose? It’s full
of sound and fury, but
signifies nothing.

19. “…weep with those who weep.”
Weep

20. “…be constant in prayer.”
Pray

21. Woven throughout Scripture
is an unguarded type of
prayer known as lament. To
lament is to ask ‘Why?’ and
‘Why not?’ as well as ‘What
are you doing God?’ and
‘Where are you?’ To lament is
to pour out our hearts, holding
nothing back. It is to pray
without trying to be more full
of faith than we actually are.

22. “Why, O Lord, do you
stand afar off? Why
do you hide yourself
in times of trouble?”
~ Psalm 10:1

23. “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from
saving me, from the words
of my groaning? O my
God, I cry by day, but you
do not answer, and by
night, but I find no rest.”~ Psalm 22:1

24. “Awake! Why are you sleeping Lord? Rouse
yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you
hide your face? Why do you forget our
affliction and oppression? For our soul is
bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the
ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us
for the sake of your steadfast love!”
~ Psalm 44:23ff.

25. Lament is prayer that honors
the honesty of pain and anger
while also honouring the truth
that God is the one who
reigns and whose hesed love
never fails. Lament holds in
tension all the suffering that
seems to make no sense with
a determination to believe that
God is just.

26. Lament draws us to God
when we are tempted to turn
away. Lament enables us to
keep moving forward with
perseverance…; it is a way to
remain deeply connected to
the God who loves us and
loves justice even when
injustice makes us ask the
hardest questions of God.

27. Lament

28. “We mourn, but we mourn in the
hope of a kingdom where blood is not
shed and where bullets never fly.”
~ Russell Moore, President
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Southern Baptist Convention
“

29. “Let love be genuine.”
Love

31. “We love our city and love
the people in our community.
#prayfororlando”

32. “If you love those who
love you, what reward
will you have? Do not
even the tax collectors
do the same? And if
you greet only your
brothers, what more are
you doing than others?”
~ Jesus of Nazareth in
The Gospel of Matthew 5:46-47

33. You love others,
but do you love
others who are
not like you?
?

34. “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall love
your neighbour and hate
your enemy.’ But I say to
you, Love your enemies,
and pray for those who
persecute you….”
~ Jesus of Nazareth in
The Gospel of Matthew 5:43-44

35. ~ The Apostle Paul in
Romans 5:7ff.
“One will scarcely die for a
righteous person—though
perhaps for a good person
one would even dare to
die—but God shows his
love for us in that while we
were still sinners, Christ
died for us…. While we
were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the
death of his Son.”

36. The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for
creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he
can end evil and suffering without ending us. And if this
is true, though we still have no answer to the question
of why he allows evil to continue, we know
he can’t be doing it out of indifference
or detachment. God takes our misery
and suffering so seriously that he
was willing to take it on himself.
~ Tim Keller, The Reason for God

38. Should we care
about people’s tears
or should we care
about people’s souls?

39. “Sometimes the Bible in the
hand of one man is worse
than a whisky bottle in the
hand of (another)… There
are just some kind of men
who – who’re so busy
worrying about the next
world they’ve never learned
to live in this one, and you
can look down the street
and see the results.”
Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird

40. NCC, may you be a people who
can weep with those who weep,
but may you also be a people who mourn
in the hope of Christ’s coming kingdom
where God himself will wipe away every tear
because suffering & death will be no more.