Many wouldn’t think of God as being behind the current economic slump. Some will use this recession as one more reason not to believe in Him. Or they’ll have one more reason to curse Him.

Our pastor, John Piper, however, believes God has a purpose for the recession. He went so far in Sunday’s sermon “What Is the Recession for?“, as to say something like: “This is God’s moment!” He is really pumped about the possibilities the recession brings.

I encourage you to listen to his sermon and start thinking biblically about our recession. To help encourage this, let me post the 5 points of the sermon here, compliments of the Desiring God Blog.

1. To expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
2. To wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
3. To relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods””in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
4. To advance his saving mission in the world””the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church””precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
5. To bring his church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

Check out Desiring God’s blog for a more detailed post. Or read/watch/listen/download the sermon for free at DesiringGod.org.