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Broken and the Blessed Week 2, Day 5

by David Joynt on January 19, 2017


DAY 12

JOHN 11:7-17; 28-33

 

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted! God brings comfort to us in our mourning in several ways. As we have been discussing in previous days this week, he gives our sorrow a context and a purpose and with these two things comes both meaning and dignity. But that is not all. God gives us his presence, if we are open to it, in our grief. In our scripture today Jesus comes to Mary and Martha, who’ve lost their brother Lazarus. Jesus does not simply share truths or make promises, he participates fully in their grief. God does more than understand our sorrow, he too grieves with us! There is comfort in a God who identifies with us and who cares about our tears.

 

Do you know anyone who is grieving or sad?

 

What are the best ways to comfort someone? 

 

FAMILY TIME—

If someone is sad, how can we give them comfort?

 

Tags: beatitudes, comfort, devotional, the broken and the blessed

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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