Jonah 3:1-4:11
Archive for Sermons – Page 12
There is an enormous spiritual difference between knowing about God and knowing of God. Sometimes those with the most knowledge about God, are the very least when it comes to their personal knowledge of God. And unfortunately that can even be true of those whom we might assume – by their education and vocation – to be the closest to God. There is no more telling example of that truth than a patrician priest by the name of Zechariah, whose example and experience are writ large in our Christmas story. It wasn’t until much later in life, at the very zenith of his priestly career, that he made the surprising spiritual journey from prayerless priest to Christmas prophet. This morning we’ll consider his personal testimony of that transformation, and its important message to us, through his recorded psalm in Luke 1:67-79, in a message entitled, “Coming to the Knowledge of Salvation”.
Over the next several weeks we turn our hearts and minds to the joy and wonder of our Savior’s birth. As we do so, we’ll direct our attention to the deeply personal, deeply prayerful, musical expressions of three individuals who were as different as they were unique. A very young peasant girl; a cultured, patrician priest; and a very obscure, very devout, and very aged prophet. Each of whom left to us the spiritual legacy of a psalm, every bit as timeless and valuable to our personal devotion and corporate worship as any psalm of David. And like the psalms of David, each an intensely personal expression giving poetic voice to an intensely personal experience.
2 Kings 6-7
Devout believers, in most times and in most places, have had to live out their faith in conditions decidedly uncongenial to the practice and propagation of that faith. And none more so than the prophet Elijah. In his day, the spiritual tide was so low – and the spiritual momentum so heavily in favor of Baal and Asherah worship – that he finally came to the conclusion that all was lost. He raised the white flag and prayed that he might die, “I have had enough, Lord”, he said, “Take my life” (1 Ki. 19:4). But as it turned out, the reports of the death of God’s work had been grossly exaggerated. God wasn’t quite ready yet to declare lights out on either Elijah or his saving purposes, as we’ll see this morning, in 1 Kings 18-19, in a message entitled, “Reversing the Irreversible”.
When the young peach-skinned David made his way across the Valley of Elah that morning to confront the crude, bellicose Philistine giant Goliath, he looked every bit like a lamb on its way to slaughter. Not a single soldier in all the army of Israel, not Saul, not any of his commanders, not any of his most experienced, most well equipped warriors had risen to the occasion, not one. The only taker was a young shepherd boy, armed with only his shepherd’s staff, pouch and sling, and an indomitable faith in the living LORD God Almighty. What happened that day made holy history, and stands as the quintessential example of the formidable giants we can sometimes face and the conquering faith that can easily slay them, as we’ll see this morning in 1 Samuel 17:1-51, in a message entitled, “Defeating the Undefeatable”.
He has been described as a he-man with a she-weakness. Raised from birth in a privileged spiritual environment, with a unique and special calling upon his life, his unusual spiritual gifts and power were on full display early on in his young adult years. Unfortunately Samson’s great physical strength was not matched by a corresponding strength of character, and his bent toward living life on the edge eventually caught up with him resulting in the tragic loss of his sight, freedom, and every last vestige of human dignity. But, as we’ll be reminded this morning, human sin and the terrible toll it can exact, does not necessarily get the last word. God’s ability to turn tragedy into triumph was on full display in the closing scene of Samson’s life, in Judges 16:23-31 in a message entitled, “Redeeming the Irredeemable”.
There was no more daunting image, jutting out of the lush Jordan valley, then the ancient walled city of Jericho. It was an imposing, impregnable fortress, standing sentinel over the gateway into the land of Canaan. No sooner had the ill-equipped, rag-tag group of wilderness wanderers crossed the raging Jordan river on to the banks of the promised land, then they were staring down both barrels of the oldest, strongest, most intimidating embattlement in all of Palestine. What God did, how he did it, and what he taught them in the process is powerful witness to the certain truth that we are indeed more than conquerors, as we’ll see again this morning by way of Joshua 5:13 – 6:27 in a message entitled, “Destroying the Indestructible”.
Joshua 3-4
Preaching has fallen on hard times. Pulpits have by and large disappeared, making our sanctuaries look more like a Ted Talk than a place of worship. But the changes are far more than just cosmetic, or the innocent pursuit of relevancy by way of stage furnishings and the latest display of technology. Which makes the closing words of the Sermon on the Mount so important. Matthew’s record ends not with the final words of Jesus’ sermon, but with the collective response of those who heard it. It is one of those brief statements that we could easily blow right by, as nothing more than a convenient literary device meant to provide a comfortable transition from one section of scripture to another. But, as we’ll see this morning, Matthew 7:28-29 records something quite profound and profoundly significant. We’ll consider the meaning and significance of Matthew’s after-sermon report in a much needed message entitled, “The Power of the Word Proclaimed”.
Glorifying God by Encouraging
All People to Pursue a Lifelong,
Joyous Relationship with Jesus Christ