Powerful message from Pastor Sharron on Jeremiah 2, etc., and Psalm 81. Why do we not open our mouths wide? God, through Jesus, wants to fill us with nothing less than himself. And the substitutes we all too readily go for are destructive to us. Our true life is found only in God through Jesus by the Spirit.
Our new testament reading of Jesus healing a woman on the Sabbath ended like this: Luke 13:17 “As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.” Jack reminds us that Jesus demonstrates that Sabbath is for true spirituality, not empty rituals. Would you like to be set free from emptiness, from bondage of human troubles? … Yes Lord!
Hebrews 11 is like a ‘hall of fame’ of faith. Our faith is not blind hope, but built refined in the fire of life. Do we pass thru the fire … or succumb to it? Faith makes ‘hope’ into a noun … a nearly tangible thing (not a verb, something we do)!
Listen as Jack enlightens us to what we can learn about this passage, and our own faith…
UPDATE 2: MP3 file fixed.
Jack opens with what he calls a ‘clinically depressed’ book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes, where the author calls into question our narcissism, our vanity. The reading ends with Ecclesiastes 2:23:
“For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.”
So, life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot. And, in contrast, the struggles of the world is also a chance to point at something greater of value. But first we need to get our own house in order.. See the second half of Colossions for practical advice.
Bonus link: Keith Green 28/28/28 YouTube video
Jack Kuhatschek visits Redeemer to share his take on what being ‘Closer to God’ really means. And how we can apply this, of course. Listen for a fresh perspective on your faith …
