In this final week of the series, Pastor Glenn helps us explore the feeling of being forsaken by God. From the rich tradition of lament in the psalms, we discover that protest can be a proof of faith. When we take our complaint to God, we affirm both his sovereignty and his love. But the psalms-even Psalm 22-comes to its completion in Christ. In Jesus-from His birth to His death to His resurrection-we see the faithfulness of God. In the end, we can trust that the forsakenness we feel is not truer than the faithfulness revealed in Christ.

In a culture obsessed with success and strength, it can be hard to know what to do with failure. Failure, when it happens, is an experience of loss, a loss of status and sometimes even a loss of meaning. Failure can be disorienting, the feeling of life 'going off script.' And yet, we have a Savior who was considered a failure by his culture and his friends. More than that, Jesus carried our deepest failure-our failure to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us to see that because of Jesus, our failure is never final. We are the beloved of God.

Beyond the loneliness that can come from new situations or locations, many of us have felt a profound sense of loneliness or dislocation--wondering where we fit and if we belong. Once again, we are reminded to give voice to this ache in prayer. This week, Pastor Glenn Packiam helps us see that Jesus does more than weep and pray and suffer *with* us and *as* us; he does all this *for* us. This means that because Jesus took on the ultimate loneliness, we are never truly alone. (This sermon includes a portion for the children as part of our "Family Sunday" practice.)