As we continue our journey through the Bible, we now meet Isaiah. Isaiah had a rare vision of God. Along with Isaiah we revel in some of the astounding realities which God revealed about Himself as well as God’s invitation to join in making His glories known among all nations throughout all generations.
Amos is one of the lesser known messengers of God, tucked away in the Old Testament. As God spoke to Amos, Amos surrendered his career and his reputation in order to reach God’s people with God’s message. This message reflects on the life of Amos and provides a challenge for the people of God to listen for God’s voice in the midst of life and then obey in order to “love neighbor.” One of the best and most practical ways to begin loving our neighbors is to listen to God’s voice – ask Him, “who, where, and how?”
In 931 B.C. God’s people tore into two nations and sometimes God’s people still divide today. Schisms destroy our joy and our ability to fulfill God’s call to bless all the families of the earth. With so much at stake, God reveals in I Kings 12-16 that relational division is actually the result of one or more people drifting away from God and His ways. For all who know the angst of relational conflict and division, in Christ there is help and hope.
In our journey through The Story, this week’s chapter about Solomon is entitled, “The King who had it All.” Solomon did have it all the moment He began his relationship with God because Solomon had God. In addition, God blessed him to overflowing in the years that followed. Like the appetite of a glutton and the cravings of a drunkard the heart of man is never satisfied. Most of us spend years chasing pleasures that were never meant to be our portion. It appears that at the end of Solomon’s life he finally realized that God is enough. Do not waste another day another day of your life – God is enough!
Do you have a “secret” past or present sin? No one is immune from wandering from God into an act or habit that produces guilt and shame. While King David was “a man after God’s own heart” he was still a man. As a man he put himself in a place where he then gave in to the temptation of lust. Next, like many embarrassed children of God, he sought to cover it up. Fortunately, God loves His children, so in His grace, He pursues us to bring us to a moment of clarity in which we can confess our sin. In this text God is so good to reveal that when we confess our sin, He is gracious to restore us to our relationship with Him and to our significant role as laborers in His harvest.
Jesus’ response to overwhelming need is to address it head-on. We as Christians identify as His hands and feet in the world, and we are collectively called to provide hope amidst overwhelming need, through prayer, through proclaiming the gospel message, and through acts of service and love. Jesus’ clear statement is that the harvest is plentiful, and there is a need for more laborers! This is a call for leadership and courage amongst all of us at Hope to cultivate and celebrate a “love your neighbor” culture in 2014 and beyond.
Everyone has pressures & priorities. God made us to live according to His priorities not people’s pressures. This last Sunday of the year is a great time to remember that our marching orders are clear. We are commanded to love God, love our neighbors and love one another.
We all long for more peace, more joy, more fulfillment, and more of almost everything. Could it be that our longings are hunger pains for God? 700 years before Jesus’ birth the prophet Isaiah wrote, “…they shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us.” Yet, can God really be with us today? The announcement in this message is “YES.” After Matthew recounts God with us walking on water, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and raising dead children, he relays Jesus resurrected words, “…I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is the promise of God’s enduring presence for all who believe in and follow Immanuel.
On this 4th Sunday of Advent we worship God for His gift of hope. Like oxygen, we all need a positive future to anticipate. Yet most everything we hope for is perishable. In this message we remember the hope of the Wise Men as they journeyed to see the new born King of the Jews. Centuries before His birth the prophet Isaiah announced that “in His name all the nations would put their hope” and years after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension Paul called Christ “the hope of glory” and Peter described Him as “a living hope… imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” So, let us wisely and humbly set our ultimate hope on the only King whose birth announcement was a star.
There are many beautiful examples of peace coming at times of crisis in our world: two of them are the Christmas Truce of 1914 and the life of Nelson Mandela. But peace in this world tends to be temporary and incomplete, and it leaves us longing for something more lasting and whole. Humanity continues to be rocked by violence and we continue to be cynical of the word “peace.” The beauty of Christmas is that Jesus comes as the Prince of Peace, to bring peace that is “not of this world.” We are given Him to receive lasting peace, and we can become transmitters of His peace when we receive it.