Blog Archives

Moses Before Charlton Heston---Palm Sunday

3/29/2015

moses_preaches_-_2015-03-29.mp3
File Size:	3726 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Reading: Exodus 4:1-31; 5:1-23; 6:1-13

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Miserable, old Moses. He'd been called by God to do something great, to free God's people from slavery, in fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:13-18; 17:4-8, etc.) But all Moses could do was fixate on himself. All he could do was remember his past failures. (Exo. 2:11-15) "They won't listen to me. They'll say, 'So if God sent you what is His name?'" So God tells him His name: I AM. (Exo. 3:13-14) "But, Lord, they won't believe that you appeared to me." So the Lord gives him three miraculous signs. (Exo. 4:1-9) "But Lord, I'm no good at talking. My mouth don't work good." The Lord responds, "I made everything. I'll make your mouth work. I will give it words to say. For it is not your word, but My Word you shall speak." (Exo. 4:10-12) "Please send someone else, Lord!" "Fine. I'll get your brother to do the talking. I'll even send him your brother here to this very spot on this mountain to meet you before you get back to Egypt." (Exo. 4:13-17)

0 Comments

Moses' Baptism by Fire---5th Sunday in Lent

3/29/2015

0 Comments

moses_call_-_2015-03-22.mp3
File Size:	6092 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Readings: Exodus 1:6-14, 22; 2:1-15, 23-25; 3:1-15; Hebrews 11:23-27; Luke 20:37-38

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The first book of the Bible, Genesis, comes to an end with the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob established in Egypt in the finest part of the land (Gen. 47:5-6), weathering the storm of famine. Prospering there. Looking forward to the day when the Lord would visit them in Egypt and take them to the land He’d promised them. (Gen. 50:24-25) The Lord would visit them. That word "visit" (in Greek) is the same word that bishop comes from. The Lord would visit. He would intervene to save them. That’s what a bishop or pastor is supposed to do. Bring salvation. Whether they realize that is why the Lord would come or not, come He will to save them. The Lord had just saved them by sending Joseph ahead of them and bringing them to Egypt. (Gen. 45:4-7) But did they realize they would need saving again?

0 Comments

Am I in the Place of God?---4th Sunday in Lent

3/15/2015

0 Comments

lent4_-_joseph_forgives_2015-03-15.mp3
File Size:	4146 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Genesis 42:1-7, 18-28; 43:1-8, 15, 26-27; 44:1-6, 14-16, 18-24, 29-31; 45:1-9, 14-15; 46:1-7; 50:15-21

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

“Thus he comforted and spoke kindly to them…” (Gen. 50:21) Joseph had tested his brothers. He made them miserable. He heaped up hardship on them in order to get to THIS moment of comforting and speaking kindly to them. Forgiving them. Assuring them of his steadfast love and mercy. He had all the power. He was as pharaoh unto his brothers and the world. (Gen. 45:8, 9) Pharaoh had put all his authority in Joseph’s hands. He wielded that authority and power to save, to forgive, to heal the rifts placed between them by his brothers’ actions.

0 Comments

Good God, Haters Gonna Hate---3rd Sunday in Lent

3/8/2015

0 Comments

lent3_-_joseph.mp3
File Size:	5265 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Genesis 37:2-11, 18-22, 28-34, 36; 39:5, 7-21; 41:14-41. 55-57

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

We’ve heard how Jacob and Esau were twins: one was a hairy, manly man, his father’s pride and joy, and the other was a pretty mama’s boy. We heard all of the back and forth between these two. How Jacob cheated Esau. How Jacob ran away. How Jacob in turn got cheated. How the Lord sent him back to his murderous brother to face him. (Two weeks ago.) ow Jacob in turn goHow We’ve heard how the Lord took hold of Jacob. Changed him. Gave him a new name, Israel, and secured His promise to bless the world through Jacob’s loins by grabbing hold of the space in Jacob’s thigh. (Last week.) But we didn’t pay much attention to how while Jacob gone those 20 years he had been cheated by his uncle and the impacts of that. Jacob had wanted to marry his uncle’s younger, beautiful daughter, Rachel. He ended up getting both the older and younger daughters. That’s a lousy start to your wedded life with your beloved. And then because of the inevitable competition between these two sisters for their husband’s affection, they also gave him their own handmaidens, Bilhah and Zilpah, as wives, so that these slave girls could each produce kids that would be credited to them. But no one was fooled. Not the least of which was Jacob and his affections. He still loved Rachel best. He still loved the one child she’d bore him, Joseph, best. So he comes back to Esau with four wives, 11 sons and a daughter. He gets back to the land, meets his brother Esau, who forgives him (Gen. 33:1-11), for God has this all worked out in advance. Last week we heard how terrifying it was for Jacob to live through all of it, the fear of his brother’s hatred, but God is in control. But then when he’s back in the land, his favourite wife, Rachel, gets pregnant again. The woman he loves. The only wife he really wanted. The only woman he cares about. She bears him a second son. And dies in child birth. So now he has 12 sons, a daughter, and three wives. He’s bereft of his beloved. So in his grief, in the days that follow he pours love into the first son his beloved wife Rachel bore him. He neglects the rest. And you can imagine how he held his little baby, Benjamin, at arms’ length, the boy who killed his beloved. He’s special because he was born from Rachel, but he will always be a reminder of her death.

0 Comments

Where Heaven & Earth Come Together—2nd Sunday in Lent

3/1/2015

0 Comments

jacob_wrestles_-_2015-03-01.mp3
File Size:	5095 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Readings: Genesis 32:1-32; Hebrews 10:31; John 1:17-18

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Lord chose the younger of two brothers, Jacob. (Gen. 25:23-26; Rom. 9:10-12) It didn’t matter that Jacob took after his mom, being deceitful and tricky. For God’s purpose and promise will stand. (Rom. 9:10-12; 11:29) Jacob will be one who will receive promises given to Abraham and Isaac. (Gen. 12:2-3; 21:12) He will make Abraham’s name great and by extension Jacob’s name will become great. He will make of Abraham a great nation and by extension Jacob will become a great nation. Thus, the Lord will bless those who bless Jacob and his family, and curse those who curse them. And in the end, the Lord will bless all the families of the earth through Abraham’s family, and thus through Jacob’s family.

So, Jacob’s sin and deceitfulness won’t keep God’s purpose from happening. They won’t invalidate God’s choice. But that’s our fear isn’t it? God says one thing, but can’t we nullify it by our sin? NO! God is God. What He says goes. If He says you are forgiven you are. If He says you are His you are. Your sin can’t change that. Just as Jacob’s sin couldn’t stop God’s purpose. In fact, in spite of his sin God still accomplish His purpose. In the midst of sin He worked out His plan. (Rom 8:28)

0 Comments

Moses Before Charlton Heston---Palm Sunday

Moses' Baptism by Fire---5th Sunday in Lent

Am I in the Place of God?---4th Sunday in Lent

Good God, Haters Gonna Hate---3rd Sunday in Lent

Where Heaven & Earth Come Together—2nd Sunday in Lent

Listening

Downloading

Archives

Categories