Devotions: When God Seems Silent
Day 1: The Legitimacy of Lament
Scripture Reading: Psalm 13:1-2; Psalm 42:9-11
Reflection: David's lament in Psalm 13 echoes the deep sorrow and confusion many of us feel during difficult times. He openly expresses his feelings of abandonment, showing us that it is okay to be honest with God about our struggles. Similarly, in Psalm 42, the psalmist cries out to God, expressing his soul’s turmoil. Both passages remind us that lament is a legitimate and important part of our faith journey.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for hearing our cries and understanding our pain. Help us to be honest with You about our struggles, trusting that You care deeply for us. Teach us to bring our laments to You, knowing You are a loving and compassionate Father. Amen.
June 23 Sermon: When God Seems Silent
We've all been in situations where we feel that we can't just say how we feel. Maybe it's a meeting at work or a discussion you're having with a friend, a spouse, or a parent. But we just feel that we can't say what we really feel in that moment. We have something that we feel deeply. We want to express it. But as it approaches our tongues, we stop. And we think it might be a better idea not to let it get past our lips. It probably isn't beneficial for us to put out there what we are thinking and feeling. Now, I'm not talking about a... quick, hot burst of emotion here. I'm talking about something that has been on our mind for quite a while. We've considered it.
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 18:33-50
As we have worked our way through Psalm 18, we've seen David speak of how God is his rock and his fortress and how God has rescued David even though he was in significant peril. The conflict that had such a deep impact on the life of David was King Saul pursuing him in jealousy. As we saw when we started this psalm, it's a psalm of praise to God for the deliverance that God gave him from this terrible situation. And as we close up this Psalm with verses 33 through 50, we're going to see a repetition of these ideas and we're going to see continued praise to God for the deliverance that he provides. When we wrapped up last time, David was making a statement by asking a question, Who is God but Yahweh and who is a rock except our God? The psalmist was making it very clear that God is in control and that God is faithful to keep the promises that he makes to his people.
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 18:20-32
As I said, this is our third episode in Psalm 18. First, we took a look at David praising God for his rescue with the first 3 verses of the psalm. And then we dug into verses 4 to 19, and we saw a vivid description of the peril that David was in, and we saw that only God could rescue David from this.
As we move on down to verse 20 now, the psalm transitions to contrasting the faithful 1 versus those who are not faithful.
Devotions: Enduring Words
Day 1: The Power of God’s Word
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 30:5-6
Reflection: Today’s reading reminds us of God's word's perfect truth and reliability. Unlike human words, which can be flawed and deceitful, God's words are pure and protect those who trust in Him. As we navigate a world filled with misinformation and deceit, let’s anchor ourselves in the certainty and safety of God’s promises.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the truth and purity of Your word. Help me to rely on Your promises and teachings as my ultimate source of truth. Protect me from the temptation to add to or distort Your words. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
June 16 Sermon: Enduring Words
In our time, there are many things that we take for granted. I've used an example before, but I think about it regularly. We walk into a room, and we flip a switch, and we expect a light to come on. We just expect this. This is what we do. We reach into our pocket, and we can get information from all over the world, and we can communicate with pretty much anyone, anywhere. We just take this for granted. Technology has made our lives pretty simple compared to the way things were in times past. And really, I think we would all agree, it's truly a blessing that we don't have to labor over things at all that once were of a great concern for those who came before us. And arguably, one of the things that we maybe take for granted the most is clean water. In times past, finding good, drinkable water was the most important thing for us. It was difficult.
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 18:4-19
We continue through Psalm 18 and what we read from verses 4 through 19 and what we see emphasized to us and what we read is the way in which David describes the desperate state of affairs that he's in. This is strong language that we see here. The opening of Psalm 18 used great imagery of fortresses and strongholds, and David told us that he was saved from his enemies, but as we continue, he paints a picture of how desperate that situation was.
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 18:1-3
So, Psalm 18 is by far the longest Psalm we've come to since the beginning of the Psalter, and I labored a little on whether or not to break up the psalm, but in order to keep these videos a reasonable length, I decided to break this psalm down and look at it over a few videos. And in this video, we're going to be looking at verses 1 through 3. And as we start out, we see that the information that isn't given a verse number that we read there is important. Usually the headings that we find in our Bibles are not a part of the original text. They're just there to help us make it easier for us as modern readers.
Devotions: Above the Storm
Day 1: Trusting in God’s Refuge
Scripture Reading: Psalm 46:1-3
Reflection: Today's passage from Psalm 46 reminds us of God's unshakeable presence as our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Like the psalmist in Psalm 11, we are encouraged to trust in God’s protection when everything around us seems chaotic. Despite the earth giving way or mountains falling into the heart of the sea, our confidence remains firm in the Lord, who is our sanctuary.
Prayer: Lord, in times of turmoil and uncertainty, help me to remember that You are my refuge and strength. When fears assail me and the ground shakes, let my heart cling to You, the unmovable rock of my salvation. Amen.
June 9 Sermon: Above the Storm
A few weeks back, I mentioned the importance of finding a good shelter in a storm. And how, when we experience a storm, we find ourselves running to the most secure location that we can find. And regardless of how strong a storm is, we are going to always choose something substantial over, say, a pup tent. When we see the storm clouds form, we look for something to get under. We look for refuge. Now, I recently learned that this is not something that eagles do. They don't look for something to get under. Under, as we would, instead of seeking shelter, like many birds and like we would, eagles actually use the winds of the approaching storm to gain higher altitude. So they position their wings in such a way that the wind moves them above the storm.
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 17
Here in Psalm 17, we find a prayer of David and we again see a psalm where the psalmist is in distress and this psalm is a psalm of lament. These tend to unfold in a very similar way when we come across them. These types of psalms generally open with crying out to God. This is then followed by the psalmist declaring innocence in that situation, the one that's causing this distress that is making them cry out to God
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 16
Psalm 16 starts out with a powerful prayer. The psalmist cries out asking for God to preserve him. This is a prayer that each of us has probably said at some point, we may not have used those exact words, but we have come to a point where we feel as though we can't make it on our own, and so we cry out to God. And we see why David is crying out to God in the circumstances that he is facing here in Psalm 16. It is because he understands that God is his refuge.
Devotions: From Questioning to Trusting
Day 1: The Reality of Evil and Suffering
Scripture Reading: Job 1:13-22
Reflection: Job’s response to overwhelming tragedy is a profound example of trust in God’s sovereignty, even when life seems chaotic and unjust. Like Psalm 10, Job’s story challenges us to acknowledge the reality of evil and suffering while holding fast to the belief that God remains just and good despite our circumstances.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, in the face of suffering and loss, help me to trust in Your sovereign care. Teach me to respond with faith, knowing that You are just and all-knowing, even when I do not understand the reasons for my trials. Amen.
June 2 Sermon: From Questioning to Trusting
A theme that regularly comes through in the Psalms is the idea that it's one thing to intellectually ascend to the idea of God, and it's an entirely different thing to live consistently with that idea. Now last year when we looked at several different Psalms during the summer months, we saw the statement, the fool has sin in his heart, there is no God. And we'll see that statement again this summer. But we saw when we looked at that, that the idea that came through as we worked through that statement, was that a denial of the existence of a deity was not really what David was talking about there. There weren't a bunch of materialistic atheists running around in David's time.
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 15
In light of what we looked at last time in Psalm 14, we see an interesting question here at the beginning of Psalm 15. O Yahweh, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? Well considering that we just saw in the previous Psalm that there is none who is righteous, not even one, This is an important question. Is anyone worthy?
Dwell in the Word: Psalm 14
All right, as I mentioned, we are reading Psalm 14 today. It's a very familiar Psalm. Hear the word of the Lord. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand who seek after God. They have all turned aside together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not even one. Have they no knowledge.
Devotions: The Lord Reigns
Day 1: The Righteous Judge
Scripture Reading: Romans 2:5-11
Reflection: Today's passage reminds us of God's impartial judgment. He rewards each one according to their deeds, showing no favoritism. Reflect on how this understanding of God as a just judge influences how we live our lives, striving to act righteously in His sight, knowing that He judges fairly and righteously.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your justice and fairness. Help me to trust in Your judgment and live a life that seeks Your righteousness, knowing that You will reward each according to their works. Amen.
May 26 Sermon: The Lord Reigns
The news the past several weeks has been filled with stories of extreme weather. Now, the videos and images that we see can cause us to feel empathy for those affected, and it can cause us to be very thankful that we were not affected by it. And there are many in our congregation and in our community who have been deeply affected by events like this in the past, and with this comes a heightened sense of fear about this stuff. And part of the reason for this is because these type of things are not only unpredictable, but these type of things do not discriminate. It can happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone. Now, whether you've been personally affected by a storm or not, when you know that bad weather is coming, you're going to try to find a place to be safe. The better your refuge, the more confidence you have of the safety that you have when the winds and the rains beat against that place where you've chosen to flee for safety. Now, in my years of doing youth ministry, many years ago, I experienced some very interesting shelters between camps and music festivals.
Devotions: From Prophecy to Reality
Day 1: The Promise of the Holy Spirit
Scripture Reading: John 14:15-17, 26
Reflection: Before Pentecost, Jesus promised His disciples the Holy Spirit as a helper who would be with them forever. This promise was to comfort them in His physical absence and empower them for the mission ahead. The Holy Spirit is also our guide today, teaching and reminding us of Jesus’ words and works.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide. Help us to be attentive to His voice in our daily lives, teaching us and reminding us of Your truth. May we live empowered by His presence, faithful to Your commands. Amen.
May 19 Sermon: From Prophecy to Reality
I'm guessing that most of us have been in a situation where language barriers have made communication rather difficult for us. You know, we live in a multicultural world where travel is very easy, where moving around is pretty simple, so you get to be around these things. And chances are, you've maybe been in an environment where you were the only one who spoke the language that you speak, and you didn't understand anything that was being said, or maybe even what was going on around you. This is really the case, of course, if you're in another country with a group of people who are from that country.