Sunday, December 28, 2025

First Sunday after Christmas sermon.From Hearing to Seeing: A Journey to True Worship

 

Job's Journey: True Worship Through Suffering


From Hearing to Seeing: A Journey to True Worship

*Sermon on Job 42:1-6*

 

Job's Journey: From Head to Heart

Good morning! Have you ever had one of those days—or years—where everything falls apart? Your coffee spills, your car breaks down, and then life drops something even bigger on you? If so, you and Job would be great friends.

Today we're looking at the end of Job's story—but not the "happily ever after" part. We're looking at what happened inside Job when God finally showed up.

Job's "Oh, I See!" Moment

Job says something amazing in chapter 42, verse 5: "Before, I'd only heard about you, but now I've seen you with my own eyes!"

Think of it like this:

  • Before suffering: Job knew God like you know a celebrity—you've seen the pictures, heard the stories, maybe even have a poster on your wall.
  • After suffering: Job knows God like your best friend—you've been through stuff together, you've seen their character in tough times, you really know them.

God doesn't give Job a PowerPoint presentation explaining his suffering. Instead, He takes Job on the ultimate nature documentary tour: "Check out the ocean! Look at the stars! Have you seen how cool hippos are?"

And Job has this lightbulb moment: "Ohhhhh... You're WAY bigger than I thought!"

What Job Actually Said (It's Not What You Think!)

Verse 6 gets translated weird sometimes. People think Job says: "I'm a horrible worm, please squish me."

But what he's really saying is: "I take back what I said! I was talking about things way over my head. I'm just human—you're God!"

That's not self-hatred—that's just being real about who's God and who isn't.

Three Simple Takeaways for Us

  1. God Prefers Honest Mess Over Neat Fakeness
    • Job's friends had perfect theology but never prayed for him
    • Job yelled at God, questioned everything, and was a mess
    • And God said: "Job got it right!"
    • Worship tip: Bring your real self to God, not your "Sunday self"
  2. Suffering Can Upgrade Your Faith
    • Sometimes it takes everything falling apart for us to move God from our heads to our hearts
    • Like Job, we can move from knowing about God to actually knowing Him
  3. Worship Isn't About Having Answers—It's About Knowing the Answer-Giver
    • Job never found out why he suffered
    • But he met God—and that was enough
    • We don't worship because life makes sense; we worship because God is good, even when life isn't

Your Turn

Maybe you're in a "Job season" right now. Or maybe you know someone who is. Here's your invitation:

Be honest with God. Tell Him how you really feel. Ask your hard questions.

Look for God in the storm. Not just in the easy answers, but in His presence with you in the questions.

Worship the God you meet, not just the God you heard about. Let your suffering—or your friend's suffering—be the place where faith gets real.

Because true worship isn't about having a pain-free life. It's about knowing the God who walks with us through every pain.

Amen! 🙌

 

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