Central Presbyterian Church - Sunday Service

by Jim Hetherington

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Genesis 32:22-32Jacob Wrestles With God22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[c] and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

2 Corinthians 12:7-107 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

I was going to mess up for Alexander and put a name tag on it and say Mark this morning, but I thought that wouldn’t be fair to him, so I left that off. But I was thinking during the, as we were kind of going through worship and the sound was cutting out and different things, I was reminded of a time I was down in Nicaragua on a worship, on a mission trip, and we were at this place in the evening and it was storming and the power went out. So when you’re down in the middle of nowhere and the lights go out, the lights go out, like everything was out.

It was complete darkness, there was no light coming anywhere, no microphone, no nothing. And so I did what any good preacher would do. I just started to breathe from the diaphragm and just projected even more and I continued to preach even in the darkness.

And it was to my amazement when the lights came back on, everybody was in tears. So obviously it was in that moment that God just wanted me out of the way for a little while so he could do what he wanted to do and it was just a tremendous experience. So regardless of technology, regardless of everything that’s going on, we will get the message out.

We will continue on. And so this morning I want to travel around a little bit. We’re going to check in on somebody on a road to Damascus.

We’re going to check on someone at the edge of a river, forcing all his family to flee and get away. But I wanted to start with sharing a story that just happened to me recently. Just a couple weeks ago, I secured a contract with a company and got a deposit from them and took it and put it in as I usually do.

Just put in the ATM and put the money in there and didn’t think anything of it, right? There’s no restrictions on my account for the amounts I put in and move around and all that stuff. So I didn’t think anything of it until the next day when I went to take those funds and get some materials and project stuff to get going on it. I didn’t have access to the money.

And I thought, well, that’s odd. So this was Friday, of course, so I couldn’t get a hold of the bank. So I let it go for the weekend, figured I’ll touch base with them Monday or Tuesday and see what’s going on.

I figured, you know, a human just needs to get the piece of paper out of the machine and process it. So I checked a couple days later and still no. I was told by the manager, as I was explaining my situation, that Jim with the bank, not just our bank, but the banks in general are moving away from paper checks.

They want to go to e-transfers. They want everything electronically now. So it’s not like they’re punishing you, but they’re taking and holding any cash or checks.

They’re holding it for five days and clearing. Even it could be cleared tomorrow, but they’re going to hold it for five days. I said, well, if I come down and take the check and get it certified, would that help speed up the process? Doesn’t matter.

It could be a certified check or check written on a paper towel. It has the same weight with the banks now. And I thought, well, isn’t that interesting? You know, I’ve got all of this in my account, but I can’t access it.

I can’t get to it. And I got thinking about how it is with our prayer lives, with our spiritual lives, right? We’ve got access to so much, but we don’t know how to get to it. Some of the stuff is on hold.

Some of the stuff is being held back on, it seems, right? How many have ever had this dialogue in your brain? You think, well, that’s good for someone else, but it’s not good enough for me. Other people are successful in the Christian church, but not me. Other people get healings and get blessings, but you know, that’s not for me, right? So we hear those different things, and we don’t think we have access.

But indeed, we do have access through Jesus. We have access to everything. But sometimes it just seems like everything is held back.

And oftentimes we’ll see that through stories, through scripture, where blessings were held back for a time and a season until the person got through a situation, came to repentance, did something. There was something in their life that God was teaching them and taking them through. So I wanted to look at a couple of stories.

One is Jacob. We’re going to read about him in Genesis 32. I don’t know, do we have screen now, or am I just reading it? Oh, we do have screen, right? That’s great.

So it said this. It said, that night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his 11 sons and crossed the ford at Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, let me go for his daybreak.

But Jacob replied, I will not let you go until you bless me. The man asked him, what is your name? Jacob, he answered. Then the man said, your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with humans and have overcome.

Jacob said, please tell me your name. But he replied, why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called that place Peniel, saying, it was because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.

Then the sun rose above him, and he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched with it. So we’re not going there with the hip sockets and with the displacement and stuff like that.

But I wanted to go into the story of what brought Jacob there. You know, I think Jacob came to the end of his rope. Literally, I mean, it was the end of the land.

There was only a river behind him. He was running from his brother Esau, whom he had cheated and manipulated and done all kinds of crazy things. And Jacob had done that through his entire life.

He had manipulated and controlled and done all kinds of different things to accumulate his wealth, to accumulate the things that he had. And here he was at the edge with his brother in pursuit, with a few hundred men in pursuit of him, and he’s passing everything over the river to get them to safety. But he stayed there.

Then it says that he wrestled with a man all night long. Now, tradition says that it could have been Esau’s guardian angel that was holding him back and wrestling with him throughout the night. Regardless of what it was, he was wrestling all night long.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I did a little bit of wrestling in high school. And doing a five-minute match, that was enough. Like, I mean, you’ve got two opponents locked in, 100% energy, trying to hold them from going anywhere.

So you’re trying to hold them and not allow them to get any position on you. They’re holding you and not trying to let you get any position, but you’re still trying to get a position and go on for a few minutes. That’s exhausting.

After I’m done for five minutes, I’m quite happy to sit and watch someone else go through a match because it just takes so much energy. So here’s these guys that have wrestled through the entire evening. Now, it’s interesting that as daybreak was coming, the angel just touched his hip and it was over.

He could have done that five minutes into it, but he let it wrestle through the entire situation. And how many times have we gone through things in life where we’re wrestling with things? We’re struggling with things. We got challenged.

You know, there’s challenges coming left and right, and we don’t understand it. We continue to go through these different things, and it’s almost like we’re wrestling with God to stand our position, to make clear what we want to do or what we’re trying to do. And I really believe that what Jacob had to do was God was wrestling everything out of Jacob.

He was wrestling Jacob out of Jacob. And sometimes we come to that place where you and I, we come to that end where we just have to sit and just say, I can’t fight God anymore. I’m tired of just trying to defend my position.

I’m exhausted trying to keep up this prasad and trying to keep up this righteous attitude, these righteous positions. And sometimes God has to take us to the end of us before he can step in and do what he wants to do. Imagine what our lives would be like if we could access all that we could access, all that we have access to in the kingdom.

Imagine what the kingdom would look like if God could wrestle out of us our stubbornness. I mean, I’m all for sticking to it, right? We all want to stick to it. We always want to see things through to the end, right? They say that failure is just a success that ran out of time.

I mean, think about the diets we start, right? We start a diet. We’re doing really good. Time is going on.

We’re resisting those potato chips. We’re just carrying on. And all of a sudden, somebody in the family opens up that bag of chips.

We get a waft of that salty, greasy goodness. And we just say, oh, just this one time, I’ll take a couple of chips. And so that success becomes a failure because we’ve given in to the time.

And we can think of that with financial goals. I’m going to put this away and I’m going to save up to buy this new Mercedes Benz. And we’re saving and saving and saving and we go, well, the Chevette will be okay because I’d really like to have that in-ground pool in the backyard.

So we compromise and we end time. So failure is just a success that’s run out of time. But if we continue in time, we’ll continue to grow in successes.

And Jacob was running out of time. His brother was closing in and he was running out of real estate. But he stayed there to defend his ground.

And it was during that wrestling that he actually received the blessing of God. Because I think during that moment, he had that opportunity to reflect on the journey, reflect on his life. Anybody been in a room like that or been in a position like that where all of a sudden you’re reflecting going, well, yeah, I did this and that really caused this to happen.

I made this choice and made this decision and that really caused this to happen. And then we reflect and all of a sudden now we’re not blaming God. We’re taking responsibility for it.

Now God can move us forward into something brand new. Let’s have a look at Paul. In second Corinthians, we read this.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations. Remember that line. There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about the weaknesses so that Christ, Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties. For when I am weak, then I made strong. I love that, that first line where he says he kept me conceited from these surpassingly great revelations.

I mean, just think about it. The Bible that we read and we study and we get sermons from, that we hear teachings on, that scholars have studied for centuries. Paul was writing that stuff.

He was getting those revelations from God in that moment and, and scribing all those things down so that we would have it for future tense. So, so he was getting these amazing revelations. I remember in another mission trip, Oregon, I went down and my wife and I, we had taken about 15 or 16 trips into Central America over the years, always taking high school students, building teams, all kinds of stuff going on.

One year we decided we just wanted to visit the missionaries and visit the area by ourselves. So, just the two of us went through the airport and it was, it was terrible withdrawals because as we were going through, we kept looking around waiting for everybody else to catch up with us because we had never gone through an airport without having a team following us. So, we went down there and I had a sign with my wife.

If we were at a service, I would look at her and I would just kind of give her the nod and she would know to take out her notepad and start taking notes. This was before, you know, smartphones. And I did that because oftentimes we would get down into Nicaragua, we get down in these areas, we thought we were just going for a visit.

We thought we were just going to hang out with the missionary couples and, you know, have coffee in the morning and sit around and relax. Oh no, they put us to work. So, I was preaching and teaching and then to put these, you know, these conferences together at the last minute where we had 30 or 40 pastors and now I’m teaching a and I had nothing prepared, I had nothing with me.

So, everything was fresh and new and so that’s why I had to look at Mary and go and, you know, write that down because that’s a new one and that’s probably, you know, very similar to what Paul was experiencing. It was all these fresh revelations were coming in and he was capturing and writing them all down. But to keep him from getting conceited, to keep him from getting too puffed up, God gave him this thorn in the flesh.

And there’s all kinds of stories of what it was and how it was and all that. That doesn’t matter. The point is that he had something that God reminded him that he was just human and it kept him humble.

When I was younger, I got hired by the safari park just outside of town here and I went through the process through the training, the zoological keeper training. So, I went through that for the summer, got hired on and I stayed there for the season and the next year I was called back and then I was appointed a supervisor of the lion, tiger, cheetah section. And it was really quite an appointment.

It was a real anointing time. We were gathered around a particular thing, the supervisor and a couple of other workers. The main head game warden came in and he looked at the supervisor and said, you’re out.

And he looked at me and said, you’re in. And that was my appointment. That was my appointment as supervisor.

He’s out, you’re in. And I became supervisor in that moment. And then the next year I was appointed the assistant head game warden.

So, when my boss was off for his two days, I took his responsibility for the entire park. With that came this really nice truck, the coveted truck of the park. And I was just so proud of myself driving that truck around.

It roared, it soared, it looked so cool. And I remember parking it and there was something broken at the side of one of the pathways. So, I got out of the truck and went over and I picked it up and I looked back at that truck and I went, oh, that truck is so cool.

It’s so amazing. It’s so coveted. Everybody wants to be in this truck.

And as I went to step into the truck, I stepped up a little bit too high, cracked my head across the roof of the truck as I was going in. I remember sitting there seeing stars and I was wise enough in my young, early Christian walk to go, I better pay attention to that, not get too conceited, not get too puffed up. God was just knocking some sense into me as it were.

And I’ve needed that from time to time. I don’t know if anybody else here, I’m sure none of you have needed that be hit over the head with a two by four anytime at all in your journey. But, you know, occasionally I need to be knocked over the head.

And that’s what was happening with Paul here. That was what’s happening with Jacob. He was at the end of his rope.

He came to the end of himself. And Paul, as much as he pleaded with God to take this thorn from him, he said, no, my grace is sufficient. I need to keep you under control.

I need to keep something in line so that you don’t get too puffed up and too crazy because what you’re handling is so big and it’s so amazing. It’s so powerful. It’s going to affect generations and centuries to come.

So what you’re writing is too valuable for me to let you go along with your conceited attitude. And he kept it in check. Sometimes we go through experiences and we just say, I can get through this.

I can handle this. You dig in a little bit deeper. It could be stubborn nature, could be pride.

I think there’s a difference between being proud and being prideful, right? Being proud of our achievements or accomplishments and things that we’ve done. I think that is a good thing. Being proud of our children, our grandchildren, being proud of our partners.

I think that’s a good thing. But the prideful thing, that becomes an arrogance thing, doesn’t it? That becomes a look at me, like me hopping into that truck, getting cracked on the head. That becomes a look at me.

And what God is wanting is the attention, the glory, the honour. And how often do we try to rob that in our Christian life, saying, look at me, or rob them in our professional lives, going, look at me, or rob them in our personal lives, going, look at me, rather than giving him the glory in all the situations. So oftentimes we hit the end of those roads.

And I think it’s God wanting to wrestle us out of us so that we come to a new place of humility, a new place of just honouring him for who he is. I’m reading a good book right now. The guy’s name is Jeff Henderson, I think.

Sorry, I wrote his name down. I always forget his name. And I wrote it down here somewhere, and now I can’t find it.

Yes, Jeff Henderson. And he’s written this book called Know What You’re For, F-O-R. And this guy’s had the opportunity to work with some amazing organisations over the years, like Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta Braves, and most notably, he’s worked with North Point Church in the U.S. And they’ve got about 50,000 members and about 150 locations, satellite locations, across the world.

So they’re doing okay as a church. How many would say a 50K membership, that’s not a bad deal, right? So he was able to work with them. But he’s challenged them with two questions.

And he challenges every organisation, every individual, every church, with two questions. What do you want to be known for? That’s the first question. And it’s something that we can ask ourselves.

What do we want to be known for? What do you want to be known for? What does Central want to be known for? The companies that we create, or maybe we operate, we founded, what do we want that company to be known for? And the second question is the opposite. It’s what are you known for? So one is your vision, your purpose, your mission, your goals. What is it you want to be known for? The other is what are other people saying about you? When you leave the room, what are they saying when you’ve left the room? Do they miss you? Are they glad you’re gone? What are they saying about your company? Would they deal with you again, or are they glad the contract’s done? What are they saying about your church? Are they glad to be here, or are they glad to leave? I jokingly said that when I first stepped out of leadership, Mary and I, we had to step out of the church that we served at, because every time we showed up, they tried to put us to work.

I mean, they forgot, they didn’t get the memo that we no longer served in leadership. And they every time we’d show up, we could show up four months later, and they would try to put us to work. It’s like, wait a second, I don’t work and serve here anymore.

So we ended up leaving, looking around, and we started going to a number of churches in the region. And I’m not going to name any names, and I drop any of those things, but we jokingly said we were going to start a secret church shopping network. We were going to start a company called Secret Church Shoppers.

We went to some horrendous churches. You think they’re all welcoming and goosebumpy like this place? No. There were some churches we were happy to leave.

I hate to say it, but we were just as excited to, we were more excited to leave than we were to go. So the questions are really important to look at. Because even as individuals, we have a brand.

A brand isn’t what you say about yourself. A brand is what others say about you. So what is your brand? What are people saying about you when you’re not in the room? When they’re on the telephone talking about you, what are they saying? And you say, well, Jim, it doesn’t matter to me.

I don’t care what other people think. Well, you should. Paul again encourages us to live such good lives among the pagans, among the non-believers, that on the day of judgement, they’ve got no excuse.

They can’t look and say, well, Nancy was just such a hypocrite. I was just never showing the truth. I was never exposed to the truth.

It’s all Nancy’s fault. No, you need to live such good lives among the pagans that when they stand before God, they can’t say it was Alexander’s fault. It was central church’s fault.

They’ve got no excuse. So I want to encourage us to look at the circumstances and the experiences that we’re going through right now and ask ourselves, is there too much of me that I’m carrying in this situation? Is there something in this situation that I need to let go of so that I can allow God to rise up? It’s all about the humbling, the submissive thing. And I know we don’t like that word, submissive.

We don’t like to use that word because it has such a negative feeling to it. If I’m submissive to somebody, it means I’m under their thumb. I’m under their control.

It’s actually the opposite. When we submit to someone, what we’re doing is we’re pushing them up. We’re elevating them up so that they become the very best version of who they are.

We respect and we honour them for who they are. And as they become their very best, guess what? We become our very best, because as we follow in them, we grow in greater successes. And as we honour God and lift him up, now we can begin to follow him.

And as scripture says, success will follow us all the days of our lives. As we begin to walk in what he has for us, rather than creating something and saying, God, I’m going to do this, this, and this, and I want you to bless me. That’s why I entitled today’s thing, titled today’s sermon, are we directing or are we praying? Because oftentimes we get in our prayer closets and we’re just directing God.

Well, God, you’re going to do this. God, you’re going to bless this. God, I need you to provide this.

I need you to give me this. Rather than coming to the end of ourselves and saying, God, what it is that you want? I would suggest as individuals, we need to come to that place. And certainly as a church, we need to come to that place.

As we look to hire on new leadership, we need to ask ourselves and be clear on what do we want to be known for? And we need to be honest and look around the neighbourhood and say, what are they saying about us? Because when we can align what we are for and align that with the person that we’re going to bring in and leadership, then the church will go to that next level. I had an experience in a church that we used to attend when I was younger. Mary and I, when we first got married, attended the church and we had a great pastor.

He was a wonderful man. And a couple of years into going to that church, he felt called to move off into some other place a little bit further north. And so he was moving away.

So the church started looking for a new pastor. And they thought, well, you know, this guy laid some good foundational stuff here. So we’re ready to go to that next level.

So we want a really scholarly person. We want someone with some real deep education that can take us in and teach us the deeper things of God. So they hired someone that could do that.

I built a relationship with this pastor over the years when he served there. And he was telling me that when he first served there, the first few weeks, he realised that what he was teaching was way up here. Their comprehension was way down here.

It was nowhere near what they thought it was. So he brought it down a level. Only to discover a few weeks later that that wasn’t far enough.

He had to bring it down a little bit further. So they thought they were ready for meat rather than milk, but they weren’t ready for the meat. And so he had to adjust it.

And there was great tension between that leadership because their visions didn’t align. What they were for didn’t align. And so I want to encourage us to to come to a place, and I’m hoping that, you know, as leadership is here or maybe watching this on recording afterwards, that they would consider to look at what you were for.

What do we want to be known for? Because then we can align with what it is that God is doing rather than trying to make up a wish list and saying, God, you fill this, you do this, you get this, and everything will be peachy. You know, Scripture tells us to pray without ceasing. How many of us could pray without ceasing? I know after 10-15 minutes, I’m running out of stuff.

I’m really stretching. You know, we start the same prayers. Oh, thank you for today.

Thank you for the food. Thank you for the blessings. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you for our church. Thank you for all these things. After a few minutes, like the wrestling of Jacob, we run out of things.

But as we go deeper and begin to rely on the Holy Spirit to feed us with ideas and feed us with things to pray, then we come in alignment with what God is wanting to do and is doing. And what a difference that would make as we come into that vision. In Proverbs 3, 5-6, it says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways submit to him and he will make your path straight. Wouldn’t that be a great way to live? In all our ways submit to him. Does that mean that he doesn’t want us to go back to school and get that degree? Probably not.

Maybe not. Does it mean that he doesn’t want us to have this relationship with this particular person? Who knows? But as we submit things to God, as we surrender to him, we’re just saying now, okay, God, this is where I am. Where do you want me to go? And that’s a whole different trajectory.

Now we’re not being like Jacob, feeling that we’ve got people in hot pursuit because we’re always creating sticky messes everywhere we’re going. We’re not trying to push through something, maybe physical, maybe mental, maybe relational, that we need to just lay down and just look at honestly and just allow God’s truth to wash in there. So I want us to encourage us with that.

And I’m going to end a little bit earlier just because it’s so warm in here. I just want to be aware of that. So let’s pray.

Father, we come before you this morning and Lord, if there’s a little bit of a Jacob in us, we ask your forgiveness. We just want to confess. If there’s deals we’ve made, if there’s things that we’ve created, if there’s ways that we’ve pursued that aren’t of you, that aren’t of your highest, we ask that you would reveal them to us this morning.

Even now, Lord, as we pray, I ask that you would put your finger on one or two of those things that maybe we’re walking to. Maybe it’s a relationship thing. Maybe it’s a financial thing.

Maybe it’s a relationship thing with you. Maybe it’s a church thing. Whatever it is, Father, we just want to lay it down before you.

And we ask that you would speak into that. For those that are wrestling with physical challenges right now, we ask that you would speak into those. Sometimes physical things can be your way of getting our attention so that we will spend time with you.

Whatever it is, Father, we ask that you would bring your Holy Spirit, allow your Holy Spirit to just speak to those things in our hearts, in our lives. And we confess them to you. We ask your forgiveness for relying on our own strength, relying on our own knowledge, our own understanding, thinking that our way is far better than yours.

Father, we ask your forgiveness for being like a lump of clay, but laying in front of you, dictating what you’re going to create, what you’re going to mould, what you’re going to shape. We just want to give you permission today to mould us, to shape us, and to use us. And we surrender.

We choose to get out of the way and allow you to work. And for those of us here today that have never surrendered completely to you, Lord Jesus, we want to take a moment and just pray. We’re going to pray and confess our sin to you, confess that we have been trying to earn our way into your kingdom.

We ask your forgiveness. And we turn to you, Lord Jesus, and we accept you and receive you, and we choose to make you Lord of our lives. We ask that you would rule and reign in our hearts.

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by Mark Gaskin

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1 Kings 3:5-12(NIV)5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

Matthew 15: 21–28The Faith of a Canaanite Woman21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

Alexander:
Our speaker this morning is the Reverend Mark Richardson. Mark is a long-term friend of Central. We’re so glad that you’re here, Mark.

Mark is retired from Westside Galt and from Central Church in Brantford, and we are so glad that he’s here. No, no, we don’t have to correct Alexander. I’ve messed up his name several times.

Mark Gaskin:

And, you know, if I had to be confused with somebody, Richardson is the one I’d want to be confused with. He’s a great guy, the other Mark. I don’t blame him.

There’s something about this presbytery, and Lynn Pennington knows, for a while, there were four, there were at least four ordained ministers in the presbytery of Waterloo West. Mark Lewis, Kitchener, Mark Gedke, also in Kitchener, Mark Richardson, and Mark Gaskin. And the clerk of the presbytery started to give us nicknames.

I have no desire to share with you what my nickname was. So Richardson is fine, Alexander, fine. I did also want to mention that I’m wearing my Camp Kintail shirt.

They’re coming to get Alexander. When you confuse me, that’s when I, 911. I’m wearing my Camp Kintail shirt because I know this congregation has a deep relationship with Camp Kintail on Lake Huron.

I know Jonathan and Teresa, the co-executive directors of the camp, have worshipped with you, have led worship. Every time I’m up at camp, and I go up several times a year, there is their Sunday suppers. There are also, it’s also Kirk and the Cedars.

In fact, there’s one today, four o’clock, they worship in the chapel. And then there is a gathering in McDonald Lodge, afterwards a meal in McDonald Lodge. We often go up, myself and our adult children and their children, will have for several years gone up for family camp held in August.

And when I mention to Jonathan and Teresa that I have preached at Central Cambridge or will be preaching at Central Church in Cambridge, they always say to me, please say thank you. They are deeply grateful for the support they receive, monetary and otherwise, especially the men’s ministry, that goes up in, is it twice a year or else, spring and fall, and just does the work that needs to be done on that acreage. There’s always something, and especially, it used to be that they would close down for the winter.

So there was this spring cleanup and the fall shutdown. It’s a year-round camp now. So there’s always, there’s more to be done.

And I know Jonathan and Teresa and the board at Camp Kintail very much are grateful for the support they receive from Central Church Cambridge. Our first reading is from 1 Kings 3, beginning at verse 5. King David has passed and his son, King Solomon, has come to the throne. It’s been a few months.

And this is the dream that King Solomon has. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ask for whatever you want me to give to you. Solomon answered, you have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart.

You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord, my God, you have made your servant King in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.

Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.

So God said to him, since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. And our good news reading for this morning from the gospel according to Matthew, and this is what I’ll be basing the message on today.

Matthew tells us that Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman came from that vicinity, came to him crying out, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. Your daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.

Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, send him away for she keeps crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.

The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me, she said. He replied, it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.

Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, she said. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.

Then Jesus answered, woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Amen. In the name of the creator, the redeemer, and the sustainer. Amen.

Once upon a time, a woman came to a Presbyterian church. Let’s call it Knox St. Andrews on the Speedy Grand River. And she asked him, would you do a funeral for my dog? I’ve had this dog many, many years.

A wonderful companion to me. I would like to have a funeral for my faithful dog. Well, the minister was more than a little taken aback.

And he replied with a certain tone to his voice, well, I couldn’t possibly conduct a funeral for a dog. Perhaps you should try one of the other churches in town. The woman was polite, thanked him, and started to leave.

And then turned back and she said, oh, just so you can help me when I visit these other churches. Is $500 enough of an honorarium for this type of funeral? And would I make that out to the minister or to the church? There was a pause. And the minister says, you didn’t say that the dog was Presbyterian.

I’d be happy to help. I’m glad you laughed. And I am quite sure that many of you have heard that joke before.

But it’s easier to tell that joke than it is to deal with this passage. We’re hearing Jesus speak in a way that we have not heard before. And we don’t hear very often.

Because there’s nothing funny about these words. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. Those words land with a thud.

They sound harsh. They sound insulting. And if we’re honest, they don’t sound very much like the Jesus that you and I like to talk about.

And it really comes down to that one word. Dog. Now, today, in our culture, in our time, dogs are beloved companions.

They sleep on our couches. They have birthday parties. We sentimentalise our dogs in ways that would have seemed very strange to the ancient world.

And let’s not just think about the companionship that dogs offer. Let’s think about service dogs. And how that area has expanded over the years.

To include that they once helped disabled or impaired individuals. And now they do a host of activities with that population. And let’s think about the working dogs.

That search for explosives or drugs. Canine dogs that protect you and I. That was not the role of dogs in Jesus’ time. They weren’t pets.

They didn’t do anything. They were scavengers, mostly. Wild, dirty animals that wandered the streets.

Feeding on refuse and garbage. To call someone a dog, even in our time, it’s not really a compliment. But we have a different understanding.

But to call someone a dog in Jesus’ time was an absolute insult. No compliment whatsoever. Scripture reflects this attitude over and over again.

The prophet Isaiah says, Israel’s watchmen are blind. They are all mute dogs. They cannot bark.

They lie around and dream. They love to sleep. Dogs were representations of things that were unclean, unworthy.

They were outsiders. They did not belong to any household, any group. And that is exactly what was meant when Jesus said, made that statement.

A Gentile woman comes pleading for healing for her daughter. Jesus answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. She kneels before him, Lord, help me.

And then comes the response that shocks us. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The point is unmistakable.

A Jewish rabbi who abandons his own people in order to minister to outsiders, to Gentiles, well, that would be like a parent taking the food off the table that’s feeding his children and throwing it on the floor, giving it to animals instead. There is no way to soften those words. Preachers try to.

I have tried to in the past. I have said, well, it’s a test of faith for the woman. I mean, after all, later in the story, he says, you are a woman of great faith.

Others suggest that he was drawing out her courage by this statement, perhaps. But why not let the story just speak in all of its uncomfortable honesty? Why not hear what was being said? Matthew doesn’t hide the difficulty. He lets us hear Jesus exactly as he sounds.

And maybe that honesty is important. After all, this is the same Jesus, the same Jesus who makes the statement. Elsewhere, he welcomes sinners and tax collectors.

This is the same Jesus who touched lepers. It’s the same Jesus who blessed children, forgave enemies, and sat down at tables where respected people would refuse to sit. Those are the stories we know well.

That is the Jesus we know well. Why can’t Jesus be as complicated as humans are, as you and I are? We’re not one person or one thing. We are complicated.

That’s our nature. Why can’t Jesus be the same way? So when Jesus speaks this way in this occasion, we are unsettled. And perhaps that’s where the gospel wants us to be at that time.

The mystery of the incarnation, the mystery of Jesus’ birth, is that God became truly human. We say that in our prayers, in our creeds. That’s what we read in the gospels.

Jesus had a human side. And every once in a while, we see it. He doesn’t just appear to be human or pretend to be human.

Jesus was born a first-century Jewish man. He lived within a culture that drew sharp distinctions between Jew and Gentile, clean and unclean, insider, outsider. The incarnation, the birth of Jesus, meant that God entered a real culture at a real time in history.

He came into the real world with all of its assumptions and boundaries. So sometimes, maybe not very often, but sometimes we might be tempted to see Jesus sort of floating above his time and place, floating above human history, floating above human temptations, drawbacks, limitations. Untouched by the world around him, Matthew will not let us do that.

He shows us that Jesus is genuinely human. Yes, divine, without doubt. That’s what Easter is all about.

But in this moment, genuinely human. This is a Jesus who listens. This is a Jesus who responds, who grows.

And that might be one of the most hopeful things in the gospel. Because if Jesus is truly human, then he engages people as real people do. Most of us do not easily change our minds.

I know my wife marks on the calendar the number of times I change my mind. At the end of the year, it’s not an exercise I like to go through. Because I think I’m Mr. Flexible.

That’s one of the nicknames I’ve given myself. Clerk of Presbytery never used it, but I think of myself, Mr. Flexible. Oh, sure, I listen to people.

Give me a well-reasoned argument, I’ll change my mind. We cling to assumptions. We hold on to prejudice.

We protect the boundaries that comfort us, that we can be sure of, that have always worked for us in the past. Sometimes we are reasoned with. Sometimes we can be challenged.

Sometimes we can be confronted. And sometimes we change our minds. But lots of times we don’t.

We cling on to what we know. But look carefully at this story. The woman refuses to walk away.

She doesn’t become angry. She’s not confrontational. She doesn’t become defensive.

She just answers Jesus with remarkable wit and astonishing faith. Yes, Lord. I hear what you say.

You don’t throw food from the table to the dogs. Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.

It’s one of the finest, most faithful responses in all of the New Testament. She accepts Jesus’ image. She accepts that characterisation and then turns it inside out.

Is there enough bread for God’s children? Sure there is. Then surely there are enough crumbs for everyone else. If God’s grace is truly abundant and eternal, then no one needs to ever be hungry.

Her faith is bold. Her persistence is courageous. Her love for her daughter is unstoppable and unmistakable.

And Jesus hears that. He hears all of that. And he allows himself to be changed by that encounter.

He says, woman, great is your faith. And her daughter is healed. This is not a story about someone winning an argument.

It’s a story about the kingdom of God becoming larger than anyone could have imagined. Even larger than when Jesus’ own disciples, they saw that Jesus was expanding it, making it bigger. But this was still new territory.

This is not what they expected. The boundaries begin to fall. They continue to fall.

The table continues to grow wider. The invitations become larger. The grace of God spills over the edges.

It cannot be contained. Winston Churchill once said, to improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often.

Whether Churchill intended it or not, those words echo something deeply Christian. Faith is not stubborn certainty. Faith is open to the spirit of God.

Faith is allowing ourselves to be surprised. Faith is discerning that God’s mercy is always bigger than we could have imagined. And this is where the gospel finally meets us.

Because the question is no longer simply whether Jesus changed. We can debate that in coffee. The fellowship time.

We can have that discussion. The question is, can we change? Can we allow ourselves to learn something from someone that we might have dismissed? Can we allow a stranger to help us grow in our faith? Can we admit that an outsider might reveal something about God? History suggests that’s how the Holy Spirit works. Again and again, God speaks through people that we don’t expect God to speak through.

God surprises us when God speaks through foreigners and children and the poor and the outsider. Perhaps the greatest miracle in today’s gospel is not that the daughter was healed. That is a miracle.

But that has happened before. Perhaps the greatest miracle is that was a conversation where God once again welcomed more people into God’s world. Which was always God’s intent.

But this was God’s Son doing the welcoming. The work of welcoming people into God’s world is not finished. That’s one of the reasons that Central Church exists.

That’s your mission statement. It should be every church’s mission statement. A place where God’s people are welcomed into God’s world.

People still build walls. I know that. We still divide people into insiders and outsiders.

People who spend time discussing who belongs and who does not. I am happy that that’s not a characteristic of this church. That every time you gather around Christ’s table, you hear this message.

There is enough bread. There is enough grace. There’s enough mercy.

There’s enough room. The table belongs to Christ, not to us. And everyone whom Christ welcomes is already welcomed.

Every person. Without exception. Amen.

And so be it.

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by Rev. Mark Gaskin

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Isaiah 44:6-8The Lord, Not Idols6 “This is what the Lord says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God.
7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me
what has happened since I established my ancient people,
and what is yet to come—
yes, let them foretell what will come.
8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Romans 12:1717 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Matthew 13:24-30The Parable of the Weeds24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

Three passages of scripture to share with you this morning. An Old Testament reading from Isaiah, and then a short verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans, and then a passage from the New Testament on which the sermon will focus. From the 44th chapter of Isaiah, this is what the Lord says, Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty.

I am the first and the last, apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come.

Yes, let them foretell what will come. Do not tremble. Do not be afraid.

Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other rock. I know not one.

Two short verses from the 12th chapter of Romans. Do not repay anyone for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. And from the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while everyone was sleeping, the enemy came and sowed seeds among the wheat and went away.

When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, Sir, didn’t you sow good seeds in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this, he replied. The servants asked, do you want us to go and pull them out? No, he answered, because while you are pulling out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time, I will tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.

Then he left the crowd and went into the house. Amen. Let us pray.

God of wisdom, your thoughts are not our thoughts and your ways are not our ways. As we listen to the scriptures, send your Holy Spirit to grant us understanding of what you desire and fresh resolve to do your will. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen. I may have mentioned this in past years. Much of the mid to end part of June, so last month, you will find me in a strawberry field.

From mid-June to the end of June, I make four to five trips to Brantwood Farms. It used to be their old location on Linden Road, now their new setup on German School Road. I go out there four or five times, pick the strawberries.

Sometimes I have a grandchild with me to help, so it takes longer. I take those berries home, clean them, and then make freezer jam, strawberry freezer jam. It’s really good.

Now I’m pausing here to look out there and say, how many of you are thinking, oh no, he’s going to bring out a trophy and talk about it. No, no, I have never won a trophy for my strawberry jam. Now you’re thinking, well, is it placed in the top 10? No, no, I’m, is it the people’s choice? Yes, people who are related to me really think it is wonderful strawberry jam.

And in July, this month, from about the beginning of July to now and maybe another week, I’ll go out to Jerry’s Berries. I love that out in Cope Town, Jerry’s Berries. It’s part of lots of hostas.

And I pick my raspberries there and I take that home and I make raspberry freezer jam. And I know some of you are thinking, oh, now he’s going to bring out the trophy for No, no, no, no trophies, no top 10. But again, it’s definitely the people’s choice amongst people who are related to me.

The strawberry field on Old German School Road and the raspberry patch in Cope Town are beautifully well-maintained fields. Tom and his family at Brantwood Farms and Glenda and her family in Jerry’s Berries, clearly it’s work that begins the previous fall, obviously not so much during the winter, but in the spring, the fields are, well, you do whatever you do to those patches. Because when I go out to pick that fruit, it’s beautiful.

The berries are beautiful. It’s just wonderful to be out there. But there are still weeds.

Even though all that has been done to prevent it, you still see some weeds in amongst the bushes or off to the side. It’s part of growing things. Any vegetable gardener, any flower gardener will tell you that.

Where you’re growing things, weeds show up. And that’s one reason I like this parable. Because even in a perfect strawberry field, even in a perfect raspberry, even in a perfect flower garden, even in a perfect vegetable garden, weeds are still there.

You don’t want them there. You did everything to prevent them from being there. They’re still there.

That’s why I like this parable. Because it seems to me to answer a question that Christians, especially when we get old enough to ask this question, why in a perfect, why in the world that God designed, why in a world where God loves us, why is there evil in this world? You and I aren’t evil people. God wants no one to be an evil person.

God has given us everything we need in this world. What are good, God-fearing people supposed to do about all the evil in the world? That may not be the question that was asked directly to Jesus. And it may not be the question Jesus is answering directly.

But it is the question behind the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Jesus tells this story. A farmer sowed good feed in a field.

But while everyone was asleep, an enemy, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and slipped away. When the wheat sprouted and produced grain, the weeds appeared as well. The servants came and asked the owner of the field, sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did all these weeds come from? That is a good question.

Later in the chapter, Jesus explains the parable. I didn’t read that part. I knew you saw where this was going.

He explains the parable. He says the field represents the world. And the world is weedy.

It’s corrupt. It’s not the way God intended it to be. No one has to convince us of that.

We watch cable news. We listen to the radio. We scroll through social media.

And we hear more stories than we want to hear about violence and war, abuse and greed, injustice, poverty, hatred, discrimination. We shake our heads at the enormous gap between the way the world ought to be and the way the world is. Where does all this evil come from? That’s a question answered in other stories in other parts.

But what we are to do about that, that’s what this parable answers. Now we might think, as the servants did, well, let’s get out into the field and pull up all those weeds by its roots. That’ll get rid of it.

It seems like a practical suggestion. And it is one, I’m pretty sure speaking to the gardeners in the group, it is one you actively employ in your vegetable garden and in your flower garden. But not in this parable and not in this field.

Because the owner of the field says, no, no, we’re not going to pull them out. Let both grow together until the harvest. In this story about evil in the world and God’s response to it, Jesus is telling us something that might be difficult to hear.

For now, God does not intend to uproot every evil thing immediately. God is not asking us to uproot every evil thing that we see immediately. God’s plan, at least for the present, is to let the wheat and the weeds grow together.

That’s the parable. That’s the parable Jesus tells. That is not easy to accept.

But that’s the lesson of the parable. Even though the world is full of weeds, even though there is corruption and wickedness, it is not our calling to pull out every evil weed ourselves. Why? Well, we remember what the owner told the servants.

Do not pull up the weeds, because while you are pulling up weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Oh, okay. We are reminded that there is always a chance that we will do more harm than good.

However unintended, there are situations where we might do more harm than good. The part of the reason, and the listeners would have understood this in Jesus’ time, they would have got this right away because of their, because it’s a small villages and connected to the rural area around them. If they weren’t farmers, they had they had family members who were farmers.

They knew that Jesus was talking about a specific kind of weed and wheat. The Latin name is here. I don’t know why I put it here.

I can’t pronounce it. So I’ll just, the, the weed is commonly called Darnell. And it’s an unusual grass that looks remarkably like wheat in its early growing stages.

It’s easy to mistake this weed for wheat as it’s growing. And that’s why Jesus used this parable and this example, because it fits into the life that you and I live. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between good and evil in the early stages.

Oh, I know later there’s lots of times we can tell what’s evil, but I’m talking about those times when we don’t have all the information and we, we don’t really understand what’s going on. Sometimes in trying to pull up with what we think is a weed, we discover too late that we’ve damaged the wheat. There’s another part of this story that’s always intrigued me.

And again, it’s one of those parts of the story. It’s just, it’s barely a sentence. It’s said, and then there’s no more comment on it, but it’s there for a reason.

The enemy sows the weeds and then slips away, leaves. The enemy is no longer part of the story. We, we, the enemy doesn’t feel the necessity to come back and sow more weeds, water the weeds to do anything else.

The enemy only had to plant the weeds. The damage is already done. There’s no need to stay around.

Scatter a few seeds of darkness, scatter a few seeds of fear, scatter a few seeds of misunderstandings, and let good people give in to fear and give in to darkness and give in to misunderstandings. And they’ll do the damage as they pull up the weeds and harm the wheat. Scatter enough weeds so that we become anxious, fearful, angry, impulsive enough, and then see what happens.

That’s why the enemy slips away, doesn’t have to do anything more. Unless, unless the owner says, wait, be still, trust me, let them grow together until the harvest. Let them grow together until the harvest.

Then I will tell the harvesters to gather the weeds to be burned and gather the wheat and put it in to my barn. The owner doesn’t like having weeds in the field. What, what farmer, what grower, what person who’s trying to nurture seeds into, into beauty and growth and fulfilment, what, what grower would want weeds in their field? No, no, no grower.

The farmer, the owner simply has a different way of dealing with them. He has a different plan. And that’s, that’s sometimes frustrating to servants who want to act now, who want to be impulsive.

And the owner says, wait, be patient. I have a plan. Jesus wants us to understand that this is God’s way of dealing with evil.

Not always immediately, but he will deal with it finally. This is way, God’s way of dealing with evil. Not partially, but God’s plan is to deal with it completely.

And Jesus would know. It’s not like the world that he came into was any better or worse than the world that you and I are living in right now. His world was full of weeds.

The disciples saw that. He saw that. His disciples saw that.

They were witnesses to poverty and injustice, oppression, disease, prejudice, violence. They saw it all. They experienced it.

Jesus and his disciples, they experienced everything that you and I have to deal with. The problems were real. Yet Jesus did not call on his followers to wage war against every weed.

Instead, he called them to live faithfully as wheat. And perhaps that’s, not perhaps, that is still our calling today. In a world full of weeds, perhaps the best strategy that we can adopt is the one that Paul said in the 12th chapter of Romans.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The field is still full of weeds. I admit there’s some days that that’s all it seems to be full of.

It’s not true, but that’s what it feels like sometimes. But it’s also full of wheat. There is in fact more wheat than weeds.

The weeds just get our attention. God has not abandoned the field, nor has God forgotten the harvest. So let us live as children of the kingdom, trusting the gardener, sowing the good seed wherever we can, and waiting in hope for the day when Christ will make all things new.

Until that day, we overcome evil, not by fear or hatred, but by lives shaped by the love of God. Amen. And so be it.

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by Aubrey Botha

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Genesis 25:21-3421 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”

24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.[a] 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.[b] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.[c])

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

Matthew 13:1-9The Parable of the Sower13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

Well, thank you, Alexander, and thank you for all those who make me feel welcome on a Sunday morning in your own special way. I mentioned this last week. There’s a lot of good natured teasing that goes on, and that’s simply because, as Alexander shared, I’ve known the congregation a long time.

I guess it was 2009, I came to what was then St. Andrew’s Church, just up the hill, and a few years later, St. Andrew’s and St. Giles amalgamated and became Westside Presbyterian Church, and stayed for several, well, more than some years after that, and retired, I think it would be about four years ago, but still active in ministry. I enjoy attending churches, church services on those Sundays. I’m not preaching elsewhere, but one of the things I look forward to is being here for a few weeks in the summer.

So, again, thank you to Aubrey and the session for the invitation. Two readings this morning, from the book of Genesis and then from Matthew. Let us hear God’s word.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebecca became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, why is this happening to me? So she went to enquire of the Lord.

The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, and two peoples within you will be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.

He said to Jacob, quick, let me have some of that red stew. I am famished. That is why he is also called Edom.

Jacob replied, first sell me your birthright. Look, I’m about to die, Esau said. What good is a birthright to me? But Jacob answered, swear to me first.

So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

From Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 13, that same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying a farmer went out to sow his seed, and as he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path and the birds ate it up.

Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, but because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Other seed fell among the thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. And still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Amen. In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer. Amen.

We are told earlier in Genesis that for twenty years Isaac and Rebekah had prayed for a child. Finally their prayers are answered, and the miracle of conception came. But it wasn’t smooth sailing.

Even in the womb, the twins were struggling with one another. It’s a foreshadowing of what would continue on throughout their whole lives. It leads Rebekah to ask, while the twins are still in the room, it leads Rebekah to ask, why is this happening to me? And God answers, two nations are in your womb.

One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger. We’re not told within the text how Rebekah would have received this news. It helps us understand what is about to unfold in foreshadows what’s taking place.

But it wouldn’t have been immediate help at that time, and especially that latter phrase, the elder shall serve the younger. As I say, it’s not said in the text, but Rebekah must have said to herself, oh this does not bode well, because that’s not the culture. That’s not the custom.

Firstborn, the elder, that’s the head, and the younger siblings serve the elder, but that’s not what Rebekah is told. Esau is born first. Jacob falls close behind, grasping at his brother’s heel.

Even that small detail foreshadows the life that Jacob will lead, always grabbing and holding on. In fewer than 15 verses, the twins grow from newborns to young men, yet very little has changed in their lives or in their personalities. They were different in the womb, and they are different outside.

Esau is impulsive. He’s driven by the moment, never thinking things all the way through. Jacob is patient, calculating, and as we see, he’s very opportunistic.

With that understanding of who these twins were and their personalities, we come to the latter part of the story that I read to you. Esau comes in from the field, exhausted and starving. Let me have some of that red stew, I am famished.

Jacob replies, sure. First, sell me your birthright. Sell.

You’re firstborn. I’m to serve you. Sell it.

Not even give it. Sell it to me. Esau, again, in the moment, not thinking it through.

I’m about to die. What good is a birthright to me? And just like that, Esau gives away the birthright over a bowl of lentil stew. Now, I know something about the persuasive power of a good bowl of food.

I know I’ve mentioned, I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before. After all, I’ve been coming here for some years. I’m sure I’ve mentioned the trophy I received for cooking chilli.

Just happen to have it here. I have it at home, but if there’s a display case, I’m happy to leave it later. Yes, the People’s Choice Award from 2003.

Okay, a few years ago. The Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise, the ninth annual chilli cook-off, June 21st, 2003. The People’s Choice.

Not just awarded by, the people spoke and gave me and my team this, I know the power of a good bowl of food. Now, some of you are saying, wait a minute, 2003, anything more recent? Funny you should ask. I thought I heard somebody ask.

2020, just before the world changed, we had in February of 2020, we had our annual Super Bowl contest up at Westside. Super, S-O-U-P-E-R. And yes, if you are asking, I placed in the top 10 of that competition.

There were nine of us in entry, but that still places me in the top 10. A good bowl of chilli, soup, stew, that can certainly be tempting. But it’s probably not worth however good it is.

It’s not worth your inheritance, your birthright. Neither brother comes out of this encounter looking particularly good. Esau acts impulsively with little thought for the future.

Jacob sees his brother’s weakness. He sees it and he exploits it. Neither brother comes out looking good.

And let us not completely overlook the parents. It says within the text, the father favoured one child and the mother favoured the other. It’s not just the brothers are not looking good.

The family is not looking particularly good. Later in the book of Genesis, Jacob will deceive his own ageing father as well. So where does this ancient family story, and I know many of you would be familiar with this story, where does that ancient story about a long ago family meet us today in our circumstances? With our families.

Well, when we think about our families, most of us still feel the pressure to convince the world that everything’s fine. Most often that’s certainly the image we would like to project in a natural way, that everything is okay. Family is normal.

Everything’s under control. But when we’re honest, and we can be honest with each other at times and with good friends, when we’re speaking a little more honestly and it feels safe to do so, we know better. We know families can be complicated.

We know relationships can be strained. Old wounds can linger. Misunderstandings happen, and sometimes as they’re explained, the situation does not get better.

I’ve offered enough explanations over a misunderstanding that I have successfully made the situation worse with my explanations. Sometimes the people we love the most are the ones who can hurt us the most. And yet, let’s get to this, and yet God is still present.

God is still there in the midst of that, in the midst of the strain, and the misunderstanding, and the friction, and the tension. That’s one of the great gifts of the stories in the book of Genesis. The very first book, the book that not only emphasises our ongoing, our original and ongoing relationship with God, but also talks about the families that are within that relationship with God.

The Bible never pretends that God’s people are flawless. The Bible never pretends that families are not without their challenges. Quite the opposite.

Again and again, God chooses to work through people. Again and again, God chooses to work through families that are imperfect. At the heart of Genesis is the inspiring truth that God accomplishes God’s purpose through some of the strangest, most awkward, most hard-to-understand families imaginable.

When God looked across the world for people through whom to bless the nations, that’s where that phrase comes from Genesis, when God looked for people through whom to bless the nations, God did not choose people who seemed to have it all together, who had no flaws, that had never known challenges. Sometimes it looks like God would choose the B team, that God would choose not the best and the brightest, but God would still choose them. Families that argue, families that failed, people who doubted, people who made terrible decisions.

God would still use them, people just like us. Many of the stories in Genesis make the very first book, as I said, of God’s story with God’s people. Many of the stories make this wonderfully clear.

We do not have to be perfect before God can use us. We do not have to have everything figured out before God can bless us. We do not have to belong to a flawless family before God can call us to be a blessing to others.

The good news is that God does not wait for perfect people. The good news is that God is faithful even when we are not. If God could work through Isaac and Rebecca, if God could work through Esau and Jacob, if God could bring blessings to people, to nations, to the world through that family, then surely God can work through us and ours.

You’ve heard me say in the past, and I mean it with the utmost sincerity, Central Church has a lot going for it. And I hope this doesn’t shock you. But it’s not because you’re perfect.

I’ve never heard anyone claim that about Central Church. What I have heard, it’s a group of people who care about each other, who care about the neighbourhood they’re in, who care about the community that you’re part of. Not perfect, but perfectly caring people.

This is a church that God has, that God can, and God will continue to work through. Because by the grace of God, we are exactly the kind of people that God has always used and loved to use. People, people just like us.

Amen, and so be it.

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by Rev. Mark Gaskin

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Psalm 16A miktam of David.1 Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Luke 9:51-56Samaritan Opposition51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe) Guest Speaker – Rev. Mark Gaskin

No, Alexander, it was all, it was all done in in good humour, and I appreciate this time of rebuttal. When I was here previously, actually what I’ll do is follow up on an announcement that that Alexander made. You’re watching online, that’s wonderful.

I hope you feel part of the worshipping community today. If you are watching us because you’re looking for a church to attend, this is a great church to come to. The worship service begins at 10 o’clock on a Sunday morning.

You can show up a few minutes after that, but as a courtesy to the production team and to the praise band, you may want to show up, especially if you’re the preacher. You may want to show up a little bit before that, but you will be, no matter what time you show up, you will be warmly greeted and made to feel welcome by this wonderful community of believers. Our first reading is Psalm 16, some selected verses.

Protect me, O God. I trust in you for safety. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord.

All the good things I have come from you. You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need. My future is in your hands.

How wonderful are your gifts to me, how good they are. I praise the Lord because he guides me, and in the night my conscience warns me. I am always aware of the Lord’s presence.

He is near, and nothing can shake me. And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure because you protect me from the power of death. I have served you faithfully, and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead.

You will show me the path that leads to life. Your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever. And from the New Testament, from the Gospel according to Luke, Chapter 9, a story that is unique to Luke.

Matthew and Mark and John do not record this event. And I think I partly understand why. It is very low-key.

There’s no healing. There’s no miracle. There’s no parable.

There’s no teaching. But I believe, clearly, I believe it delivers a very strong message, which I will develop in the sermon from Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 9. As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him.

But the people there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples, James and John, saw this, they asked, Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village.

Amen. In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer. Amen.

I will let the production team know I’m just walking over here. I’ll be back to where I’m supposed to be in a minute. I think they’re just happy to see that I’m here.

But it’s within the nature of human beings that we have conflicts with each other, disagreements. There’s lots of adjectives for it. Fights, conflicts, disagreements, friction with each other.

Some say it’s innate, part of our psyche. We are animals and animals fight. Some say it’s learned behaviour, that if we see violence around us and it becomes normalised, then, and this can happen even when we see that it’s harmful to others and even harmful to ourselves, we still see it as a part of life.

So this is the old debate, right? Nature versus nurture when it comes to conflict. We’re not settling that debate this morning, but we’re going to look at it because we see it in the ninth chapter of Luke near the end of that chapter. What do we fight about? Well, we can fight about everything and anything, right? We can have disagreements over politics, religion.

I’m trying to think about, for a moment there, I was trying to think, what don’t we fight about? That list is shorter. We have disagreements about lots of things. Our differences can be racial, religious, nationality.

We know that there are long standing disagreements between the ancient religions of our world. Jews versus Muslims, Muslims versus Christians, Christians versus, it goes on. Even within a Christian community, there can be disagreements.

There are long historical disagreements between nations of the world. You can’t look really at any part of the world that hasn’t, isn’t currently facing some kind of conflict or does not have conflict in its past, a non-ancient past. As a country, we’ve had conflicts even within North America.

So, conflict, fight. We do it everywhere. It can be about anything.

It can happen at any time. But all these conflicts have one thing in common, as different as the cause where they take place, as different as they are, they still have one thing in common. Somebody is the bad guy.

Some group of people are the bad people. They are wrong. I am right.

That’s always at the source of the conflict, regardless of what it’s about, where it takes place, when it takes place. Somebody’s wrong, somebody’s the bad guy, and somebody’s right, the good guy. It’s interesting how I’m doing it that way, isn’t it? Somebody there is the bad guy, and somebody is the good guy.

So it is with this awareness that we approach today’s gospel. It’s not a well-known story in the New Testament, as I said earlier, that it’s unique to Luke. It’s the kind of story that can be forgotten, as I said, no miracles, no parable, no teaching.

The story goes like this. Jesus is up north in Galilee. He’s getting ready to go south to Jerusalem, and he had to pass through the land of Samaria.

The Jews and Samaritans did not like each other, and that dispute, conflict, fight went back hundreds of years, long before Jesus was even born. They did not talk to one another. They didn’t intermingle.

They did not intermarry. So who’s the bad guy in this conflict between Jews and Samaritans? Well, it’s James and John, to make it very clear. It’s the other guys.

It is the Samaritans. Jesus is going south, going through Samaria. He had sent people ahead of him to make arrangements.

They were not welcomed, and then Jesus, as he came into the village, was not made to feel welcomed. The two brothers, James and John, who are part of the Twelve, when they came to realise this, they got upset, to say the least. We’re not surprised that James and John are the two disciples that act this way.

They are called Sons of Thunder. We hear that designation about them earlier in the Gospels. They have thunderous personalities.

They have thunderous prejudices, and they clearly have thunderous tempers. They go to Jesus, who is in the village now, and say, Master, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them? That seems like an overreaction. They were just not made to feel welcome.

They weren’t threatened. They weren’t mocked, ridiculed, but clearly hundreds of years of prejudice and hatred are coming to the forefront, and this slight, this disrespect, this unwelcome attitude has just sent James and John right over the edge. Lord, let’s call down fire from heaven so it’s coming from the right place.

Let’s call down fire from heaven and not warn them, not teach them a lesson, destroy them. What happens next is remarkable. It’s subtle.

It’s one of the reasons I think this passage is not amongst the best known. Jesus rebukes them. That’s all that’s in the Gospel.

Jesus rebuked them, and then what happens next is even more remarkable. Jesus and his disciples went to another village. That’s how the story ends.

Jesus rebukes, and then he and the disciples went on to another village. I have some sympathy for the disciples. I’ve been angry in my past.

I got upset and angry as a kid, as a child, as a teenager, as a young adult, as my middle age, as a senior. I think there is a little more calmness in my senior years, but I can still get upset and angry. But when I look back at all those years and look at the present time, I know there is not one time when I made a good decision when I was angry.

I made decisions when I was angry, and I regretted every one of them. I never made a good decision when I was angry. In the confidentiality of the Central Sanctuary and our online community, I will admit, maybe once or twice or ten times, I thought, you know what would teach these guys a lesson or this guy a lesson? Let’s bring down a little fire from heaven and, well, not destroy them.

I have some conscience. Singe them just around the edges just so they know who’s on my side. But that’s not what Jesus wants from us.

Jesus doesn’t want us to seek revenge. Jesus doesn’t want us to seek punishment, to see them destroyed or singed. So what are we supposed to do with that feeling that’s in us? They’ve done us wrong.

He’s done it. She’s done it. They’ve hurt.

I’m disappointed. I’m angry. What am I supposed to do with those feelings? Jesus wants you and I to go to another village.

That’s what he did. That’s what he asked his disciples to do. Going to another village is not an act of defeat.

It’s not giving in. Going to another village is an act of faith. The psalmist said, you will show me the path that leads to life.

The path that leads to life is not a path that allows bitterness to determine the direction of our lives. The path that leads to life does not allow old wounds, old hurts, old arguments, old prejudices to keep us captive, to keep us where we are. The path that leads to life sometimes leads to another village.

The path that leads to life trusts that God can do more with forgiveness than we could do with retaliation. Jesus could have called down judgement. That certainly was within his power.

And that is what James and John wanted him to do. But Jesus chose a different path. He chose compassion.

He chose mercy. He chose peace. He chose to keep moving toward the work that God had given him to do.

And that’s his invitation to us. It was his invitation to the disciples. Let us go on to another village, to the next village, to a place where we will be welcomed.

That they’ll hear us, listen to us. So there may be somebody in your life today that you’ve thought for days or weeks, months, sometimes years, but that’s the other guy. That’s the person who hurt you or disappointed you, offended you, opposed you.

Jesus asks us to lay down the desire for revenge, to let go of the burden of resentment, and continue to walk towards the path that leads to life. The world teaches us to ask, who’s the bad guy? Who’s hurt me? Who’s made me angry? The world teaches us to ask that question and to stay there looking for the answer. Jesus asks us, how can I love my neighbour? The world says, destroy your enemies.

Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for them. The world keeps score. Jesus offers grace.

My prayer for you this morning, the week, months to come, is the same prayer I’m saying for me right now. Give me the courage to move on to another village. Give me the courage to seek peace rather than punishment.

Give me the courage to see that I’m being asked to turn enemies into people I have compassion for. In doing any of that, there is a possibility that that changes the other person, but it definitely changes us.

Amen, and so be it.

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by Jim Hetherington

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Genesis 50:2020 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

1 Samuel 17:4747 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

Luke 24:1616 but they were kept from recognizing him.

Romans 8:18-28Present Suffering and Future Glory18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[b] have been called according to his purpose.

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

Our speaker this morning is Jim Hetherington. He needs no introduction and we are so glad to have him as part of our congregation, um, and wherever Jim is. Regrets will come to each and every one of us at some point or time, and they seem to speak the loudest when it’s silent.

When things are quiet, that’s when the voices of regret seem to speak the loudest. And regrets can come in small things and come in big things. It can be something small and simple like, I meant to bring some cereal and contribute to the food bank, I just kept forgetting.

I meant to take a casserole to my neighbour to support and encourage them, but I just ran out of time. I got busy. Because we get busy, don’t we? And we can use busyness as an excuse for not doing things.

Regrets can come in big things. Could be a decision that we made, a financial decision, an investment that we didn’t take advantage of. You come in a career choice, a relationship choice.

Regrets can come in all kinds of shapes and forms. The thing they say about regret is that discipline, you know, doing something to encourage, to support, to grow, costs very little. The invoice that we get from regrets is huge, and oftentimes regret hits us when we can’t do anything else about it.

I know that many people on their deathbed may be faced with regrets. I guarantee you that they’re not regretting that they can’t get up and go into the office and work on another deal. It’s likely a relationship.

It’s likely someone close to them that they regret not investing the time. We just finished a series with Aubrey where he talked about Joseph. Now Joseph, he probably had a few regrets during that course of time.

He probably regretted the way he shared that dream, that vision with his brothers. He probably regretted getting himself in a position where he was caught with Potiphar’s wife. There may have been a few regrets because the truth is it took a couple of decades for that entire process from the time he got that dream and shared it to the time that it actually came fulfilled.

It was a couple decades. Would you agree that that’s a long time? That’s a long time to hold on to something. That’s a long time to be going through the process, to be going through the stuff.

In Genesis 50 verses 20, we read this. Joseph said, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. He recognised that through that process, it wasn’t just the circumstances that he found himself in.

He could see that God had a bigger picture. God had a bigger plan. So oftentimes we get caught up in circumstances, don’t we? Like I said, you know, we have good intentions of going and supporting and encouraging a friend or a neighbour, but we get busy.

Life gets busy. But sometimes those excuses can get in the way and cause even more regret. I know for me, about 15, 16 years ago, I was going through a very busy part and a very busy time in my life and I wasn’t looking after myself.

I had the excuse of I’m just too tired at the end of the day to look after myself, to go exercise. I’m too tired. I’m too busy to really eat well and to prepare extra meals.

And we can use those excuses. I’m too tired. I’ve been chasing the kids or the grandkids all day long.

I’m too tired to spend time reading. I’m too tired to spend time with my husband or with my wife. And we can use excuse after excuse, but all it does is pile up even more regret.

Joseph found himself betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten in prison. Yet he recognised that God was using those circumstances. In 1 Samuel 17 47, we read another familiar story of David and Goliath.

David heard about the battle that was about to ensue with the Israelites and the Philistines gathered on the front lines. And as was a custom in that day, they would send out their best warriors and they would duke it out to see who would win. And if it needed, they would go into a full-blown battle.

But if it could be resolved just with the two very best from each side, that’s how they handled it. So Goliath came out. This big beast of a man came out, said, send out your best.

And everybody quivered and shook and shaked. And I’m sure there was some regrets with some of those men in the army, thinking, I didn’t train hard enough. I wish I was stronger.

I wish I was better equipped. I wish I would have bought that better Nike equipment last week when it was on sale. Here I am on the front lines with this poor equipment.

But David heard of this and he wasn’t going to live with regret. He was going to stand and face the giant. And he went to Saul.

He went to his brothers. He went to everyone and they’re like, you’re crazy. You can’t do that.

You’re not equipped. You’re not trained. You’re not anything.

They tried to put Saul’s armour on him. It didn’t fit. It’d be kind of like wearing, you know, clothes that are 10 sizes too big for you and trying to function in them.

So he stripped it off. He said, no, he said, I know a sling. I know stones and that’s what I’m going to use.

And when we read 1 Samuel 17, it said, all those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands. That’s a pretty bold declaration to be making in front of a big beast of a man, a huge army.

Here’s this guy with just his basic clothes on and a sling and a few stones. But the thing that David recognised is that it wasn’t the stone. We could gather scientists.

We could gather all kinds of mathematicians. We could gather all kinds of smart people. And they could probably give us 20 reasons why that stone could not have done what it did.

And we would all probably agree with it, right? The math is wrong. The angle was wrong. The trajectory was.

The fact that it was just a small stone, it’s impossible. I mean, that stone would have to get past the shield bearer, right? Goliath, he was well equipped, but he had his own guy holding a shield in front of him. So it would have to get past that.

It would have to get through that helmet. You’ve seen those helmets with the little pointy thing that comes down between the eyes, right? That stone would have to project through that. But David knew something.

He knew that it wasn’t a stone that he was throwing. It was a name that he was throwing. It was the name that he knew that was behind that stone that was going to accomplish what he declared it would accomplish.

And it did. He wasn’t focused on the circumstances. He didn’t care how big Goliath was.

He didn’t care how much armour he had on. He didn’t care about any of those things because he knew behind him was a name that was greater than any other name. And sometimes we can forget that, can’t we? We can forget that.

We’re on this side of glory. We know historically we see all of these stories we read. And we’re going to look at a few more, but we know all of these stories.

It’d be kind of like, you know, I was thinking about that movie Back to the Future. You’ve seen that movie Back to the Future? It was about a young guy that was transported back into time and he got to see all the stuff that happened and then came back into the future, into time, and was able to live out things differently. But one of the guys got this almanack and the almanack had every sports team that ever won a championship.

Everything that was ever anything it happened. And so he knew what was going to happen. And so being transported back, he knew what was going to happen in that time.

And so this guy used the book incorrectly and bet on things and was very successful because he knew what the outcome was going to be. We already know what the outcome is going to be, yet sometimes we forget. Sometimes we forget and we just get so focused on circumstances, don’t we? And it’s hard not to get focused on circumstances.

When politically we hear all things, you know, things going on crazily, we hear of robberies, we hear of murders, we hear of thefts, we hear of the economy, you know, tanking and all the different things that we hear. It’s easy to get stuck on circumstances. My challenge is, can we get to the place of getting our focus off of the circumstances and onto God’s perspective? Because that’s really what counts.

And David saw that in 1 Samuel. Others were focused on their skills, their strength and ability, the circumstances, but David saw God’s perspective. He didn’t throw a stone, he threw a name.

The rest of the army was fearful. I was thinking of Helen Keller. One of her favourite, her famous quotes is, fear, the best way out is through.

Do you know what fear stands for? Fear stands for false evidence appearing real. But it can paralyse us until we become like Helen Keller and go through it. And then all of a sudden we realise, oh, it wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be.

It’s kind of like, it’s kind of like the boogeyman, you know, when we’re little. Boogeyman never showed up when the lights were on, always showed up when the lights were off. Never showed up when our parents were home or when friends were over hanging out with us.

It was always when it was quiet, nobody was around, right? The boogeyman never showed up when there was busyness going on, but when things were silent and quiet, all of a sudden. And it’s the same with our regrets. It’s the same with things, situations and times and points in our life.

All of a sudden when there’s silence, all of those voices start to rise up. I know people that cannot go a day, they cannot be in their home and not have a television going, have some music playing, some background noise. Why? Because when it’s silent, those voices of regret, the voices of indecision, those voices seem to come up.

Similar to the boogeyman when the lights go out. But the truth is that they’re false evidence appearing real. They’re just fears that we need to go through and face.

In Luke 24, we read an account of a couple of people walking down the road. This is after Jesus was crucified, dead, buried. They thought it was over, right? The disciples had invested everything believing that Jesus was who he said he was.

But when he was killed, crucified, and all of a sudden his body’s missing, they didn’t know what was going on. They said, well, we better just go back to what we know. And so many of the disciples, they went back to fishing because fishing is what they knew.

These two were heading back to Damascus, and they’re just walking, just thinking about the circumstances, thinking about what’s going on. And Jesus comes alongside and walks along them, but the scripture tells us in verse 16, it says, but they were kept from recognising him. Interesting.

They were so focused on the circumstances, they didn’t even realise that it was Jesus walking alongside with them, having a conversation. Sometimes we can get so focused on our circumstances that we don’t think our prayers are effective. Sometimes we can get so focused on our circumstances that if somebody says an encouraging word, it just goes in one ear and out the other, because we’re so focused on the circumstances.

We’re looking at our bank balances. We’re looking at our broken down car in the driveway. We’re looking at the broken relationships that are around us.

We’re looking at the economy and the positions that we’re in. We’re so focused on the circumstances, we don’t think that there’s any way that God could possibly use that for good. But yet when we look at it historically, we see over and over and over again how God has used things for good.

And as they were walking along the road, they came to their location, and Jesus pretended that he was going to continue on down the road. And they go, wait a minute, wait a minute. It’s getting late.

It’s getting dark. Why don’t you come and just hang out with us for the night? Let’s just have a meal together, and then you can set off in the morning. So Jesus agreed, and he goes in, and they sit down, and they have a meal together.

And he took the bread, and he broke the bread. And then all of a sudden they looked at each other and went, wait a second. Something’s happening here.

Something looks eerily familiar. My spidey senses are starting to tingle. There’s something about this guy that is familiar.

And they recognised, and God opened their eyes, and they saw who he was. And then instantly he was gone. But he got their eyes off of the circumstances and onto his perspective.

Jesus was right there, but they couldn’t see him because they were so focused on the circumstances rather than his perspective. Just because we can’t see God doesn’t mean that he isn’t working. Sometimes we just feel that, don’t we? I mean, we’re human.

We can be real. We can be honest. Sometimes we just don’t feel that God is working.

We don’t believe that God’s working because we’re so fixated, so focused. I was thinking about Jonah. I didn’t get a scripture for this, but don’t worry.

There’s no scripture verse for this one. But I was just thinking about Jonah. I’m sure he had some regrets, right? God met him, said, Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh.

He said, no way. I’m going this way. I’m out of here.

I’m not going down there. And he completely disobeyed, went the wrong way, hopped on a ship, tried to take a cruise to get away from it all, gets thrown off overboard, and gets swallowed up by a big fish. Spends three days in a big fish.

How many here, if you spent three days in a big fish, would have some regrets of your decisions? Right? Those would be huge regrets. I’m stuck in the belly of a fish. There would be huge regrets.

But he gets a chance for redemption. He gets spit out onto the shore, and God says, head to Nineveh. I’m heading to Nineveh.

And off he goes, and he does what he’s told. How about the woman that had the issue of blood? For 12 years, it said, she suffered with this issue. She spent everything that she had, all the doctors, all the specialists, everybody, and she didn’t get any relief.

Nothing changed over 12 years. Then she heard about Jesus coming through. She knew of his reputation.

She had heard the story. She had heard about the healing. She had heard about all the different things.

And she said, this is my moment. I’m not going to regret and allow that to go by without taking my healing, without taking a miracle. And she crept up behind him and touched the hem of his garment just to get a healing.

How many of us today, that if Jesus came walking in through that door, came down through all these aisles and went out through that back door, would get out of our pew and ask him for a miracle? Or would we just sit there quietly, wave, nod, you know, just be a little starstruck, and then regret that we didn’t step up, that we didn’t shout out what we wanted, what we needed, what we were asking for. Sometimes it’s our own dignity that keeps us locked in place. Sometimes just looking a little bit foolish keeps us locked in place, fearful of speaking out in that business meeting, fearful of speaking out in that church meeting, fearful of saying something to our children or to our spouse or to a neighbour or to a friend.

We just sit with regret and just let the moment go by. In Romans 8, 18 to 28, this is the big one. We’re going to read this one together.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself would be liberated from the bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and the glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved, but the hope that is seen is no hope at all.

Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. So what’s Paul really saying here? It seems a whole lot, but really what he’s offering here is a message of hope.

Paul is reassuring the believers that the present sufferings cannot compare to the eternal glory awaiting them. He explains that creation eagerly awaits this redemption. The Holy Spirit intercedes in our weakness, and God uses all circumstances for the of his people.

That’s what Paul is saying here. Regrets come in all shapes and sizes, and the way to regret can be heavy, and it can be a real burden and a real struggle. The difficulty is getting our eyes off of our circumstances and viewing and looking at God’s perspective, because God can see through to the other side.

It’s kind of like being in an aeroplane, an aeroplane over a highway, right? Imagine yourself in a car driving along the highway, and you’re trying to pass somebody on the highway, and you inch out a little bit, and another car comes the other way, and you zip back in again, right? And then you go a little bit further, and you go, okay, maybe I can try it again. You move out a little bit to see, and then, bam, another car comes down. And it’s like God is in a plane, and he can see the highway as long as it can possibly go, and he knows when we can pass.

But we’re so focused on our circumstances that we can’t see his perspective. If we could tune into his perspective, he would say, okay, Alexander, it’s clear to pass. Go.

And we could go. It’s the same in life. We get so focused on the circumstances, and we lose connection with God’s perspective.

We think, well, I made that choice. I made that decision. I made my bed.

I got to lay in it. There’s nothing God can do, nothing God will do. With that kind of attitude, you’re right.

You’re right. If we focus on our circumstances and say, oh, it’s too big for God, you’re right. There’s nothing that can change.

Nothing can happen. Nothing can ever change. You’re right.

We could stay focused on that, and nothing would ever change. But if we will shift our perspective, anything is possible. How many believe that God is a God of the possible? Right? He is.

He’s not the God of impossible. He’s the God of possible. We’re praying for a new leader in our church.

It’s possible. We know that God is going to bring the right person at the right time, but it’s hard not to get stuck on the circumstances. I don’t see any clear candidates.

I don’t see any clear thing, but when we change our perspective, it all shifts. If you take notes, I want you to write down these five words. If you don’t take notes, I want you to write down these five words.

I want to encourage you. This is a side note. I want to encourage you to take notes.

I’ve got a little black book, and no, it doesn’t have addresses and mean things about people. It’s a black book that I keep notes on, and I want to encourage you to have something, even if it’s a small little notepad that you can slip in your pocket. Women, you’ve got a guy’s beat.

You’ve got purses. You can carry things in your purses. Just a little notepad.

Back in the day, I used to write on anything and everything, especially when I was in the construction world. You could ask my wife. The collection of stuff that I had up in my office, I would have pieces of two by twelve, right? Just a chunk, two-foot piece of two by twelve, and with a marker, and I would mark down a note or a thought that I had.

I would take it home with me. I would be scrambling around, couldn’t find anything. I’d rip open a paper bag and just pencil inside this thing.

Cedar shims, anything I could get my hands on, too. You know, little children running by. Right, are you coming home with… No, I wouldn’t do that.

But I would just write notes on everything, and I kept that collection for the longest time because I thought it was the funniest thing, and I thought, dummy, just get a little book. Carry a book with you. So that’s what I do, and I carry that with me, and I carry it until I fill it up.

Then I put it on my shelf, and then I get another one, and I work on that one until I fill it up. So now I’ve got a collection of these little books that I just put little note things. And it’s a great time, you know, with laptops and iPads and all these different things.

There’s no reason why we shouldn’t. This thing in between our ears is the greatest invention in the world. I mean, the capacity that we have in here is fantastic, but you can’t trust it all the time.

Anyone notice that? How many have made a list, gone to the grocery store, forgot the list at home, tried to recall everything on the list? Did you forget at least one or two things on that list? Almost every time, right? We know that we can’t trust that thing, but if we write it down, we can trust that thing. So you can trust what you’ve written, but you can’t trust to remember everything. So I want to encourage you to write these things down.

The first is regrets. Know that they’re going to happen. They’re going to happen.

There’s going to be times where we don’t do the thing. As Paul says, you know, the very thing I want to do or don’t want to do, I do. The thing I know that I should do, the thing that I shouldn’t do is right there all the time.

So we know that these things are going to happen. Regrets are going to happen regardless of how young we are, how old we are, how smart we are, how not so smart we are. See how politely I said that? But it’s going to happen.

Here’s the thing about regrets. The second word that I want you to write down is repent. Just say, God, I blew it.

I forgot to take that casserole. I forgot to bring the cereal again. I forgot to do this again.

I forgot to put my tithe in. I forgot to pay that bill. I forgot to do this.

I forgot to do that. I didn’t, you know, I didn’t train hard enough. I didn’t do anything.

Just confess it. Say, God, I blew it. The next one is redemption.

Trust is redeeming grace. Trust that he can use all things together for good. And trust that redemptive work that he’s doing.

The fourth one is restoration. Know that he’s going to restore you. Know that as we confess those things, now we’ve gotten rid of the fear that it’s going to happen again.

Now we can walk through it as Helen Keller says. And now we’ve, as we confess it, we can walk through in a different way. We’ve shifted our perspective off of circumstances onto God’s perspective.

So trust in the restoration. And then the fifth and final one is rejoice. Just give thanks.

Just be happy that you can and will get over those things. So that’s a simple formula to get over regret. Is that a good formula? Will you use that formula? I know we’re only human, and it’s going to happen.

But here’s what I don’t want to happen, have happen. I don’t want us to be on our last breath, regretting all those regrets that have just piled up over the years, over time. Because the compound interest is not a good interest.

It’s not something that you want to compound. Dealing with those things as you’ve done, maybe there’s some broken relationships that need to be restored in your life. Confess that now.

Ask for God’s redemptive work. Allow that restoration to happen. Allow the rejoicing to happen while you’re still walking, living, and breathing.

While there’s still breath in our lungs, we have the ability to change anything. As we confess it and give it over to God, shift our circumstances, shift out of the circumstances, and shift into his perspective. Does that make sense? So that’s what I want to encourage us with.

I knew that today was going to be a challenging day because of the waft of barbecue coming in through the door. Anybody getting a whiff of that? I see that hand back there. Mr. I could eat six hamburgers.

One of the things that’s challenging these days as a speaker, as a presenter, is the attention span is a little bit shorter. Attention span is a little bit shorter. Did I say that already? It is, but it’s just gotten shorter and shorter, hasn’t it? Those squirrel moments happen quicker, more frequent.

Even for people that never suffered from squirrel syndrome, it happens. We get caught up in those moments, right? It’s just happened. But what you cannot compete with is a group of people that are salivating because they know a picnic is coming.

They know a barbecue is coming, and then you get the aroma of that coming in through the building. That is unfair. That is unfair.

So I’m going to finish so that we can get out and enjoy those burgers. Who wants to get out and enjoy a burger? All right. Now, while I got some hands moving, who’s going to begin to confess regrets? Not right now.

This isn’t confession time, but I want to encourage you to look at those moments when those moments come up and say, okay, I know how to deal with that. All I got to do is confess it, and I can allow God’s work to begin in my life. That’s the start.

That’s the beginning. And to begin to accelerate, or begin to propel, or begin to build momentum until everything that you do, God will begin to and continue to use it for good.

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by Aubrey Botha

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Genesis 41:57 (NLT)57 And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.

Genesis 42:1-20 (NLT)Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt42 When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? 2 I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”

3 So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. 4 But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him. 5 So Jacob’s[a] sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.

6 Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.

“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.”

8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. 9 And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

10 “No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food. 11 We are all brothers—members of the same family. We are honest men, sir! We are not spies!”

12 “Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

13 “Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.”

14 But Joseph insisted, “As I said, you are spies! 15 This is how I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! 16 One of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, if it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know you are spies.”

17 So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. 18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. 19 If you really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die.” To this they agreed.

Romans 12:17a (TLB)17 Never pay back evil for evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest clear through.

Romans 12:19 (TLB)19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it. Don’t take the law into your own hands.[a]

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

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by Aubrey Botha

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Genesis 39:19-21Joseph Put in Prison19 Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. 20 So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden.

Genesis 40:14-1514 And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 15 For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”

Genesis 40:2323 Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.

Genesis 41:1Pharaoh’s Dreams41 Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River.

Genesis 41:9-169 Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. 10 “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. 11 One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. 12 There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. 13 And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.”

14 Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. 15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

16 “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

Psalm 37:77 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Isaiah 40:3131 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

This is one of my favourite worship songs. I just sang it last night. Again, I often do that.

Just before I go to bed, I’ll listen to a few of these, and this was the one last night I just put on, and I was just taking some time with the Lord. I trust in God. Do we do that? Sometimes we forget that, right? When life gets a little tough, we kind of grab to all kinds of straws, and they don’t last that long, but the Lord is always there.

He starts the song with blessed assurance. Remember how the words went in the old song? For Jesus is mine. Lord, thank you for the series on Joseph.

Thank you for the lessons we learned. Help us, Lord, to take those and make them part of our lives, especially this morning. It’s a big one.

Thank you for that. May we ask, as we always do, that we can see Jesus and only Jesus. So I’m sitting in the doctor’s office in the waiting room.

Jay nearly choked on his coffee now. Let me go back. I’m sitting in the doctor’s office in the waiting room.

The receptionist checked me in, and she said, take a seat and wait. The nurse will call you when the doctor is ready to see you. I’m not alone in this room.

There’s other people with me, and we all know our task. It’s in the name of the room. Wait.

We don’t tweet each other. We don’t take blood pressure. We don’t write prescriptions.

Our job is to wait. Now, we don’t like that because we’re this kind of giddy-up generation, right? We weave through the traffic to get to the fastest lane just to stop at the traffic light at the same time as everyone else. We get really upset when someone brings 11 items into the 10-item express checkout, and we drum our fingers when we watch Netflix, and it takes a little while for that video to download.

We don’t like waiting, not for the traffic, not for the doctor, not for God. Can we take a moment and just think about this for a moment? Where are we sitting? Not today in the church. Every day as we live in this world, where are we sitting? We’re sitting in God’s waiting room.

See the young couple sitting there? They’ve been waiting for a long time, trying to get pregnant. See the gentleman there with a briefcase on his lap? He’s been sending out resume after resume, waiting, waiting to find a job. See the elderly lady, just widowed? She’s been waiting for one day without waking up crying.

Here’s the thing. We live in a land between prayer offered and prayer answered, in the land of waiting, in God’s waiting room. Now, if there’s someone that knows every piece of furniture, who’s read every notice on that bulletin board in God’s waiting room, it was Joseph.

He spent hours down in a cistern, waiting that someone might just take him out. Months walking about 750 kilometres to get to Egypt. Days, if not weeks, on that auction block.

A decade in the household of Potiphar, the captain of the guard. Time moves slowly in a foreign land, and time stops in prison. And that’s where we pick up his story today.

Can I just give you a little backstory before we read, and we’re going to start reading chapter 39 verse 19. So Joseph works for Potiphar, and things are wonderful. People love him, everyone loves him, and Potiphar’s wife wants to love him even more.

She invites him into her bedroom, and he says, no thank you. She did not take that kindly. So she decided that she was going to get him back for that.

So she goes to her husband, and she lies, and she tells him that Joseph tried to sexually assault her. And that’s where we pick up our story. Potiphar was so furious when he heard his wife’s story about Joseph, how Joseph had treated her.

So he took Joseph, and he threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. Do I need to say this? But the Lord, this is about God even better. But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison, and he showed him his faithful love.

But the Lord was with Joseph even there where time stood still. And then, and I’m going to use strange words which I will explain in a second. I’m using them specifically.

It just so happened that the baker and the butler, not the candlestick maker, only the baker and the butler, they messed up, and Pharaoh got really angry at them, and he dumped them in jail with Joseph. They became friends. And it just so happened that they both had a dream.

And it just so happened that God allowed Joseph to understand the dreams and tell them what the dreams meant. If I was the baker, I wish I never had that dream for him. It didn’t end that well.

He lost his head. The butler or the cupbearer, as the translation calls him, the butler, he got really good news. You’re not going to stay in here for long, buddy.

You go right back, and they’re going to put you back in your job, and you’re going to live happily ever after working for the king. But as Joseph tells him that, he asks him a favour. Chapter 40, verse 14.

He said to him, please remember me. Do me a favour when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh so he might let me out of this place, for I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison.

But I did nothing to deserve it. And then verse 23. Pharaoh’s cupbearer, butler, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.

For two years, not a single word. Enough time for Joseph to forget about God, to kind of push his beliefs to one side and say, it’s all done. There’s nothing more.

I’m just stuck in this prison. But he never did, because Joseph knows all about last week’s sermon. About the one who weaves.

Sometimes the world weaves, but God is the amazing re-weaver. And he knew all about that. Never gave up.

And then it happened. Pharaoh had this dream. Actually, two dreams.

One about cows and one about grain. It upset him really, because he didn’t understand what this was all about. So he got all of his wise people and all of his counsellors together.

And he said, explain this to me, because I’m really concerned about what this might mean. They had no clue. And then that moment, chapter 41, verse 9. Finally, the king’s cupbearer spoke up, the butler.

Today, I have been reminded of my failure, he told Pharaoh. Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. That is Potiphar.

One night, the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. And there was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. And we told him our dreams.

And he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cupbearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.

Sandy Barry, I just told you about that this week. Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. And after he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh.

This would be the first time that Pharaoh and Joseph would come face to face, and they would look at each other. Wouldn’t be the last. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means.

But I’ve heard that when you hear about a dream, you can interpret it. Now, listen carefully to Joseph’s answer. It is beyond my power to do this, Joseph replied.

And do I have to say it? But God. But God can tell you what it means and said to you, I can’t do it, but God can do it. Joseph comes out of jail after all this time, going through all of the stuff, and he comes out there bragging about God.

The jail time, the wait time did not diminish his faith, did not take away his faith, did quite the opposite. It strengthened his faith in this God who is weaving his life together, even if he’s sitting in the waiting room. Because Joseph understood his God.

God who makes promises and keeps them. A God who is sovereign and nothing in this world can change what God is doing and is going to do and will do in your life and in my life, because that’s just who he is. And I didn’t write this in the sermon, but boy was that right.

I trust in God. That’s what Joseph would have said, and that was maybe the last song he sang before he got out of jail. And you, you might not be in jail, but you might be sitting in that waiting room.

Well, while you’re waiting, God is working. God never sits around and twiddling his thumbs. I wonder what’s going on in the universe.

Doesn’t take vacation. Psalm 121, he never slumbers and he never sleeps. John 5, he never stops working.

We have a song for that. Waymaker, he never stops. He never stops working.

He’s the waymaker, miracle worker, light in the darkness. That is who you are. You never stop.

You never stop working, even when I’m sitting in the waiting room. Think of Joseph. In a sense, chapter 40, his life came to a standstill.

There he was, dumped, and that was the end. And now I’m coming back to those words that I used when I said, it just so happened. Nah, it didn’t just so happen.

It was no coincidence. This was God working. God putting the pieces together.

Those two guys who fell out of favour with Pharaoh, God knew that there was a plan with that. And he put them right there where Joseph would meet them. And God had them have these dreams.

And God gave it to Joseph so Joseph could explain it. God was at work, even when Joseph was sitting in the waiting room. And when all the pieces were in place, Pharaoh had a dream, and no one understood.

And at the right time, at the right time, the old cupbearer who forgot for more than two years said, there’s a Joseph. See, that’s God at the right time. Not my time.

Not your time. We live in the land of waiting between a prayer offered and a prayer answered. We kind of, God help me now.

Now! Stand in line. There’s someone with 12 in front of you. The land between a prayer offered and a prayer answered.

It is the land of waiting. But God is working, and God is weaving. So it’s okay sometimes to wait.

Giddy up, generation. And as you wait, it would behove you to just look up to the wall, because God has a beautiful plaque on the wall in his waiting room. Psalm 46 verse 10.

Someone know where that is? There’s a coffee for that. No, don’t look it up. Be still and know that I, that’s right there in his waiting room.

Be still and know that I, I can be glad, even in my waiting, because God is good. I can be silent, because God is, I can rest, because God is busy. I know that’s hard, because we want those answers right now.

We don’t like to wait. I want to go straight into it. But in the waiting is where we learn more and more about this master weaver in our lives.

There’s this beautiful word, Psalm 31, and Alexander knows that’s one of those that’s going to be read at my funeral. I trust in you. I say you are my God.

Just before that, he says, God, I’m scared. There’s lots of stuff going on, and I’m not sure about all these things, but I trust in you. I say you are my God, and then those words, my times are in your hands.

Can we say that in our own lives? I trust in you. Between a prayer offered and a prayer answered, my times are in your hands. And then do what Paul says, right? Through prayer and petition and with thanksgiving, you give it to God.

And let me end. It would be good for us to remember, and Grace, you have this on there, to remember Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31. Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

Can I just stop that for a second? The word trust is sometimes translated with hope, and the King James got it right for once, translated it correctly. Again, a Hebrew word, Amirah, kavah. Kavah means to wait.

Those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. Those who wait on the Lord will soar high on wings like eagles. Those who wait on the Lord will run and not grow weary.

Those who wait on the Lord will walk and they will not faint. You’ll get through that waiting room period. Ask Joseph.

He’ll tell you. One more thing. As you sit there, you might notice that the door opens and you’ll see the doctor come out and come sit right next to you.

And he’ll say, I’m just going to sit here while we wait. Not all doctors will do that, but yours will, because he’s the great physician. So, welcome to the waiting room.

Amen. Take a few moments of quiet prayer. Think of me, O Lord.

Think of me in your greatness. Be the rock where I can come and hide. Be that faithful one that I can come and sit and I can just pour my heart out, for I trust in you, Lord.

I say, you are my God. And as I wait, my times are in your hand. In Jesus’ name.

Amen. We’re going to sing. Praise team.

Thank you. When we do the postlude, it seems that we’ve been a little mischievous and we’ve done some stuff that God doesn’t like. So, the last song, if you see on your bulletin, says, Lord, reign me in.

So, God must be thinking about us to reign us in for something. It was a little mistype, but we’ll sing Lord, reign me in. That’s our postlude.

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by Aubrey Botha

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Genesis 37:5-11 (NLT)5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 6 “Listen to this dream,” he said. 7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”

8 His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

10 This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Genesis 37:25-2825 Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.[a] 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces[b] of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

Romans 11:29 (MSG)A Complete Israel25-29 I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what’s going on and arrogantly assume that you’re royalty and they’re just rabble, out on their ears for good. But that’s not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the outsiders so that we end up with a full house. Before it’s all over, there will be a complete Israel. As it is written,

A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion;
he’ll clean house in Jacob.
And this is my commitment to my people:
removal of their sins.

From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded.

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

Thank you, Praise Team. What a wonderful morning of worship again. I missed you on the piano though.

6:10, not 6:07, 6:10. We really want you to do that. Alexander had a little fun with you this morning, but please go do that. 6:10 in the morning or 6:10 in the evening or afternoon, whatever you want to call it.

Take a few moments, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and pray. Pray for our search team in the work that they are doing, finding the next minister for this church. Pray for the person that God is preparing for this position.

But also pray for another team because we’ve been struggling for a long time. We’re looking for someone for our youth, and we just do not have folks that are applying, and it’s not just us. It’s all over that we’re struggling with that.

Pray for us too. Pray for folks that feel that call to do that. With God’s grace, I think there might be two people.

That’ll be good news for those on the team that we might see apply and that we might be able to sit down and talk to. So 6.10 until we find people, take time. Five minutes is all we’re asking.

Be quiet, and that’s all you pray for, nothing else. That’s what you pray for. Lord, as we continue our journey with Joseph, not an easy journey, Lord, because it starts in a home, goes to a pit, ends in slavery, but also in the end, it ends in war, more than that.

But as we walk this path, help us, Lord, to see you as Joseph did, to see your hand in every moment, even there in the deepest pit, as we said last week. And every day as we walk, and in these moments, may we see Jesus, and only Jesus. I think you got it right, Alexander.

Now I moved it, and now it’s all oblong. It started, the trouble started when Joseph’s mouth started. He walked into breakfast that morning, and he was blabbing about this dream that he had.

Read with me. I’m going to do the verses little by little. It’s a little bit of fun.

One night, Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. Remember I told you verse five last week? Listen to this dream, he said. We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain, and suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine.

I do not know what Joseph was thinking. Was he really thinking that his brothers were going to just slap him on the back and say, baby brother, that’s amazing. We can’t wait to bow down before you.

Well, they didn’t. They kicked dirt in his face, and they told him to take a hike. Verse nine, verse eight.

His brothers responded, so you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you’ll reign over us? And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. Now you’d think he would take a hint, but he didn’t. So he just comes right back, and this time with a dream even more elaborate than the first one, verse nine.

Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. Listen, I’ve had another dream, he said. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me.

This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. What kind of dream is that? He asked, will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you? But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dream was. He should have kept those dreams to himself, and I think that’s what he was thinking if you think back to last week’s sermon when he was sitting there right at the bottom of that dark pit, heard the brothers up there laughing and having fun.

And then all of a sudden, it’s not just their voices, there are other voices too. So let’s go to verse 25. Then just as they were sitting down to eat, the brothers, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them.

It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, what will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders after all.

He’s our brother, our own flesh and blood. And his brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites who were Midianite traders came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for 20 pieces of silver.

And the traders took him to Egypt. Just like that. Brothers pulled him out, took the money, grabbed the garment, left, and Joseph had no choice.

He was on his way to Egypt to be a slave. Can I just stop the story there for a second? Because I want to set the scene for you for what this sermon is all about. Not too long ago, Joseph had everything going his way.

He was hanging out at home. Brothers had to work. He was the loved son and everything was going to him.

He had his own tailor who made his own special garment for him. He had these wonderful lofty dreams. But like the old saying goes, what goes up must come down.

And Joseph’s life came down with a crash. Down, down, down. Put down by the brothers, thrown down into a cistern, sold down the river of slavery, led down the road to Egypt.

Stripped of everything. His name, his status, his position, everything he had, everything he hoped to have, it all went down the drain. Down to Egypt.

And this is what the sermon is all about. Because here’s the thing. Life sometimes can do that.

It can get us down. We even have sayings for that. I’m down to my last dollar.

Just yesterday, this was not written in the sermon, but it gave me in a moment. As I was driving to Zehrs to pick up something, I saw this young lady come to the place where she always stands at the traffic light. And she had this cardboard and she was writing her cardboard again.

And as I came back from Zehrs, she was ready and she stood there and she had a down on there. Down on my luck. Because that’s where she is.

She’s down. Down to my last penny. Down on my back.

Down and out. All of a sudden life takes us down. Boy, that’s a downer this morning.

That’s not where I’m going. It takes us down. Now let’s go back to Joseph.

Hold on to that. Joseph. When he arrives in Egypt, he has nothing.

It’s all taken away. His family, his home, his country. Everything.

He has lost everything. But the one thing he didn’t lose was his belief in God’s plan for his life. Joseph never stopped believing that.

Never mind how down he went. Down into the pit. Down with the Ishmaelites.

Down to Egypt. Down into the dungeon of the jail there. He never stopped believing in the fact that this was God’s plan for his life and nothing would change that.

And he was going to hold on to that plan because he knew. Remember last week, Genesis 50 verse 20. You weaved evil.

But God is the amazing weaver and God re-weaved, re-wove those plans. And they became plans not just good for me but good for everyone else. Joseph never stopped believing God’s plan and that God had a destiny for him.

And I think sometimes, forgive me when I say this, that we forget that. When we hit those Egypt moments, I think sometimes we forget God has a plan. In my, where are we now, 44 years as a minister, I’ve heard many Joseph stories.

I told you one last week. I’ve seen many folks going down to Egypt and I’ve always asked them this one question. So with all of this, what is the one thing that you still have that you cannot lose? What is the one thing you still have that you can’t lose? It can’t be taken away.

Difficulties can strip us from so many things. Struggles can overwhelm us. But the one thing that no one and nothing can take away from me is God’s destiny for me.

But let me explain that word destiny because we sometimes think of fate. Oh, it’s my fate. It’s my destiny.

It’s just gonna, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. God’s destiny for you is a little different. Can I use the Hebrew word because the Hebrew word is way more beautiful.

Amira, I don’t know if it’s the same in Arabic. Ye’ut in Hebrew. Ye’ut.

It’s a yot and a ayin and a vav and a dalet in Hebrew. Amira would understand that. Ye’ut means purpose.

It also means life’s plan. It also means that which God made me to be and that which God wants me to do. One thing nothing can take away from me is God’s destiny for me.

Think of Joseph. And here’s the thing that makes it true for each one of us. The reason we can say that to one another is because of this fact of who you are.

Kerry, who are you? You’re not just Kerry. You are Kerry, the child of God. That’s what makes you, you.

The fact that we are children of God. Because why is that important? When God says I’m his child, all God does is give the best that God has to me in my life. Also when I’m down in the pit.

Also when I’m with Ishmaelite traitors. Also when I land in Egypt and I don’t know where I’m going to be. Also when I’m trying to do good and I land in jail.

God still says you’re my child. I have a purpose. I have a plan and I will make that plan work for your life because you’re my child.

And we’re going to sing that. I specifically asked Kerry. I sent her a text this week and said can we add another song which we didn’t.

We’re going to sing that in a little while where we say I’m no longer a slave to fear or a slave to sin. I am a child of God. The words go from my mother’s womb you have chosen me.

Love has called my name. Think of that for a second. That’s who you are.

Jeremiah wrote that. Even before I was born you knew me. The Psalm 139 says in my mother’s womb when I was being knit together you already knew who I am.

From my mother’s womb you’ve called and you’ve woven me. You’ve called me. Your love has called my name.

And then it goes one step further. The song says that I’ve been born again into your family. It’s God’s family we’re there to take care of each other in those down moments.

We’re there to lift each other up. We’re there to laugh with each other Paul the young when we can sit on the stool of repentance and just love one another and just smile. I’ve been born again into your family.

And then those beautiful words your love your blood flows through my veins. That’s who you are. A child of God.

God has a purpose and a plan and a destiny for you even sometimes if it feels it’s going down. Don’t believe the tombstone that says you’re just a dash between two dates. You’re far more than that.

Don’t fall into into small thinking. This world can take everything away from you. The one thing they cannot take away is the love of the one who has your destiny in his hand.

And sometimes on the way to Egypt we forget that. And then we redefine ourselves according to our catastrophes the things that happen in our lives. And I look at myself well I’m the bankrupt businessman.

I’m the recovering addict. I’m the divorcee. I’m the one with the scars.

No. No that’s not who you are. That’s not what God does in your life.

Despite those little setbacks God is the God of the big comeback. Think of Joseph. He was a nothing in a bit.

And look what he was. Because God had a plan not just for Joseph and I’m getting ahead of myself but we’ll get there. Not just for Joseph but for his brothers and for his father and for his family.

They would all come back to Egypt and they would settle and God would take care of him. Joseph would understand the dreams of Pharaoh and they could help the world who would come and would come by from them when there was no food. That was God’s plan.

Although it looked like it was going down, down, down. God knew about that. Don’t put yourself down.

Don’t allow the world to play the down game with you. You are God’s child and God is true to his promises. Listen to this beautiful promise from Romans chapter 11.

God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty. They never cancelled and they are never rescinded. Believe that.

That’s for your life. You’re God’s child. God never goes back on his promises.

You’re more than anything that this world could ever throw at you. Remember the question and you’ll put that slide on there. I like that big orange slide.

The question I always ask, so what do you still have that you cannot? God’s plan for your life never changes because God never changes. Survival in Egypt begins with a yes to God and to God’s plan. And yes, you have something that you cannot lose.

Amen. Take a few moments of silent prayer. Thank you.

Father, you are good. Even when we’re in the pit and when we’re in the hands of the Ishmaelites and we have no idea, because you know those amazing plans that you have made. It’s tough sometimes.

We go through real difficult times and we kind of wonder. But then we see you and we know. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you that you have us, our plans, our destiny in your hands. Not fate. We don’t care about that.

We care about you. Thank you, Lord. We love you.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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by Aubrey Botha

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| Genesis 37:12-1312 Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied. | | Genesis 37:18-24Joseph Sold into Slavery18 When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”21 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22 “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. | | Genesis 50:2020 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. |

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

I think this simple little song is one of my all-time favourites. Laura, you outdid yourself this morning. I don’t know what happened to you, but it happened to me.

As you were playing, I was just overwhelmed. I still am. My emotions were just all over the place, and I just see that as the spirit that was doing that.

So, thank you for your gift that became God’s gift to us. Thank you. Sorry, old man’s emotions get to him a little bit.

We’re starting a new series. By the way, it’s written by Darlene Czech. She didn’t write too many, and the last song we’re singing was also written by Darlene, so it’s a Darlene morning, this morning.

Starting a new series today called At the Right Time. Sorry about Joseph, but we’ll get to Joseph in a moment. Father, help me to breathe in this moment.

Thank you that you breathe your breath into each one of us, that living breath of your Holy Spirit. May your breath just cover this place today as you blow the wind of your Holy Spirit. And as always, we pray, Lord Jesus, that we may see you and only you.

We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. This painting that I have here this morning is an original oil painting.

I got this as a gift in my first congregation in 1988, so that made me 30 years old. When I received this from the artist that made this, a young woman by the name, sorry, my bladder is leaking. I got this from a young woman called Tia Barnard in 1988 because of something that we shared in 1987.

So, I’m saying the age because I want you to understand a little bit of the impact, because I still carry the impact of that to this day. I was 29 years old. It was about 9, 9.30 in the evening.

Elsie and I were sitting. We still had a manse in those days. We were sitting in the manse.

The kids, two of the three were born. They were in bed, and we were having a cup of tea. And the phone rang in my office.

Now, remember those days we did not have cell phones. We still had phones that had tails on them. Phone rang in the office.

I went to the office. I picked up the phone, and the voice on the other side, it was just this deadly, shocked, couldn’t really speak voice, was Tia. She just said, Aubrey, you need to come to my house immediately.

Something terrible has happened. You need to come to my house. Tia’s kids were about the same age as ours.

Her little girl was five. Her little boy was three. I said to Elsie, something’s really wrong at Tia’s house.

I need to get there. So, I jump in the car, and I drive as fast as I can, and I get there. She’s waiting at the door, and this woman is shaking.

Got two little kids clinging to her legs. I come in there. I said, Tia, what’s going on? She said, just come in, and we walk into the living room, and I’m stunned, because there on the floor lies her husband, dead with a gunshot wound in his head.

He committed suicide in front of her and those two little kids. That leaves a mark in your life forever. The cops came, sorry, the police came a few minutes later.

The ambulance folks came a few minutes later, and it was chaos. So, they wanted to talk to Tia. So, I took the two little ones.

Good thing we knew each other. So, I took the two little ones, and we went to their bedroom, and I tried to settle them down, and when all the stuff was done, I helped Tia put the little ones to bed, and we just sat there, and I cried with her, and I was stunned with her, because you do not have too many words in moments like those. It was early morning when I left.

I did call Elsie from her house just to say, I’m okay, don’t worry, I’m going to be there late. Go to bed. I left in the early hours of the morning to go back home.

As we stood at the door, Tia just held on to me. She didn’t want to let go, and I said to her, Tia, I know you don’t want to hear this right now, and I know it’s going to sound really crazy, but you will get through this. It’s not going to be easy.

It’s going to be really hard and really tough. It’s not going to be quick. It’s going to take an awful long time.

There’s going to be a lot of frustration, a lot of questions, a lot of hurt, but don’t despair. You will get through this. A little audacious of me, right? Where do I get the right to speak such a promise into such tragedy? Well, actually, I got it in a pit, a really deep, dark pit, and the young boy who was in the bottom of that pit could not get out of that pit even if he wanted to, and if he tried, his brothers would kick him right down back into the pit.

But don’t let me tell you the story. Let’s read the story. Genesis chapter 37, verse 12.

Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. When they’d been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.

I’m ready to go, Joseph replied. When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognised him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him.

Here comes the dreamer, they said. Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father a wild animal has eaten him, and then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams.

But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. Let’s not kill him, he said. Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness, and then you’ll die without our laying a hand on him.

Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. Now note this verse. So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing.

Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty. There was no water in it.

He didn’t land with a splash. Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers, what will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he’s our brother, our own flesh and blood.

His brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for 20 pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

Can you imagine being Joseph? He’s crying out for help and his brothers care more about their lunch than they do about their little brother or helping him. They despised the boy. Why? A little family background in this.

Jacob, Joseph’s father and the brother’s father, treated Joseph differently from all of the other kids. Why? Well, there’s a reason. Remember, Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel, but only one love.

Rachel. And when Rachel died, giving birth to her second son, Ben-Oni, or as we know him, Benjamin, Jacob just poured out all of his love on his son, Joseph. The other boys would work outside.

Joseph played inside. They got their clothes from Value Village. Joseph had a coat that was handmade, hand-stitched with long sleeves, specifically for him.

No, it wasn’t a coat of multi-colours. Never says that ever in the Bible. I don’t know where they got that.

The Hebrew is actually a kind of difficult word. It actually, that word is the same word that is used for the robe that a young prince would wear, but never said anything about amazing technicolour twinkle. I was dreamed out by a man called Andrew.

Sorry about that. The brothers would work. Joseph would play.

The brothers would be out in the field, we read. Joseph would hang out at home. Jacob treated his 11th-born son like he was the firstborn.

So to say that his brothers didn’t like him was a little bit of a understatement. If I take you back in this chapter to verse 4, 5, and 8, verse 4 says, they hated him. Verse 5 says, they hated him even more.

Verse 8 says, they hated him more and more. So do you get it? They hated him. They really hated him.

So when Joseph shows up where they’re working in the field, they go ballistic on this boy. They ripped the robe off him. They grabbed him and they threw him in the cistern.

Angry words. Rip, grab, throw. And Joseph, Joseph never saw it coming.

He had no idea this was going to happen. Neither did Tia. Neither do we.

Before you know it, the pit is there. Joseph’s pit was a cistern. Tia’s pit was a gunshot in her living room.

Yours? Mine? I don’t know. But you do. You know those pits.

Loss of someone. Relationship that breaks up. A really bad diagnosis.

No diagnosis. Losses? Struggles? I don’t know. But what I do know about the pit is that it’s really deep and it’s really dark.

And when you’re in that pit, your focus is to get out of the hurt, get out of the pit as fast as you can. But that’s easier said than done, right? Think about Joseph. Before Joseph’s life would get any better, it got really worse.

Went from abandonment to enslavement, to being entrapped, to imprisonment. That pit just got deeper and deeper. And despite that, this is where I want you to get.

Despite that, Joseph’s anger never became hatred. Joseph’s heart never became hard. But through all of this adversity, Joseph didn’t just survive.

Joseph thrived. Took 20 years. 20 years later, Joseph was the second most powerful man of his generation.

So how did Joseph flourish through the tragedy? Can I take you back to our story? And I’m doing a little bit of the story that I will finish in the last sermon in the series. So we’re doing four and the last one that’s coming just before the summer comes. I’ll do the rest of this.

But I need to go to that to explain how he could flourish despite all of this difficulty that he was going through. So 20 years later, the tables are turned. Joseph is the powerful one.

The brothers come to Egypt, and they’re the weak ones. They have nothing. Joseph reveals himself to them, and they stand, look at Joseph, and they’re thinking, okay, he’s gonna pay us back.

We put him in the pit, he’s gonna put us in the pit, and he’s gonna leave us there, and we will die in prison forever. But he doesn’t, does he? Why? Why doesn’t he pay them back? Why doesn’t he put them in that pit? The answer is in Scripture. Last chapter of Joseph’s story, last chapter of the book of Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20, says this, speaks to his brothers, and he says, you intended to harm me.

And here comes the but, but this is about God, which is even bigger. You intended to harm me, but God, God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many.

See, here’s the thing. In God’s hands, the intended evil became eventual good. I’m not saying it’s easy.

I’m not saying it’s gonna happen right now. I’m not saying there’s not frustration, but I’m saying you’ll get through this, says the story of Joseph. That’s why I could say that to Tia.

You’ll get through this. Joseph never gave up. Can you remember the story, how it ended? That torn robe became a royal robe.

That pit became a palace. That broken family grew old in Egypt together. Why? Because of verse 20.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. But I want to give you a little Hebrew lesson for today. And this is a good word to remember, but you’re going to struggle to say it because it starts with a ch.

The Hebrew word that we translate for intended or meant to is the word chabash, a chashav. Chashav is an old primitive root and literally means to weave. So take that away.

Put that text back, Ted. Now let’s take that word intended and let’s use the word weave. You weaved wicked and bad things against me to harm me, but God took that and God rewove that into something good.

See, God is the master weaver. Satan will weave his Satan webs around our lives. Life will weave their webs sometimes, and life will weave sometimes really painful moments like 1987.

But the master weaver takes those old weaves that were so wrong and he weaves them all back and they will be beautiful. Don’t give up. Don’t give up.

If God could redeem Joseph’s life, don’t you think God will redeem yours? In the moment, it can sometimes feel hard and difficult and feel like it’s never going to end. But that weaver has never changed. And God is good even when life isn’t.

Will you hold on to that, please? In the good, in the bad, in the ugly. You’ll get through it. As you see, that’s one of God’s favourite words, through.

God gets us through stuff. Through the Reed Sea, dry to leave the enemies behind. Through the wilderness with manna and quail and water from the rock.

Through the Jordan River into the land of milk and honey. Through the valley of the shadow of death to a table and green pastures and quiet waters. He is the God of getting us through.

Yeah. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not going to be painful because the weaving and the re-weaving might sometimes be hard and difficult. It’s not always quick.

20 years from the age of 17 to the age of 37 for Joseph. Sometimes we see a perfect mess where God sees a perfect opportunity. We call it Egypt.

God calls it protective custody. We see Satan and Satan’s tricks and God sees Satan being tripped up in his own tricks. Joseph will be the first one to tell each one of us that what we’re talking about this morning is not easy.

But Joseph will remind us that when you’re in the pit, you have only one place to look at. You can only look up. And when you look up, you look until someone comes down to give you a hand.

God did for Joseph. And at the right time, in the right way, he will for you. Amen.

Take a few moments of silent prayer. Thank you, Lord, that we may look up even from the pit. Actually, especially from the pit.

And that we may see you and know that you come down and you lift us up. Thank you for walking with us. Thank you that at the right time, in the right way, you, Lord, will get us through whatever we need to get through.

We’re in a hurry, Lord, always, because everything is fast. We have to have the internet and it must be faster, and the cars must be faster, and the food must be faster. Thank you that you have your time and you’re always on time at the right time.

Help us to walk with you through the Red Sea, through the desert, through the dark valleys, knowing there is a table and a feast, and we are the guest of honour. Thank you for what you do for us. Thank you for who you are in our lives.

So, Lord, can we pray together? And please pray with me. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

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by Aubrey Botha

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Ezekiel 37:1-14The Valley of Dry Bones37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

Father, you are good. I need help. They need help.

Thank you that we may stand before you in the name of Jesus. May we see Jesus and only Jesus. Amen.

So last week I made a little mistake. I said we’re starting a new series today. I actually meant after Pentecost.

Today is Pentecost and then next week we’ll start a new series. It’s going to be fun. The series is called At the Right Time and we’re going to talk a little bit about the life of a man called Joseph and see what God says to our lives about that.

But today is the day of Pentecost where we celebrate the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Now I don’t know if you have ever noticed as you read scripture that it does not only have God’s answers to many of our life questions that we have. Many of the things that we go through in life that God gives us answers to those where we ask for that.

But it also has God’s questions. Questions that God asks us about our lives, about who we are, about how we live, about how life around us looks like. Let me give you a few examples because these questions are meant for us to stop, take stock, look at our own lives.

Ask, what is God asking of me? Way back when in the garden when Adam and Eve messed up and God came looking for them, they went and they hid. And what was God’s question? Where are you? Having them think for a moment, why are we hiding? What did we do? And God asks, where are you? And often he asks us, where are you? When Moses was reluctant when God called him to go and free his people from Egypt and Moses had all of these excuses one after the other, God asked him a question. What was the question? What do you have in your hand? There was only a staff, but that staff became a snake.

That staff became that which changed the Nile into blood. That staff became that which parted the sea. That staff became that which hit the rock and the water came from the rock.

And often God asks us, what do you have in your hand? There was this guy called Jacob, the heel grabber, the deceiver. When he came back to the land and there at the Jabbok, he wrestled with God and God asked him a question. Can you remember what the question was? What is your name? And he had to say the name out loud, Jacob, deceiver, the one who deceived my father, my brother, my father-in-law, who deceived them all.

I am Jacob and now you will be Isaac. No, Israel. You will be Israel, the one that I have called.

And then there was this man called Peter. Peter, the old loud mouth. Peter said, Lord, they’ll all deceive you and they’ll all turn their backs on you and all.

I’ll never do that. Peter stands there at the fire and they said, ah, you were one of them. And he said, I don’t know who you’re talking about.

I don’t know this man. And then Jesus meets up with him, John 21, at the sea of Galilee and Jesus asks him a question. Can you remember the question? Do you love me? Often God will ask.

One more and then we’ll go to our question of the day. There was this man, Paul. He was on his way to Damascus on this road and the Lord stopped him and he asked him a question.

Why are you persecuting me? The questions God asks us. They’re meant to stop me in my tracks and let me look at myself and say, why are you asking me the question, Lord? What do you mean by asking me the question? It makes me embark on that journey to look at my relationship with God and ask, when am I with you, Lord? It takes me on another journey where it asks me to look at this relationship with these loved ones that God puts all around me. How are you doing with them? What is your relationship? The questions God asks us.

So on this Pentecost Sunday, there is a question for us and what better place to go than the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. I’m going to read verses 1 to 14. The hand of the Lord was on me and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley.

It was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, and here is the question for today.

Son of man, can these bones live? And I said, sovereign Lord, you alone know. And then he said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones.

I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you and you will come to life.

And then you will know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together bone to bone.

And I looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them. But, there’s the but, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to it, this is what the sovereign Lord says, come breath from the four winds and breathe into these slain that they may live.

Can I just stop there for one second? The one thing that we miss when we read English and not Hebrew is that sometimes there are words that are used that have more meaning. The word spirit, the word breath, and the word wind in Hebrew are all exactly the same word. It’s difficult for Canadian tongue to say because there’s a rrr in there and there’s a rrr in there.

Ruach, the spirit, the breath, the wind of the Lord. So look how the Lord uses those. The spirit brings him, then he prays for the breath to the wind and the wind brings the breath.

Verse 10, so I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them and they came to life, stood up on their feet, a vast army. And then he said to me, son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say our bones are dried up and our hope is gone and we’re cut off.

Therefore, prophesy and say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says. My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them. I will bring you back to the land of Israel and then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from them.

And I will put my spirit, my wind, my breath in you and you will live. And I will settle you in your own land and then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done it, declares the Lord. So God takes Ezekiel, and this is in a time when God’s people are in Babylonian exile, when they’ve lost everything.

God takes Ezekiel and he puts him in this dry valley through the spirit, looks at the valley and there’s the skeleton bones of people lying there, dead, dried out, and it represents how God’s people feel about themselves. Dry, hopeless, dead, just there’s nothing left. They’re sitting in this situation and they’re going nowhere.

And in this moment, God asks the question, can these bones live? What a profoundly poignant question, not just for people who are in exile and have lost everything, but a question for today and for each one of us. Can these bones live? Because so many of us struggle with the dry bones syndrome in this world. People struggling with their lives, people struggling with things around them.

This world’s struggling with itself right now. It is quite dry and dead and desolate despite the fact that we have AI and all kinds of other jazz going on. So many people struggle with a dry bone syndrome, but also in our faith walk, many folks struggle with dry bones.

They go through the motions. We read, we pray, we sing, but it’s dry and it’s empty and there’s nothing. And the question is, can these bones live? Let me try three answers.

Two of those, I think, will lead us down a path that’s a cul-de-sac. And then one of those, I think, is one that will lead us on a path of life. And these are not answers that I thought out.

These are the answers that we see. Answer number one. Can these bones live? Lord, step back.

Let me do this. I’ll show you how it’s done. I’ll show you how we get these bones going again.

Answer number one. And then we do it. And it’s the I thing.

I’m going to study more. I’ll learn about the word more. I’ll pray more.

I’ll go for more studies. I’ll get the Bible and I’ll read it from front to back and from back to front. Watch me, Lord.

And then these bones will live. Here’s the problem. It’s the Pharisee problem when we do that.

Because those Pharisees, they knew the first five books, the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, knew them off by heart. They could recite them word by Hebrew word. They knew the Ten Commandments.

They lived by them. They actually made 613 laws from those first five books. Do’s and don’ts.

365 of those were don’ts. One for each day of the year. They had it all.

Stand back, Lord. We can do it. And they could tick them off.

I did that one. I did that one. I did that one.

I’m okay. The bones are alive. Remember what Jesus said to them? Matthew 23, 27.

He said, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. On the outside, you look like beautiful whitewashed graves. But on the inside, you’re filled with dead bones.

The dry bone syndrome. We cannot solve that by saying, step back. I’ll do it.

I’m gonna do more. It’s not about more. Oh, I’ll do new resolutions.

I’ll go pray earlier in the morning. I’ll get up four o’clock. Can I tell you something? I never pray four o’clock in the morning because even God does not want to deal with me four o’clock in the morning.

Way too grumpy. And then we do that. And then the poor family gets up.

And then I’m grumpy with them. And the rest of the day is grumpy. And instead of getting closer to the Lord, I’m actually getting further away.

And the bones are just getting drier and drier and drier. Sometimes there’s a second answer. Can these bones live? I don’t think so.

The answer. I don’t think so. That’s the answer of despair, of disappointment, of discouragement, of a life that’s kind of going nowhere.

And I’m thinking when I look at what God’s expectations are, I don’t think I have it. I don’t think I can do it. I don’t think I’ll ever live up to that.

I don’t think so. The problem with the first two is what you know me by now. I’ve said it a million times.

It’s the I trouble. I trouble. Where we think I can do it.

Leave it to me. I’m sorry to say it, my friends, but none of us can make those dry bones live again. Not on our own.

We can’t. Maybe the third answer is the one that we need to think about for a second. Ezekiel, can these bones live? What was his answer? Sovereign Lord, you alone know.

The question about life for dry bones is a question that only the living God can answer. Because it is only the living God that can give his living spirit, wind, breath, and blow that into our lives. It is only when God pours out that amazing gift of his Holy Spirit that those dry bones become life in all of its fullness and all of its abundance again.

Because hear me, the Holy Spirit of God is not a ghost. The Holy Spirit of God is not some kind of it or power. The Holy Spirit of God is God in the present.

It is God in his presence in my life and in your life that breathes the breath in us. Think about it. Genesis 1, when this world was formless and dark and it was nothing, who was the one that changed that? And the breath of God came over this formless thing and the breath of God breathed and it changed into the most beautiful creature.

God made two little clay people and God breathed and the breath of God went into them and they became the most beautiful living images of the living. Oh the breath of God. When those disciples were so afraid after Jesus died on the cross, they locked themselves up in that upper room and they sat there like chickens on a perch on a day when there’s thunder and lightning and they’re so scared sitting in there.

All of a sudden the Lord Jesus stands there and what does he do? He breathes on them and he says, receive the Spirit, the promise that was made. You will be my witnesses when the Spirit of God comes upon you. Just in that moment happens and after that breath, that man called Peter who denied and who was so scared, he would stand out there and he would preach and thousands would hear the word of the Lord.

That same man, Paul, when the breath of God breathed on him, became a man who would go to the ends of the earth to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ despite the fact that his life was dry. He lived in prison for most of his life. How many times did he receive those 40 lashes on his back? How many times did he go without food and yet Paul always rejoiced in the Lord.

Always, he said, rejoice. Why? Because that is what happens when the breath of God comes upon you and God breathes that breath. Oh Spirit of God, breathe on this church, Lord.

Breathe on each one of us, Lord. Breathe that breath. Breathe it in and live the way that you would want us to live.

How do we do that? How do we allow that? Maybe it starts by acknowledging that I need the breath of God. Anyone here need the breath of God? I’ll put both my hands up. There’s a beautiful story in the Jewish Talmud that tells about a young man who comes to the city gates because the wise men would always sit there.

The elders of the community sit there and the young people would come ask them questions. This young man comes to this old man and he says to him, how can I have more of God in my life? The old man says, come with me and he takes him down to the river. When they get to the river, he asked the young man to kneel.

As the young man kneeled, the old man comes from the back and he pushes his head into the water and he keeps his head down under the water. He holds him and he holds him until this young man starts kicking. Then he takes him out and as he takes his breath, the old man says to him, the day you need God as much as you needed this breath is when the breath of God will come into you.

Maybe we need to learn how to breathe and acknowledge the breath of God. Lord, I need you is a song that we sing. Lord, I need you every hour.

I need you by one defence, my righteousness. Oh, how I need you. Maybe we need to accept the promise of God.

Verse 5, verse 6, verse 10, verse 14. This is what the sovereign Lord says, I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. Verse 6, I will put breath in you and you will come to life.

Verse 10, so I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them and they came to life. Verse 14, but I want to start a little earlier with verse 12 and listen to the eyes, God’s eyes. My people, says the Lord, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.

I will bring you back to the land. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord. When I open your graves and bring you up from them, I will put my spirit in you and you will live.

And I will settle you in your own land. And then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done it, declares the Lord. Eleven eyes in these few verses.

That is the promise of God. I will breathe on you. I will breathe my breath on you.

If only you will receive and breathe in. Where we can say, breathe on me, breath of God, until I am holy time. That’s what we sing.

Breathe on me, breath of God, and fill me with your fullness. Breathe on me, breath of God, when I am empty and lonely and stuck. Breathe on me, breath of God, when I am so dry that I’m just lying like bones in a valley.

Breathe on me, breath of God, even when I don’t understand. Breathe on me, fill me with the breath, with the wind, with the fire of your spirit. Be quiet for a moment.

Let’s allow the breath of God to breathe, will we? Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Breathe, oh spirit of God in this place. Breathe your breath, your life, on each one of us.

Thank you for the breath that breathes when we are broken and hurt. Thank you for the breath that breathes when we are filled with joy and happy. Thank you for the breath that breathes when we stand breathless before our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Thank you for the breath that gives life in all of its fullness. Thank you for your work, Holy Spirit, our comforter, our friend, our helper, the breath of God in us. Breathe, spirit, breathe.

We pray in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.

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by Aubrey Botha

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1 Thessalonians 5:18 (MSG)16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Matthew 8:5-10a,13 (NLT)The Faith of a Roman Officer5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer[a] came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant[b] lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!

Transcript(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

We’re ending our series on prayer today, and starting a new series next week. The new series will be called, At the Right Time. You’ll have to come listen to know what it’s all about, but gonna have some fun with that.

That’s a four-part series that we’re doing, kind of just before we hit the summer. And then I’m gonna be gone, I’m gonna leave you alone, and you’ll have some other people that’ll preach for you. Lord, thank you for your word.

Thank you that the word always speaks into our lives, calls us to that moment to stand before you and ask, so, so Lord, what do you ask of me? In this morning, as always, we pray. We want to see Jesus. And only Jesus.

The road of life can sometimes be long and hard, right? Especially when we hit those lonely, those desolate, those broken sections that seem to just kind of go on and on and on. And all you have is prayer. But it’s also true that even the most desolate road will sometimes have its moments of beauty and comfort and care.

Maybe you’ll find it sitting in the shade on a hot summer’s day and just being alone for a moment and being able to speak your heart with the Lord. Just talk to him about everything in your life. Maybe it’s in finding that solution for a problem that’s been bugging you for so long and you’ve been struggling with so long.

And all of a sudden, there’s the solution that you’ve been waiting for. Maybe it’s in an answered prayer when a prodigal son or daughter finally returns home. No, the thing is this.

It is easy to be grateful and to give thanks when things are going well, things are working out for you. But it’s a little more difficult to say a prayer of thanks when life is hard and things are difficult and you’re struggling. So how do we do that? How do we live that? That first congregation that I told you about this morning was huge.

But the cool thing about that congregation was it was 4,000 members strong. Just, it’s crazy. The average age was 43.

So that’s why I baptised 23 babies. You’ll understand now. So we didn’t have a lot of senior folks there, but there was one beautiful, beautiful lady in that church.

75 years old. I think she was one of the oldest members in the church. 75.

The most godly, God-fearing, Christ-following person that you could ever meet in your life sold out to the Lord Jesus. It just radiated from her. Served the Lord with everything in her.

And then she got sick. And it was a horrible illness that there was no cure for. It just sucked the life out of her.

And we just saw this just going down until at some stage she was bedridden. I would often go visit her. And one day I stopped at her house and we sat talking.

I just could see it was a hard, hard day. And I said to her, I can see it’s a tough day for you. She says, oh no, I’ve never been better.

And I said, yeah, you’re a good liar like most of us. I can see that. I said, you know, your daughter called me and she said, you’re not sleeping lately.

She says, yeah, that’s true. I don’t really sleep much at night. She says, but you know what I can do when I’m awake? I can pray.

I talk to the Lord. So every time I’m awake, I just have this wonderful time in the presence of the Lord, just talking to Him and giving my life to Him and allowing Him to speak into my life. And I sat there and boy did I have to swallow because I wanted to cry in that moment.

And I’m supposed to be this pastor guy who’s there for her. I just was quiet for a little bit. And we spoke more and we read and we prayed together as we did.

When I got in that car, I bawled my eyes out. It was about five o’clock that afternoon. I got a call from her daughter.

She said, mom’s gone home to be with Jesus. How do we obtain this kind of victory? How do we die with gratitude despite what’s going on and the struggles and the hurts and the pains? How do we do that? How do we live that victory? Can I give you an answer? By living a life of gratitude. Listen to what the Word says.

This is not me. The Bible says this. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 16 to 18.

I’m reading from the message for you. Be cheerful no matter what. Pray all the time and thank God no matter what happens.

This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. Be cheerful no matter what. Thank God no matter what happens.

This is how God wants you who belong to Jesus to live. In Scripture, giving thanks is not just something that I could decide that I want to do every now and then. In Scripture, it’s written right there.

It’s not a suggestion but a command. More than a hundred times you’ll find it written. Give thanks to the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. Do not be anxious about anything but through prayer and petition and with thanksgiving. Give your requests to God over and over and over.

Give thanks. Thanks. How do we obtain that victory? By living a life of gratitude.

I think the first sin was the sin of ingratitude. Remember the story right? This man called Adam and Eve or the man called Adam and his wife Eve. They lived in this beautiful garden called Eden.

Eden that means this place of beauty and provision. God put them there and there was everything you could see, you could love, you could want, you could eat, everything. They needed nothing.

It was so beautiful that God came and just walked through this garden. That’s how amazing it was. And then the snake slithered in and asked the question about a forbidden tree.

They had everything they needed. But all of a sudden Eden was not good enough. There should be more said the devil.

And ingratitude moved in like a bully on the block. Can you imagine what would have happened if gratitude won the day? If Adam and Eve scoffed at the devil and said, you get out here you snake. You have no idea.

Have you seen this place? It’s got orange groves. It’s got strawberry patches. It’s got apple trees.

It’s got blueberry bushes. It’s got it all. You want a tour? Get yourself out of here.

But he hissed and he hissed and oh the hisses we hear every day. You need more. You don’t have enough.

More cars, more horsepower, more money. More fame, more of this, more, more, more. Sounds like a song, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing.

God has given us a way to break that and to step on that thing’s head. It’s called gratitude. Living before the Lord with thanks no matter what.

Praying with thanksgiving no matter what. As I was preparing, I was looking for an example and I read this kind of funny, sad story. The lawyer won a case for his client and the client was really grateful for that.

And he said, can I take you out for lunch to say thank you? And then we can just square up there. I’ll pay you your bill and everything is well there. But let’s go for lunch and just celebrate this.

So they went for lunch, had a wonderful lunch. At the end of the lunch, the client took out of his jacket pocket a brand spanking new genuine leather wallet. And he handed that to the lawyer.

The lawyer looked at the wallet, he gave it back. He said, no, no, no, I’m sorry. My fee is $500.

Client smiled, took the wallet, opened it up. And he took out 10 $100 notes, counted out five, put five in the wallet. He gave him the wallet back, right? Don’t be too quick in your assessment of God’s gifts in your life.

Also in the broken and the desolate and the difficult moments. Thank God every moment, every day, I think of that woman again. It’s been a tough, no, no, I’m doing well because I was in the Lord’s presence.

You don’t sleep. Oh, but I’m awake and I can talk to God. Don’t be too quick in your assessment of God’s gifts in your life.

Thank you. Father, you are good. Sermon number one.

I need help. Sermon number two. They need help.

Last week, today. Thank you. But there’s one little element that still comes with that.

In the name of Jesus. Why? Another story for you. It comes from Matthew.

For this one, I need my glasses because I couldn’t print it as big as the other one. Thanks, Ted. Matthew 8, 5 to 13.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him. Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralysed and in terrible pain. Jesus said, I’ll come and heal him.

But the officer said, Lord, I’m not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers.

I only need to say go and they go or come and they come. And if I say to my slaves, do this, they do it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed.

And then I’m skipping to verse 13. And then Jesus said to the Roman officer, go back home because you believed it has happened. And the young servant was healed that same hour.

This Roman officer understood authority because he stood under authority, but he had authority and understood to listen to him. But when he looked at Jesus, he knew what real authority was. You don’t have to come to my house.

What you have, you can stand right here and you can heal that servant. He understood the authority of Jesus. Do we? Do you know the power of the name of Jesus Christ? Do you know the authority that it has when you speak that name? Do you know that Satan and all of his devils, every time we say that name, they cringe.

When he was in their presence, you read that often. What did those devils do? Don’t hurt us. Don’t do this because in the name of Jesus Christ, there is so much power.

Just think about it. The Roman authority, what did they try to do? They tried to get rid of Jesus. The false religion, they tried to silence Jesus.

The devil tried to kill Jesus and they all failed. Even death couldn’t hold him. He could speak a coin from the mouth of a fish.

The wind and the storm and the waves listened when he spoke. He spoke to a tree that died. He spoke to a basket and it became a banquet.

That’s why we pray in the name of Jesus. Because does he not remind us, Matthew 28, 18. Anyone know what that one is? For I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

All authority. When we pray in the name of Jesus, we talk to our Father because of what Jesus did and because of what Jesus can do in our lives. When I pray in the name of Jesus, it’s not the talisman that I’m using.

It’s a declaration. Sickness is not in charge of my life. Jesus is.

The economy is not in charge. Jesus is. My grumpy old neighbour that thinks he’s in charge of the world is not.

Jesus is. Because in the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is the Lord. And we pray in the name of Jesus.

Why do we pray? Because prayer matters. We pray because prayer is good because God is good. And when you come to those moments where you feel I don’t know the words, try this.

Father, you are good. I need help. So do they.

Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen. Take a few moments, silent prayer.

Father, you are good. Your goodness and your mercy follow us all the days of our lives. Even if we tried, we could not get away from your goodness.

Many of us sit here today, Lord, and we say the words, good Father, I need help. And that might be a need for many things. Thank you that we know that you’re here, that you understand, and that you are there.

But Father, there are other people too who need your help. And we pray for each other. We pray that you will hear the prayers of those that we love.

We pray that you will hear the prayers of those that we struggle to love. Thank you that you love all of us compassionately. Lord Jesus, thank you for the name above all names.

Thank you for what you are, who you are in our lives. We pray this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/26220545/November-23-Sermon.mp3Revelation 3:14-22To the Church in Laodicea14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/20110635/November-16-Sermon.mp3Revelations 3:7-13To the Church in Philadelphia7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/20111232/November-9-Sermon.mp3Revelation 2:18-29To the Church in Thyatira18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’

26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’[b]—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12152226/November-2-Sermon.mp3Revelations 2:18-29To the Church in Thyatira18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/04124251/October-26-Sermon.mp3Revelations 2:12-17 (NIV)To the Church in Pergamum12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/24111528/October-19-Sermon.mp3Revelations 2:8-11To the Church in Smyrna8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/09133046/October-5-Sermon.mp3Revelation 2:1-7 (NIV)To the Church in Ephesus2 “To the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/04122810/September-28-Sermon.mp3Mark 8:22-26 (NLT)Jesus Heals a Blind Man22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”

24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/22230152/September-21-Sermon.mp3John 9:1-11 (NLT)Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.[a] The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”

But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”

10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”

11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://esi7x2zwb32.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/17224645/September-14-Sermon.mp3Mark 5:24-3424 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/14131207/November-10-Sermon.mp3Ephesians 2:88 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Ephesians 2:1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis can be found on Project Gutenberg at
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1653/1653-h/1653-h.htm

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by Mark Gaskin

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/06083341/November-3-Sermon.mp3Psalm 103I will praise the Lord.
Deep down inside me, I will praise him.
I will praise him, because his name is holy.
I will praise the Lord. I won’t forget anything he does for me.
He forgives all my sins. He heals all my sicknesses.
He saves my life from going down into the grave.
His faithful and tender love makes me feel like a king.
He satisfies me with the good things I desire.
Then I feel young and strong again, just like an eagle.
The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are treated badly.

Matthew 18: 21 – 35Peter came to Jesus. He asked, “Lord, how many times should I
forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to collect all the
money his servants owed him. As the king began to do it, a man who
owed him 10,000 bags of gold was brought to him. The man was not
able to pay. So, the King gave an order. The man, his wife, his
children, and all he owned had to be sold to pay back what he owed.
“Then the servant fell on his knees in front of him. ‘Give me time,’ he
begged. ‘I’ll pay everything back.’ The King felt sorry for him. He
forgave him what he owed and let him go.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/31221829/October-27-Sermon.mp31 John 4:19-2019 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/23194024/October-20-Sermon.mp31 John 5:14-15 (NIV)14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/10155503/October-6-Sermon.mp31 John 3:1-10 (NLT)3 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life[a] is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[b] does not belong to God.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/24234755/September-22.mp31 John 5:3 (NLT)3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/18220856/September-15-Sermon.mp31 Samuel 17:1-11David and Goliath17 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels[b]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.[c] His shield bearer went ahead of him.

8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

1 Samuel 17:16-1916 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[d] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance[e] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 17:25-2725 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”

26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

1 Samuel 17:32-3732 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

1 Samuel 17:40-5040 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/11202026/September-8-Sermon.mp31 Samuel 16:1-13Samuel Anoints David16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

4 Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

Acts 13:3636 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/06113048/September-1-Sermon.mp3Matthew 6:5-13Prayer5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/29225013/August-25.mp3John 10:10(NRSV)The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

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by Rev. Mark Gaskin

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/01091117/July-28-Sermon.mp32 Samuel 11:1-17David and Bathsheba11 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

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by Jim Hetherington

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/25224749/July-21-Sermon.mp3Galatians 6:1-10 (NIV)Doing Good to All6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

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by Jim Hetherington

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/18093109/July-14-Sermon.mp3Acts 20:7-12(MSG)7-9 We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master’s Supper. Paul addressed the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul talked on, way past midnight. We were meeting in a well-lighted upper room. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window. As Paul went on and on, Eutychus fell sound asleep and toppled out the third-story window. When they picked him up, he was dead.

10-12 Paul went down, stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard. “No more crying,” he said. “There’s life in him yet.” Then Paul got up and served the Master’s Supper. And went on telling stories of the faith until dawn! On that note, they left—Paul going one way, the congregation another, leading the boy off alive, and full of life themselves.

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by Jim Hetherington

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/11224218/July-7-Sermon.mp3Eclesiastes 3:1-8A Time for Everything3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/04002038/June-30-Sermon.mp31 Corinthians 13:4-84 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

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by Artist Name

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/26205853/June-23-Sermon.mp31 Corinthians 13:7 (NKJV)7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/20135854/June-16-Sermon.mp31 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NLT)4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NCV) 5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.

Colossians 2:14 (NLT)14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

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by Aubrey

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/13233242/June-9.mp31 Corinthians 13:4-5a (NLT)4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/06223909/June-2.mp31 Corinthians 13:1-4 (NLT)Love Is the Greatest13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud.

Proverbs 14:30 (NLT)A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.

Romans 12:3 (GNT)3 And because of God’s gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/06220940/May-26.mp3 Luke 7:36-47 (NLT)Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[h] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[i] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/24001313/May-19-Sermon.mp3John 6:5-15 (NCV)5 When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” 6 (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he planned to do.)

7 Philip answered, “Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread for each person to have only a little piece.”

8 Another one of his followers, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, 9 “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people.”

10 Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them, and gave them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, Jesus said to his followers, “Gather the leftover pieces of fish and bread so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves.

14 When the people saw this miracle that Jesus did, they said, “He must truly be the Prophet[a] who is coming into the world.”

15 Jesus knew that the people planned to come and take him by force and make him their king, so he left and went into the hills alone.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/17144007/May-12-Sermon.mp3Philippians 1:3-4, 6-7 (NCV)Paul’s Prayer3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you.

6 God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.

7 And I know that I am right to think like this about all of you, because I have you in my heart. All of you share in God’s grace with me while I am in prison and while I am defending and proving the truth of the Good News.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/07123110/May-6.mp3Ephesians 3:14-21A Prayer for the Ephesians14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/04115154/April-28-Sermon.mp3Ephesians 1:15-23Thanksgiving and Prayer15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/23134410/April-21.mp3John 21:15-19Jesus Reinstates Peter15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/18204812/April-14-Sermon.mp3Luke 24:13-33Jesus on the Road to Emmaus13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a town named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking about everything that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and began walking with them, 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 Then he said, “What are these things you are talking about while you walk?”

The two followers stopped, looking very sad. 18 The one named Cleopas answered, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know what just happened there?”

19 Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about?”

They said, “About Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet who said and did many powerful things before God and all the people. 20 Our leaders and the leading priests handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he would free Israel. Besides this, it is now the third day since this happened. 22 And today some women among us amazed us. Early this morning they went to the tomb, 23 but they did not find his body there. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive! 24 So some of our group went to the tomb, too. They found it just as the women said, but they did not see Jesus.”

25 Then Jesus said to them, “You are foolish and slow to believe everything the prophets said. 26 They said that the Christ must suffer these things before he enters his glory.” 27 Then starting with what Moses and all the prophets had said about him, Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures.

28 They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 But they begged him, “Stay with us, because it is late; it is almost night.” So he went in to stay with them.

30 When Jesus was at the table with them, he took some bread, gave thanks, divided it, and gave it to them. 31 And then, they were allowed to recognize Jesus. But when they saw who he was, he disappeared. 32 They said to each other, “It felt like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us.”

33 So the two followers got up at once and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven apostles and others gathered.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/12152942/April-7-Sermon.mp3Luke 24:13-35Jesus on the Road to Emmaus13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a town named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking about everything that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and began walking with them, 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 Then he said, “What are these things you are talking about while you walk?”

The two followers stopped, looking very sad. 18 The one named Cleopas answered, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know what just happened there?”

19 Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about?”

28 They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 But they begged him, “Stay with us, because it is late; it is almost night.” So he went in to stay with them.

33 So the two followers got up at once and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven apostles and others gathered. 34 They were saying, “The Lord really has risen from the dead! He showed himself to Simon.”

35 Then the two followers told what had happened on the road and how they recognized Jesus when he divided the bread.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/04214415/Easter-Sunday.mp3John 20:1-19Early on Sunday morning,[a] while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16 “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/04173935/March-24.mp3Luke 19:28-4228 After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. 29 As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. 30 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. 33 And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

34 And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.

36 As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. 37 When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

38 “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”[c]

39 But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”

40 He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/23152846/March-17.mp3Galatians 5:13 (MSG)13-15 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

Matthew 20:26-28 (NLT)26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/13221202/March-10.mp3Philippians 2:3-43 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Luke 10:38-42At the Home of Martha and Mary38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

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by Aubrey Botha

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/07195437/March-3-1.mp3Ephesians 4:22 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Matthew 7:3-53 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

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by Jim Hetherington

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/02183619/February-25.mp3Nehemiah 1:1-4Nehemiah’s Prayer1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 2:1-5Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

Nehemiah 4:1-3Opposition to the Rebuilding4 [a]When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

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by Jim Hetherington

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/22212336/February-18.mp3Philippians 2:1-11Imitating Christ’s Humility2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/01074147/May-21.mp31 Kings 19:3-13Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to ElijahAnd the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/27113533/May-14.mp31 Kings 18:1Elijah and ObadiahAfter a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”

1 Kings 18:41-4641 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

44 The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/05140530/Sermon-for-May-07-2023-recorded-April-30-2023.mp31 Kings 17:17-24 (NIV)17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/29102209/Sermon-for-April-30-2023-recorded-on-April-23-2023.mp31 Kings 17:8-168 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/21135041/Sermon-for-April-23-2023-recorded-on-April-16-2023.mp31 Kings 16:29-33Ahab Becomes King of Israel29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

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Today is Palm Sunday.As we begin Holy Week, we finish off our series on Esther.

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/30192228/Sermon-for-April-02-2023-recorded-March-26-2023.mp3Esther 99 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. 4 Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.

5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

11 The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”

13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”

14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

Purim Established20 Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21 to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22 as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. 25 But when the plot came to the king’s attention,[a] he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. 26 (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. 28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.

29 So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— 31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. 32 Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

Esther 10The Greatness of Mordecai10 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

Luke 22:19-2219 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[a] 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!”

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/11161516/Sermon-for-March-12-2023-recorded-on-March-05-2023.mp3Esther 3Haman’s Plot to Destroy the Jews3 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on[a] the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents[b] of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.

15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/03171319/Sermon-for-March-05-2023-recorded-on-February-26-2023.mp3Esther 2Esther Made Queen2 Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. 2 Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. 3 Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6 who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin[a] king of Judah. 7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

8 When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. 9 She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.

10 Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. 11 Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.

12 Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. 13 And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.

15 When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. 16 She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17 Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 And the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.

Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy19 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.

21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana[b] and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/25222245/Sermon-for-February-26-2023-recorded-on-February-19-2023.mp3Esther 1Queen Vashti Deposed1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes,[a] the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush[b]: 2 At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3 and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.

4 For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. 6 The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. 7 Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. 8 By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

10 On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— 11 to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12 But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.

13 Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times 14 and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.

15 “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”

16 Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. 17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ 18 This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

19 “Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. 20 Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”

21 The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. 22 He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/07170654/Sermon-February-5-2023-for-February-12-2023.mp3Esther 3:88 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents[b] of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/03130747/Sermon-for-February-05-2023-recorded-January-29-2023.mp3Psalm 51For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/14210437/January15.mp3Zechariah 8:1-8The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem8 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.

2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”

3 This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”

4 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. 5 The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”

6 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” declares the Lord Almighty.

7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. 8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/05162303/Sermon-for-January-08-2023-Recorded-Jan-01-2023.mp3John 5:1-9The Healing at the Pool5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/17112500/Sermon-for-December-18-2022-repeat-from-December-2021.mp3Luke 1:26-38 (NLT)The Birth of Jesus Foretold26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings,[d] favored woman! The Lord is with you![e]”

29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[f] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.[g]”

38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/10144955/Sermon-for-December-11-2022-recorded-on-December-04-2022.mp3John 1: 1-5The Word Became Flesh1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

John 1:9-149 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 4:14-16Jesus the Great High Priest14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[f] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

John 14:99 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/24183548/Sermon-for-November-27-2022-recorded-on-November-20-2022.mp3John 3:1616 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 20:1-15The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Luke 15:18-2018 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/18155200/Sermon-for-November-20-2022-recorded-on-November-13-2022-1.mp3For God so Loved the WorldLoving Hard HeartsExodus 32:1-4 (MSG)32 When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, “Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what’s happened to him?”

2-4 So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” They all did it; they removed the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands and cast it in the form of a calf, shaping it with an engraving tool.

Exodus 32:7-10 (MSG)7-8 God spoke to Moses, “Go! Get down there! Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have fallen to pieces. In no time at all they’ve turned away from the way I commanded them: They made a molten calf and worshiped it. They’ve sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are the gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”

9-10 God said to Moses, “I look at this people—oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I’ll make a great nation out of you.”

Mark 3:4-54 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored

Deuteronomy 7:77 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all people.

John 3:1616 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/12211043/Sermon-for-November-13-2022-recorded-on-November-06-2022.mp3John 3:1-16Jesus Teaches Nicodemus3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g]

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/05122901/Sermon-for-November-06-2022-Remembrance-day-added-recorded-on-October-30-2022.mp3Exodus 20:1-3The Ten Commandments20 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

Exodus 32:1-4The Golden Calf32 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,[b] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/29202755/Sermon-for-October-30-2022-recoded-October-23-2022.mp3Exodus 6:2,5-82 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.

5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

John 8:3434 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Exodus 14:5-65 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.

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Gratitudeby Stephanie Armstrong

https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/21211154/Sermon-for-October-23-2022-recorded-October-16-2022.mp3John 9:1-34 (MSG)True Blindness9 1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”

3-5 Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.”

6-7 He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw.

8 Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, “Why, isn’t this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?”

9 Others said, “It’s him all right!”

But others objected, “It’s not the same man at all. It just looks like him.”

He said, “It’s me, the very one.”

10 They said, “How did your eyes get opened?”

11 “A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ I did what he said. When I washed, I saw.”

12 “So where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

13-15 They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, “He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “Obviously, this man can’t be from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.”

Others countered, “How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?” There was a split in their ranks.

17 They came back at the blind man, “You’re the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

18-19 The Jews didn’t believe it, didn’t believe the man was blind to begin with. So they called the parents of the man now bright-eyed with sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he now sees?”

20-23 His parents said, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But we don’t know how he came to see—haven’t a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don’t you ask him? He’s a grown man and can speak for himself.” (His parents were talking like this because they were intimidated by the Jewish leaders, who had already decided that anyone who took a stand that this was the Messiah would be kicked out of the meeting place. That’s why his parents said, “Ask him. He’s a grown man.”)

24 They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind—and told him, “Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor.”

25 He replied, “I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.”

26 They said, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 “I’ve told you over and over and you haven’t listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?”

28-29 With that they jumped all over him. “You might be a disciple of that man, but we’re disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from.”

30-33 The man replied, “This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

34 They said, “You’re nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!” Then they threw him out in the street.

John 9:35-41 (CSB)Spiritual Blindness35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[d]

36 “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked.

37 Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”

40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”

41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

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https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/14202958/Sermon-for-October-16-2022-recorded-October-09-2022.mp3Exodus 3Moses and the Burning Bush3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.

16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

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Central Presbyterian Church - Sunday Service: Recent Episodes

Central Presbyterian Church - Cambridge