Lee Eclov

These past few weeks our nation has been heavy with grief, outrage, and fear. But on a more personal level, every week your church is filled with the quiet suffering and tears of many who are fighting hidden battles. How do you bring God's comfort from God's Word to God's people? That's the question that Lee Eclov explores in this week's profound skills article, "Preaching God's Unfathomable Comfort." And here's the good news for any preacher: "One of the wonders of preaching," Eclov writes, "is that you never really know all the ways God comforts people through your sermons. Whenever the Bible is preached and God's grace is extolled in any of its manifold forms God comes alongside people and draws them near. You just never know how God will do it."

Mark Dever

As we continue our current series about "Preaching on Suffering," check out part three in Mark Dever's sermon series on the Book of Lamentations. You'll get the gist of Dever's theme (based on chapters four and five) from the sermon's title—"Your Best Life Is Not Now." This sermon has it all—thorough exegesis, emotional intensity, and pastoral wisdom. This is why we love presenting full manuscripts—we can learn and grow as preachers by reading other great preachers. Dever closes with this profound thought: "In one sense the deep, dark history of [the Book of Lamentations] … is typical of the whole Bible. The Bible story is, again and again, a story of utterly hopeless situations. God lets us get into this corner of apparently complete hopelessness so we will learn he is our only hope."

Also, check out these new resources:

• Featured Illustration: Leader Turns Graffiti Vandals into Artists
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• Featured Sermon: "Your Best Life Is Not Now" by Mark Dever
• Featured Skills Article: "Preaching God's Unfathomable Comfort" by Lee Eclov

Matt Woodley
Editor, PreachingToday.com
mwoodley@christianitytoday.com

P.S. In light of recent events in our nation, you will not want to miss this fabulous interview with Dr. Soong-Chan Rah on the beauty and power of lament.

Matt Woodley is the pastor of compassion ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois.