April 27
One of the key messages in Joel that I was not able to bring out in my sermon is the phrase “Day of the Lord”. Normally when we think of the day of the Lord we think about the end time prophesies of Jesus’ return to earth and the final battle between good and evil. But if you look carefully, Joel uses the phrase to refer to events in his own day. So in essence we are all living in the day of the Lord. God’s timing and order of events both now and in the future are known only to him. We may get hints and minor details here in Joel. But just as this swarm of locust time is unknown, sometimes we have to understand that the time of the end events are unknown. We need to be ready. I am sure when the end time events start to play out, we will understand more about what the Bible predicts about and every thing the Bible says will happen will happen.
April 20
Again, the week has gotten away from me. Sorry. We looked this week at the first of the minor prophets: Hosea. And the message we learned from this book is that God loves us. His love will not let us go. However his love does not exclude punishment for sins or consequences. The kindness of his wrath is to bring repentance and a return to his loving arms. His true wrath will only be felt by those who refuse to return or trust in God. We all have been given opportunities to confess our sins and we will continue to have them until we die or Jesus comes to take his children home. Since we have no idea when either of those events will happen, do not put off this choice. Please see the love that God has for you before that day comes when you will not be able to change your mind and you will experience what God’s wrath really is all about.
April 13
Well we survived Easter Sunday without gathering together. And even though it was hard not to see people gather to worship a risen Savior, we all know that the message has not changed in 2000 years. We serve a risen Savior who is in the world today. And that, it so happens, is where the church finds itself. We too are in the world ministering to those around us. We are not the church gathered but the church scattered. The church is not closed, it is now unenclosed. I hope this will not just be a time of hunkering down and staying isolated, but that we, like Jesus did on earth, be like physicians who are not healing the healthy but going to the sick and dying. Even now we can in our own self-distancing can reach out to those who need a spiritual touch. When you cannot touch others physically, you can still touch them spiritually.
April 6
March 30
March 23
March 16
March 9
While I enjoyed the message yesterday morning, today I was gearing up and getting a sneak preview of our services next week. If you have not heard we are having Justin Krom from Chosen People Ministries come next week (March 15th) to share The Passover Experience with us. It is a wonderful presentation of the Lord’s Supper and how it relates to the Jewish Passover feast that Jesus was celebrating that night with his disciples. Hear how many of the elements from this 3500 year old ritual shines a prophetic light on the life of Jesus. Invite everyone you know to this unique worship experience.
March 2
I liked the idea from this Sunday that two thieves with equal assess to Jesus prayed two different prayers, with two different answers. Both witnessed the same man dying between them, yet only one found the faith and courage to ask to be remembered. Only the second thief had his prayer answered and paradise awaited him. Both men had life and death held out before them. One chose physical life and died. One chose spiritual life and lived. We too have that same choice before us. Are you going to choose the right one?