We have begun our journey through the New Testament! Our time in the Old Testament was very valuable and showed how so many parts of the Old Testament were pointing forward to Jesus.
I found our walk through the Old Testament helped us understand and even recognize the longing for the Messiah, Jesus, in our own lives. Thankfully, we live in the New Testament era and have Christ! Part of that longing was the 400 years of silence when the people of Israel did not hear from God; there were no visions, no dreams, no words from the Lord, no prophets. Our four minute practice of silence in the service gave us a tiny glimpse into that time. And now, we turn our attention to Matthew, the tax collector who left his tax booth at the call of Jesus to follow after Him (Matt. 9:9). Matthew wrote his gospel to help Jewish and Gentile people recognize that Jesus is the Messiah who was promised by God long ago. Thus Matthew used many Old Testament references to show Him as the Messiah and often included phrases like, “this was to fulfill the prophet..." Jesus' birth, His baptism, His temptation, His sermon on the mount, and His healing of countless sick, hurting, and demon possessed folks all point to Him being the Messiah who brought the Kingdom of God with Him. Thus everything that folks thought they knew about life, the world, even faith in the Lord was about to change with the Advent of Jesus. His use of parables (see Matt. chap. 13) and focus on the heart (Matt. 5:25, 11:28-30) showed that He wasn’t interested in external religious expressions, but He wanted to speak to human hearts and He wanted people to become part of the Kingdom He was putting into place. Ultimately, there is no greater expression of the love and power of God than the betrayal, trial, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matt. 26-28). His commission of the 11 (Matt. 28:18-20), to take this Good News everywhere and all over the world, is also a commission to us to do the same. Matthew left everything to follow Jesus and gave us his gospel so we could hear about Jesus. As we love Him, put our faith in Him, and follow Him, we must give others the opportunity to hear about Jesus. He truly is the Messiah! Please join me in being thankful for Jesus! Pastor Andy Happy Birthday, NewLife! Sunday was a very special day of celebrating God’s faithfulness for 25 years! We looked at 1 Thessalonians 5:24 as part of our celebration day. It reads, “He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” There were three parts that we looked at:
He is the One who calls us to Himself and to join Him in working on His plans. Then, He is faithful, which means we can depend on Him that His call is real and the plans He has for us are part of His bigger mission in the world. But, if it stopped then, there would be something missing, which would be the action of the Lord God accomplishing what He proposed to do in His call. It almost sounds like circular thinking but it really is showing the interdependence of these three aspects. If He calls, He’s faithful both to His call and to accomplish why He called us, all of which means we need to walk with Him in each of these three aspects. And, if He calls, we must listen! Our NewLife family listened 25 years ago and began a huge faith journey which we continue to be a part of now! It’s just as important that we listen to Him and continue to walk in the call that He has on each of our lives and for us as a church now as it was then! Thanks for being on this journey with Jesus and one another! Let’s see what He has next for us! Pastor Andy P.S. We will begin our walk through the New Testament on Sunday with the book of Matthew. I invite you to begin reading Matthew for our time on Sunday.
Y’all, we've achieved a very significant milestone. We’ve reached the end of our journey through the Old Testament! As we said on Sunday, that’s an Old Testament badge for each of us!
Our OT journey concluded with the book of Malachi. Malachi, which means messenger, was God’s messenger whom He called and used to challenge Israel on attitudes that were not pleasing to the Lord and were leading to bad consequences for them. At the same time, there are aspects of the book that are very encouraging. Take a look at these:
As much as Malachi calls out Israel for their hard-hearted, lackluster response to honoring God, God in His unchanging kindness, still made promises to His people. And He always follows through! Let’s be sure to pay close attention to God’s messenger and keep turning our hearts to Jesus. I hope to see you at the 25th birthday celebration for NewLife on Sunday! Pastor Andy
Zechariah was a man of visions and prophecies from the Lord. The first half of his book contains the visions that God gave him and the second half has the prophecies. These messages from the Lord were messages of comfort. In fact, 1:4 is an invitation with a promise: “Return to Me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” This captures the heart of God as expressed time and again to His people through His prophets.
That’s what God wants- His people to return, to be determined to love Him and worship Him alone, and to come back from where they had been. This is the picture of the Father’s Heart, one that wants His kids close. He wants them to learn from their ancestors’ past mistakes (1:5) and to stay true to their covenant with Him. His jealousy was rekindled for them (8:2) and He again was determined to bring them good (8:15). The best good that He could bring them was the Redeemer. He promised them a Suffering Servant and they looked forward to the One who would free them. We look back to the same Servant's first coming (soon to be celebrated in December) and look forward to His second coming. Here’s a list of the prophecies about Jesus in Zechariah which are often quoted and referred to in the New Testament:
Zechariah was preaching Christ hundreds of years before Christ was on this earth. He’s still the One we proclaim! May His grace enable us to serve Him in all ways (2 Cor. 9:8), Pastor Andy
Hey Guy! Hey Gal!
We’re looking back at the book of Haggai which we walked through on Sunday. The book details God’s call to the sojourners who had been in the exile and had returned to rebuild the temple of God. The problem was, when they encountered strong opposition to their rebuilding efforts, they became discouraged and stopped the work. God sent Haggai to prompt the people to begin the work again. True to His character, God points out the issue that was holding them back. Though there had been opposition, what God addresses is the fact that they were busy with their own homes, and even had paneled homes, while God’s house was in ruins (Haggai 1:3,9). Amazingly, the people obey the voice of the Lord and rise up and begin the work again. God encourages them, reminds them His Spirit goes with them, and tells them to keep working to complete the temple, which they eventually do. He also promises to bring greater glory in the future compared to the present glory or the glory the temple once had. Personally, I was very encouraged by the book of Haggai as I think it’s a beautiful picture that shows God using His Word, in this case through the mouth of Haggai, to restore, challenge, convict, and transform His people towards His goals. I’m grateful to be on this journey with you, NewLife family, Pastor Andy Questions for Reflection:
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Cor. 8:6 (NIV)
I think with this verse from 1 Corinthians, Paul helps us frame how to think about Zephaniah’s first couple of chapters. When we understand that our very lives come from God the Father and are to be lived for God and that we live our lives through Jesus, we can understand God's anger and frustration with His people in Zephaniah’s time. They were worshiping other gods even though they swore their devotion was to the Lord. They had fallen back from seeking the Lord and had become complacent in their pursuit of Him (if that’s what we can even call it). They were influenced by nations that worshiped false gods and were even worshiping creation. Thus Zeph’s warning of coming judgment was for both Israel and the surrounding nations. Thankfully, the story doesn't end there! God in His kindness will preserve a people to be His remnant. Not only that but He rejoices over His people like a father. In Zeph. 3: 17, He tells us that:
These are powerful words from God, our Father! Let us take them to heart and live in these truths! Rejoicing that He rejoices over us! Pastor Andy Questions for Reflection:
I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint. Hab. 2:1 When I was in college, I took a special course taught by a professor who had been a psychologist for over 40 years. He regularly used the phrase, “This is the stuff of life” when he referred to what folks faced in their lives and how he journeyed with them through it. I think Habakkuk gives us an example of how to handle “the stuff of life.” Here’s what I mean:
These are the lessons we can learn from an ancient prophet. Which one stands out to you? Which one is speaking to you? Thankfully, God is so gracious and faithful to speak to His people then and now. What a privilege it is to have God’s Word. Remember, Jesus is walking through the stuff of life with us! Pastor Andy
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him. Nahum 1:7
I would venture to guess that not many of us turn to Nahum regularly in our times of devotion. That’s a pretty easy guess to make because in the book, God gave Nahum a strong message to the city of Nineveh, warning of destruction and then predicting its fulfillment (1:1,8). The city that once had repented and turned to the Lord at Jonah’s preaching now had turned back away from Him. At the same time, God was now setting His people free from bondage and calling them back to Himself (1:12-13). In fact, He knows those who are His, those who have turned to Him as their refuge as we see in Nahum 1:7, and He cares for us. There are 3 things that show God as refuge in this verse that are worth unpacking.
So, now that we have unpacked this verse, I think the only thing each of us has left to do is to do just what the verse talks about: take refuge in Him! Thankfully, He’s made provision for us to have that refuge in Christ. Let’s take refuge in Him today. On Christ the solid rock we stand, Pastor Andy Questions for Reflection:
“…walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8b Y’all, I’ve been thinking about how that verse captures the heart of the prophets. When asked what comes to mind when thinking about the prophets, I would imagine people would think of God communicating His displeasure with Israel, God foretelling future events through the prophets, and God sharing that condemnation will be coming if they didn't repent. I would tend to agree with that assessment. However, I think the heart of the prophets was to call the people back to loving the Lord with all that they had. Amazingly, God wants a relationship with us. He doesn't want our religious offerings or our sacrifices to earn favor with Him. I would imagine that would feel like an insult to the God of the universe! Amazingly, beautifully, and filled with grace, Jesus came to teach us, to show us, and to be the Way. So, I think that means we should walk with Him! To walk with the Lord means:
It looks like walking weather to me, have a good walk with God today! Pastor Andy Questions for Reflection:
Hello fellow Jonahs –
As we reflect on the Book of Jonah, be reminded that this book gives us a view into our own selves and how similar to Jonah we all are – and not for the good reasons. God is asking us if we believe it is okay for God to love our enemies. Are we excited and genuinely happy when our enemies are loved by God? Reflect on God calling us out to love those we don’t love. Our love for them doesn’t come easy and He wants us to start seeing them how He sees them. Blessings to you all and may we all be reminded that at one time, we too were God’s enemies. Pastor Kyle Questions for Reflection: Here are some questions to ponder. Take some time, have the Book of Jonah open and go through these questions on your own or in a group.
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