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  THE MOUNTAIN AFTER THE QUAKE
  by Charles E. Cowman
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Summary: The sermon explores how God uses sorrow and destruction to
bring about renewal and peace in our lives, much like the beauty found
in nature after a storm.

Topics: "Suffering And Trials", "Gods Sovereignty"
Scripture References: Job 5:18, Psalm 30:5, Isaiah 61:3, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:17

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DESCRIPTION
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Charles E. Cowman preaches about the ministry of great sorrow, drawing
parallels to the earthquake that ploughs the mountains but ultimately
leads to beauty, grace, and God's everlasting peace. He emphasizes that
just as God ploughs the mountains to bring forth beauty and freshness,
our lives may face jarring sorrows that are part of His greater plan to
renew and bring His peace. Through the imagery of mountains being
transformed by earthquakes, Cowman encourages the congregation to trust
in God's process of healing and restoration even in the midst of trials.

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CONTENT
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"He maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth and his hands make whole"
(Job 5:18).

The ministry of a great sorrow.

As we pass beneath the hills which have been shaken by the earthquake
and torn by convulsion, we find that periods of perfect repose succeed
those of destruction. The pools of calm water lie clear beneath their
fallen rocks, the water lilies gleam, and the reeds whisper among the
shadows; the village rises again over the forgotten graves, and its
church tower, white through the storm twilight, proclaims a renewed
appeal to His protection "in whose hand are all the corners of the
earth, and the strength of the hills is his also." --Ruskin

God ploughed one day with an earthquake,

And drove His furrows deep!

The huddling plains upstarted,

The hills were all aleap!

But that is the mountains' secret,

Age-hidden in their breast;

"God's peace is everlasting,"

Are the dream-words of their rest.

He made them the haunts of beauty,

The home elect of His grace;

He spreadeth His mornings upon them,

His sunsets light their face.

His winds bring messages to them

Wild storm-news from the main;

They sing it down the valleys

In the love-song of the rain.

They are nurseries for young rivers,

Nests for His flying cloud,

Homesteads for new-born races,

Masterful, free, and proud.

The people of tired cities

Come up to their shrines and pray;

God freshens again within them,

As He passes by all day.

And lo, I have caught their secret!

The beauty deeper than all!

This faith--that life's hard moments,

When the jarring sorrows befall,

Are but God ploughing His mountains;

And those mountains yet shall be

The source of His grace and freshness,

And His peace everlasting to me.

--William C. Gannett

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/charles-e-cowman/the-mountain-after-the-quake/
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