PRAYER
FOR ILLUMINATION
God of promise, as we read and meditate on your holy Word, may we find strength and hope to live out our days for you. Amen.
THEME VERSE FOR TODAY 2 Peter 1:4, CEV
God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 55:10-11, CEB
10 Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky
and don’t return there without watering the earth,
making it conceive and yield plants
and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater,
11 so is my word that comes from my mouth;
it does not return to me empty.
Instead, it does what I want,
and accomplishes what I intend.
NEW TESTAMENT READINGS Matthew 7:24-27, NCV
24 “Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26 Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house, and it fell with a big crash.”
Hebrews 6:13-20, GNT
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. 14 He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised. 16 When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments. 17 To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. 18 There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. 20 On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.
SERMON God's Promises
I've said so many times this week, that there's a reason God wanted me to preach on hope this Fall. I need to hear a message of hope, but so do many, many people around me. Tuesday morning as I came to work I was desperate enough to pray, "God send me hope." Two minutes later, Tammy Ebensberger walked through the door, and listened and shared and ministered to me for quite awhile, literally an answer to my prayers as she followed God's nudge to contact me that day.
There were other signs of hope this week: the flower on a plant I often forget can bloom, the huge limb that completely missed my car if only by a foot, options for housing needs but also a positive impression of the new apartment owner, inspiration for the wedding that had me stressed. I was grateful for all the blessings while at the same time I prayed for many others whose needs and concerns this week were far worse than my own. May God hear their needs and meet them as well.
Everyone needs hope! As we explore the promises of scripture to anchor our hope this Fall, I have a few ways for you to interact with them. First, most weeks we'll be handing you cards with scriptures from that week's chapter. Keep the collection at home where you can reach for them when you need to be reminded of God's promises. If you weren't here last week, be sure to take home today the lighthouse and anchor poster with scripture references to God's promises, the theme verses of each chapter in Max Lucado's book, Unshakable Promise. You may have noticed if you came in through the back door that we have what I will call a Wall of Hope right before the sanctuary door. I'll be adding scriptures there from time to time, so keep checking, but you are also welcome to share what you hope for, personally or for our church, community or world using the post-a-notes and pens provided. Any of us can pause and pray for these hopes when you have a minute. I'd also suggest that when you have been encouraged by a sign of hope, you write it on the joy side of our yellow prayer request cards, so I can include these in the pastoral prayer.
Now let's turn to today's scriptures. Our key verse reminds us that God has given many precious promises that become our hope in this life. That is the whole point of this Fall series. Let's Anchor Our Hope On God's Promises.
Our Old Testament lesson from the prophet Isaiah tells us that God's Word will accomplish it's purpose, ALWAYS. It is like a seed of hope planted within us that God will water and nourish and bring to flourish in time. This declaration from Isaiah doesn't come in the midst of prosperity and perfection. It comes when God's people are in exile, away from their homeland and barely hanging on to their faith. It is in the dark times that God is able to work in us, just as in the dark soil God secretly enables a seed to put down roots and send up shoots so that growth and blossoms and fruit can come. When times are dark, hang onto that image of hope!
Our Gospel lesson is the parable Jesus told of the wise and foolish builder. In dream interpretation a house represents your life. That is true in this parable as well. If we build our lives on the flimsy promises of this world, we might as well build a house on sand in a flood plain. It is not going to last; there are no guarantees. But if we build our lives on the eternal promises of God, then we have a solid foundation. Just like last Tuesday night and again this weekend STORMS WILL COME, but we have the hope of coming through those stormy times. We may have to rebuild our lives after loss or damages. Do you know anyone in this world who is undamaged or never experienced loss? But we are not without hope, because God will help us rebuild our lives as we trust in God's Word.
I know someone whose story reminds me of Job. He has weathered one storm after another losing jobs or homes, but he has continued to do the best he can to care for his family and work hard when the next job comes. Tuesday night he was in that storm without any shelter and yet somehow survived to keep striving another day. It certainly put my complaints in sharper perspective. As he said, we take so much for granted. My hope and prayer is for God to rebuild a good life for this man and his family as well as many others in similar circumstances.
Max Lucado shares a couple more Bible stories in this introductory chapter that I think are worth mentioning. First is a scene from Paul's life recorded in the book of Acts. As Paul was put on trial to defend his faith, he appeared before King Agrippa. Agrippa and his sister, dressed in royal purple robes, were the epitome of pomp and circumstance for their time and culture. Paul was showing the wear and tear of many years of missionary travel followed by two years in prison. Paul had much in his history he could have claimed as his personal fame. But instead of bragging about his own accomplishments, Paul simply said, "Today I am standing trial because of the hope in the promise God gave our ancestors." Christians sometimes are challenged with this question, If you were on trial for your faith, would there be enough evidence to convict you? For Paul the answer was certainly yes! Paul's faith and hope were based on the promises of God.
The second story comes from the Gospels and reminds us of God's ability and authority. There was a centurion who came to Jesus for help, because his servant was ill. When Jesus offered to go with him, the Centurion said that was unnecessary, that he knew Jesus had the authority to command that the servant be well. Jesus said, "Let it be..." and it was. (Matthew 8:13) I like the definition of faith that Lucado pulls from this story, "...faith is the deeply held belief that God will keep his promises." (p. 6)
Like us, the people in the Bible come from various lifestyles and backgrounds. What the heroes of faith have in common is building their lives on God's promises. Hebrews 6:17 proclaims, "When God wanted to further demonstrate to the heirs of the promise that his purpose doesn’t change, he guaranteed it with a solemn pledge." Max Lucado writes, It's "as if the promise was the family fortune." (p. 4) This is where I am challenging us to also Anchor our Hope, on God's Promises just as Paul and Abraham and so many other flawed but faithful Bible heroes we will talk about this Fall. We are the heirs to God's promises in our generations.
Lucado emphasizes that "God is a promise keeper." (p. 5) Many scriptures also claim this. Hebrews 10:23 encourages, "Let us hold firmly to the hope that we have confessed, because we can trust God to do what he promised." Paul wrote to the Romans, " Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he had promised." (4:21) Let's be honest. We rarely find that trustworthiness in any human being nor could we fully live up to it ourselves. But God is trustworthy far beyond humankind. That's what my faith believes, and my experience of God has proven it over and over. Again, that doesn't mean life is always sunny, but it was in the midst of a flood that God put his rainbow of promise in the sky.
Lucado suggests we can "ponder the problem or remember the promise...choose anxiety or...choose hope." (p. 9) As you face challenges, deal with depression or anxiety, my hope is that you will find your hope in the trustworthiness of our God.
Faith, as scripture says, is building our hope on the promises of God when we can't see their fulfillment. The letter to the Hebrews in chapter 11 is like a hall of fame for people of faith from the Old Testament stories. In that chapter we read how Abraham chose to believe in the promise God made to him. Hebrews says that God added his vow to that promise. We also know it as God's covenant with God's people. Verse 19 reads, " We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure."
That image of an anchor is one I will be using throughout this series. Think of a ship tossed about on a stormy sea or needing to remain steadfast at a particular shoreline or fishing spot. Lowering an anchor serves to steady the ship and keep it in place. Anchoring our lives on the promises of God holds us steady without letting the tides of day to day life or the flow of current trends or the winds and waves of stormy times carry us away from God.
Lucado ends his introductory chapter with these words:
We are building our lives on the promises of God.
Because is Word is unbreakable, our hope is unshakeable.
We do not stand on the problems of life or the pain in life.
We stand on the great and precious promises of God. (p. 14)
FOR ILLUMINATION
God of promise, as we read and meditate on your holy Word, may we find strength and hope to live out our days for you. Amen.
THEME VERSE FOR TODAY 2 Peter 1:4, CEV
God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 55:10-11, CEB
10 Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky
and don’t return there without watering the earth,
making it conceive and yield plants
and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater,
11 so is my word that comes from my mouth;
it does not return to me empty.
Instead, it does what I want,
and accomplishes what I intend.
NEW TESTAMENT READINGS Matthew 7:24-27, NCV
24 “Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26 Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house, and it fell with a big crash.”
Hebrews 6:13-20, GNT
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. 14 He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised. 16 When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments. 17 To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. 18 There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. 20 On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.
SERMON God's Promises
I've said so many times this week, that there's a reason God wanted me to preach on hope this Fall. I need to hear a message of hope, but so do many, many people around me. Tuesday morning as I came to work I was desperate enough to pray, "God send me hope." Two minutes later, Tammy Ebensberger walked through the door, and listened and shared and ministered to me for quite awhile, literally an answer to my prayers as she followed God's nudge to contact me that day.
There were other signs of hope this week: the flower on a plant I often forget can bloom, the huge limb that completely missed my car if only by a foot, options for housing needs but also a positive impression of the new apartment owner, inspiration for the wedding that had me stressed. I was grateful for all the blessings while at the same time I prayed for many others whose needs and concerns this week were far worse than my own. May God hear their needs and meet them as well.
Everyone needs hope! As we explore the promises of scripture to anchor our hope this Fall, I have a few ways for you to interact with them. First, most weeks we'll be handing you cards with scriptures from that week's chapter. Keep the collection at home where you can reach for them when you need to be reminded of God's promises. If you weren't here last week, be sure to take home today the lighthouse and anchor poster with scripture references to God's promises, the theme verses of each chapter in Max Lucado's book, Unshakable Promise. You may have noticed if you came in through the back door that we have what I will call a Wall of Hope right before the sanctuary door. I'll be adding scriptures there from time to time, so keep checking, but you are also welcome to share what you hope for, personally or for our church, community or world using the post-a-notes and pens provided. Any of us can pause and pray for these hopes when you have a minute. I'd also suggest that when you have been encouraged by a sign of hope, you write it on the joy side of our yellow prayer request cards, so I can include these in the pastoral prayer.
Now let's turn to today's scriptures. Our key verse reminds us that God has given many precious promises that become our hope in this life. That is the whole point of this Fall series. Let's Anchor Our Hope On God's Promises.
Our Old Testament lesson from the prophet Isaiah tells us that God's Word will accomplish it's purpose, ALWAYS. It is like a seed of hope planted within us that God will water and nourish and bring to flourish in time. This declaration from Isaiah doesn't come in the midst of prosperity and perfection. It comes when God's people are in exile, away from their homeland and barely hanging on to their faith. It is in the dark times that God is able to work in us, just as in the dark soil God secretly enables a seed to put down roots and send up shoots so that growth and blossoms and fruit can come. When times are dark, hang onto that image of hope!
Our Gospel lesson is the parable Jesus told of the wise and foolish builder. In dream interpretation a house represents your life. That is true in this parable as well. If we build our lives on the flimsy promises of this world, we might as well build a house on sand in a flood plain. It is not going to last; there are no guarantees. But if we build our lives on the eternal promises of God, then we have a solid foundation. Just like last Tuesday night and again this weekend STORMS WILL COME, but we have the hope of coming through those stormy times. We may have to rebuild our lives after loss or damages. Do you know anyone in this world who is undamaged or never experienced loss? But we are not without hope, because God will help us rebuild our lives as we trust in God's Word.
I know someone whose story reminds me of Job. He has weathered one storm after another losing jobs or homes, but he has continued to do the best he can to care for his family and work hard when the next job comes. Tuesday night he was in that storm without any shelter and yet somehow survived to keep striving another day. It certainly put my complaints in sharper perspective. As he said, we take so much for granted. My hope and prayer is for God to rebuild a good life for this man and his family as well as many others in similar circumstances.
Max Lucado shares a couple more Bible stories in this introductory chapter that I think are worth mentioning. First is a scene from Paul's life recorded in the book of Acts. As Paul was put on trial to defend his faith, he appeared before King Agrippa. Agrippa and his sister, dressed in royal purple robes, were the epitome of pomp and circumstance for their time and culture. Paul was showing the wear and tear of many years of missionary travel followed by two years in prison. Paul had much in his history he could have claimed as his personal fame. But instead of bragging about his own accomplishments, Paul simply said, "Today I am standing trial because of the hope in the promise God gave our ancestors." Christians sometimes are challenged with this question, If you were on trial for your faith, would there be enough evidence to convict you? For Paul the answer was certainly yes! Paul's faith and hope were based on the promises of God.
The second story comes from the Gospels and reminds us of God's ability and authority. There was a centurion who came to Jesus for help, because his servant was ill. When Jesus offered to go with him, the Centurion said that was unnecessary, that he knew Jesus had the authority to command that the servant be well. Jesus said, "Let it be..." and it was. (Matthew 8:13) I like the definition of faith that Lucado pulls from this story, "...faith is the deeply held belief that God will keep his promises." (p. 6)
Like us, the people in the Bible come from various lifestyles and backgrounds. What the heroes of faith have in common is building their lives on God's promises. Hebrews 6:17 proclaims, "When God wanted to further demonstrate to the heirs of the promise that his purpose doesn’t change, he guaranteed it with a solemn pledge." Max Lucado writes, It's "as if the promise was the family fortune." (p. 4) This is where I am challenging us to also Anchor our Hope, on God's Promises just as Paul and Abraham and so many other flawed but faithful Bible heroes we will talk about this Fall. We are the heirs to God's promises in our generations.
Lucado emphasizes that "God is a promise keeper." (p. 5) Many scriptures also claim this. Hebrews 10:23 encourages, "Let us hold firmly to the hope that we have confessed, because we can trust God to do what he promised." Paul wrote to the Romans, " Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he had promised." (4:21) Let's be honest. We rarely find that trustworthiness in any human being nor could we fully live up to it ourselves. But God is trustworthy far beyond humankind. That's what my faith believes, and my experience of God has proven it over and over. Again, that doesn't mean life is always sunny, but it was in the midst of a flood that God put his rainbow of promise in the sky.
Lucado suggests we can "ponder the problem or remember the promise...choose anxiety or...choose hope." (p. 9) As you face challenges, deal with depression or anxiety, my hope is that you will find your hope in the trustworthiness of our God.
Faith, as scripture says, is building our hope on the promises of God when we can't see their fulfillment. The letter to the Hebrews in chapter 11 is like a hall of fame for people of faith from the Old Testament stories. In that chapter we read how Abraham chose to believe in the promise God made to him. Hebrews says that God added his vow to that promise. We also know it as God's covenant with God's people. Verse 19 reads, " We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure."
That image of an anchor is one I will be using throughout this series. Think of a ship tossed about on a stormy sea or needing to remain steadfast at a particular shoreline or fishing spot. Lowering an anchor serves to steady the ship and keep it in place. Anchoring our lives on the promises of God holds us steady without letting the tides of day to day life or the flow of current trends or the winds and waves of stormy times carry us away from God.
Lucado ends his introductory chapter with these words:
We are building our lives on the promises of God.
Because is Word is unbreakable, our hope is unshakeable.
We do not stand on the problems of life or the pain in life.
We stand on the great and precious promises of God. (p. 14)
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