To the faithful You show Yourself faithful. Ps. 18:25 (NIV)
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah chose to honor God and not defile themselves by eating the king’s assigned food but they ate vegetables and drank water instead (Daniel, chapter 1). In so doing, they showed themselves to be faithful to God and this determined the tone of how they would walk as exiles in a foreign and hostile land. How do four young men who have just been ripped away from their families and homeland decide to make such a stand? I think it was two things: Someone, either their families or other close folks & friends, invested in them so that they would know and serve the God of their fathers. God, in His faithfulness, honored them for such a bold and confident decision in the face of direct indoctrination by King Neb. In fact, we can see three things that God did in the first chapter: He granted them favor (1:9) to carry out their resolve not to defile themselves. He sustained them (1:14). He gifted them for the purposes He had for them (1:17). As we noted on Sunday, this was just the preparation phase for these four young men! In chapter two, Daniel interpreted the dream the king had, something no other person could do. It was God who revealed the dream to him, after he’d prayed with the other three guys about it. In chapter three, the three friends do not bow to the golden statue the king set up and they were thrown into the flaming, fiery furnace. Daniel would go on to have other dreams and visions having meaning about the kingdoms of the time and the kingdom of God. Daniel also would continue praying three times a day to the God of Heaven, in the face of the king’s edict that anyone praying or inquiring of someone else other than the king would be thrown into the lion’s den. Even in being thrown into the lion’s den, Daniel survived because of God being faithful to him and sending an angel to shut the lion’s mouth. So, we see that these young men walking through such difficult times in 600 B.C. have given us a model on how to live as sojourners in a land that is not our home (1 Peter 1:1-2). Perhaps even more so, they remind us that God is faithful to His people as they seek to live faithfully for Him. May we do exactly that through His power (2 Peter 1:3)! Pastor Andy Questions for Reflection: When did you make a decision to put your faith in Jesus? Daniel resolved to honor God in this situation. What resolutions have you made to honor God? How has Jesus been preparing you to serve Him? Where do you currently see Him at work doing this? Where/how have you seen God’s faithfulness in your life? List some examples.
God frequently called the prophet Ezekiel by the name “son of man.” In fact, He calls him this over 90 times in the book of Ezekiel. The “son of man” moniker was to remind Ezekiel that he was a human servant of the Lord God Most High. It also served to be a prophetic picture of Jesus that was to help Israel recognize Him as the Son of God. Of the many visions that God gave to Ezekiel, we looked at one in particular on Sunday.
God showed Ezekiel four things in the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, found in Ez. 37. God, by the power of the Spirit, put Ezekiel in the right place to see what He was going to do, v.1-2. God showed Ezekiel the reality and, in this case, the impossibility of what He was going to do, v. 2-3. God told Ezekiel what He wanted him to do, v. 3-6. God waited for Ezekiel to obey His instructions and then He started bringing the bones together, v. 7. As the “son of man” was obedient, God started putting the bones back together. That’s a picture of what God does in our lives through the Son of Man, Jesus. Jesus was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8). In His obedience, Jesus brought us from death to life. We see a parallel of those four things God showed Ezekiel. God has put us in the right place to see what He has done for us in Christ. He’s shown us the impossibility of obtaining salvation apart from Christ (John 14:6). God the Father has shown us what He wants us to do, which is to listen to His Beloved Son, (Matt. 17:5). Now it is God who waits on us to be about the things He’s shown us, spoken to us, and revealed in His Word. I think we might just be amazed at how He brings our lives together as we act on His instructions and Word to us (Ez. 37: 7-10). Let’s be thankful that the Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for us! Pastor Andy We read through Jeremiah’s journal of “Lamentations” on Sunday. It’s a personal look into the prophet’s life as he processes the destruction of Jerusalem and the grief of God’s people going into exile. It’s a stark and overwhelming sense of chaos and grief compared to the glorious days that used to be in Jerusalem. Thankfully, there is hope in the middle of the book when Jeremiah remembers and calls to mind God’s faithfulness (3:19-23). And in doing so, Jeremiah teaches us how to Lament and seek God in the midst of life’s troubles.
How to Lament, Biblically: 1:1-3 We state what has happened 3:19 We acknowledge that it has impacted us (I remember it well) 3:20 We state and process the effects it has on us (my soul is bowed down) 3:21 We start to look at it through God’s faithfulness *Looking at it this way is a skill we need to cultivate: “This I call to mind”. Jeremiah has to actively call God’s faithfulness to mind. *We also can get the result of using this skill: having hope So, what does Jeremiah "call to mind"? God’s steadfast love never ends: it’s the steady and reliable love of God and it never runs out His Mercies are new EVERY morning: not only does it never run out, it’s refreshed daily Great is Your Faithfulness: This is why we can have hope because of God’s character, who He is, The Lord is our portion, which means He is our hope, help, our fill, our strength, etc. As we process the events and griefs of our lives, we need silence and solitude to help us focus on the Lord’s Presence and to hear what He’s saying to us in the chaos (Lam. 3 26-28). Thankfully, He is good to those who seek Him (3:25)! Friends, let’s keep seeking Him together! Pastor Andy
Greetings NewLife,
So what do we take from Jeremiah? We can see that the Book of Jeremiah is an amazing story of a young man who stands in obedience to God despite the consequences, and a nation who follows the wayward and selfish king. Much of our lives are similar. God will be, if he hasn't already, asking us to do hard things. To stand up for a faith other people deny. Or He will be asking us to turn away from others or things that are moving us away from God. What decision will you make? What decision are you making now? Here is the Spoken Gospel link to the video I used in the sermon: https://youtu.be/TVdLahnSY3o I would encourage you to watch it and sit in the thoughts God brings to mind. Remembering that God wants us to return to Him and to Repent for our disobedience and idolatry. God wants to be in a relationship with you. To love you and cherish you - as a groom should a bride. Yet the world tries to teach us that the "best life" is God and the world. Jesus and what we want. Let the Holy Spirit move in your life to know that Jesus is all that we need. Life isn't easy - but Jesus is good. Jeremiah did some hard things as the world turned its back on God and made life difficult for Jeremiah. We can run into the same thing - but will we trust God to walk us through those difficult times. This coming Sunday, we are moving into the Book of Lamentations. A book filled with woes and struggles. Some of you might be able to relate. What makes a lament true isn't the harshness of the person's circumstances - it is the genuine feelings or those circumstances with a deep and profound faith that even in the pit we are not alone. Blessings, Pastor Kyle
Sunday marked our entrance into the study of the prophets of the Old Testament. We started with Isaiah, the first prophet with a book in the canon of Scripture. Isaiah had a powerful call to ministry, where he saw the Lord in the temple (Isaiah 6). From there, God had Isaiah preach and proclaim His messages to Israel that covered a range of topics including warning the people to return to the Lord, their impending judgment if they didn't, messianic prophecies, and how to live for God in a culture that has turned from Him. Let’s now turn our attention to how to live for Him.
Peppered throughout the book of Isaiah are verses that were intended to help the Israelites know how to live for God in a culture that had turned from Him. Those same verses speak to us today. They give us guidance for a life of faithfulness to God in times such as ours. God offers an invitation in Isaiah 55:1-5 to all who thirst, that they may drink freely of the waters that He gives and be satisfied. The invitation is to stop wasting our lives and income on things that don’t satisfy but instead to listen intently to Him so that our souls may live (v.3). New Testament counterpart: Matt. 11:28-30 So it begins with God’s invitation but there is something we must do on our part: seek Him while we can, while He can be found (55:6). We do this by repentance (turning away from our sin and unrighteousness) and turning to God. God promises compassion on anyone who would do this and then shares how His thoughts aren’t our thoughts but are, in fact, much higher. New Testament counterpart: Mark 1:14-15 God then shares that His word will accomplish all that He intends for it to work in the lives of people (55:10-11). Isaiah preached that God’s word will stand forever as compared to everything else that will fade (40:6-8). We are therefore to base our lives on what He says to us and the trust that He’ll accomplish all that He intends to in and through us as we allow His word to work in our lives. New Testament counterpart: 1 Peter 1:22-25 Because of this, we are reminded that it is God who does the work in us in (Is. 43:21). There God reminds us that He forms us for Himself. So often we think His work is about us but in reality, He is forming us so that we can declare His praises. Our role is to walk with Him and submit to His work in our lives and share with others what He has done for us. New Testament counterpart: Philippians 2:12-15, 1 Peter 2:9 Finally, based on all these above, we are to set our mind on Him. The promise in Isaiah 26:3-4 is that He gives peace to those who set their mind on Him, because we can trust in Him, the everlasting rock. New Testament counterpart: Philippians 4:6-8, Colossians 3:1-2 As we can see, Isaiah had quite a profound ministry. We would do well in our walk with Jesus to heed the preaching and wisdom of this major prophet. Let us set our minds on Him, Pastor Andy
Well, y'all, we made it through Song of Solomon! If you've been following along on the journey we've been taking this year, we've been looking at a biblical book each week. It was definitely interesting timing for this particular book to land on Father's Day, wasn’t it?
There are many theories about how to interpret the book of Song of Solomon and even much confusion around it. I think in some ways that's okay because it's helpful to acknowledge that the conversation around sex in our culture has gotten very confusing and convoluted. So why would this book be in the canon? For a moment, let's put the theories and confusion aside, and acknowledge that perhaps this book was included to show a picture of how love and its sexual physical expressions are not only appropriate, but are good in God's context of marriage: between one man and one woman. If you recall, we saw in Ecclesiastes 3:11, that God has made everything beautiful in its time. That includes physical intimacy between a husband and wife, which God created before the fall of man. That fall has greatly impacted this area of many, many people's lives. So our conversation and journey through Song of Solomon yesterday, while perhaps awkward at a few moments, was good for us to acknowledge as a church that in the right context, these expressions and longings are healthy and good because God created us to have these desires. Where the world gets things wrong, it is our opportunity to shine the light and love of Christ, in healing and hopeful ways, so that people can hear about and find the redeeming love that is in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Just as the wife asks for the husband to set her as a seal upon his heart, Christ has sealed our hearts with His love through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13). His love is stronger than death, and nothing will quench His love for us (Songs 8:6-7). Just as genuine and dependable love is needed for a secure marriage, it is the dependable and faithful love of Jesus that makes us secure in our lives. Ultimately, in His death and resurrection, Christ has not only saved us from death, but saved us unto Himself so that we would know His love. Continued blessings on this journey with Him, Pastor Andy P.S. Does anyone else still have, “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes running their mind? You might now!
The book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s exploration of life through the lens of life being temporary (1:2). The word translated as "temporary" in this verse is difficult to translate. It means “vapor" or "breath", with the connotation of something being temporary or that life is ephemeral. In view of this, Solomon ponders what man gets for his toil on the earth (1:3) and then sets his heart to explore and understand the answer to his own question. In this pursuit, as seen in chapter two, Solomon explores: pleasure (2:1), wine (2:3), achievements and building great projects (2:4), obtaining great wealth (2:7), and making his name great (2:9). These are all still pursuits people engage in today. All of this leads to what I think is the main verse of the book in 3:11, which has two points:
1- God has made everything beautiful in its time 2- God has put eternity in the hearts of mankind Ultimately, these ponderings all point us to Jesus, who redeems all things in all aspects of life, including life's temporary nature. In Christ, we find the answer of why we're here, what our purpose is in life, what happens to us after death, where we belong, and where to turn to when we wrestle with life. Solomon advised the reader to enjoy the gifts of God and life (3:12-13), and Jesus is God's ultimate gift to us. I think that's why this book is included in the canon of Scripture. The prophets point to the Messiah’s promised arrival, the kings show the need for a righteous ruler, and the priests show the need for ministry to God’s people and forgiveness of sin. Ecclesiastes uniquely shows us that God is here for us in the big questions of life and that these existential questions/longings we have can be answered in Christ. May our Father who knows us so personally (Ps. 139) direct our hearts to Himself through His Son, so that our hearts and souls will be satisfied in Him (Lam. 3:19-24, Ps. 63:8, Col. 2:19). Let us once again thank God the Father for sending His Son! Pastor Andy
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3 Do y’all recall my asking on Sunday, “What do you want folks to say about you at your funeral?” Yes, I know, it’s become a bit overdone to ask that. But, if we live our lives based on God’s wisdom, we will be the kind of people who make an impact on those around us. Tim Keller was a good example of living by godly wisdom. He was a pastor in New York City who passed away a couple of weeks ago and he left a very impactful Christian legacy. Tim was known to be very intelligent and gracious, a well-read and wise person. When a person has eulogies that are published in non-Christian publications, you know that brother was living out the faith well! Tim’s life reminds me of what James says, ‘Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom (3:13).” It’s the fruit of our lives that shows what we’re really made of. Our reactions, how we handle hard things, and how we acknowledge God while trusting Him for each step of our walk with Him point to what we’ve built our lives upon. Tim Keller would say, “Do you study the Scriptures? More importantly, do you let the Scriptures study you?” I think that we need to allow this passage from James to read us. “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (James 3:16-17).” Allowing this passage to “read” us will enable us to discern God’s wisdom in the midst of the noise of our lives. Are our lives marked by selfish ambition or by the peace, gentleness, sincerity, etc. of the Lord? And, as we live this out (remember, wisdom is very practical and for everyday life), our lives will point to Jesus, who is our wisdom from God (1 Cor. 1:30). O Lord, fill us with Your wisdom! Blessings on the journey, Pastor Andy
One of the things that I observe regularly as I read the Psalms is that they are filled with intimacy. David is one of the major contributors to a number of Psalms that we read. He is a lover of the Divine, of God Himself. His Psalms are marked with longing after God (Ps.63:1), thirsting for the Lord (Ps. 42:2), delighting in Him (Ps.37:4), thinking of Him through the watches of the night (Ps. 63:6) and begging for His forgiveness so David could continue in right relationship with God (Ps. 51:1-12).
David flat out tells God that he loves Him (Ps. 18:1). This was the King of Israel, helping to lead the nation in its worship of God. He was also a man after God’s heart (1 Sam 13:14). As such, David was driven to want to honor God and to serve Him. When we think of someone who would be an example of closeness to God, David is the picture of that example. Interestingly, we don’t have the musical notes to the songs that David wrote, only the words. Yet, thousands of years later, we read these poems and they speak to our souls. These Psalms help us to express our praise and our laments to God. They teach us that the range of human emotions can be part of who we are and that we don't have to make them "religious" in order to legitimize them. In fact, God created us with these emotions to help us understand what it means to be human. Psalms also teach us that we don’t have to stay stuck in our emotions but that as we bring our very lives to God, He meets us where we are and is our refuge (Ps. 46:1-2). I think God gave us the Psalms, not so that we would be jealous of David’s relationship with God, but to show us that we can have that same, close, intimate relationship with Him. Thankfully, God didn’t just give us the Psalms to know Him but He gave us Jesus, His only begotten Son, to show us the Father (John 14:9) and to open the way for us. Now in His Son, God is inviting us heavenward. So, I say we set our minds on Him, (Col. 3:1) and recognize that these eternal longings in our hearts have been put there by God (Eccl. 3:11b) to encourage us to seek after Him. What great news it is that He welcomes us with grace and mercy! Keep seeking His Face (Ps. 27:8)! Pastor Andy
Hey Friends,
We walked through the book of Job for our time together on Sunday. And what a walk it was! Here are some of my thoughts on Job: I think most of us struggle with the book of Job for a few reasons: Job’s suffering is intense and we don’t like to see someone going through hard times. The book of Job flips suffering on its head in that normally we tend to think of the unrighteous suffering because of their deeds. But here, from the very beginning of the book, it is the righteous who suffer. God points out Job to Satan precisely because Job is a righteous man, who feared God and turned from evil. This book challenges us in our humanity. How do we respond to suffering? Would we hold on to our integrity even in such hard times? Or, maybe I should ask, do we hold on to our integrity in the Lord? But I also think that the book of Job might be more of an encouragement than most of us initially consider it to be. Here’s why I think that: Job’s journey reminds us that God is in control. Life can often feel the opposite but the first two chapters and the last five chapters show us clearly that God is Sovereign. Spiritual battle is filtered and limited by God. God loves Job, which is a reminder to us that God loves us! God speaks to Job and Job responds with confession, repentance and obedience. That’s a good model for us! Job got to know God better through the journey of suffering. We can be encouraged because we are New Testament believers. We have Jesus! We have His peace (John 14:27), His presence (Matt. 28:20), His love (1 John 4:16) and His Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) in our lives. Job reminds us that we’re not the only ones suffering. Suffering has a way of making the world close in on us but this book helps refute that. One final thought, Job’s three friends were horrible comforters! Job even tells them as much (16:2). As followers of Jesus, who know His grace and mercy, let us be ambassadors and vessels of His mercy to those around us who live in a hurting world. His grace and mercy are the healing balm that the folks around us so desperately need. And, just as God pointed out the righteous Job, God would testify centuries later that He was pleased with His Beloved Son, Jesus, at Jesus’ baptism. Jesus, as we know, would go on to suffer and die on our behalf. Three days later He changed the world with His resurrection. So, let us say along with Job, “For I know that my Redeemer lives (19:25).” We can face tomorrow…because He lives! Pastor Andy |