God is a God who punishes sin, but He is also a God who makes the promise to save us from sin. The wages of our sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Whereas our but’s and promises are often conditional, God’s but’s and promises are unconditional.
Elijah flees for his life after God’s incredible display of power against those who followed false gods, like Baal. God comes and speaks His Word to Elijah not in the extraordinary, but in the ordinary, in a whisper. God uses us in our own lives, wherever we are, that we may speak His Word to those who needs to hear it, and today we hear real life examples of how God uses us in the lives of others.
God had worked many times in the history of Israel to lead them through the impossible. Sometimes we have this idea that if God brings us to… something, whatever it is, God will bring us through it. While that phrase is not found in the Bible, that doesn’t mean that it’s not true. The truth of God’s Word is that God can lead you through the impossible, God can raise the dead, like the widow’s son at Zarephath, and God will raise all who believe on the last day, not because of our work, but becau...
King David wanted to build a temple for God. God said no. It is his son King Solomon that ends up building the temple of God. The place where God would make His dwelling place. Each part of the temple is important and many parts have meaning for us today, some of which is still in use in our very own worship, where God dwells with us.
Solomon is told by God that he can ask for anything and God will give it to him. Solomon being a young king, asks for wisdom and discernment so that he can better rule the kingdom. We too can use wisdom and discernment in our daily living.
Sin leads to death. Because of David’s sin, the child born to him and Bathsheba dies. Sometimes we don’t always understand God’s ways, especially when someone we love dies. On this All Saints’ Sunday as we remember those who have gone before us in the faith, we remember that where there is sin and death, there is also God’s grace.
David does great things for the Lord. But he is also a sinner like everyone else. And much like he made a giant fall, he also fell into sin in giant ways. And his sin had consequences. Our sin has consequences. Yet, where sin increases, so does God’s grace, and on this Reformation Sunday we remember that we are saved by God’s grace.
Broken People, Perfect God. The Theme of this years’ Kids Camp in Sachigo Lake. Hear the stories of a number of imperfect people who were a part of this trip that were blessed by a perfect God.
As King David rules, as most of the former kings family had been wiped out, he wanted to show kindness to anyone in Saul’s family, for the sake of his friend Jonathan, Saul’s son. There was a man named Mephibosheth who was brought to David’s table, and Saul’s land was restored to him and he was given a seat at David’s table always. Jesus invites us to His table, where He gives us His body and blood and forgiveness and salvation.
King David lived in a palace and God made His dwelling place in a tent. God wanted to build a temple, a house, for God. God said no. Instead, God was going to build up David’s house, and by doing so He would establish the line of David forever, because from David’s line comes the One True King who came and dwelled with His people.
King Saul sought to take David’s life, and so David flees from him. Hides in a cave from him, and feels like he has been abandoned, forgotten, and forsaken by God. In our lives, though it may feel this way, we are not abandoned, forgotten, or forsaken by God.
David was a man after God’s own heart, and that is why he was anointed to be the next king after Saul. After David defeats Goliath, he gets all the praise and this does not make Saul happy. Saul was not a man after God’s own heart. What do we do in life when we are faced with those who are not after God’s own heart, or when we ourselves are not following after God’s own heart?
This famous story of David and Goliath is a picture of good vs. evil, or rather, God vs. evil, the evil of non-believers. We still have a battle today, not a giant like Goliath, but the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Thanks be to God that He sent Jesus to defeat them, not with stones but with nails.
In the world that tells us to live our lives with no regrets, we hear in God’s Word that He regretted making Saul king. God has regrets? His Word makes that clear. There is, however, one thing God does not regret. Sending Jesus.
The people of Israel wanted to be like all the other nations, and so they asked Samuel for a king. In doing so, they reject their one true king, God. Even though we may reject God with our words and our actions, God does not abandon us, but instead sends Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, to be rejected and killed by the people He came to save.
God directly called to Samuel, and Samuel began to serve as a prophet, and judge, of the Lord. God calls to us too, though not like Samuel. He speaks to us through His Son, He reveals Himself to us through His Word and Sacraments. He calls us in Baptism, into His family, into His body, and one day He will call us home.
In the history of Israel, we find another barren woman with the story of Hannah. And then we find another answered prayer when Hannah is able to conceive. That child, Samuel, is then dedicated to God. What do we do when life doesn’t seem to go our way, or when it doesn’t seem like God is listening? Does God hear us, and will He answer us?
As Naomi goes through the loss of her husband and two sons, Ruth the Moabite goes back to Naomi’s land and people with her. Though she had no people of her own in Israel, Ruth becomes a part of the family of God by faith, and becomes part of the people of Israel because of a redeemer named Boaz. This family line leads all the way to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Samson was a man that was set apart from birth, as a Nazirite. He was strong and his hair was not to be cut. However, he was deceived multiple times by the women in his life, and it cost him his hair and it cost him his strength. But his power was not in the length of his hair, his power came from the Lord.
Sometimes God doesn’t just use the unlikeliest of people for deliverance, he uses the unlikeliest of ways for deliverance, for victory. As Gideon leads an army, that army becomes just a small number of men, with some torches, trumpets and jars. Not the deadliest of weapons, but with the power of God, it gets the job done.
The cycle for the people of Israel goes like this: sin, judgment, repentance, deliverance. Judges were sent to bring deliverance and sometimes it comes from the least likely people. As we see three different judges with three different stories, we are reminded that God can use anyone, because it's His work in us that truly brings deliverance.
Jephthah is a Judge over the people of Israel. Judges came along before kings and were the ones who would save or deliver the people of Israel against other nations. As Jephthah goes off to battle he makes a vow, a promise, to the Lord that ends up costing him dearly. In our sin, God makes us a promise that ends up costing HIM dearly.
As Joshua leads the Israelites into the Promised Land, they are set to take the city of Jericho. And the way to defeat your enemy is to march around their city, and to blow trumpets, and to shout, after all it just means you’re listening to the commands of God. Something that we all fail to do perfectly. Sometimes, it means our walls need to fall.
Because she was welcoming to the spies sent to check on the land of Canaan and had faith, Rahab the prostitute was adopted and became part of Jesus' family tree.
Last week we talked about the minority vs. the majority, the popular opinion vs. the unpopular opinion. As Moses lifts up the bronze serpent in the wilderness to save the people who have been bitten by snakes, we'll take a look at what kinds of things get lifted up in today's society that we make out to be our savior, or at least what the world wants to be our savior. But there is only ONE who was lifted up that is able to save.
God led the people of Israel to the Promised Land, and Moses sent out twelve spies to check out the land that God had promised them, to see who inhabited the land, and if it was a land flowing with milk and honey. When the spies returned after 40 days, 10 spies brought back a bad report because of those who were living there, and 2 faithful spies told the people to trust in God. The people listened to the majority, the popular opinion, instead of the faithful few. The result was having to wander...
The Tabernacle is set up, and God lays out very specific plans for sacrifices, and very specific rules for the place where He dwells, the Most Holy Place. Only once per year could the high priest enter it, on the Day of Atonement. What is atonement? When was the last time you celebrated it? And if you never have, what does it have to do with us today? Even more so, what does it have to do with Jesus?
We celebrate Trinity Sunday and recognize God as 3-in1, three persons, one God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As the Israelites wait for Moses to come down from Mt Sinai, they aren't patient enough and instead make for themselves a god, a golden calf. They worship this idol, not the One true God. What is your golden calf? What are your idols? The things that you place as a higher priority than God. Maybe it's not even a what, maybe it's a who.
We celebrate Pentecost and think about the tongues of fire descending upon the disciples allowing them to speak in other languages, so that the word of God is spread. Today we journey to Mt. Sinai where smoke and fire have descended upon the mountain and God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. Which one is your favorite? The one you commit most often? The one you commit least often? Do the Ten Commandments still apply to you today? As we continue our two-year reading through God's Word, is it even...
As the people of Israel are freed from the slavery of Egypt, they have one response: complaining. They're hungry, they're thirsty. Sounds much like the children in our lives who are constantly hungry and thirsty even after they've just been fed. How does God respond to hunger and thirst? He meets our needs. He gives us food and drink, just like He did with the Israelites. God doesn't want us to just be physically nourished, He wants us to be spiritually fed, and so Jesus comes to us as the bread...
