Be Free!
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Galatians 5:1, 13-14. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: Dive In! What were the three things about freedom mentioned in the previous sermon? Relationship with _________. The result of the ___________ of _________ __________. Life in the ____________ of _________. These three are from whose...
info_outline
Sabbath Fruit
Wilderness Wanderings
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:15-17). Do you know who made the clothes you are wearing? Do you know how much the server makes at your favourite restaurant? Do you know where the components of your cellphone come from? Do you know any of the people who were...
info_outline
Obedience as Thanksgiving
Wilderness Wanderings
My heart is filled with longing for your laws at all times (Psalm 119:20). I remember a group exercise, probably some ice breaker, in which we were asked what we would like on our tombstone. How is that a good icebreaker? Probably, to get into a conversation about legacy. I didn’t like it then and I still don’t. A more interesting question to ask is “What do people say about me right now?” but not as an icebreaker. David, the shepherd boy turned king, is introduced in the Bible not by name, but by what God says about him, ‘a man after my own heart’ or...
info_outline
Who are God's Missionaries?
Wilderness Wanderings
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). There is hymn that begins with: “The church is not a building; the church is not a steeple; the church is not a resting place; the church is a people.” And the refrain: “I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together! All who follow Jesus, all around the world! Yes, we're the church together!” Intuitively, many Christians recognize that these lyrics are true. But...
info_outline
A Sabbath Keepers Welcome
Wilderness Wanderings
The Sovereign Lord declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered” (Isaiah 56:8). In Deuteronomy, Moses prepares Israel to enter the land of promise. As they settle in, they will finally be able to develop the habits enabling them to be God’s holy people. Part of the preparation is defining who is in and who is out. Access to this holy people, and consequently to their God, is quite limited. All folks with mutilated genitalia and many foreigners are excluded (cf. Deuteronomy 23:1-8). Interactions with non-Israelites...
info_outline
Ending Evil
Wilderness Wanderings
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Don’t pay back evil with evil…Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good (Romans 12:14, 17, 21). What do we do in the face of evil? This is the question that ends Romans 12. Its not theoretical; its personal. “How should Christians respond when evil is done to us”? The answer is: “Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good.” Evil is insidious. It begins small, a trickle, which, if not stopped, becomes a flood that fills us. In the end, it...
info_outline
Free to Work
Wilderness Wanderings
For in [Christ] all things were created…all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together…For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:16-17, 19-20) Again, I want to address the question, “Why produce a weekly podcast on the subject of work?” Work must be understood here as more than what we do to earn a paycheck. It includes that, of course,...
info_outline
Be Free!
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Galatians 5:1, 13-14. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: . Dive In! What does freedom mean to you? What kind of things would you like to be free from? What does it mean to be human? How would you describe the best human? How can we become like that? Give some examples of good laws (not the ones Pastor Michael...
info_outline
What Kind of Rest?
Wilderness Wanderings
For day after day, they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God (Isaiah 58:2). This is a difficult chapter to read. God is angry with is covenant people. Very angry. They show up for the appointed worship services and other religious festivals. They ask God for direction. They appear eager to come near to him. They love the Sabbath day. They do all the right things. There is just one problem. A rather large one. When they return to non-Sabbath activities, its as if the Sabbath never happened....
info_outline
Staying on the Altar
Wilderness Wanderings
Don’t pay back evil with evil…My dear friends, don’t try to get even. Leave room for God to show his anger…Scripture says, “If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. By doing those things, you will pile up burning coals on their heads.” Don’t let evil overcome you. Overcome evil by doing good (17-21). The Heidelberg Catechism teaches us that we have a natural tendency to hate God and our neighbor (A 5). That seems about right. To repay evil with good seems overly optimistic. Getting even is our natural bent. Have you...
info_outlineFor day after day, they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God (Isaiah 58:2).
This is a difficult chapter to read. God is angry with is covenant people. Very angry. They show up for the appointed worship services and other religious festivals. They ask God for direction. They appear eager to come near to him. They love the Sabbath day. They do all the right things.
There is just one problem. A rather large one. When they return to non-Sabbath activities, its as if the Sabbath never happened. Its as if they did not hear God’s direction. Its as if they never sought God or came near him.
Going back to non-Sabbath matters, they exploit their workers and fight with each other. Not just verbal sparring, also fist fights. They refuse to share their food with the hungry or their homes with the poor wanderer.
They think that God ought to be happy that they showed up for worship, that they took the day off to fast and pray. They cannot figure out why God is so unhappy with them.
They are doing all the right religious things, but their hearts are far from God. They do not really care about what he says. They have forgotten that they are God’s light in the world. The way they are living is spreading darkness rather then light.
Here is the point: their Sabbath keeping has had no effect on their hearts, or their minds or their bodies. It has not changed how they live or interact with others. They are not bringing any good into the world. It is left full of evil.
So, what are your plans for this weekend? Party time, family time, alone time? None of these things are necessarily bad in and of themselves. Let me ask the question differently: when you have time off from the “work” of making a living, when you take time to rest in God, what is the point? Why do you do it?
Somewhere along the way, the prayer that ends Psalm 139, should play a role. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (23,24).
God wants to change the way we think, react, and act. Let the Spirit loose when you meet with God.
As you journey on, hear Jesus’ invitation:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).