Sunday we celebrate the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To celebrate we will look at Lamentations 5, the last poem of the book. While this poem, like the others, highlights the hardships Judah was facing, it calls on God to grant renewal or “new life.” Jeremiah says, “Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old.” Notice that Jeremiah leads Judah in asking God to restore them to himself. What a great prayer! Jeremiah isn’t asking for God to restore their fortunes, or restore their freedom, but to be restored to Him. This is the fruit of repentance.
He also prays for God to grant renewal. The word “renew” means to “make anew.” Jeremiah is praying for God to bring life in the midst of death and destruction. According to Jeremiah, their dancing has been turned to mourning, but he knows that God can bring renewal.
This is the testimony of the resurrection: God can bring new life and restore us to himself! So come Sunday and let’s celebrate God’s renewing grace through the resurrected Christ!
Sunday we’ll look at the fourth poem in the book of Lamentations. This poem again speaks of the devastation that Judah is experiencing, especially the starvation of the people. What makes this poem unique is that it addresses God’s undermining of key institutions of society: temple, princes, children, and religious leaders. It doesn’t take much for Judah to shift their hope from God to these institutions. It raises the question of the psalmist, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
The poem ends with a warning to Edom, one of the nation's that joined Babylon in attacking Judah, that the cup of God’s wrath is coming to them next. While Judah has experienced God’s correction, they will be restored, while Edom - and by extension all who attacked Judah - will face God’s wrath.
Sunday is Palm Sunday. This text fits well because while God dethrones the shepherds (princes, priests, and prophets), Jeremiah prophecies that God will give them a new Shepherd who will care for them. So, come Sunday and consider God’s faithfulness in Christ!
Sunday we’ll look at the third poem of Lamentations, which is a favorite of believers and from which songs have been written. It’s a passage of great hope to a people in devastating circumstances who are questioning God’s faithfulness and mercy. Jeremiah explains his own suffering and how he found hope in the midst of it. His own suffering caused him to forget “what happiness is.” He walks the people down a well worn path to the goodness of God saying, “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.” He’s not just telling us about God, but teaching us how to find rest in His goodness.
God’s faithfulness gives us assurance, as Jeremiah says, “the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (v31-32). Even as we experience God’s correction, or the hardships that train us in righteousness, we are assured that God is faithful and that he loves us.
So, come Sunday and consider the faithfulness of God!
Sunday we’ll continue with Lamentations by looking at chapter two. It’s an interesting chapter because Jeremiah gives voice to Judah’s complaint that God has gone too far in his correction. He says in verse two, “The Lord has swallowed up without mercy.” He goes on to describe the harshness of God’s destruction, saying, “he did not restrain his hand.” Was their complaint accurate? Had God gone too far? Was he unjust?
Questions like this are honest. I think when he corrects us, we often feel this way, but that’s typically because we undersell our sin, saying things like, “It’s not that bad; Consider what others have done; It wasn’t entirely my fault.” Whenever we think this way, we expose our own self-deception and human reasoning concerning sin.
So how would God answer their complaint? How would God answer your complaint? Jeremiah voices the complaint but then tells the people to cry out to God for mercy! If God is unjust, if he is unrestrained, then why cry out for mercy?
Come Sunday, and let’s consider if God is merciful.
Sunday we will begin a new series in the book of Lamentations with the theme, “Not Forsaken.” The author, Jeremiah, laments the fall of the Southern nation of Israel, Judah, and particularly the destruction of Jerusalem. The five poems express the loss experienced by the people of God for their sin and declares that God is just in his discipline of the nation. It also examines that discipline, questioning if it was excessive.
It explores the question of whether God has forsaken his people. God’s chastening often feels like rejection, but Jeremiah affirms that God is merciful and faithful. As we approach our Easter celebration, we are reminded that Jesus was forsaken so that we could be received, adopted into God’s family. The resurrection gives us assurance that God is merciful and faithful, that he never forsakes his children!
So, join us Sunday and hear consolation from God to his children.
Sunday we considered Paul’s argument that we are united in Christ regardless of our social standing, by faith alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone. Paul ends that paragraph that we are “heirs according to promise.” He’s going to build on this in the next section, which we’ll consider.
His argument is that everyone is enslaved to what he calls the “elementary principles of the world.” Here he seems to refer to the law, particularly the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and the ceremonial laws of other religions. He clarifies in verse 10 saying, “You observe days and months and seasons and years.” He goes further in Colossians when he says, “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” (Col. 2:16)
Under Christ, the ceremonial regulations are cast off. This is freedom that propels the gospel and the church in every culture around the world. So, come Sunday and consider what it means to be free in Christ.
Sunday we will consider a powerful verse in Paul’s argument, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Paul is coming down strong on those who would withdraw from their Gentile brothers and sisters. He argues that all who believe are sons (daughters) of God, qualified to receive the inheritance of Abraham’s great descendant, Jesus. Now he draws the conclusion, we are all one in Christ Jesus.
The context is critical for us to understand and apply this text. Paul has argued our unity under the law of God with every soul imprisoned under its judgment and curse. He has argued our unity as Abraham's children, because of our common faith in Christ. Now he draws the net, “for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Does this verse teach equality and remove distinction? Is this verse limited or broad in its application? Can we miss the beautiful unity of the church around her Lord? Well, come Sunday and we’ll consider these questions.
As we move back into Galatians this Sunday, we pick up on Paul’s statement, “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” (Galatians 3:25). That supervision refers to the role of the law to hold us in a sinners' prison. But the law can no longer hold us because through faith, we’ve been justified, declared righteous by God. The promises of God’s covenant are ours in Christ.
Freedom from the law’s condemnation isn’t the end that God has in mind. He wants more for you! Paul highlights this in his climactic statement, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (3:26) We are children of God, because we are united with God’s one and only Son, Jesus.
So, come Sunday and consider your new status in Christ!
~Pastor Tim
Last week, we began looking at Jesus in Hebrews 10:1-18. The writer of Hebrews hits a major turning point in the letter at Hebrews 10:19. The theological arguments for the superiority of Jesus Christ have been completed. Beginning in verse 19 and going through chapter 12, the writer begins a series of exhortations based on these previously explored truths. Since Christ has done it all as the High Priest presenting himself as the perfect sacrifice as the God-man, and he has given us life, then live out your life on these truths. Let us join together this Sunday for the worship of our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has perfected us (total forgiveness) and opened the most holy place for us to commune with God.
The final exhortation from Pastor Tim's sermon last week directed us to look to Christ. This Sunday we will be looking at Jesus. Our text will be Hebrews 10:1-18 with the focus being on Christ who by a single offering, has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (v.14). This verse summarizes the biblical doctrine of salvation applied to those who are the called in Christ Jesus. His sacrifice (atonement) alone is recognized and accepted by God as the payment for our sin and the purification of our sin, whereby we are holy unto the Lord. What an awesome Savior!
See you Sunday as we worship our Lord and King,
Pastor Paul